Popular Woodworking 2002-08 № 129, страница 41

Popular Woodworking 2002-08 № 129, страница 41

Here you can see a drawer-front adjuster installed in the backside of a false front. The machine screw can wiggle a bit in the plastic housing, which allows you to move the drawer front slightly for a perfect fit. Here's a tip:You can plane the white plastic easily if the adjuster isn't flush with the false front.

with the screws for the drawer-front adjusters and attach the false front. You'll be able to shift the false fronts around a bit until you get a consistent gap all around. When you're happy, add a couple more screws to lock the false front in position.

Details: Dogs and the Vise

The spacing of the 3/4"-diame-ter dog holes on the top of the bench are determined by the type of vise you purchase. If you are using the Veritas Twin-screw vise,

Drill two pilot holes in the drawer boxes and install screws in them so the points stick out about V16". Now position your drawer front where you want it using shims.

Once your drawer front is in position, press it against the screw tips. This will mark the wood for the location of your drawer-front adjusters.

drill your dog holes every 10" as shown in the diagrams and chamfer the openings of the holes. I purchased four Veritas Wonder Pups to use as dogs in this bench. You also could make your own dogs by gluing a 3/4" dowel into a small block of 3/4"-thick wood.

Installing the tail vise is a project unto itself and requires a long afternoon and some precision drilling. The instructions supplied with the vise are first-rate - as is the vise itself - so there's no need to go into detail here. If you mount this vise as shown, it's remarkably versatile. It excels at clamping boards so you can work on their ends, such as when dovetailing. With the dogs, you can clamp large panels to your bench for sanding. And with the dog holes drilled on the front edge of the bench and vise as shown, you can secure long boards (up to 61" long) to work on their edges.

If your work is both long and wide (for instance, a large cabinet door) you can pull out one of the drawers in the toolbox below for additional support while you work on its edge. The drawer slides are rated to hold up to 100 pounds, so you should be able to tackle all but the heaviest panels.

One of your last acts on this bench is to flatten the top. I removed the high spots with a No. 7 jointer plane, cutting diagonally across the top in both directions. Then I cleaned up my work with a random-orbit sander. Check your progress occasionally using a straightedge or winding sticks. A belt sander will take the place of a jointer plane if you prefer.

Once you load up the toolbox with tools, it's not going anywhere, so there's little need to attach it to the back of your saw. If you do find yourself pushing the bench around, you could add a shelf between the front and back rails of the bench base (below the

SUPPLIES

Deluxe Bench

Lee Valley Tools 800-871-8158 www.leevalley.com

• Veritas Standard Twin-screw Vise

Item # 05G12.21, $149

• Veritas Special Bench Bolts (4) Item # 05G07.01, $19.95 a set

• Veritas Round Bench Pups (4) Item # 05G04.04, $13.25/pair

Woodworkers Hardware

1-800-383-0130

www.wwhardware.com

• Waterloo 20" full-extension slides (4 pairs needed)

Item # WW1690B20Z, call for current price, sold by the pair

Basic Bench

Lee Valley Tools 800-871-8158 www.leevalley.com

• Large front vise

Item # 70G08.02, $66.50

Any hardware store

• Eight 3/s" x 16 x 6" hex bolts, 50 cents each

• Eight V x 16 hex nuts,10 cents each

• 16 5/16" washers, 3 cents each

toolbox) and load that up with more tools or sand bags. Or you can cobble up a way to attach the bench to your saw's table board and sheet-metal frame.

Once you get your bench where you like it, you'll want to rout out a couple channels in the bench's top to accommodate your miter gauge's bar. For my saw, these slots measured 3/8" deep, wide and 10" long. Measure the bar of your miter gauge with the longest bar and add a little extra for good measure.

For me, the only real problem with this new workbench is that it begs the question: What do I do with my old bench? Natural selection just weeded it out. PW

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Popular Woodworking August 2002