The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING

Tools and Equipment 8 Cabinet maker’s bench and accessories

CABINET MAKER'S BENCH

Good benches are indispensable for handwork; a softwood bench put together quickly from small section wood is not suitable. Cabinet - benches should be of hardwood, preferably beech, sturdy and perfectly level, because the eye will always attempt to compensate for any slope, and thus vertical cuts are likely to be out of square if the bench-top is sloping. A quick - action woodworker's vice/vise should be fitted and an end vice also. Figure 37 gives the constructional details of a standard bench with 21/2 in (63.5 mm) beech top and underframing, which should not be less than 6 ft (1.828 m) long.

Instead of buying a bench, many may prefer to make their own, and all the necessary metal fittings are obtainable from specialist tool firms.

36 Woodworker's vice with end dog. (By courtesy of Record Ridgway Tools Ltd)

WOODWORKING VICES/VISES

The standard 9 in (228 mm) quick-release woodworking vice with American pattern front dog on the outer jaw is illustrated in Figure 36. The front dog is used for holding work against a batten fixed to the bench-top.

HOLDING DEVICES

Various devices are used to hold the wood or support the tool, and the test of a good craftsman is his ability to improvise. Figure 38:1

shows the rounding-cradle for supporting square-sectioned material while it is being rounded; and 38:3 a planing-board with different-size grooves for holding thin stock, etc. Figure 38:2 shows the bench-holdfast, which is merely inserted in a hole bored in the bench-top and will remain in any position once the screw-pad is tightened on the work, while long edges which have to be worked with a rabbet - or moulding-plane can be lifted clear of the bench by gripping them in a bar clamp G-cramped/C-clamped to the bench-top. If there is no end vice/vise to the bench there can be no possible objection to nailing battens to the bench to grip long lengths, wide panels, etc.. while they are being planed, provided that only lath-nails are used, and that they are carefully withdrawn immediately after. The over - fastidious craftsman might object to this, but the important thing is the piece of work on the bench, not the bench itself.

ostensibly for loose dust, etc., and the headpiece or stop can be extended out, as shown by the dotted lines, to support wide boards. In making up these pieces great care should be taken to ensure that they are truly square in every detail, otherwise the whole object is defeated. An average size for normal work, i. e. squaring ends and shooting the edges of small pieces of wood with the hand plane, would be 2 ft (609 mm) long, 9 in (228 mm) wide overall of which about 3 in (76 mm) is reserved for the side of the plane, with the stop out of 11/4 in (32 mm) square timber. Larger boards up to 4 ft (1.21 m) long are also useful for trimming veneers, etc., and can be simply made from two pieces of wood, with the top board kept back to provide a shoulder for the stop to butt against, and the whole screwed together so that it can be knocked apart and lined up afresh whenever necessary, for all boards do require periodic checking.