Side Project: A Clock

With the shop flooding, a few assignments and a demanding work roster meant August has gone completely deprived of quality shed time. Despite that I've been putting together ideas for a little side project - a clock. 

The design is simple a dovetailed box, with a tongue and groove back, open shelf below, and a simple clock face box to hold a simple quartz movement. I plan to use clean huon pine for the outside, blackheart sassafras for the panels, and finish it with shellac. To access the movement I'm going to be a hinged trap door under.   

Looking for a Handle Maker

My skills and equipment don't (as of yet) extend to turning. When my current project reached a stage where it requires turning, I'm going to have to outsource. I'm looking for someone to make me two handles to hold the steel rod used as the sliding vice parallel guide stop.

I've made a quick sketch of various options trying to incorporate the design details of the bench such as it's concave and convex curves, as well as traditional chisel design (eg. g).

I have enough timber to make it in blackwood, blackbutt or redgum.

Which do you like?

Discussion @ Australian Woodwork Forums.

The Big Bench

No one wants to spend more time on the computer than in the shop. However, I learnt an important fact during my time as an Army Cadet - the 6 P's - Prior Preperation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. A bench of this size and weight and design requires good planning. I want this to last 3 generations.

To start with I did some research. I searched the net; read articles and watched pods. Being one that collects books; I picked up two.

The Old Luthier the blog I've been most impressed with.

The Schwarz not the official name for the blog, but one I follow.

The Workbench: A Complete Guide to Creating Your Perfect Bench by Lon Schleining. This is a comprohensive book covering a varity of benches, vises and techniques for a varity of purposes by a variety of people. It covered traditional benches and modern ones (man-made materials, twin screw vises etc.)

Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use (Popular Woodworking) by Christopher Schwarz. This book focuses on two types of benches. Eventually I decided on the roubo bench in the book. (With a few modifications.) This book than the other focuses on the 'use' of the workbench.

Workbench Dicussion thread:

Woodwork Forums Thread