And now to find the white oak lumber. Hard to find when I did my bench. Looking forward to some spectacular projects off this bench. 

I have had the white oak sitting in the shop for a few weeks just waiting to get done with the bench

 

Bottom shelf is done, sanding done, edges broken, chamfer details done, and it is ready for finish.

You knocked it out of the park on this build Michael.

Well done sir!

    

       

1st coat of Danish oil is on and I can’t believe how much it soaked up.

Going to need another can for 2nd / 3rd coats.

 

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

You knocked it out of the park on this build Michael.

Well done sir!

    

       

Thank you, and everyone for the kind words.  It has definitely helped keep me motivated and on track through what has been a really challenging build.

That is an heirloom build Michael, a thing of beauty   and all by hand

Two coats of danish is plenty. Any after that is extremely slow to dry and can cause some problems needing buff or sanding, such as stickiness.. The first coat penetrates and the second acts as final seal and beauty . For workbench I use Steve Mickley's formula and glue will just pop off. 

       Beeswax about an egg size piece

       BLO one part

       Turpentine or Mineral spirits one part

Warm this till the beeswax is melted and apply. You will have to heat for each successive use. Reapply about every 4 to 6 months.

Thats not a bad idea, I haven’t decided really on which wax to use, but I am leaning more toward a mineral oil / beeswax / carnuba was formulation.  

3 hours ago, Gerald said:

  Beeswax about an egg size piece

       BLO one part

       Turpentine or Mineral spirits one part

Is this a recipe for 'danish oil'?

I've used that recipe Gerald provided for my last 2 benchtops, as well as my last 2 assembly tables. The bench tops were maple, the asesembly tables were torsion boxes with MDF. It really does work well, glue pops right off, easily renewed and simple to apply. If I had a complaint about it it's the smell of the turpentine, it took several days to clear out of my shop. Woodman, that's not danish oil...danish oil is generally a mixture of varnish, MS, and BLO. Most often you see that mixed in 1/3 of each. Storebought danish oil is kind of anybody's guess. It can be just wiping varnish, or it could be danish oil. Here's an interesting article about them by Flexner.

19 hours ago, Woodman said:

Is this a recipe for 'danish oil'?

No this is a bench finish. Danish would have poly in it. Bench finish is not permanent and has to be reapplied to keep the protection. Think of it as kind of a cutting board finish except it is to protect against glue spots. Let the glue spots dry and then pop them off with chisel or scraper.

So I did some testing and found something interesting.  

There is a product called Howard Butcher Block Conditioner, which is basically food grade mineral oil, beeswax and carnuba wax.  They sell it at the orange store and I got a bottle and tested it out.  I wiped some on a piece of untreated and unsanded baltic birch ply as directed, then later  dripped and smeared some tightbond II on it.

Drips popped off no problem and smears were able to be pulled off with fingernails easily.

It does not seem to transfer appreciably to any wood that I have rubbed across it.

 

I think this might be a solution.  Has anyone else tried this or can anyone suggest a reason why it wouldn’t work?

And with the new bench being completed, I had to do a simple but necessary project to prove that it works.  Had to make a pull saw bench hook for cross-cutting small pieces.

Nothing fancy but planed flat, cut a 1” strip off both ends, left one full length and cut 2 inches off the other, then glued them in place with tightbond II and CA to hold until the other glue sets.  

 

Positioning the top bar like that is so that I can turn it around and use push saws too if I ever get a push saw

 

It’s not fancy but it’s a nice little project to christen the workbench.  

Beautiful project! I'm kitchen-tabling it for the foreseeable future but will square up a dozen 4' lengths of 2x4 the next time I 'find' some, and replace my porch and basement mini-benches with new level surfaces.

 

Now for some pre-beginner questions . . . The bench has two vises? Are both sections of the split top stationary? These protruding nubs part of the vise assembly (I think), but how so? Thanks!

 

 

Yes both sections of the top are stationary. They are located positively with the 1” tenons on the top of the legs and have a mortise cut in the underside.  They weigh enough where gravity would keep them there but they are also secured down by lag bolts that run through the cross members that run between the front and back legs.

 

The nubs there are part of the vise assembly as they hold the mortised end cap on to the tenon cut on the end of the front section.  Between those bolts and the dovetail on the front laminate this locks the end cap in place and provides the support for the tail vise.

 

In that particular picture I was test fitting the dovetail so that strip and the next strip down (doghole strip) weren’t glued up with the rest of the front bench assembly which is why there is no gap for the dog block to slide in.

On 9/8/2022 at 8:05 AM, Cal said:

That is an heirloom build Michael, a thing of beauty   and all by hand

 

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^,...and I'll add a little. 

 

I have a great interest in these benches, I have a few books on them and would love to swing at one someday. I've followed your build and truly appreciate the in process posts you've made. For my mileage this is a high end quality build that is what sites like this are all about. I've got it saved to revisit in the future but my vote is the boss makes this a sticky or something. Fantastic build man, would love to see some more "things of old"built on it