DIY Construction - Building your own stuff

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Right on the Subject of Metalworking let's talk about workbenches.

I've been dissatisfied by my small shop bench for a very long time, it was serviceable but got wobbly or was not right in other ways I can't quantify, the main being it was made from Uni Strut and tack welds with Zebidy clips, This morning I tried to do some work on a part and what mattered was breaking a good part of a bad part.

I loaded the only sensible part into a vice with pipe grips took my hands on a a sledge and delivers a good wallop with a hammer covered with leather hide, and I broke the middle leg on my bech under the vice, not just bent it but it broke in half so was unsalvageable.

So today I was in a position to dust off some designs for a 6ft x2.5ft workbench, Now I wanted to build this all from Oak and Beech but that wasn't possible nor was the grade of timber I wanted, I had to settle for Outdoor treated hardwood timber and asked them to cut it to length for me to save time, and I did some assembly work with a loaned nailgun at the timber yard.

1.5 x 3 timber was the order of the day so I had to laminate some parts together I'd rather have solid but thinking about it the lamination may help going forward. (@moop_fogo I did this apart from the initial cuts will all hand tools).


Now it's not finished, I still need to mount a decent vice, and I am going to go a bit modern here and I'm going to bond and screw a 1" bit of marine ply to the top before I do that, I did 3 coats of bitumen paint on the bottoms to the leg to prohibit rot, I've not assembled the center shelf as hard as the others but all joins are secured with Lag Bolts and Glue.

Now I am adding things specifically to this bench for metalwork, the main one is called a Pound through it will look like a dog hole in a woodworkers bench but it will have a metal liner and a steel plate, to allow me to drive bunches or chisels etc through them. But one thing I am going to do is make new Tool box's and a few racks on the wall for my go to tools, Drivers, Pliers hammers, chisels etc.

Now This is where I am a bit stumped, I have a choice in Vices. I have a few available vices I can use and are all really well made and are in great condition.

1) 1880 Forged leg vice, this is a forged Steel leg Vice, 4" jaws and only has one flaw and that's the fact I've had to rebuild the mounting plate, where someone tried driving a few metric bolts into a imperial hole.

2) Record 23A Fitters vice, with jaw options.

It's a lot larger than the picture does it justice, and mine was made in the mid 50's and has been treated very well before I got it, the jaw options I have are Soft, Really Soft, Square and round also in soft or hard jaw options, it has had one repair and that's a replacement handle but it used most of the original handle and a threaded welded end on the handle.

3) A new German made Multi Vice, when I say new this is New Old Stock and it was made in the 80's but it's lived in a box all it's life, it can hold Round stock and flat stock, but the way it works is like a more modern swap head and I don't like them from experiance, but this is more solid than the ones I've used.

Personally I am edging towards the leg vice, but because I have Pinchers which are secondary jaws for the leg vice and made and designed for any stock you can imagine, it's only downside is it's not parralell but the work I do isn't as dependant on it.

 

[HERE YOU GO]

Right Edumication -
A tool is only as good as the hands that wiled it and the mind that guides them - in that vein here is some Textbooks on Metalwork you'll find useful to begin with.

Thank you for giving me several things to look into.
The Gingery Furnace was a good one, I'm looking into that now. I'm curious if I could use a bellow with a handle instead of a hair dryer.

I also have been looking into making a workbench, so your tips there were super helpful, too.

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Thank you for giving me several things to look into.
The Gingery Furnace was a good one, I'm looking into that now. I'm curious if I could use a bellow with a handle instead of a hair dryer.

I also have been looking into making a workbench, so your tips there were super helpful, too.

No problem.

Also yes you can, I've built clapper bellows and cranked bellows and it all works you just need to know that they require more physical effort, I've done a 5lb cast of brass on my own with a pair of bellows and fuelling the smeltery my self, it took me about 3 hours for that rather large pot but it worked.

The Gingery Furnace is great as it's basic enough you can make it with 0 experience but you can expand on it to smelt steel if your detremained enough, myself and another friend have made Crucible Steel in one from raw iron and we buried it into the earth, and made a continuous air flow bellows for it.

What problems are you having with your bench? I'll be more than happy to help.

 

[moop_fogo]

Right on the Subject of Metalworking let's talk about workbenches.

I've been dissatisfied by my small shop bench for a very long time, it was serviceable but got wobbly or was not right in other ways I can't quantify, the main being it was made from Uni Strut and tack welds with Zebidy clips, This morning I tried to do some work on a part and what mattered was breaking a good part of a bad part.

I loaded the only sensible part into a vice with pipe grips took my hands on a a sledge and delivers a good wallop with a hammer covered with leather hide, and I broke the middle leg on my bech under the vice, not just bent it but it broke in half so was unsalvageable.

So today I was in a position to dust off some designs for a 6ft x2.5ft workbench, Now I wanted to build this all from Oak and Beech but that wasn't possible nor was the grade of timber I wanted, I had to settle for Outdoor treated hardwood timber and asked them to cut it to length for me to save time, and I did some assembly work with a loaned nailgun at the timber yard.

1.5 x 3 timber was the order of the day so I had to laminate some parts together I'd rather have solid but thinking about it the lamination may help going forward. (@moop_fogo I did this apart from the initial cuts will all hand tools).

