Mass Wood working

So Im building a bench. I know thatll come as a shock to many of you, but I too need a place to build my projects on.

The boards milled & rabbeted, ready to be cut to lenth.

Im beginning with the stretchers - or as Im making - panels. In order to construct the leg assemblies with as little a chance of racking and as much mass as possible Im forgoing the normal stretcher assemblies and using a bastardized frame and panel design. The frames, and much of the bench, are made of Timberstrand (dimensional lumber made of OSB).

I began by milling the Timberstrand just as I would any other lumber. A few quick passes on the jointer, a pass or two through the planer, a final trim on the table saw and voila, flat & square boards. In order to make a dado (yes, I know its actually a grove) in the middle of the frame pieces, I instead made a rabbet in two frame pieces and assembled them to make a dado. As Ive was holding out for a Forrest Dado King, I made the rabbet using two passes on my standard Woodworker II blade. As the panel will be composed of an MDF/OSB lamination, I used relative dimensioning to set the depth exactly to each sheet goods thickness (they are actually not the same thickness, even though theyre both nominally 3/4" thick). I then turned the board and cut the width of the rabbet to the same dimension as the depth (it wont matter if one sheet good panel is ever so slightly bigger than the other, theyll be cut via relative dimensioning too).

Gang cuts = perfect fits.

My next step was to take them over to my new Bosch Glide saw (no full review yet, but its kickin ass & takin names). I cut one end on each board, ganged them and cut them all to the exact same length. I then used my Domino to join the frame panels. Woodpecker Clamping Squares helped keep the whole thing square.

Now that all the frames are made my next step is to cut and fit the panels, then glue an OSB frame & panel assembly to an MDF frame & panel assembly to make the final, bastard frame & panel assembly I plan to use. Then Ill have to finalize the legs and start thinking about the top. Much to do.

Ready for the panel.

Heres the whole album.

How did you attach your bench legs together?

p.s. - Sorry for all the linking, I got a bit carried away. I also just picked up a FlipHD, so heres a video of the fames to boot.


Wookbench Stretcher Panels from Dyami Plotke on Vimeo.

TechnoPrimitives Style

In case you havent heard, theres a new breed of hand saws on the market today and theyve been completely blowing wood workers away. Do a quick search for Bad Axe Tool Works on Google and youll see what Im talking about.
This post isnt about my Bad Axe saws, although I could write about how easy they are to start and how fast and straight they cut, maybe a note or two about the fine detailed handles or the incredible etching in the saw plates but no, this post is about my friend down in La Crosse, Wisconsin by name of Mark Harrell.
While writing my book over the past 16 months I got to know Mark a bit more and we exchanged ideas and thoughts about hand tools and book pages, Jamaican vacations and the environment. Its no surprise that he crept into the pages of my book (as youll hopefully see) and the last time Mark and I made contact I told him I was going to send him a copy just as soon as I get my shipment. Well in true Techno style he said an honest thank you but sent me a package that arrived here today. A nice set of bench hooks and a Bad Axe mug...nice. Thats the kind of person Mark is, I certainly wasnt sending him a copy of my book with the hopes to get something in return but he said his thank you with a gift.
So I did like anyone would do and made myself a strong coffee and went down into the wood shop. The first thing I noticed about the hooks is the finish; on his website he mentions the surfaces are planed but not smoothed and the friction is a bonus while working. Well they are indeed planed and absolutely beautifully made. The Red Oak he uses is a perfect choice for this application and Im sure theyll stand up to all of my abuse! Theyre the kind of accessory Ill leave on my bench top, always there ready to work and the fact that they look good is a bonus! He sells them as a set which makes a ton of sense for working with longer stock over the width of your bench top. I took a few pieces of scrap wood and tried all the miters, no surprises they were bang on!














This is a real nice set for anyone who would rather go straight to work and not spend the time building your own. If youve already purchased a Bad Axe back saw you know exactly what Im talking about but why not complete the collection with a set of bench hooks? Theyre a great compliment to these incredible saws.

So Im building a bench. I know thatll come as a shock to many of you, but I too need a place to build my projects on.

The boards milled & rabbeted, ready to be cut to lenth.

Im beginning with the stretchers - or as Im making - panels. In order to construct the leg assemblies with as little a chance of racking and as much mass as possible Im forgoing the normal stretcher assemblies and using a bastardized frame and panel design. The frames, and much of the bench, are made of Timberstrand (dimensional lumber made of OSB).

I began by milling the Timberstrand just as I would any other lumber. A few quick passes on the jointer, a pass or two through the planer, a final trim on the table saw and voila, flat & square boards. In order to make a dado (yes, I know its actually a grove) in the middle of the frame pieces, I instead made a rabbet in two frame pieces and assembled them to make a dado. As Ive was holding out for a Forrest Dado King, I made the rabbet using two passes on my standard Woodworker II blade. As the panel will be composed of an MDF/OSB lamination, I used relative dimensioning to set the depth exactly to each sheet goods thickness (they are actually not the same thickness, even though theyre both nominally 3/4" thick). I then turned the board and cut the width of the rabbet to the same dimension as the depth (it wont matter if one sheet good panel is ever so slightly bigger than the other, theyll be cut via relative dimensioning too).

Gang cuts = perfect fits.

My next step was to take them over to my new Bosch Glide saw (no full review yet, but its kickin ass & takin names). I cut one end on each board, ganged them and cut them all to the exact same length. I then used my Domino to join the frame panels. Woodpecker Clamping Squares helped keep the whole thing square.

Now that all the frames are made my next step is to cut and fit the panels, then glue an OSB frame & panel assembly to an MDF frame & panel assembly to make the final, bastard frame & panel assembly I plan to use. Then Ill have to finalize the legs and start thinking about the top. Much to do.

Ready for the panel.

Heres the whole album.

How did you attach your bench legs together?

p.s. - Sorry for all the linking, I got a bit carried away. I also just picked up a FlipHD, so heres a video of the fames to boot.


Wookbench Stretcher Panels from Dyami Plotke on Vimeo.