Official Luthiers Forum!

Here you go kids -

http://youtu.be/w3HBvCCHx1o

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Very nice! I'm envious of some of his tools. The big Millers Falls drill press is spectacular!

I built mine completely with hand-tools as well, not out of a sense of purity but it was all I had. I started with a tree, quartered it with a sledge and wedges. It was a lot of work. I felled the tree with an axe, squared it with a bucksaw, cut every bit with that teeny Japanese handsaw and planed it all without a bench. I used clamps and a concrete wall for resistance. Cut all the channels, which there are many for steel rod with a hand router. The project was a true exercise in perseverance. I obviously put in a few fancy pieces of wood. I drilled through figured oak with a hand brace. Some of the dog holes literally took more than a day of drilling for each one. A six month project. Everyone I knew thought I was crazy until they saw the final product. The ultimate tool. I really, really wanted a bench and today it's helping me achieve my goal of finally building a guitar.

I hope this isn't seen as a hijack. Not really sure about the protocol here, just wanted to share. Apologies if so.

Nice, Jimmyjames, Lottawork!
I'd be frightened to bring a saw near a bench like that!
BTW - my feet are jealous of the carpet in your workshop.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Carpet is not ideal since cleaning it is a major hassle. When I built it I lived in a tiny urban apartment and this was my living room. Inexplicably, the OCD little woman didn't complain at all, she understood how badly I wanted this. I now have a dedicated workshop with a plywood floor. I've been saving wine corks and eventually I'll have enough to make a mat large enough to span the distance of planing.

I use my bench with complete abandon. There are saw marks and glue and divots all over it. I originally brushed on shellac to completely seal it but I just planed it flat again for guitar making. I may try linseed oil this time to see how "grabby" it is. Shellac is a tad slick and the movement of parts is troublesome.

To anyone wanting to make a bench like this: I followed Sam Allen's _Making Workbenches_ a great book. Allen make everything clear and the design utilizes compression strength for rigidity. There's steel rod running all through this thing and it does not rack. The store bought benches rack considerably. The only way to get this kind of solidness is to spend five grand or make it yourself. Don't be fooled by the benches in the catalogues, they're really not strong or stable enough to do accurate work. I checked out all the commercial benches I could find and not one stayed square under pressure. Too much energy is wasted in a bench that moves.

Making this thing with no bench to create the parts was a major challenge. I studied drawings of Japanese methods and I got really good at sharpening.

I wouldn't hesitate to put several tons of weight on it.

-j

That bench is not big enough to get my Performax Thickness sander on....

Hesh, I'll try to do better next time.

Actually, the dimensions are ideal for approaching work from all sides. Counterintuitive but works extremely well.

-j

Doesn't that have it's own stand?

Cool bench! All mine are much more utilitarian and mundane, but I'd stack them up against any approaching car sized vehicle and I think it would be a fair fight.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

That was great. Gives hope for people like me who are always messing around doing weird fun stuff, and occasionally learning a little.