As I mentioned in the last post I had some gaps between the legs and top I wanted to clean up.  So, with some effort, I was able to remove the bench top from the base and flip it over so I could clean up the bottom of the bench top.  I wanted to ensure I would have mininal gaps so I decided I was going to pin the base onto the top.  Similar to the drawbore method, but without the offset.  Just dowels going straight through everything.  I am also going to drill dog holes and work on the deadman.

Fitting The Top and Sanding the Base

One corner of the bench top had a gap, so it made sense to me to hand plane down the other three corners a bit.  I also cleaned up the leg mortises a bit more.  I used a jack  plane and shoulder plane.  Since the base and top were seperate for the last time, I sanded the base down.  It is much easier to flip around and get to the awkward spots.

After sanding the base, I flipped the bench top back over and slid it onto the base.  Having a workbench about the same height was very useful in doing this.  Once the top was in place I used a clamp at each corner to pull the top down onto the legs.  After clamping pressure was applied I marked two locations for a dowel in each mortise joint.

After all four legs were marked I drilled 23/64″ holes as deep as I could with my drill bit.  Then I chucked up a really long 5/16″ bit since that is all I had and made them a little deeper and added a little wobble action to make them larger.  My dowels are 6″ long by 3/8″ in diameter.

 

I drilled the holes in only one leg at a time and then drove the dowels in.  I did have an issue with one dowel.  It split before I could drive it in.  I cut it off and left it.

Dog Holes for Wagon Vise

Afer the top was firmly in place, I turned my attention to the dog holes.  I wanted a row of them to align with the wagon vise to clamp boards for planing, sanding, routing, etc.  My vise has about 7″ of travel, so I set my dogs at 5″ spacing.  I set up my drill press to drill at 2-3 degrees and made a little jig from scrap.  Two holes 5″ apart from one another and a small 3/4″ dowel piece.

I started by using the dowel in the wagon vise shuttle, placing my jig on to that,  and measuring how far the jig was from the front edge of the bench.  I locked in a square, so I could maintain this down the line. The first holes I drilled were inboard of the leg, so these did not use the dowel to locate.  Just some rough eyeball measurements and ensuring the distance from the front edge was right with the square.  I clamped the jig in place and used a combination of 3/4″ forstner and spade bits to get the job done.  (and coffee helps)

After the first hole was drilled I could use the dowel to ensure consistent spacing, but probably could have used some other form of measurement as well.

The steps went like so:

1. Place the dowel
2. Lay the jig on it
3. Ensure a consistent edge measurement
4. Drill with the forstner bit
5. Remove jig, keep drilling with forstner.
6. Clamp a block underneath the bench and drill the rest with a spade bit.
7. Continue

I had to jump over the front left leg, but managed to get two more left of the leg.  I will add more down the road as I need them.

The last step was to round over the top and bottom edges with a roundover bit.

Deadman

Now time to move onto the sliding deadman.  Previously I had laminated two boards and already used them to lay out the slot location on the underside of the bench.  I started by getting rough measurment for total height between stretcher and bench top wth the inserted section in the bench top.  I went to the bandsaw a handful of times to get close and then used a shoulder planee.

I wanted to ensure the deadman was parallel with the sides of the top

It was at this point, I was geting a little fatigued, but wanted to get the sliding deadman finished.  I forged ahead.

After some contemplation, I decided on a simple bowtie shape for the deadman.  It was laid out and cut to shape on the bandsaw.   I was able to use the bench to hold the deadman while I cleaned up my cuts with a plane.  The wagon vise worked great.

The last step was to lay out and drill the holes in the deadman.  I decided on three columns of holes each offset 1″ from each other in height.  I wanted them to be spaced equally across the width of the deadman, but I screwed up.  There was a  bad layout line and I didn’t realize it until I had all the holes drilled.  You can see the holes on the right side of the picture are too close to center.  oops!

I should also mention that the holes in the deadman are drilled withh the same 2-3 degrees pointing upwards.  I figured it couldn’t hurt.  It will help pull it towards the bench and will aslo wear over time better.  As th holes get ovaled it will remain parallel or higher for longer.   I used a 3/4″forstner bit and the drill press.  I also drilled some holdfast storage holes in the front RH leg with handheld drill and spade bit.

Its getting close.