On Wednesday I cut a four-inch-thick slice off the big pine log that has been sitting on the mill. I rotated it first from the single straight cut, putting that on the side of my resulting board, and also moving a split in the log to run parallel to my cut, assuring none of the split would intrude. I cut the board in half so I would have two pieces about 4 feet long each, then started planing one of them on the face and then the edge with a scrub plane. Unfortunately, there was a wave in the original cut, so it was still necessary to straighten up that one edge of the board.
After working the board with the scrub plane, I used the 5-1/2 to bring it down much smoother before finishing it up a bit with a #4. I used a panel gauge to determine the width of the final board and mark a straight parallel edge opposite the original one, then planed that easily to form at 12 inches net width. Finally, I used the scrub plane again to put a scalloped surface on what will be the bottom of the Roman Workbench.
Next, I determined the position for legs, which in the end may be temporary for reasons I will discuss later and drilled one-inch holes at angles to take legs I made later. For the drilling I used a bit and brace, and the largest bit I have, I might add.
That bit is a one inch, and I used it also to set in dogholes for the bench, as that corresponds to the dogholes and accessories for my workbench in the shop as well. That way I can use the metal dogs and the holdfasts and such from it on the Roman.
The Roman Workbench is intended to fit under the workbench in the shop when not in use and will largely serve as a saw bench. So it is set to be 18 inches tall, a foot wide, and four feet long, allowing me to tip the feet of the Roman over the stretchers on the workbench and put it in. But as I am intending to build a woodshed after the manner of a timber frame, I thought it would be good to have a small, portable bench for the job.
Dogholes go in straight up and down, while the legs holes are set at an angle.
Looking through the bottom while the bench is set on its side, dogholes and leg holes can be seen through the scalloped surface.
I rested from this job on Thursday and did other things. Among them was visiting with our son and grandson. I asked son if he wanted me to easily make up the other half of the length of the original board into a small bench for his basement, but he said he didn’t think he had room. “No” to a free workbench? His loss.
On Friday I turned four legs and four dogs for the bench on the lathe. I have a problem with the legs. The wood was so wet it was spitting water at me while I turned. That means the tenons will shrink so much that they will need to be refitted or remade when it finally dries. I expect some problems with the benchtop too, but that has been oiled and had anchor seal put on the ends, to ease the water loss and cracking or warping.
The final bench with four dogs and a #4 plane sat atop it for some sense of scale. The space under the adjacent bench is where it will live when not in use.
The finished bench is a perfect height for a seat at 18 inches, and it is a sturdy one at that. Hopefully that will do as a saw bench. Also, to answer the question the keen observer has, no, I did not seat the shoulders properly. They seat where the shoulders touch the surface of the bottom, and otherwise are gapped. I still suspect the leg tenons to cause serious troubles, so I will have to find some dry wood and make new legs, then seat them properly. Who knows what shape they will be? If the wood I find is not conducive to turning, then I will cut square legs instead, and give them shoulders coplanar to the bottom.
I finished the bench for the time being by lunchtime Friday, all while doing other things, and would say it is an easy build. I wonder what I could sell a properly built bench for? I’ll bet up to $500 or so. It does solve the age-old woodworkers’ problem that you have to have a bench to build a bench. I bought a bench originally, so I was able to work the other way around. But this still satisfies a need for the woodshed build, and it will again be useful in the shop. Being pine, it will show the abuse I give it. Being a woodworker, that should not be a problem for me.
Now it’s time to pick out the next project. I fancy a bit of furniture in the house. Maybe it is time to start the pie safe for the kitchen? Whatever the case, I am hellbent and determined to learn this skill and to let the work of it strengthen me against the future.
