[A gift to help a friend.]

No, I did it on the router table. And you have no idea how many scraps it took to make more scraps, and finally get it the way I wanted it.  After running out of hardwood scraps, I went to the ply scrap pile, and made that smaller. But now, I think I can do the groove fairly accurately.  I was nervious about using an edge guide, as I age, my hands aren't as steady as they use to be.  So the router table with properly placed  stops, made it easy, after cleaning out my scrap pile.  There are two good things about making that.  I got it right, and I have wood for winter's stove.

[A gift to help a friend.]

  A friend of mine that lives in Maine is 59 years old and his wife is a cradle robber at 77 years old.  She's physically failing and her mental abilities are failing as well.  He's super concerned that he's soon going to lose his wife, and has been calling me regularly to get me to help him figure out what his next steps are.  With her, and after.  He knows what I've recently gone through, and he's trying to pick my brain to figure out how he's going to deal with his future.  I don't know if I'm any help, but he must be getting something from our talks or he wouldn't call so often.  The fact is he's scared, and for several reasons. The most important, is losing his wife. Secondly Because he's spending so much time trying to keep her alive and well, that his cabinet business is now almost gone. So, financially he's hurting.

  I can give him a shoulder, but there's not much else I can offer him.  So, I figured a small gift, for him and his Lady might cheer him up for an hour or two.  So I made these quick.   Walnut, Curly Maple, a small strip of cherry cutting board.  And a set of coasters with stand so he'd have a place to set his beer when it gets tougher on him  Walnut and curly Maple. I hope it helps some.

[Work Benches]

3 hours ago, Tmize said:

I still haven’t got around to starting the build yet. But Rick your bench is just about what I had sketched up with a leg vise instead of the front vise. 

I bought those vises to use in two different places, even before I thought about building the bench. Then the bench wood was found, and I thought, hell, just use what you have.  It's worked fine so far, though the center of the bench dropped about 3/32nds. I guess there was still some moisture in the poplar.  I don't use it for being sure it's a flat piece, I use the chinese bench that is flat and is now my outfeed table.

[Work Benches]

9 hours ago, Chet said:

That is a nice bench Rick.  Kind of a Roubo base and Nicholson top.

I guess if you need to name a style of bench, you could call this one a Nicky Roubo.

[Hi]

15 minutes ago, Woodenskye (Bryan) said:

Hey Spanky.  Maybe you need to take a nice piece of maple and tap that boy from Houston where the good Lord split him!

Nah, then we'd have two of him, that's way to many.

[Work Benches]

3 minutes ago, Spanky said:

Coop, that table was new in the first two pics. No lighter’s or cigar’s on the table. ?

I'll fix that for ya.   Hey Rickey, go down to the "Lumber" section and read what I said about you, maybe you could post a way for the guys to get in touch other than through a PM.

[Work Benches]

Before I moved out of my 9' by 12' shop into the one my wife had built for me, I spent a lot of time screaming at the $120. chinese bench I bought. And, with good reason, the dog holes were 5/8ths the vise racked worse than anything you could dream up, even with spacers it still racked.  So when I moved into the new shop, I scouted around for some wood that was inexpensive aka: cheap, and I came up with some air dried poplar and pine.  With oak I had in the shop and two vises I bought off Grizzly, this is what I built.  It ain't a Roubo, nor any known bench, but it does what I needed in a bench. and is getting beat to hell proudly. And the damn thing gets heavier weekly.  I made my own stops and drilled the proper hole for my holdfasts. The base is all 4"x 6" pine. The top is 12/4 poplar, with an added 1" board under all the dog holes. On the left end I added later a place to put a roll of butcher paper , so when I do any finishing, I can keep the top somewhat un ruined. [Ha} It's beat to hell, but its a tool and I treat it like a tool, not furniture.  I make furniture on it.  And you can see, It works.

[Wood source]

  Here in Middle Tennessee there are a number of places to buy lumber.  From sawyers, lumber yards and of course, the big box stores.  But for furniture grade lumber, I go to Spanky. He's located not to far from me in Rock Island, Tennessee  He's not only a sawyer, but does his own kiln drying.  And he loves to talk with woodworkers.  I'll update when I get his permission to add his email and/or phone number.

[The Trouble with Trivets]

I thought she would be, I was just trying to provoke a smile.  Thank her for us, front line fighters are the best.

[Table Top Coat]

Top coats are difficult under the best of circumstances.  That said, I don't ever reccomend using a poly/acrilic as a top coat for any surface that gets a lot of use.  The damn stuff seems to just peel off in small sections.  Don't under any circumstances ask me how I found out. I'll pull whats left of my hair out.

[The Trouble with Trivets]

10 hours ago, Woodenskye (Bryan) said:

Great Job Chet!  Giving to the nurse across the street is a great idea!  My GF is a nurse and a lot of them are feeling under appreciated at the moment.

Come on Bryan, be nicer to the lady, jeez.  ?

[I needed to simplify]

  I went with two coats of natural danish oil, then a week after the last coat, three coats of poly.  I would have used ARS, but it froze over the winter.  I picked the wrong day not to get a fire going.

[I needed to simplify]

Thank's guys. I appreciate it.

[I needed to simplify]

I needed to make some space in the area of mine and my wife's desk.  She's no longer with me, so I cleaned up her desk and removed it completely. However during the time I was considering what to do with that space, I spent about 5 weeks building a table that would normally have taken a day or two with a week for the finish.  Here's the final product and in place.  It's made from Spalted Ambrosia Maple, with a Cherry  bead along the bottom of the aprons.