Field trips are always nice, because we woodworkers love to see what other people are doing in their shop. This month - we found ourselves in Ed Thiessen's woodshop, checking out the classic Andre Roubo inspired workbench that he is building.
Ed's plans were featured in the Aug 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, but he recommends this book for anyone who might be thinking about building this bench.
Ed's plans were featured in the Aug 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, but he recommends this book for anyone who might be thinking about building this bench.
Because the bench wasn't fully assembled, we had an opportunity to see some of the details that are going into the construction of it. Here, you can see the top of one of the legs, and how it will attach to the top. Ed cut these joints by hand, with a variety of handsaws and chisels.
He's still working on the leg vise, and hopes to be done with everything soon.
With the top approaching 200 pounds, he's going to need a couple of strong buddies to flip this bench into place.
The meeting was well attended, though we almost needed a shoe-horn to fit into his shop! We had some new faces in the room, which was great. Our group grows with every meeting.
His wife even supplied some banana bread, which was very sweet.
Ed mounted his router under one of the side tables on his tablesaw, so that he can share the fence with both tools. His vacuum system eliminates almost every speck of dust.
With a shop this size, Ed stressed that everything must be well placed for efficiency. His bandsaw tucks behind the door when not in use.
The chop saw fits into a dedicated base with extends his fence in both directions. Ed scored the base cabinets for this saw from another cabinet shop that was going out of business. That seems to be a familiar theme around this city!
Clearly - organization is key to working in a shop like this. Pegboard helps Ed keep everything in order.
At the AWFS show this past summer, Ed bought a Wood River plane, comparing it to a much higher priced Lie-Neillsen plane. He loves the plane - and kept the box that Tommy Mac autographed!
Finally, Ed brought up his pet project - the Toys 4 Smiles group here in town. If you're unfamiliar with them - they make wooden cars and trucks (from donated wood) for needy children in the Las Vegas area. They do wonderful work, and have made nearly 100,000 toys for our community. Their funding comes from community donations, and they're always looking for volunteers.
You can bet this chair gets a lot of use at the end of Ed's long days in the shop!
