Finished bench topper

16.5 by 17 by 1.5 inches

  I got my bench top finished today.  Rather mostly finished. 

 Since my shop is filled with tools I like to use them. I am amazed at how many tools I used for this simple little job. There is no doubt that more effort and a bit more time and this whole thing could have been done with a small number of hand tools. But just for grins here is the list of what I used to stick five boards together and mount two clamp tracks along it edge.

 Last time I said I used my table saw (1) to trim the edges square on the boards. Then I used my pocket Zip Slot (2) to put in the loose tenons. And of course, glue and clamps.(3 & 4)

  Today I used my circular saw (5) to trim the edges square, after I marked the edges with my carpenter's square (6). After the ends were cut square I used my disk sander (7) and my belt sander (8)to flatten the faces or the bench top. I used sanders instead of hand planes because this is reclaimed wood. 

  After the face was flat I used my router table (9) to cut dados on two edges of the top. Then I used my shoulder plane (10) to clean up the dados. 

  I put off buying a shoulder plane for years from cheapness and ignorance. 

Don't make that mistake.

  Then the Kreg track had to be cut to length, enter the hack saw (11). Next I used my belt sander to clean off the burrs on the track. Screwing ( cordless drill 12) the track down meant I needed my 4 1/2 inch angle grinder (13) since the screws were just a bit to long and needed a 1/4" ground off. 

 Then I laid out and drilled six 3/4 inch dog holes. (drill press & Frostner bit 14 & 15)

 At this point I am not adding dog holes in the middle. My current plan is to make some dogs and use the top and then develop what I need for what I am using. Looks like a lathe project to me.(16)

 Was this an over produced event? No... Well-maybe. I just have all those tools and I like to use them.

cheers, ianw

4 1/2 Grinder Vs. Wood

   At the beginning of May I wrote about how useful my grinder is in the shop when I have some metal work to do.  I turn to the grinder and a cut off wheel instead of using a hack saw when dealing with angle iron or bolts/threaded stock, those are typical applications for a 4 1/2 grinder.

  The attached video:

How-to Use Your Angle Grinder on Wood by Mitchell Dillman

shows how to put your grinder to work grinding away large amounts of wood quickly and with more control than you would imagine.

    Another use I found for the grinder was cleaning the charred wood from  barrel staves before sanding and finishing the wood as a candle holder like the one in this photo:

    I used a wheel like this one:

That might have been the dirtiest job I ever did in my shop.

Less likely Wood Shop Tools, but useful DIY tools

   One of the ongoing tasks in a homework shop, for me at least is arranging benches and tools so to have the best use of space. Many hours have been spent building shelves and cupboards as well as trying to set up the  most efficient work space that I can.  For a home workshop I am lucky, actually I have a fair amount of space and am equipped with lots of tools.  There are often articles in woodworking magazines featuring people with less space than mine and they do as good or better work than I do too.

4 1/2 inch angle grinder

   The angle grinder is one of those tools that I reach for a couple of times per year to use its cutting wheel instead of a hack saw.  A cutting wheel is fast but usually not so pretty. On this weekend I needed my grinder to cut three bolts down to size to be used to bolt my vise to a board.

   I wasn't willing to invest the time in a trip to the local hardware store to buy three short bolts so I just cut these off.  Now the vise that I use can be placed on the corner of the bench and held firmly in place with one clamp.  The mounting board is scrap so there was no cost but time.  I use this vise often and as you can see I have given it wooden jaw pads so that it doesn't mess up my work piece.  Traditionally there are other styles of vise used on a wood worker's bench but I have found that this one is quite versatile and using this set up it is makes it easy to move out of the way when not needed.

the traditional bench vise

 Again you put wooden pads on the jaws so not to mark your work.