I’m sick of projects.  I want to spend the next month just sharpening and sorting.  Figuring out what I have, giving away what I don’t need, and planning a permanent tool storage solution around that result.  I’d also like to beef up my DIY moxon vise with an extra board on the back jaw for balance.

The shop is becoming cluttered again.

But all of that depends on actually finishing one project: my Stent Panel workbench.  I’m very close: four more boards to laminate onto the remaining legs, one short stretcher to fit and a show face to attach to the benchtop.  But then comes the final problem: piston-fitting the leg tenons.  Since abandoning long stretchers, friction-fit joinery has become a must.  And for portability, I also won’t be gluing or drawboring the legs in place (at least not at first).

So far, sizing tenons has been a trial and error process.  I flatten a tenon board, square an edge, and then send it through the thicknesser to just over the correct thickness and width.  In at least two cases, the tenons ended up too thin (by 1/64 or so) for the mortises.

My first thought was to CA glue plastic shims to the tenon cheeks.  This worked fine.  But the correct thickness plastic shims are either hot pink or white, neither of which are a great color matches to the rest of the bench.

My second option is wood veneer.  In fact, Rockler makes a 2/83″ pine veneer sold in 3 sq ft batches for under $9.00 (it was $12.98 including shipping).  I figure a film of PVA glue brings the patch up to 1/32; I can shoulder plane down the reverse side to friction fit. And the face grain to face grain glue surface should make the veneer a permanent addition to the tenons.

The leftover veneer can be used to fill any remaining gaps once the bench is assembled and flipped over.  Measure twice and cut once, indeed.

JPG

The traveling tool tote is done.  With the sliding tray finished, the chest is loaded up with everything I’ll need on site to finish my Stent Panel workbench a couple weekends from now.

With room to spare, no less!

I will do a full retrospective after a few weeks of use, but I’m overall pleased with the outcome.  Portability is not an issue: it’s neither too heavy nor out of balance.  The sliding tray does wonders to balance out the heavy bench planes at the back of the well.

I’d save some space if my sharpening jig wasn’t made of 2×3…

I’m still on the fence regarding casters.  There isn’t much glue surface holding the lower skirt on: barely 3/4″ (plus a few headless brads).  That small glue surface would support most of the casters’ bearing surface.  Is that enough?  Probably.  Will this prototype be in woodworking use for long enough to justify casters?  Unknown.

JPG

I’m displeased with the “no mortise” hinges on the traveling tool tote (the same that were used on the medium tool chest).  And not just because they still require hinge mortises (on one side, at least).

This is what the fully-loaded well looks like, FYI.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the “no mortise” hinges on straight.  In a fit of rage, I bought some home center middle hinges (in oil-rubbed bronze) and switched them in.  Between the comically deep mortises and the unsightly holes in the underside of the lid, this will remind me forever not to give into the hype.

A constant reminder of my shortcomings.

I am also displeased with the first set of rot strips.  Too narrow and too tall.  On the next iteration of the tool chest, they will be replaced with something a bit more squat and stable.

It’s tough being my own biggest critic.

JPG

I splurged a bit the other day, on several hundred Dictum nails and additional accoutrements. Not sure if I ever talked about my gouges, but I finally bought a tool roll for them. I also picked up a Japanese nail set, a drawbore pin and a mortise float, all of which are being put to immediate use (no spoilers!).

The traveling tool tote is basically finished now, other than the tray (which is the last and final step).  I really like the look of those Dictum nails and plan to use them assembling the tray also (the carcass used Tremont cut nails).  Tapered drill bits would have been invaluable, though, as there was some end-grain splitting in the pine lid when attaching the oak battens (the battens themselves held up fine).

The lid also doesn’t close as tightly as I’d like, but worse things have happened.

Some cyanoacrylate shored up the splits and the whole thing got slathered in more red paint.  After a few weeks of use, I’ll do a full retrospective on the project.  I’m already thinking about ways to improve the design for the next go-around.  Not the least of which will be painting the lid before attaching the oak battens.

There is always another go-around.

Sorry for the sporadic posts lately.  Things have been too busy for much writing.

JPG

If you haven’t seen it yet, you should check out the Lost Art Press teaser on Roman Workbenches.  There is something about the bench depicted in the plate that makes sense to me.  At the height of a normal workbench, I bet it would be fantastic for a small-space woodworker and pull excellent double duty as workbench and stout kitchen table.  To that end, I have decided to forego the long stretchers and shelf on my Roubo-style workbench.

It’s been at this stage for a while, actually.

Here is my thinking: the benchtop is just over 4″ thick,  and the tenons are at least 4″ wide and 1 1/4″ thick, so the joinery is plenty beefy.  Instead of long stretchers and a shelf, I will build a low, rolling cart to keep under the bench.  When in use, I can wheel out the rolling cart (for access to my tool chest and other essentials), and when I’m done, it tucks away neatly.  This will free up the corner where my tool chest currently resides and, eventually, I can revisit the floor chest idea.

The bench will still have short stretchers, although I might use lapped joinery temporarily (rather than mortise and tenon) until I determine if the bench can live without long stretchers.

Make sense?  Or am I just being lazy?

JPG

No, not really.  But the chamfer on the lower skirt isn’t as deep as I wanted.  And “Tuscan Red” milk paint is drabber than I expected.

First coat, slathered on.

I should have carefully masked the insides, but whatever, it’s a tool box.  Also, the reinforcing corner brackets seem to be growing…

Second coat, much more uniform.

Third coat should be the charm.  Then I’ll worry about the tray and the lid.

JPG

In a classic case of “trying to do way too much all at the same time”, I dropped the traveling tool tote on Sunday and fractured front right joint.  Id est, the most visible joint. I was trying to attach the rot strips while the clamps were still on the tray runners and it lost balance on the saw benches.

Everything was going so well, at the time.

Whatever stress imparted upon impact, the top nail no longer held the joint solidly and I feared for long term stability.  My choice was clear: add a dovetailed skirt and dust seal to the project, or cram the joint full of some more hide glue and reinforce everything with some ugly Home Center corner brackets.

Seriously, guys, what did you think I’d go with?

Repeat after me: this is a working tool, not a museum piece.  At least the handles look nice (or will, once I blacken the screws).

JPG