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Crooked Tail said:
Skip, you flatter me waaay too much. My skill level will need much improvement before anything of mine becomes collectable to anyone other than my mom.  What's scary is that you already know that I already know that I will make more benches... I'm working on this one and thinking... "the next time I make a bench, I'll do xyz instead."
Uh - huh.... well us old guys are not telling you anything different than we're saying to Ryan or Clint or Josh or T.J. or Steve or Deidre and/or the rest of ya'll under 40... My son turned 40 last week and is beginning to show a little interest in handtools and ww'ing... so I know very well how much further he can go starting young... While learning to work PH you also learned about EZ-outs and mirror-imaging your take-offs for layout marks... You put a price on here for building custom vises out of PH and other user selectable hardwoods and you'll see how many appreciate your work right quick... Of course this is all self-serving rambling for us old guys - we just wish that something we started at your age we had stayed with and are more accomplished at now for having done so... We recognize that you are also planning your next bench as you go, because we all do the same... Congrats on running such a great thread! Hang in there...
Skip
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CT, Thanks! yes the drawers are on full extension metal slides, If I were to do it again I would use slides with 1" of over travel. I bought them at CS hardware online, great prices on slides. 
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Well, I did more work on flattening the top, and I think I'm pretty happy with flatness. It's not perfect, but it's good I think. I got out my $3 smoother and erased some plane tracks. Just for kicks I then got out a card scraper. Now, as a rule, I don't like light-colored woods aesthetically. But I'm really starting to dig the maple. Between the smoother and the card scraper, it feels like silk (at least where I was able to get rid of the tear-out). I like it a lot.  I made a couple dogs:  I admit I cheated and I used the bandsaw to make the "spring." I don't know how I would have made a piece that small by hand. The dog holes are not all exactly the same size, but the dogs stand up in all of them. They also push down below the surface of the bench, to be out of the way. However, I'm a little afraid I made the dog holes too far apart. They are 5" apart, and it seems like that vise has to be open a long way:  I used the facevise some when making the dogs. The quick-release is going to take some getting used to. I wish the tail vise was quick-release. That would be sweet. Again, thanks to everyone for all your help so far. I'm really itching to call it done and put a finish on it. But I still need to make the cabinets, so maybe I should wait till they are also complete? Sigh, now I'd better go do "responsible" stuff like clean the house, water the plants... 
Turning impaired.
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I like the dogs. Could you put more dog holes between the existing holes on the tail vise? That would mean less vise movement required. That is a nice looking bench. I was using my "new" bench today building a face frame and the solid, heaviness of the bench makes chisel work and carcase sawing more fun and less prone to error. The errors now are fully blamed on my technique. 
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You can also do what I do when I hit odd spacings in between and toss a block in between the work and a dog. I like it very much. I'd finish it and then use your new bench to make the cabinets
mike
I ain't a Communist, necessarily, but I've been in the red all my life
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So, in the course of measuring and planning for the cabinets, I've spent a bit of time really looking at the base (as if I've never seen it before). I'm no longer satisfied with it. It's ugly. The color doesn't match. It is not as rigid as I hoped. I'm tempted to make a new base out of 8/4 maple, which I probably should have done in the first place. If I were to do so, it would still be a trestle base, but with both upper and lower stretchers, which would be narrower (~4"), to allow for more cabinet space. However, that would add a pretty substantial additional cost to the bench. (Nearly $200 worth.  ) On the other hand, there's a good possibility that I may have this bench and use it for the rest of my life, or at least for many years. From that perspective, the cost does not seem like that much. On the third hand, it's a workbench. Its purpose is not to win any beauty pageants. So the question is: does the current base fulfill its purpose? It is not as rigid as I would like, but I am not certain that a new base with four stretchers out of hard maple would actually be better. It sounds better, but I don't know for sure. How much of it is a matter of weight, versus rigidity? If I went ahead and built the cabinets, perhaps that would add the needed weight. I guess I should experiment. I can put a piece of plywood across the stretchers and pile a bunch of junk on it, to see if the weight is what really matters. Ahh, a dilemma.  Any thoughts / advice would be appreciated.
Turning impaired.
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From a purely aesthetic point of view I think you already know the answer. As far as it not being rigid enough I think that puts you right over the edge.
Keep the present base for another project and satisfy your "eye".
Either way it is stunning. I have started taking pics of mine and will post as soon as I develop. I am onto the base and am glad to be able to compare with those who have gone before me.
Keep up the stellar work!
“Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.”
Sir Winston Churchill
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The bench looks great!
Am I right in seeing only one bolt on each end of each stretcher? If you are worried about rigidity, maybe double up (4 bolts per stretcher)? Just a thought.
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Crooked Tail said:
It is not as rigid as I would like, but I am not certain that a new base with four stretchers out of hard maple would actually be better. It sounds better, but I don't know for sure. How much of it is a matter of weight, versus rigidity? If I went ahead and built the cabinets, perhaps that would add the needed weight.
I guess I should experiment. I can put a piece of plywood across the stretchers and pile a bunch of junk on it, to see if the weight is what really matters.
Hmmnn.. bet you've already done this and already have the answer for us.... if not, go ahead!
Skip
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The aesthetics maybe important to you now, but they can be addressed later if you decide to rebuild your trestle. A good block sanding will do wonders to clean up your present trestle and give some uniformity to it’s appearance. If you’re still not satisfied, a coat of paint  will certainly do the job. A nice hunter green wouldn’t look too bad with that PH. I believe the Shakers painted their bench bases on occasion. FWIW. I think your rigidity problem should be addressed pretty soon, however. I looked thru this thread and could not positively figure out how you attached the top to the trestle. Most are lag screwed on with the lag bolts going up through the trestle arms from below. Others use pegs and let the weight of the bench top hold things together. What have you done? Another thing to look at are the stretchers. Are there M&T joints and are they square and tight? Are the bolts tight? They might loosen somewhat with warm weather drying and shrinking the stretchers. You bench should be rack free and rock solid. If it’s not, you need to make it so. Especially if you plan to rebuild the trestle some day. You don’t want to make the same mistakes two times.
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