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As a child, nothing put me to sleep faster than one of my father’s slideshows. Sure, they were of his fascinating time in Vietnam, but there’s something about a couch, a darkened room and a root beer that would put me under fast.
So with that caveat, I’ve prepared a 3-1/2-minute slideshow of the construction process for the Holtzapffel Workbench, which will be the cover project for the fall issue of Woodworking Magazine. There’s no audio to the slideshow or plans available yet, but it is a fair overview of how this bench goes together.
The slideshow is in pdf format, so just about anyone should be able to view it. Out of a possible five Ambien, I’ll give this slideshow a “four.”
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David,
That’s a new one. I’m going to email you a copy of the original slideshow to see if you have the same problem. If anyone else is having this trouble, let me know.
Chris
Hmmm… maybe it’s just me, but when I click on the link for the slideshow, all I get is a one page PDF that looks like the article snippet shown in the picture.
Ben,
That is a rhino-horn shoulder plane from Wayne Anderson.
http://andersonplanes.com/
It works as well as it looks.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Beautiful work as usual – very inspiring!
One question – who makes that gorgeous shoulder plane your are using in slides 19 and 20?
Keep up the good work 🙂
Cheers,
Ben
First, Pedro pointed t ome the photo of me using a jointer plane on the leg. The dog is under the tenon and gripping the edge shoulder of he leg. It doesn’t take much to hold it in place. Gravity and the force of the plane lend a hand.
And to Mike: The jig for drilling dog holes is shown as an option for people to build their confidence. I personally think that after drilling about 10 holes with a brace, you don’t need a guide like this.
But it will help you drill true. Making the jig’s guide block even thicker will help even more.
Chris
I assume the jig for the dogholes is used to keep the pairs of holes lined up for the length of the workbench. Does it also do a good job keeping the hole straight with the brace? Or is that more practice than anything 🙂
Good questions.
1. You used a mortiser to create the mortises on the legs, why didn’t you use the same for the top?
Answer: The assembled top is entirely too big to get onto the mortiser. And whenever I can, I prefer to take the tool to the work rather than taking the work to the tool. Hence, my affection for hand tools.
2. Why did you run the side of the top on the jointer, instead of using a plane?
Answer: I did the bulk of straightening the edges on the jointer. Then I came back and refined the edge with a jointer plane. That’s not shown in the photos. Sorry.
3. Say that this is your first bench, where would you have planed the legs?
Answer: If this is your first bench, build the top on sawhorses first. Then build the base on that. Join the two together and add the vises. That’s how I built the Roubo and four or so other benches. Works great.
4. Did you plane the side of the leg without securing it first?
I believe that you just can’t see the planing stop in that photo. Or I don’t know which photo you are referring to. Sorry. If you could give me some more detail, that might help.
5. Why did you use a caliper if later you marked the mortises from the tenons?
Answer: Because I flirt with being unreasonably anal-retentive. I need to get over it.
6. When is your book to be ready? Are any of these photos making to the book?
The book comes out Oct. 10. This bench won’t be in it.
7. Am I a nag yet?
Ha! Never.
What a photographer, he (she) did a very nice job! Congrats, without him we couldn’t see how great is yours too!
Looking at your pictures I started to have questions about making the bench. They are more in the looking for directions than questioning you work. Being that said, here there are few:
You used a mortiser to create the mortises on the legs, why didn’t you use the same for the top? Was it to difficult to move the top to the mortiser and get the mortises?
Why did you run the side of the top on the jointer, instead of using a plane? Didn’t you joint each board before gluing them all together?
Say that this is your first bench, where would you have planed the legs? I’m trying to ask on which surface, on two sawhorses, on planning board on a close to flat surface (such as the kitchen table)
From the picture can not be told: Did you plane the side of the leg without securing it first? Isn’t this unsafe?
Why did you use a caliper if later you marked the mortises from the tenons?
When is your book to be ready? Are any of these photos making to the book?
Am I a nag yet?
Regards,
P.M.
It was great (three times in a row so far) being a fly on your workshop wall, making you realer than real. No sound or commentary is actually a virtue; I actually felt like an apprentice knowing better than to interrupt you with questions. I hope you and your journeymen-writer colleagues do much more of it. For me, almost better than the subject itself, is the "invisible" stuff going on, the setups, tools you use, the technique, and so on. Thanks.
Chris,
Well I know my Ambien and I must say that the slideshow was outstanding. Now there were things that I really wanted to see such as a couple of slides on the Twin Screw vice, but that could be an entire show unto itself. i guess I’ll wait for the full length version to hit the local theaters.
Oh yeah, I’ll givee this slideshow 4 1/2 tablets!
Way to go,
Michael
Well, I think a spanking is a bit extreme for caliper use.
I use one quite often to check measurements now — much easier than trying to hold a rule up to the edge of the work an eyeball it.
The key with dial calipers (or any hyper-accurate measuring device) is not to get sucked into the trap of trying to attain machine-shop tolerances. We are working with a dynamic medium after all. 😉
I built this bench in my shop at home (note the more casual attire). And my dial caliper at home is decimal. Really, I need a firm spanking for even using a caliper after writing my last column on the things.
Chris
Awesome slideshow Chris! We always love multimedia content that does along w/ the blogs.
One question though: I noticed that in one of the pics you were checking the size of your tenons but you were using a caliper that measured in decimals, not fractions?! What gives? Did a coworker grab all your fractional calipers? 😉
regards,
Dave
Chris, I think you underestimate my insomnia (or overestimate the power of Ambien). The slideshow was marvelous!