CT's Most Excellent Workbench Adventure

[Bob Zajicek]

Crooked Tail said:

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5) I have never used a screw extractor... can someone please explain how they work? Since the heads have broken off, I didn't think there was any way to get the shank out.

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Skip made the screw extractor comment. It got me to thinking about an EZ-out. If those bolt heads broke off close to the surface, you can drill into them, insert the EZ-out and back the bolt right out of those holes. A couple of these EZ-outs are good to have in your tool arsenal as well as the knowledge to use them. Someday, you're going to break off the head of a brass screw and an EZ-out may save the day for you.

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Look on the bright side.. no extra rod hole to plug now!

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That is a bright side. The extra hole bothered me, the other holes were too big, and the thumbnail profiles are just not as good as I wanted them. In other words, the damned thing is ugly as sin anyhow. Probably in the long run I'll be happier if I build a whole new one.

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Well, if you can remove those broken screws, you can practise your skills a little more before you tackle your second vise jaw... at least you'd get your bench operational a month or two quicker.

[Skip J.]

Crooked Tail said:

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1) It sounds like I'm drilling my pilot holes wrong. I just drilled one 7/32" hole; I didn't drill a small "first" or "prepilot" hole.
Hey Ct; Checkout the 8/9/2007 tip from Woodsmith at woodworkingtips.com - "Drilling Deep Pilot Holes" There's actually 3 holes - a counterbore, a shank hole and a small pilot hole.
2) I am using lag screws from Lowes. The first one the broke off was, I think, indeed crap. I had some other ones, also from Lowes, which I tried and which also broke, but not as quickly / easily.
The first one was poor quality - the second better quality screw would have made it with the right pilot hole "profile".
3) No, I am not using any sort of paste wax on the screws... I've never heard of doing so. Can you please elaborate?
Sure - any quality clear paste wax - car wax or furniture wax. Some on the threads and some down the hole.
4) I am using a socket ratchet wrench to put them in by hand. Obviously this has a lot more torque than a driver. Perhaps I should have used my drill instead, and back the torque down.
Maybe - but in this case I think that much torque - with the ratchet - was required -which broke it.
5) I have never used a screw extractor... can someone please explain how they work? Since the heads have broken off, I didn't think there was any way to get the shank out.
As Bob says - they're called Ez-out... everybody needs 3 or 4 sizes of Ez-outs sometime in their life. You drill a hole into the screw or bolt shank from above and the Ez-out turns backwards into the hole - which backs the broken shank out of the hole - amazing.

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Hope this helps! Love that PH....

[mstens]

Actually, I've had a lot better luck with cobalt left hand drill bits than ezouts. Especially once you've EVER had anezout break in the hole

[Skip J.]

mstens said:

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Actually, I've had a lot better luck with cobalt left hand drill bits than ezouts. Especially once you've EVER had anezout break in the hole

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Hey Mike;

Thanks! I have had a small one break in the hole and it was no fun at all, the big ones are no problem...... learn something new every day....

[Guest]

CT:

I've found screwing large lag screws into hardwood to be difficult. The large threads compress the wood rather than cutting it so the going is pretty tough. Try cutting a "V" grove into the threads at the tip of the screw and extending a little way back from the tip with a triangular file. It turns the lag screw into a thread cutter that cuts it's own threads into the hardwood on the first pass. Removal and reinstallation of the lag screw is easier after the threads are cut. Look at a self-threading sheet metal screw to get the idea. When you screw the grooved lag screw in the first time, stop and reverse direction every 1/2 to 3/4 turn to clear the chips. It wouldn't hurt to remove the screw completely a couple of times before you finish the threads to make sure the hole isn't jamming with chips. Make sure your pilot hole is at least as large as the primary shank of the lag screw, I.E., the diameter of the shank at the base of the threads. It works like a charm and cuts pretty clean threads. Most important, it keeps you from breaking the lag screws off.

Hank

[Timberwolf]

I have thick leather covering the faces of one of my vises....expensive but worth it IMO...

[LENPAM]

Put a caliper on your screws between the threads and drill a hole that size,PH is too tough a wood to force a lag screw in,I'd also invest in either some stainless steel or hardened lag screws. Bottom line you only need the threads to bite in wood that hard. Len

[Crooked Tail]

OK, since I was so fed up with the facevise, I've moved on to the tailvise. Thanks to everyone who informed me about EZ Outs - the facevise just might be salvageable after all. But I'm going to ignore that cursed vise for at least another week.

So anyhow, the tailvise uses the hardware from LV. The vise itself does not come with any directions, but thankfully I also got the Traditional Bench plans from LV, which contains instructions. Of course, I went and made it waaaay more complicated with the dovetailed endcaps.

I made the core out of poplar from the BORG. Used my router plane to make the recess in the top of the core for the top bracket. The blocks (vertical pieces) are smaller than recommended, but I figured that would be ok, since I'm going to add endcaps. In retrospect, I probably should have used bigger blocks anyway.

Clamping it up for a test fit:


Glued up and bolted together:


Making the dog holes. Yes, I cheated with my cordless drill. I did these holes the "real" way, i.e., chiseling out the shoulder, instead of gluing in a separate little piece to make the shoulder, like I did on the main bench. I think this way is much better. I wish I had a side rabbet plane or someway to clean up the sides and get them just square, though.


Made the endcaps. I wish I'd been paying more attention and cut these from the same board that I used for the other endcap. You can see the color is a little different. However, this board seemed much easier to work for some reason. Still hard, but not chisel-destroying hard. (Not that I had anything to do with that...)


Gluing the doghole strip to the core:


And here we go again... The inside set of lines were a layout mistake... honestly, I did actually cut right to the correct line!


Ends up these tails are about 1/8" shorter than the tails on the end of the doghole strip of the main bench. Hopefully they don't look funny when the vise is closed and they are right next to each other.

To be continued... after Labor Day!

[FordPrefect]

I have almost nothing left to say, except that you have named this thread quite appropriately.

[Crooked Tail]

"Almost" nothing...? All comments are welcome.

Well, here is the tailvise, more or less finished. Unfortunately, the picture did not turn out all that well. I still have to flatten it out. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. A lot of little tweaking to make it work just right. However, in spite of all my efforts, there's a gap between the shoulders of the inside end cap and the core.

I've used just about every single piece of lumber I bought for this bench, so unfortunately I didn't have a nicer piece of maple for the front. It is evident that I have a long ways to go toward the craftsmanship displayed in the recent workbench threads. But that's what this is all about, learning and developing skills. It is a workbench that will live in the garage. Hopefully as I move on to furniture for the house, I will remember the lessons I've learned (and continue to learn) here.