The Traveling Sawbench

While spending time with my family in the wild and wonderful West Virginia I tackled a couple of projects I have been putting off for a while now. The first was much needed upgrade to my “sawbench”. The original sawbench that I created was made from plywood and 2x4’s butt jointed and crudely screwed together. This original sawbench was created to be tossed at the end of a season before we had to move. Needless to say the creaking and wobbling bench was in need of a replacement.
This project was a reunion with a Delta Contractors Table Saw I bought 6 years ago and has sat in WV. The new sawbench was created out of scrap white oak and cherry that was also being stored with the table saw. I would not choose to make a sawbench out of such nice timber but it was at hand and free. Seeing as this sawbench will spend most of its life in the living areas of my house, good looks are not all that bad. Because of the endless moving in my future I made this bench small. Only 18” long! I also work on very small components because of the size of my portable workbench. (Are you starting to see pattern?) Due to the size of components I work with I decided to create one side of this bench with vertical legs so that I could rip without hitting the legs. The legs are much too close to rip in between. This design does make the bench tippy if you are right on the edge of the vertical legs side. By changing the way I “hold” the timber seems to cancel out any tipping and creates a solid support. As I use the bench more I will let you know what I think of the design. I created some holes in the stretcher to house carpenters pencils, a striking knife, and my holdfast.
The second addition to the lineup is a new striking knife. The faithful followers will note that my younger brother Nick “The Blacksmith” created a striking knife at my request about a year ago, but the knife’s metal was funky and would not hold an edge. This time around we started with a nice piece of O-1 tool steal. The result was perfect; a knife that holds an edge to all kinds of abuse and is easy to sharpen. I will update on the striking knife as it gets used on upcoming work. I also took the chance to set up and use my red oak workbench that is about mid way through completion. I screwed on a cleat and used the slab to work on. No dogs or vices just gravity.
Now it is time to get to Grand Teton, hangout with my wife, wax some skis, and set up the shop for another awesome winter season.

A Table for Two

This summer I had the opportunity to marry to good friends. To celebrate their commitment to each other I created this shaker nightstand. The following is the description given to the newlyweds.
"This nightstand was based on an old Shaker classic. Clean lines, pleasing proportions, tapered legs, a chamfered top and a single drawer are all characteristic of the timeless Shaker nightstand. The entire piece was constructed of solid wood and was designed to endure lifetimes of use. The black cherry table frame was constructed with mortise and tenon joinery and affixed with pins created from the same cherry stock.
Inlay was set into the background of the top as an outline to highlight the size of the top. The two circles that overlap in the center of the top represent the two of you becoming one. The colored strips of inlay on the sides of the top spell Mo on the left and Jon on the right in Morris code. The black inlay is ebony and the white is American holly.
The drawer was constructed with English details such as thin drawer sides, half blind dovetails at the front and full dovetails at the rear, and drawer slips to increase the wear life of the drawer. The front of the drawer is curly maple with a hand-forged knob. The drawer sides are cherry with a poplar bottom. I personally put a lot of details into this drawer in hopes that it will always house something that will benefit your marriage, like a book you read together or a marriage journal.
Hidden inside this piece are three pennies one from each of your birth years, 1972 and 1980, and one from your year of marriage, 2010."