The ACWA Workbench

I would have to say this is the largest woodworking project I have done. When I think about it that sounds silly it's just a workbench, but is it? I think fine furniture would be a more appropriate term. Now that the tops are glued up we have been able to turn our attention to more of the detail and technical side of the build.

Here we are routing out the mortise on the end of the bench that will house the tail vise assembly. This is done in many passes with a router and a 3/4" spiral up-cut bit.

After we excavated that material we were able to glue in the dog strip. As you can see the strip has warped between the time it was made and now which was only a few days. We are able to pull it straight with clamps so its not a big problem.

With dovetails this big we used the band saw as opposed to a hand saw to cut the tails, then used a router and coping saw to clear out most of the waste. Once that was done we used a pairing chisel to finish it off.

Now we drilled the holes for the carriage bolts and barrel nuts that hold the end cap in place. This can be stressful trying to blindly line up the holes for the barrel nuts in the bottom of the bench top.

The joinery on the end of the bench for the tail vise is complete now to fit the end cap, but I have to get the dishes done before my wife comes home so that will have to wait til tomorrow.