CT's Most Excellent Workbench Adventure

[mstens]

mine hang 9 1/8" below the bench top loose in the hole.

[BlueMaxx]

How thick is your bench CT? The Gramercy holdfast do not work in thicker benches. I spoke to Joel from TFWW about it...just a heads up.
Great work, I am always looking forward to your updates!

[mstens]

I wonder at what point that happens. They work well in my 3" top

[Crooked Tail]

The main part of the bench is only 1.75" thick. I was thinking of screwing an additional piece onto the underside where the holes will go.

So... if mstens' bench is 3" thick and they hang down 9 1/8", then they are 12 1/8" long from the bottom of the arm to the end? That's long. Is that right?

[mstens]

no, they hang 9 1/8" from the TOP surface of my bench so they're 9 1/8" long. I'd say 9 1/2" to 10" to give it some wiggle room when knocked down.

I've been clearer than mud before.. but not today

[Crooked Tail]

Ahh ok, that sounds much better! Thank you for clearing that up. I should have plenty of space above my cabinets then.

I've been holding off ordering a pair because I wasn't sure if they'd be too long. Plus, they must be heavy so if I'm going to pay shipping, I want to order lots of stuff to go with them. You know, chisels, dovetail saw kit, etc.

[mstens]

Yea, they were $10 to ship.. might as well fill up that box!

[msweig]

Mike's number sounds about right. I asked that question over a year ago and someone said 8 3/4". Like mike said use 9.5-10" to give you some wiggle room.

Quote:

---

How thick is your bench CT? The Gramercy holdfast do not work in thicker benches.

---

Just cut a clearance to the underside of the hole. Then they will work. What you want to do is make the bench a thickness that will work in the areas you are using the holdfasts.

mark

[Jonathan S]

Looking good. Nice solution to the tenons!! That had not occurred to me.

Jonathan

[Crooked Tail]

Wow. What a weekend! I'm still all in one piece. Between parade, eating, drinking, birthday parties, rabbit hunting, shuffleboard, and general Nevada Day merry-making, I somehow managed to fit in some woodworking. Whew. Good thing tomorrow's Monday... I need to go to work to have some time to recover.

So I actually have base v. 2.0 basically finished. I am so sick of mortises and tenons. Actually, the mortises aren't bad at all... in fact, they are sort of fun. It's the dang tenons, and/or my lack of a proper tenon saw. I was frustrated enough that I was actually getting out the credit card to fire on $400 worth of LN saws and express shipping. But, thankfully for my Christmas budget, I came to my senses just in time.

Dead bug test fit:

I think the non-solution solution to the through tenons on the feet will work out just fine.

Way to many of these lately:


The holes for the bolts:



And... voila!


It so far feels much stouter and heavier than the old base. It has a slight wobble to it, so I guess I'll be planing the feet tomorrow morning. But I'll have to get the top on it to really see how it will work. Once more, I need to wait for someone to help me move the top.

There is 16" between the top and bottom stretchers, so that's the max height of my cabinets. I should have plenty of room for holdfasts, though.

I'm hoping that after a coat of finish, the poplar will match the maple somewhat more. I got some Watco Danish Oil and some Teak Oil, so I'm going to play with some scraps to see how those turn out.

Whew, man, I'm exhausted. Bed time for me.