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signalnoise posted:I've got maybe a simple question but it's one I have never had to really consider before and I have had "build a real workbench for my garage" on my mind for months because I think it'll make all my other projects easier to do, so I'll do them. I would recommend you read The Anarchist Workbench, there is a free PDF online https://blog.lostartpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AWB_Consumer_June-2020_v5.1-1.pdf It goes into good detail on different bench features and tells you how to build a sweet bench. Alternatively read the the book The Workbench Design Book: The Art & Philosophy of Building Better Benches, also by Christopher Schwarz. There is plenty of overlap with the above but this one has plans for a bunch of different bench types and goes into pros/cons of different forms. Meow Meow Meow fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Jun 28, 2021 |
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Jun 28, 2021 17:07
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Aprons are for rigidity. If you don't have a thick top, you need to get it some other way, and aprons create what's basically a torsion box (like a ribcage or airplane wing). That allows you to have a strong and rigid bench without having to use a ton of wood to make a thick top which would otherwise get you that strength, and as such, are (much) cheaper and easier to build. Chris Schwartz's older Workbenches book goes into it some more when he talks about the (knockdown) Nicholson (so named because the design first appeared in Nicholson's early 19th century book, they're also know as a (English) joiners bench) benches there, but I don't know if you can still get that book. So basically, a material efficient way to get the required strength for a workbench.
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Jun 28, 2021 17:09
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Speaking of benches... Mine is thick and heavy - top is glued up 2x4 and the legs are also glued up 2x4. But every time I plane something, it walks across the basement floor. Anything I can do about that?
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Jun 28, 2021 17:12
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Stultus Maximus posted:Speaking of benches... Mine is thick and heavy - top is glued up 2x4 and the legs are also glued up 2x4. But every time I plane something, it walks across the basement floor. Anything I can do about that? Put something non-slip under it the legs? cork or rubber? Is it just an open base? Mine sounds less beefy than yours, but i have all my hand tools stored in the base which adds lots of weight. You could anchor the bench to a sheet of plywood, and situate the plywood so that you are standing on it while working, so there's the extra weight of yourself essentially added to the bench base.
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Jun 28, 2021 17:17
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Lubricate your plane sole. Seriously, first time I did it I drat near threw my plane across the shop. Planing takes some efforts, but if you're pushing your bench chances are you're trying too hard.
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Jun 28, 2021 17:36
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Stultus Maximus posted:Speaking of benches... Mine is thick and heavy - top is glued up 2x4 and the legs are also glued up 2x4. But every time I plane something, it walks across the basement floor. Anything I can do about that? How are your legs assembled and attached? If the legs aren't rigid the workbench will try to walk no matter how heavy it is. If the legs are good then either more weight or NomNomNom posted:Lubricate your plane sole. Seriously, first time I did it I drat near threw my plane across the shop. Planing takes some efforts, but if you're pushing your bench chances are you're trying too hard.
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Jun 28, 2021 17:44
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KKKLIP ART posted:I think from 1.5-2 inches thick is what I am looking for, and it can be all one species of wood, the fanciest I might get is if I make some stripes if I used 2. I just want a nice genera purpose cutting board. Nice general purpose? Use one wood. Pick one that you are confident in making flat enough to stick together tightly. Using the long grain will be easier than trying end grain and will look groovy still. Only suggestion is try to aim all the grain in the same direction for when you're surfacing and finishing. It'll make it easier to manage.
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Jun 28, 2021 17:46
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Meow Meow Meow posted:I would recommend you read The Anarchist Workbench, there is a free PDF online https://blog.lostartpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AWB_Consumer_June-2020_v5.1-1.pdf It goes into good detail on different bench features and tells you how to build a sweet bench. Just Winging It posted:Aprons are for rigidity. If you don't have a thick top, you need to get it some other way, and aprons create what's basically a torsion box (like a ribcage or airplane wing). That allows you to have a strong and rigid bench without having to use a ton of wood to make a thick top which would otherwise get you that strength, and as such, are (much) cheaper and easier to build. Chris Schwartz's older Workbenches book goes into it some more when he talks about the (knockdown) Nicholson (so named because the design first appeared in Nicholson's early 19th century book, they're also know as a (English) joiners bench) benches there, but I don't know if you can still get that book. So basically, a material efficient way to get the required strength for a workbench. Thanks for the answers and resources! Now I get why I see a correlation between aprons and tool wells
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Jun 28, 2021 18:00
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KKKLIP ART posted:I think from 1.5-2 inches thick is what I am looking for, and it can be all one species of wood, the fanciest I might get is if I make some stripes if I used 2. I just want a nice genera purpose cutting board. Stultus Maximus posted:Speaking of benches... Mine is thick and heavy - top is glued up 2x4 and the legs are also glued up 2x4. But every time I plane something, it walks across the basement floor. Anything I can do about that? I'm normally not an OSB fan but I think here it's a little squishier and stable than plywood. In front of my lathe I did basically the same thing but put some 3/4" strips of wood under the OSB to make it sprung a bit and it's much more comfortable. If you made sure you had blocking under the legs of the bench it would work fine there too.
