What's On Your Workbench?

[Crawforde]

Made some sawhorses so I could take the messy sanding work outside. I used some old 4x4 cedar that sat outside for years and thought it would be cool to keep the old weathered surface. It was not cool. Nothing was square, nothing was straight, and the outside was just punky enough to make it impossible to mark an accurate line. Took way longer than it should have and I still didn't really get them square. Oh well, good enough for sawhorses. On the plus side, they smell nice and they're strong enough to support the top of the workbench that I'm going to get around to building One Of These Days Real Soon Now.
View attachment 4820964

Good enough for saw horses for sure. nice job. I almost always get more satisfaction from reclaimed wood projects or from using wood cut from storm fall trees etc.
Those look nice, and the joinery looks really good. I like the contrast of the fresh cut internal wood and the grey aged outer surface.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I really need to get back to work on my commission build. Last night I finally went and cleaned up my workbench, then immediately made a mess of it!

 

[ctmullins]

Good god, what a mess! Sheesh....

 

[LP Custom]

Good god, what a mess! Sheesh....

I’m with you. That’s how my space looks AFTER cleaning up…

 

[TerribleTim68]

Good god, what a mess! Sheesh....

I’m with you. That’s how my space looks AFTER cleaning up…

Seriously tho, I tend to get frustrated if my space isn't clean and organized. I can get in a funk and just not feel like messing with it if it gets too bad.

 

[Crawforde]

I just cleaned my space yesterday.

There was a toilet on my bench for a bit, that had to go.

 

[Lo-E]

Conceptually, I love a clean workspace. In practice, I’ve proven countless times that I’m not capable of realizing such a dream.

Honestly, I’d feel out of place in my workshop if it didn’t look a little like the aftermath of an earthquake.

I do clear off the benches from time to time but it takes me only seconds to un-clear them.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I have such a small space that I just feel overwhelmed if it gets too messy. Honestly, my back counter is so disorganized right now that I'm teetering on the edge. I try not to take pictures of it.

 

[Jeff Roller]

My little garage bench stays disorganized simply due to the nature of that's our main ingress/egress from the house.

If it gets much worse than this, my wife will "volunteer" to organize it for me. This tends to motivate me to action more than the clutter!

 

[Crawforde]

Yep.
My wife organizing the garage scares me more than hurricane approaches.

 

[Will_White]

Organizing just means spending the next two weeks never being able to find anything until the bench looks the same as it did before you organized it.

 

[AeonKen]

My first build is currently occupying the workbench.

The body glued and planed.

• AeonKen
• Sep 23, 2022
• build

Along with its fretboard blenk.

Gluing a plug on the bottom of the chosen fretboard blank

• AeonKen
• Sep 23, 2022
• build

 

[Crawforde]

Is that a piece of hickory or pecan? Hard to tell on the little screen with old eyes.
I had some that seemed as hard as granite and started a violin fingerboard in it, plans changed (violinists don’t usually like “different” much) , and I put it aside but I think it would have looked good and worked nicely.

 

[AeonKen]

Is that a piece of hickory or pecan? Hard to tell on the little screen with old eyes.
I had some that seemed as hard as granite and started a violin fingerboard in it, plans changed (violinists don’t usually like “different” much) , and I put it aside but I think it would have looked good and worked nicely.

The neck through body is made out of (from the outside in) Turkish Linden (aka Basswood, sapwood and heartwood, wings), hornbeam (Gürgen also a turkish species) and walnut. The fretboard is olive.

 

[Crawforde]

Nice!
That’s going to be pretty.

 

[AeonKen]

Nice!
That’s going to be pretty.

Thanks!
I really think that you should pick up that project again, if you still have it, or have access to similar woods. Without different, no progress! If you do, please also share your results... I'd love to see how that turns out

 

[RichterScale]

(violinists don’t usually like “different” much)

Make it anyway. It'll sound like a violin and look cool while doing it. Someone will appreciate it and want it,...if you don't keep it.

 

[Jeff Siddall]

Gaah, I gotta stop looking at wood stores in my spare time. I came across this 1" thick (!) crazy figure bookmatched top and now my wallet is a lot lighter:
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I figured (hah!) this would be perfect for a carved top semi-hollow CS-356 inspired thing so I gimp'd up a quick scale render with a light burst:
View attachment 4500003

Yeah, someday after my long list of other unfinished projects that should be awesome.

I was at a local hardwood store yesterday getting some wood to build some furniture, and came across a 19" wide (!) 8' long 8/4 thick 25 bf slab of flat sawn mahogany:

That was in addition to the other 75 bf of various birds eye, curly, roasted and plain maple, plus some curly walnut and some birch for good measure. So... I guess I have the neck/body wood. And my wallet is very light again.

 

[Crawforde]

I’m not buying any more wood for a long time.
I’m not buying any more wood for a long time. I’m not buying any more wood for a long time.
hmm there is a nice hardwood shop In Santa Monica a very short walk from my daughters apartment. Maybe I’ll just take a little look when I’m there in a couple of weeks. It couldn’t hurt.
I found a great use for a hollow scroll top between coats of shellac on her guitar.

and yea it’s a fretless guitar on a violin body. But I figured that’s how you should build a guitar for a violin player.

 

[Crawforde]

Re: the hickory violin fingerboard
Maybe. but probably not.
I have some plane irons and
I already sketched a plane body on it to make a long plane body for joining.