OldTools Archive
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132672 | Clif Palmberg <myemailnameisthis@y...> | 2004‑04‑26 | Bio and project completion |
Hi. My name is Clif Palmberg. I've been reading oldtools for a year and a half or so now, and figured it was time to ante up and introduce myself. I kept pushing it off, and decided when I finish my major project, I'd show that off, too. Vitals - Clif Palmberg, 26, happily married living in north Dallas, Texas (Little Elm to be exact). By day I am a project manager for a yearbook company. By night I am a wood torturer and do cruel things to unsuspecting pieces of trees for my own pure entertainment. I began woodworking when I was nine. My dad did it as a hobby, and I was signed up in 4-H (Kansas) for woodworking. My first project was a tic tac toe block that was mainly woodburning (that was quite the rage thinking back). That progressed through high school, with stops along the way to make a chest, stacking bookcase, grandfather clock, curved-front chest of drawers, headboard and a few other things. My dad had a shopsmith with many attachments, and we would find a way to use power for even the finest or most intricate of tasks. Insert college, traveling, first job, marriage, apartment, moving to our first home. I was reunited with my woodworking bug as I graduated college and made a nightsttand for my eventual wife. Woodworking in my youth, there was a few things I generally didn't like. The noise, sawdust, constant threat of being one wrong move and not being able to count to ten with your fingers. I discovered oldtools, realizied quality still means something somewhere, and there is a way to enjoy the smell of freshly cut walnut while still hearing the music in the background. The rest is history, as they say. ... Enough about me. The project that gave me pause to post my bio. What would you expect - a workbench! I'm a bit of a photo and web junkie (used to do photo professionally, do webwork on the side). So, I made a quick page on my bench. Check it out at: http://homepage.mac.com/maclif/shopprojects/workbench/ Ok - my bench vitals: 7' 1/2" long 2' wide 33 1/2" tall 3 1/2" thick oak top Shaker-inspired closed base enclosed tail vise shoulder vise Woods used: oak, walnut, southern yellow pine, cocobolo With the exception of two pieces of oak, the entire bench was made out of re-used pallet material or wood from my grandfather's farm (ok, cocobolo was given to me by a friend). Tools used: 90% hand tools (disstons, baileys, stanleys, and of course a whole lot more). My gloat - total cost of the probably 500 lb monster - $150 or so. Well, if you're reading this far into the long-winded bio, I tip my hat to you. Now, pass the spatoon. -Clif, Dallas Texas __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover |
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132682 | Larry Marshall <larry@w...> | 2004‑04‑27 | Re: Bio and project completion |
> What would you expect - a workbench! I'm a bit of a photo and web > junkie (used to do photo professionally, do webwork on the side). Absolutely beautiful, Clif. Did you have much trouble fitting the enclosed tail vise? What hardware did you use? -- Cheers --- Larry Marshall Quebec City, QC http://www.woodnbits.com |
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132684 | "Frank" <dilloworks@s...> | 2004‑04‑27 | Re: Bio and project completion |
Clif, You have a beauty there. If you need a place nearby to store it for a few (or more) years, let me know. I would be willing to move my current bench out into the rain to make room for it. :-) Frank Sronce (Fort Worth Armadillo Works) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Clif Palmberg" |
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132704 | Clif Palmberg <myemailnameisthis@y...> | 2004‑04‑27 | Re: Bio and project completion |
>Absolutely beautiful, Clif. Did you have much trouble fitting the >the tail vise. What hardware did you use? The tail vise wasn't too bad to fit. Before the apron, before the three rows of 1" wood I glued on for the dogholes, I very carefully made sure the entire length the front edge of the bench was square to the top. After that, using the top as a reference, I used my 55 (actually, my great-grandfather who settled the fam in Kansas' 55) to plough a 1/2" thick and 1/2" deep slot in the edge of the bench. Not changing any settings, I did this to the apron. >From there, built up the dog holes, carefully glued on the apron and attached the endcap (held by dovetails in the apron, tongue and groove in the end of the bench and two bolts with captured nuts). I made the vise jaw taller than needed, and planed it down. Hardware - the vise runs on a pair of cocobolo slides - naturally oily and sturdy. Where the wood contacts has beeswax coatings. The acutal screw is the shoulder vise screw from lee valley. That made the setup about $30. (Technically, the screw was a christmas present - thanks Scott!) If I need to take out the jaw, I remove four screws from the bottom, and removed the slides from the bottom. I've got pictures of the whole process I can post if anyone's interested. They're shot with my palm pilot and not the highest quality, but you can see how it all works. >If you need a place nearby to store it for a >few (or more) years, let me know. I would be willing to move my current >bench out into the rain to make room for it. :-) If you can single-handedly move it out of my garage and into the back of the truck, maybe. On second thought, Galoots are pretty resourceful folks and you'd probably pull up with some sort of sliding dovetail contraption based off of a pole drill to lift it. I'll have to pass on the offer. :) -Clif in Dallas, TX __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover |
