I had flattened the bottom of the bench top so that it could sit flatly against the aprons, but I was not obsessive about it as it only had to be completely in plane where it contacted the aprons and the cross members of the base.
The top I wanted to be completely flat as I was going to be referencing all my work off of it. I know that it is wood and wood will move, but I was determined that it would move from a flat reference point. It became a battle of hard maple and me. The maple almost won out, but my opponent underestimated my staying power.
I first started off with my #8 and my #4 both set with rank cut. The #8 I ran across the width tying to get it flat that way.
My belief is that you have to make a surface concave before you can make it flat. I concentrated on hollowing the center out. It takes quite a while to make something concave but little time to make it convex, so I stayed clear of the edges for the most part. I used the #4 to hit some high spots.
This hard maple was chewing up blades edges on my A2. I had to up the bevel angle to keep some decent edge retention. I was popping blades out quite often.
I then shifted over to my #7 set with a fine cut to prevent tearout as I started to fine plane the both the width & now the length. This where I really ended up pulling the blades for resharpening. A couple time of doing that and I got really smart when I remembered that my #4.5 had the same blade as my #7. Now I was hot swapping blades and the top rolled over and submitted.
Here I am running a finishing pass with my #4.5.
I have checked the top and it is flat. There were time during the process I doubted my sanity, but now it is over I feel it was worth it. Below is the evidence of my labors.
On the next bench, I think I will use something a little softer than hard maple.
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Thread: Maybe a wee obsessive...
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12-31-2011, 04:35 PM #1
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Maybe a wee obsessive...
Last edited by Bill Satko; 12-31-2011 at 04:43 PM.
“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.” - John Ruskin
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12-31-2011, 04:53 PM #2
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and now your forearms feel like Popeye's...
"There’s a lot of work being done today that doesn’t have any soul in it. The technique may be the utmost perfection, yet it is lifeless. It doesn’t have a soul. I hope my furniture has a soul to it." - Sam Maloof
The Pessimist complains about the wind; The Optimist expects it to change;The Realist adjusts the sails.~ William Arthur Ward
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12-31-2011, 05:02 PM #3
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How many hours do you think that took Bill? Looks fantastic BTW.
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12-31-2011, 05:09 PM #4
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Bill, you might not like the effort it took to get the top the way you wanted it, but you have a beautiful and functional work bench to last a lifetime.
Well done!
BruceBruce Shiverdecker - Retired Starving Artist ( No longer a Part timer at Woodcraft, Peoria, Il.)
"The great thing about turning is that all you have to do is remove what's not needed and you have something beautiful. Nature does the hard part!"
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12-31-2011, 05:26 PM #5
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That bench looks absolutely great. It'll be hard to bash bang cut and stomp on it, but I'm sure it's ready for whatever you can throw at it. Looks to me like it can last well over one lifetime, or anyway, my remaining life expectancy.
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12-31-2011, 05:46 PM #6
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Beautiful job with beautiful results!
A bench for a lifetime and then pass on to the younger generation.
I enjoyed your pics.
Enjoy,
JimB
Happy New Year!First of all you have to be smarter than the machine.
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12-31-2011, 06:30 PM #7
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well done bill.. whats the liguide you are using to show the different depths.. you show it in the first pic and agin later on? i dont see you wanting to use this bench like ken mentioned and get it nicked
just look at it and admire your work
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12-31-2011, 06:36 PM #8
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Well it's 'plane' to see you flattened that sucker right out. Tell me again how may cans of spinach took. From here it looks great. We need to get together so I can see it first hand. I'm sure it's more impressive close up.
"Forget the flat stuff slap something on the spinny thing and lets go, we're burning daylight" Bart Leetch
"If it ain't round you may be a knuckle dragger""Turners drag their nuckles too, they just do it at a higher RPM"Bart
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01-01-2012, 02:06 PM #9
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Nice bench Bill, but i gotta tell you it reminds me of when the guy building my first ever in my life cedar deck finished and i ran off to HD to get something to protect it.
Great experienced lady in the paint department said " Enjoy the look now because its never gonna be the same again" She had built and cared for 6 decks and said she had now had enough.
So i hope it sees lots of action dents spills and cuts that will tell whoever gets it later that you used it and enjoyed doing so. Otherwise i can see the future owner post on his /her forum ......
"Hi guys picked up a great hardly used new maple bench today from a guy heading for sleepy pines residences. He wanted me to continue to use it, said he got years of great use......i did not argue with him poor old geyser ....but i doubt it from the ware marks. "
Have fun Bill.
Sent from my MB860 using TapatalkRob .....Alias John Wayne now Pasquinell da trapper.
"forget the apples slap some bacon on a biscuit and lets go...
We're burning daylight"
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01-01-2012, 04:25 PM #10
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Coffee table...
OR....
Originally Posted by Rob Keeble
Nice bench Bill, but i gotta tell you it reminds me of when the guy building my first ever in my life cedar deck finished and i ran off to HD to get something to protect it.
Great experienced lady in the paint department said " Enjoy the look now because its never gonna be the same again" She had built and cared for 6 decks and said she had now had enough.
So i hope it sees lots of action dents spills and cuts that will tell whoever gets it later that you used it and enjoyed doing so. Otherwise i can see the future owner post on his /her forum ......
"Hi guys picked up a great hardly used new maple bench today from a guy heading for sleepy pines residences. He wanted me to continue to use it, said he got years of great use......i did not argue with him poor old geyser ....but i doubt it from the ware marks. "
Have fun Bill.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
I sure got a nice table today just beautiful, I'm going to shorten the legs & turn it into a coffee table."Forget the flat stuff slap something on the spinny thing and lets go, we're burning daylight" Bart Leetch
"If it ain't round you may be a knuckle dragger""Turners drag their nuckles too, they just do it at a higher RPM"Bart
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