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Jun 28, 2021 18:02
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NomNomNom posted:Lubricate your plane sole. Seriously, first time I did it I drat near threw my plane across the shop. Planing takes some efforts, but if you're pushing your bench chances are you're trying too hard. I've always waxed my plane soles, but for some reason never thought to wax my plow plane until yesterday. Wow, I could plow a groove twice as fast with half the effort.
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Jun 28, 2021 18:20
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Meow Meow Meow posted:I've always waxed my plane soles, but for some reason never thought to wax my plow plane until yesterday. Wow, I could plow a groove twice as fast with half the effort. I used paste wax on my planes for a long time. I've recently switched to using 3-in-1 oil on them. They glide as slick as poo poo through a goose and I notice less rusting.
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Jun 28, 2021 18:54
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an oil rag-in-a-can is an excellent shop tool, I use that poo poo on everything. a 9 minute video feels kinda overkill for 'stuff a rag in a can, load it up with oil' but paul sellers loves detail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npKo1y2e8RI
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Jun 28, 2021 18:56
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Bloody posted:an oil rag-in-a-can is an excellent shop tool, I use that poo poo on everything. a 9 minute video feels kinda overkill for 'stuff a rag in a can, load it up with oil' but paul sellers loves detail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npKo1y2e8RI I poo poo you not, that video was why I switched.
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Jun 28, 2021 18:59
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For lubrication, I use a chunk of paraffin, like you get at the grocery store canning aisle. I also have some oily rags that I wipe everything down with when I'm putting it back into the toolchest, to remove wood dust and give a little rust protection.
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Jun 28, 2021 19:02
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Rag in a can is the way, it is life. Try it on your saw plate next!
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Jun 28, 2021 19:48
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I wonder how much longer you'll find paraffin in the canning aisle? It's been considered dangerous (and not recommended in canning books) for a couple of decades. Last time I looked, they didn't carry Ivory at all. I haven't ever done any woodworking, and I want to scrape some wood clean of finish. My plan had been a couple of card scrapers. After reading, I find that I need to be able to raise a burr on the edge, and also to re-flatten and raise a burr again. I don't and won't have a workbench; we won't have a garage, attic, or crawl space. I will have a couple of sawhorses, so a temporary setup would be okay. I thought my best bet might be this gadget from Lee Valley to hold the scraper perpendicular so that I can file and burnish it. Is there a simpler solution?
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Jun 28, 2021 21:26
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Nthing rag in a can. Works perfectly and does a great job of keeping rust away. I wrote my chisels on it too, along with any other bare steel handtool. Nice when burnishing card scrapers too, super convenient to just swipe the burnisher over it.
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Jun 28, 2021 22:06
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Hypnolobster posted:Nthing rag in a can. Works perfectly and does a great job of keeping rust away. I wrote my chisels on it too, along with any other bare steel handtool. What keeps it from spontaneously catching fire? I was severely warned, as a child, about the risk of greasy rags.
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Jun 28, 2021 22:49
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Arsenic Lupin posted:What keeps it from spontaneously catching fire? I was severely warned, as a child, about the risk of greasy rags. Petroleum-based oils won't spontaneously combust because they're saturated hydrocarbons. Vegetable oils, like linseed oil, will because they are unsaturated, which is where the oxygen attacks and starts breaking them down.
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Jun 28, 2021 22:51
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Exothermically curing oils like linseed oil are the ones that catch fire when you leave rags soaked with them balled up because the heat generated by the curing will build up and eventually ignite the rag. Oils used for lubrication don't cure like that so they don't catch fire.
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Jun 28, 2021 22:52
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I wonder how much longer you'll find paraffin in the canning aisle? It's been considered dangerous (and not recommended in canning books) for a couple of decades. Last time I looked, they didn't carry Ivory at all. How big is the thing you are trying to scrape? Using a scraper on something propped on sawhorses is probably not going to be very much fun. It takes a good bit of pressure and you might knock the sawhorses over.