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132710 | Clif Palmberg <myemailnameisthis@y...> | 2004‑04‑28 | Re: Bio and project completion |
I have received a few requests and questions on and off-list regarding the enclosed tail vise of the bench. I added about 25 construction photos of the bench in progress. The shoulder vise, enclosed tail vise and the journey from pallet to bench are covered. Take a looksie if you're interested at http://homepage.mac.com/maclif/shopprojects/workbench/index.html Clif in Dallas, TX ===== I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set it free. -Michelangelo __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover |
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132722 | Clif Palmberg <myemailnameisthis@y...> | 2004‑04‑28 | Re: Bio and project completion |
--- bugbear |
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132713 | Larry Marshall <larry@w...> | 2004‑04‑28 | Re: Bio and project completion |
> The tail vise wasn't too bad to fit. Before the apron, before the > three rows of 1" wood I glued on for the dogholes, I very Thanks for the explanation, Cliff. If it's not a big deal to post the photos I'd like to see them but otherwise don't bother as your explanation is very clear. -- Cheers --- Larry Marshall Quebec City, QC http://www.woodnbits.com |
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132716 | "Joe West" <joewest64@m...> | 2004‑04‑28 | Re: Bio and project completion |
All Why is the tail vise end of a traditional cabinetmakers workbench, like Clifs, unsupported? That end of the bench hangs way over from the legs. Joe West >From: Clif Palmberg |
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132723 | "Arthur Bailey" <curiousart@e...> | 2004‑04‑28 | RE: Bio and project completion |
Hey Clif- Beautiful bench! I was about to comment on the fact that the top was made up of endgrain joined pieces and that I thought that joining endgrain resulted in a less than strong bond, but then I realized that since the pieces are laid out brick-fashion, there's enough side to side glue surface between boards to counter this, in addition to the dowels. I assume everyone else knew this since no one said anything, but it's new to me. Nice solution in a world where cheep or free hunks of wood are getting smaller and smaller. Maybe I'll bring a case of beer over to the guys at the pallet making plant up the street and see if I can make some friends.... Art Bailey Queens, NY |
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132740 | Clif Palmberg <myemailnameisthis@y...> | 2004‑04‑28 | Re: Bio and project completion |
I can't speak for history, but the reason I did so was availible materials. The crossmembers of the base were only 52" long, so the base was going to be narrower than the top. I spent many hours sitting on my sawhorse staring at the top sitting on the base deciding what relationship the top and base should have. I decided on this to keep the arm part of the shoulder vise fairly small and give myself room to store my sawhorse under the end-vise side of the bench. On the other hand, I haven't had any problems with it. I can sit on the tail vise (I've never been mistaken for an Olympic runner) side of the bench and it doesn't tip. I also can pound on that end with no ill effects. Maybe that does speak to history. I like the space on that side to pull up a sawhorse and draw out plans or chisel. Maybe historically the space was to allow someone to work in a sitting position and still have the bench in front of them. Maybe there was some resource or building method that limited the sizes of bases, too. Of course, all of that is based off of personal experience and no direct reference to anything concrete from a historical perspective. -Clif in Dallas, TX (pumped Jason is daydreaming of my bench) --- Joe West |
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132715 | bugbear <bugbear@p...> | 2004‑04‑28 | Re: Bio and project completion |
Clif Palmberg wrote: > I have received a few requests and questions on and off-list regarding > the enclosed tail vise of the bench. I added about 25 construction > photos of the bench in progress. The shoulder vise, enclosed tail vise > and the journey from pallet to bench are covered. Take a looksie if > you're interested at > http://homepage.mac.com/maclif/shopprojects/workbench/index.html Wow! *very* interesting approach to fitting the slab to the end frame. http://homepage.mac.com/maclif/shopprojects/workbench/Images/02const.de- tails/06rabbetjigres.jpg This gets a good fit, whilst removing a minimal of material from the slab. This maximises stiffness and mass in the top, whilst still getting the required fit. It also minimises labour, compared to fully surfacing the entire underside. It's also a perfect "parallel invention" of what used to be done with floor boards before power saws and thickness planers. (summarising from memory, "The Village Carpenter" by Walter Rose). A sash rebate plane was run done the edge of each board, with its fence referencing the finished (upper) surface. This created a very good reference for the desired underside. This underside was only thicknessed across it's full width where it contacted joists. Each joist "station" was sawn down to the reference plane, and then the waste chopped out with chisels, and finished with a carpenters plain skew rebate. BugBear |
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