A workbench should be heavy, very heavy. So I build a lot of benches with good thick 4” tops and simple but robust bases. Now a days we tend to call this the French bench, mainly due to recent trends in workbench designs. I don’t think the evolution of workbench designs was clear cut or defined … [Read more...]
Or Maybe Bigger IS Better?
Yesterday we introduced our new 5’ workbench yet today we’ve been putting the finishing touches on more of a Wadkin grade bench! This is our 8’ Nautilus but built with a bit of a difference using what is pretty much quarter sawn oak. To top it off the customer opted for two snazzy hand wheels teamed … [Read more...]
When Bigger isn’t Better!
This is a working prototype of the latest bench to be added to the Maguire Workbench range. At only 5’ in length it is rather on the small side for us, and it certainly feels that way after some of the huge benches that we’ve been building recently. This 5’ model is a first for our range despite a … [Read more...]
Richards Castle Bench
Now and again Richard likes to build a bench that is a little different to what he’s done before to keep himself challenged (like it isn’t difficult enough!) On his current build the motto has been ‘bigger is definitely better!’ Since all of the benches that we build are pretty robust in size this … [Read more...]
The Oak ‘Artisan’ – Part 5, Nearly There!
The best and most efficient way to mark out mortices for me is to use a story stick. It’s just a simple stick with all of the measurements drawn on to it so I can reference from either the top or bottom of the leg and mark on the appropriate line. I just make a little scratch on the leg and then go … [Read more...]
The Oak ‘Artisan’ – Part 4
Once the top had been glued together and fully cured I removed the clamps and left it one side to allow it to stabilise. I don’t know the exact reason but after such a large glue up the top can be quite unstable for a short length of time so I give five days or so for it to settle, this also lets me … [Read more...]
The Oak ‘Artisan’ – Gluing up the Top
The top is made up of three slabs which meant there was only two joints to worry about but because these are wide slabs there wasn’t any room for sloppiness. If I’d tried to just clamp poor edge joints together on sections this large then the joint would be guaranteed to fail so I needed to take my … [Read more...]
A Hateful Day!
Hate is a very strong word, but we all have jobs that we hate and today was one of those hateful days full of jobs I hate. To top it of, I arrived at the workshop to find the drains had blocked up … again. One more hated job to add to the list of hated jobs. I decided to start with the worst job … [Read more...]
The Oak ‘Artisan’ – Getting Started
My ears picked up, I heard the distinctive click of the kettle coming off the boil. I knew it was close, I could picture the boiling water flowing onto the tea bag, the sweet sent hitting the air. Any minute now…. And right on queue there she was tea in hand. She put it in the usual spot, on … [Read more...]
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