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Jun 29, 2021 00:38
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I use a piece of beeswax, but now I need to try an oily rag. Arsenic Lupin posted:I wonder how much longer you'll find paraffin in the canning aisle? It's been considered dangerous (and not recommended in canning books) for a couple of decades. Last time I looked, they didn't carry Ivory at all. This Lee Valley jig is actually to hold a file and not the scraper. If you don't have a vice, I'd say the easiest solution is to clamp your scraper to something, like a table, a counter, a chunk of wood, etc.
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Jun 29, 2021 00:50
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I wonder how much longer you'll find paraffin in the canning aisle? It's been considered dangerous (and not recommended in canning books) for a couple of decades. Last time I looked, they didn't carry Ivory at all. Also, tell us (or even better show us) the wood you want to remove the finish from. You may be better off with a chemical stripper; or, sanding; or, we may scream "dear god no don't."
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Jun 29, 2021 01:59
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I wonder how much longer you'll find paraffin in the canning aisle? It's been considered dangerous (and not recommended in canning books) for a couple of decades. Last time I looked, they didn't carry Ivory at all. I got plenty last year from W*lm*rt canning peach chutney. They have a shitload of it. This is the first I've seen describing it as dangerous.
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Jun 29, 2021 02:16
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Anyone have an offcut of alder sitting around that they wouldn't mind selling me so I don't have to drop $20 on shipping to get a single bdft Could not find alder at a single local lumberyard Sockser fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Jun 29, 2021 |
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Jun 29, 2021 02:45
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I wonder how much longer you'll find paraffin in the canning aisle? It's been considered dangerous (and not recommended in canning books) for a couple of decades. Last time I looked, they didn't carry Ivory at all. You don’t need a gadget to sharpen a scraper. All you really need is a sharpening stone and a burnisher. And you don’t use the stones much after the initial sharpening. You will constantly be honing the edge with the burnisher. This is a good video on sharpening scrapers. https://youtu.be/Nz6EpQu2HRo
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Jun 29, 2021 03:04
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Mr. Mambold posted:I got plenty last year from W*lm*rt canning peach chutney. They have a shitload of it. This is the first I've seen describing it as dangerous. There are lots of things in canning that my folks did (gah, that stove with one vat boiling jam, one vat boiling water and jars, one vat melted paraffin) that aren't recommended any more, because we've learned subtler ways canned goods can make you sick. And a chutney should be boiling-water processed anyway. I'll put up pictures of the stuff I'm stripping once I'm in my new house. It's mostly run-of-the-mill Colonial Revival with water stains. I was under the impression that after they reformulated strippers to take out methylene chloride, they weren't nearly as effective. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Jun 29, 2021 |
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Jun 29, 2021 03:37
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I was under the impression that after they reformulated strippers to take out methylene chloride, they weren't nearly as effective. Ease of stripping depends a ton on the type of finish. Shellac comes off real easy, old nitrocellulose lacquer isn’t too bad even with the neutered stripper, but polyurethane or catalyzed lacquer or god forbid polyester or epoxy fuckin suck even with the strong stuff. Stripping is no fun. Using a scraper to strip isn’t much more fun and is a whole lot more physical work to boot.
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Jun 29, 2021 04:01
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canyoneer posted:Defeated, I moved onto the upper piece, and started out right by drilling the 3.5 inch hole saw holes. Turns out the hole fits the cup really well at the lower base. I ended up using that as the top piece, keeping the dumb hole bottom piece (where the cups couldn't go down more than 1/4 inch), and then cut some posts to space the top and bottom pieces. It works OK, but it looks a little like Homer's spice rack now. gently caress your stupid story, did you make this immaculate replica or not??
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Jun 29, 2021 05:00
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Well, they weren’t all that effective even with the methylene chloride. Unless you get the really hot industrial stuff in a 55gal drum, pretty much all strippers suck. If they’re hot enough to strip easily they tend to damage the wood or glue, and if they don’t damage those then then don’t strip all that well. All of the furniture involved, except the kitchen table, is pre-1960 and probably earlier. It's very unlikely to be polyurethane. I don't know when catalyzed lacquers date to.
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Jun 29, 2021 05:11
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:... pretty much all strippers suck. If they’re hot enough to strip... Nobody?!?
