The Bench in Action

Myrtle Anniversary Shaker Table
Today I started work on a new project, a shaker trestle table (similar to one I made in 2008) to celebrate our 5th year wedding anniversary. This proved to be a great opportunity to test out the new bench.


The Wagon Vice
The wagon vice is a very versatile carriage style vice which replaces the standard shoulder vice. I'll have more pics of its installation soon.

Here I am using the wagon vice to secure a piece of tas. myrtle I'm about to machine. With the piece secure and the no. 5. freshly sharpened I'm able to quickly remove the tips of a twisted board. Doing this prior to taking it to the machine reduces the number of times you need to feed the board, making everything faster.

The slightly less traditional use of this vice is to allow me to secure pieces for power tools. This piece, resting on some scrap pine, is held safely to allow me to trim the edge of this board.

The Leg Vices

With the sliding leg vice I have a maximum screw to screw distant of 1.65m. This allows quick and easy clamping of long boards.  

Here I'm using a no. 7. plane to joint (or flatten/straighten) the boards prior to gluing.