Maybe a wee obsessive...

Bill Satko

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Methow Valley
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.

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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.

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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.

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Here I am running a finishing pass with my #4.5.

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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.

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On the next bench, I think I will use something a little softer than hard maple.
 

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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. ;)
 
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:)
 
Nice job, Bill. That really looks great.

Now...spill some paint, and some grease, on it, and maybe punch in a few chisel divots and screwdriver gouges so it'll look like you're actually using it. :rofl: :rofl: :D
 
Thanks everyone! I appreciate the comments.


How many hours do you think that took Bill?

I really don't have any idea. Problem is I have working on it off and on for a long time, but if I could just add the hours working on it, I might be surprised. Then again, I might find out that I am slower than erosion.

A bench for a lifetime and then pass on to the younger generation.

Funny you should say that, as I was putting on some finish today, I realized that this bench will be here when I am not. I will take good care of it, like I do all my tools. I then decided that before I passed on I was going to give it away to someone who would take as good care of it as I did. I then imagined that this workbench could last many many years into future and that someone could see my name and date underneath it and wonder who this person was. It gave me a very satisfied feeling knowing this workbench could become somewhat of a memorial for me.

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?

Larry, that is only shine from the final pass of a sharp and finely set smoothing plane. This hard maple takes a beautiful shine.

Now...spill some paint, and some grease, on it, and maybe punch in a few chisel divots and screwdriver gouges so it'll look like you're actually using it. :rofl: :rofl: :D

Jim, you must have been watching me this morning. I was going to start prepping the lumber for the lower shelf and had to sharpen some blades. In putting a blade back in the plane on the bench and I noticed that I had smeared some sharpening grunge from the back of my hands onto the top. Yikes! I had to plane it off because it would not wipe off and I then decided to take a different tack for the day. I needed to get some protection on the entire bench before I went any farther. I just finished up applying a mixture of equal parts turpentine, BLO and spar varnish over the entire bench. This is going to be like having a new car.
 
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OK, I misunderstood what you were referring to. That is the old varnish finish that was slathered on the slab when I bought it many, many years ago. Even if the slab was flat enough, I would still have removed the old finish as it is much too slick for hand planing.
 
Bill the bench looks great! A question if you don't mind. I understand the need for having your bench flat as you are going to be using it as a reference surface, but for a regular work bench that will be beat and banged on how flat is flat enough?
 
Bill the bench looks great! A question if you don't mind. I understand the need for having your bench flat as you are going to be using it as a reference surface, but for a regular work bench that will be beat and banged on how flat is flat enough?

Not sure John, as I guess it all depends on what you are doing on the bench. Even those tasks that would require a flat surface, such as flattening thin stock, would only require it to be flat where you are working. The entire bench would not have to be flat.
 
I just finished up applying a mixture of equal parts turpentine, BLO and spar varnish over the entire bench. This is going to be like having a new car.

Bill I wonder why you choose to use spar varnish on a surface that will be a work space, if I were to do it I would just use BLO maybe thinned with MS. It is easy to apply more coats and the BLO will dry to rock hard surface.
 
Bill I wonder why you choose to use spar varnish on a surface that will be a work space, if I were to do it I would just use BLO maybe thinned with MS. It is easy to apply more coats and the BLO will dry to rock hard surface.

Don, it is an old finish formula that has found favor among recent workbench builders. It has been touted by the folks at Popular Woodworking and Lie Nielsen uses it on all of their benches. I only have to apply one coat and I get the protection I need.
 
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
 
Coffee table...

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

OR....

I sure got a nice table today just beautiful, I'm going to shorten the legs & turn it into a coffee table.
 
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