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Jun 29, 2021 13:53
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Arsenic Lupin posted:All of the furniture involved, except the kitchen table, is pre-1960 and probably earlier. It's very unlikely to be polyurethane. I don't know when catalyzed lacquers date to. NomNomNom posted:Nobody?!? 
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Jun 29, 2021 14:31
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On the topic of workbenches, in particular after reading The Anarchist Workbench, is there any functional problem with dying wood used in a benchtop? Been playing with purpleheart, it's pretty neat and all that, but can't help but think a dye would be easier to work with and maybe 100 times cheaper.Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Mamma always told me to go to college so I wouldn’t have to strip but We don't strip because we need to, we strip because we want to. 
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Jun 29, 2021 15:11
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Someone in this thread linked this channel a while back for restoration. His most recent video is about french polish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoX1ZNiGfPs
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Jun 29, 2021 16:08
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I am debating trying to build some cabinets and bookshelves as an entertainment center... Thing for my living room. I like the look of Baltic birch edge grain. In addition, being able to buy prefinished sheets seems like it would be pretty convenient. The wall I would be building it on is about 187" long. I think I wouldn't want to run the cabinets completely to the edge of the wall but I'm not sure since it had outside corners/short hallways at either end to the guest bedrooms and master bedroom. I've tried a lot of googling looking for ideas on how to design something for this particular situation and have come up mostly dry. Regarding the Baltic birch plywood, I have no idea where you source it. Further, I've heard that it's manufactured in 5'x5' squares which seems awkward for building cabinets, vs 4'x8' sheets. Is buildings cabinets and bookshelves with Baltic birch, using pockethole screws a dumb and bad idea? I do have a router so I suppose I could cut some rabbets and possibly dadoes, though I'm not confident in my ability to cut long, perfectly straight cuts on my garage floor.
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Jun 29, 2021 22:30
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Bourbon Moth recently did a build with a bunch of cabinets for an entertainment center. This is the beginning of the build, the next video is the install and the previous video is him making the doors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX6FBYHyLrw Something like that?
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Jun 29, 2021 22:44
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:The pre-1960 stuff is probably just nitrocellulose lacquer and shouldn’t be too bad to strip. How bad is the finish? Padding lacquer/french polish works really well to restore old lacquer finishes, and paste wax can work wonders too. You can get amalgamator too that basically melts the lacquer again so it can flow back out smooth. Unless it is really badly cracked, it can probably be cleaned, scuff sanded and re-coated. If the finish can be restored instead of stripped/refinished it will be a lot less work and probably leave a better finish in the end.
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Jun 29, 2021 22:47
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Arsenic Lupin posted:It turns out the paraffin sometimes doesn't seal out mold (we've all had a bubble or two underneath), and the mold can be dangerous. I boiling water processed the chutney. And then poured melted paraffin on top. And then gave him an enema! Card scrapers are effective on flat surfaces. They then almost always need to be sanded, but a scraper is a great, quick way to remove crap without raising dust if you're skillful about it. I don't recall reading what in your house you need to refinish. If it's installed millwork, that's going to be a pita. There are sponge-backed sanding blocks that I've found effective on millwork. Sometimes you can find some with a contoured profile that's similar to the millwork. Stripping is nasty work, regardless. There are plenty of youtubes for that.
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Jun 29, 2021 22:50
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Just as a PSA, if you're not using a vacuum when you sand, do so. Makes a huge difference in the dust floating your shop. I have a 10' hose and 3d printed an adapter for my cheapo makita sander and have it all hooked up to my cheap shop vac. I'd wager it's about as good as a festool sander and extractor combo (albeit more cumbersome and much louder)
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Jun 29, 2021 22:57
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MetaJew posted:I am debating trying to build some cabinets and bookshelves as an entertainment center... Thing for my living room. I like the look of Baltic birch edge grain. In addition, being able to buy prefinished sheets seems like it would be pretty convenient. However, I tried to buy some baltic birch a few weeks ago and both my suppliers laughed at me and said they might get some in January. You may have a hard time finding any in stock. Arsenic Lupin posted:The problem isn't scratches or cracks, but water rings. Can French polishing get rid of those? This video sort of explains it and Mohawk makes good stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EyuNdQn-oc E: This stuff is readily available and works okay sometimes. Worth trying first at least. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Howard-Restor-A-Finish-16-oz-Walnut-RF4016/100199071 Kaiser Schnitzel fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Jun 30, 2021 |
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Jun 30, 2021 00:27
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