Olie Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 Was out of town for a few days but got home last night and tonight I finished up my first solo install of inset drawers. Sure was a tedious process and lots of tweaking along the way. One thing I learned is that I shouldn’t precut all drawers to size before install and at a minimum I should leave the last drawer on top a little wide to cut to size at the end. The gap on top of the first drawer may be just a tiny bit bigger than the rest after I got to the top, but I got lucky and it’s still pretty good and I’m sure no one would ever know but me. Next I think I’ll tackle the vises and they are both on order. As a tail vise I’m going with a Veritas inset vise which is reasonably priced at $109 and on the front will be a benchcrafted leg vise with the classic handle. Benchcrafted stated that all classic handles have now changed to a black oxide finish so will be a little shinier than the picture. I think this will be a good challenge for me, especially the routing of the mortise, etc. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 Looking really good! A template is probably the best option for the tail vise. Cool part about that is that you can practice on some scrap. I'd do the chop just like we did the leg using an edge guide. Careful layout is the important part. Just go slow and you'll be fine. And, if you mess it up, it's just a piece of wood.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 I think you will be happy with the Veritas Inset Vise. I have had mine since 2017 and it has never made me want something different. 1 Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 1 minute ago, Chet said: I think you will be happy with the Veritas Inset Vise. I have had mine since 2017 and it has never made me want something different. Yes, in the world of super expensive $500 tail vises, this just over $100 one almost felt like going cheap, but it’s all I need and should work fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 Even though I’ll have to remove these when I apply finish I couldn’t resist putting the pulls on to see how it looks. They look good but not super crazy about them and can always change them out. These are the pulls I have on my miter station and ruobo and when I bought them I got a bunch of extras just in case they got discontinued and I wanted some matching ones for other shop furniture. I just happened to have 8 extra on hand. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 25 minutes ago, Olie said: Even though I’ll have to remove these when I apply finish I couldn’t resist putting the pulls on to see how it looks. They look good but not super crazy about them and can always change them out. These are the pulls I have on my miter station and ruobo and when I bought them I got a bunch of extras just in case they got discontinued and I wanted some matching ones for other shop furniture. I just happened to have 8 extra on hand. I think they look great! The fact that they match the rest of your shop is a bonus! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 A woodworking postcard pic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 I was able to get out to the shop and work on installing my veritas inset vise. I will admit, I barely have any experience at all on a handheld router. Most of that work on my two benches was done by Kevin with me observing. I built a template and test on a scrap piece and then put it on my bench and let the chips fly. I don’t know why it was so nerve racking routing into the top of my bench but it really wasn’t that bad and was a great exercise for me to build some confidence and experience with the router. It all went well and the results were good. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 Looks like a good fit. Well done on your first try. 1 Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted August 4 Author Share Posted August 4 Ya done good! Looks like a super nice fit! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 I bet there was a pucker factor involved! 😁 Very well done! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 On 7/26/2024 at 9:23 AM, Chet said: I think you will be happy with the Veritas Inset Vise. I have had mine since 2017 and it has never made me want something different. The instructions for this Vise call for a 3/4” wide by 1 and 3/4” long slot to go all the way through the bench top. It’s supposedly to clear chips and debris out of the vise. I’ve seen videos with some people putting this slot in and some don’t. Did you put this in yours and is it needed? I don’t have a long enough router bit so I could just drill a hole or two with a drill or forstner bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 With the dimensions given, I can’t see it worth the effort. JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 16 hours ago, Olie said: Did you put this in yours and is it needed? Yes I put it in, at both ends. I used a 3/4 bit and drilled 3 or 4 holes and cleaned it up with a chisel. If you don't put it in you will need to constantly clean chips out or the area around the acme screw or things can start to clog up. 1 Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 31 minutes ago, Chet said: Yes I put it in, at both ends. I used a 3/4 bit and drilled 3 or 4 holes and cleaned it up with a chisel. If you don't put it in you will need to constantly clean chips out or the area around the acme screw or things can start to clog up. Thanks. I never considered both ends so I’ll have to take a look at that. A few holes with a 3/4” bit I have and cleaned up with a chisel seems easy enough. Doesn’t need to look good either based on where it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 My wife’s family that was visiting finally left so I got out to the shop to glue up the chop to get to the desired thickness. Do I have enough clamps on it 😉 The Benchcrafted instructions say the chop needs to be a minimum 2.5” thick so I glued up an 8/4 and 4/4 board and now at 2.75” after jointing. I have a chop design in mind, but thought I’d ask everyone for ideas or chop designs that they like. Any ideas? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 Looking good! As for the chop shape and design, that's really a personal choice and hard to go wrong.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 I went with the one out of the plans but like Kev mentioned really a personal choice. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 Mine is similar to Paul's above but the cove portion starts higher up on mine. Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 I decided on a chop design that I’ll reveal soon, but for now I got the leg vise installed. The most nerve wracking part was the big long mortise but it actually went well. I decided to hog out most of the material with a forstner bit and to the final depth and then I cleaned it up with the router and edge guide. The bottom of the mortise will never be seen so I didn’t care about the point holes from the forstner bit. I then had to drill the pin holes in the side of the leg and chop and installed the plates and criss cross to test its function. The most finicky part was mounting the nut in the back of the leg so the screw fit in the right position and then the bushing in the front on the leg that stabilizes the screw. All in all everything went pretty well and the vise seems to be functioning great. I really like the look of it and hope I like the function just as much. IMG_7864.MOV 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted August 24 Author Share Posted August 24 Looking good! Function looks great as well! Nice job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 Here is my chop design. I really like curly maple and I have some curly maple accents in my tool tray and I have some wenge plug accents throughout the base of the bench so I decided to add a strip of wenge between the African mahogany and curly maple. It’s not glued up yet or shaped. I was thinking a heavy chamfer on the top of the chop and cutting the curly maple/wenge piece at a 45 at the bottom. Unless anyone has other ideas? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 2 minutes ago, Olie said: This is the chop design I’m thinking of 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 11 hours ago, Olie said: All in all everything went pretty well and the vise seems to be functioning great. You got to love it when a plan comes together. 2 Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 That’s sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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