So I wanted to share with you something that is only seen every ten years or so. This is the top of my bench
I built this bench about 10 years ago. At the time I used my hand planes to level the top. When I did my last christmas ornament youtube video, I noticed the top of my bench wasn't flat. I don't know if I just didn't do a very good the first time or if the 2x4's I made the bench from moved a little as they dried. So I cleared everything off of it and dug out the hand planes again. I figured as long as I had the top cleared off I might as well fix a couple small areas too. When I first got my little lathe I was so excited to start turning I couldn't be bothered to build a stand for it, so I set it at the end of my bench. Well I managed to knock a bottle of CA over and didn't notice it until days later when it was a rock solid glob stuck to my bench. I thought I would just knock it off with a chisel. It came off easy enough, but it took about 1/4" of the top of my bench with it! That's the square repair.
The round repair I dropped something heavy with a domed screw with a square drive. You could still see the imprint of it before I drilled the hole.
I had also had an idiot moment when I first built my bench. I measured the opening on my vice jaws and determined that 6 inches was a good spacing for my dog holes. I then went to my bench, hooked the tape on the front of the bench, measured back six inches and drilled the first set of holes, measured six more inches and drilled the next set, and so on and so on. Then I tried to clamp a 1 by 4. Doh!:redface: I've made due the last decade by putting shims in to hold things smaller than 6 inches. I figured I might as well fix it right. Filled all the old dog holes and drilled new ones that are 3 inches from the front. Had to redrill three of them. It's harder to drill a straight hole with a hand brace than it looks.
When I was finished I put some BLO on it and now she's all ready to be buried in projects and tools for 10 more years.
I built this bench about 10 years ago. At the time I used my hand planes to level the top. When I did my last christmas ornament youtube video, I noticed the top of my bench wasn't flat. I don't know if I just didn't do a very good the first time or if the 2x4's I made the bench from moved a little as they dried. So I cleared everything off of it and dug out the hand planes again. I figured as long as I had the top cleared off I might as well fix a couple small areas too. When I first got my little lathe I was so excited to start turning I couldn't be bothered to build a stand for it, so I set it at the end of my bench. Well I managed to knock a bottle of CA over and didn't notice it until days later when it was a rock solid glob stuck to my bench. I thought I would just knock it off with a chisel. It came off easy enough, but it took about 1/4" of the top of my bench with it! That's the square repair.
The round repair I dropped something heavy with a domed screw with a square drive. You could still see the imprint of it before I drilled the hole.
I had also had an idiot moment when I first built my bench. I measured the opening on my vice jaws and determined that 6 inches was a good spacing for my dog holes. I then went to my bench, hooked the tape on the front of the bench, measured back six inches and drilled the first set of holes, measured six more inches and drilled the next set, and so on and so on. Then I tried to clamp a 1 by 4. Doh!:redface: I've made due the last decade by putting shims in to hold things smaller than 6 inches. I figured I might as well fix it right. Filled all the old dog holes and drilled new ones that are 3 inches from the front. Had to redrill three of them. It's harder to drill a straight hole with a hand brace than it looks.
When I was finished I put some BLO on it and now she's all ready to be buried in projects and tools for 10 more years.
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