View attachment 2980999

Now it's not finished, I still need to mount a decent vice, and I am going to go a bit modern here and I'm going to bond and screw a 1" bit of marine ply to the top before I do that, I did 3 coats of bitumen paint on the bottoms to the leg to prohibit rot, I've not assembled the center shelf as hard as the others but all joins are secured with Lag Bolts and Glue.

Now I am adding things specifically to this bench for metalwork, the main one is called a Pound through it will look like a dog hole in a woodworkers bench but it will have a metal liner and a steel plate, to allow me to drive bunches or chisels etc through them. But one thing I am going to do is make new Tool box's and a few racks on the wall for my go to tools, Drivers, Pliers hammers, chisels etc.

Now This is where I am a bit stumped, I have a choice in Vices. I have a few available vices I can use and are all really well made and are in great condition.

1) 1880 Forged leg vice, this is a forged Steel leg Vice, 4" jaws and only has one flaw and that's the fact I've had to rebuild the mounting plate, where someone tried driving a few metric bolts into a imperial hole.

2) Record 23A Fitters vice, with jaw options.
View attachment 2981016

It's a lot larger than the picture does it justice, and mine was made in the mid 50's and has been treated very well before I got it, the jaw options I have are Soft, Really Soft, Square and round also in soft or hard jaw options, it has had one repair and that's a replacement handle but it used most of the original handle and a threaded welded end on the handle.

3) A new German made Multi Vice, when I say new this is New Old Stock and it was made in the 80's but it's lived in a box all it's life, it can hold Round stock and flat stock, but the way it works is like a more modern swap head and I don't like them from experiance, but this is more solid than the ones I've used.

Personally I am edging towards the leg vice, but because I have Pinchers which are secondary jaws for the leg vice and made and designed for any stock you can imagine, it's only downside is it's not parralell but the work I do isn't as dependant on it.

Nice bench! looks like it will last a long time. I like the diagonal brace, looks like it will be able to take whatever abuse you have in mind for it.

I don't know anything about vices & the deteriorating qualities of them. I know that metal vices that are a dime a dozen at the hardware store can crack easily & don't seem to be worth what they cost. The older buildings I have explored around where i live, with abandoned workshops & the such always have a heavy duty large mouth vice that look like they have been hit with a nuclear bomb.. lol.

Go with the leg vice man! Seems like a strong set up . Or make a 2nd bench for your multi vice? Those are the ones i always see in old fashioned workshops around here.

very cool.

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Nice bench! looks like it will last a long time. I like the diagonal brace, looks like it will be able to take whatever abuse you have in mind for it.

Thanks, it really is very solid.

I don't know anything about vices & the deteriorating qualities of them. I know that metal vices that are a dime a dozen at the hardware store can crack easily & don't seem to be worth what they cost. The older buildings I have explored around where i live, with abandoned workshops & the such always have a heavy duty large mouth vice that look like they have been hit with a nuclear bomb.. lol.

I'll elaborate on it when I have time, but it's down to the casting and the QA on them modern castings tend to be of mixed quality materials and are poorly finished and have porosity issues and voids, they are also not heat treated properly - On most modern vices there are exceptions to this but if it's made in China or India where Record etc outsource to it's a big issue.

Go with the leg vice man! Seems like a strong set up .

That's what I've decided on, I'm going to strip it back to bare metal paint with some red oxide then black metal paint, it should do it for another 100+ years.

Or make a 2nd bench for your multi vice? Those are the ones i always see in old fashioned workshops around here.

I think I might find one of the old Record folding Vice stands or copy the design and make my own, they where designed to be taken around worksites (think ship yards) and be just as solid as as a bench mounted one and use it on that.

I'm going to make some more detailed posts soon I'm just a little busy at the moment but I've got some ideas lined up.

 

[Mr. Skeltal]

One cabinet is up. It took longer than expected and the molly bolts I used had some alignment issues but I got it to a respectable load limit. Assuming 30lbs/molly bolt × 4 bolts + however much support that 2 screws into the corner stud provide (maybe 80lbs/screw) = ~280lbs of support for a 35lbs cabinet.
All it's being used for is toiletries but I'd rather overestimate the required load instead of winging it with suspended furniture. It's better that such things stay on the wall.

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Right just to bump this thread, would anyone be interested to see how you make uni - directional cut drill bits designed to be used in metal by Hand Braces?

I've got a handful of drilling jobs coming up that are not in my standard Sizes so I've got to make them, some of them will be made from cut down Wood Working Auger bits to reuse the shank and I'll melt down the rest later, and some will be from 1/4" an 3/8" tool steel square blanks I'll be adding a taper to and turning down the shanks to size.

If there is interest I'll take some photos and enplane them.

 

[HERE YOU GO]

Right just to bump this thread, would anyone be interested to see how you make uni - directional cut drill bits designed to be used in metal by Hand Braces?

I've got a handful of drilling jobs coming up that are not in my standard Sizes so I've got to make them, some of them will be made from cut down Wood Working Auger bits to reuse the shank and I'll melt down the rest later, and some will be from 1/4" an 3/8" tool steel square blanks I'll be adding a taper to and turning down the shanks to size.

If there is interest I'll take some photos and enplane them.

so like.. a one direction custom-size one of these with some of this?

 

[HERE YOU GO]

okay so this is milkweed 'coma' i talked about a few times elsewhere.
i wanted to dye it different colors to see how well it takes to color.

milkweed coma is an organic fiber that helps milkweed seeds carry into the wind for propagation (similar to dandelion fluff)
it grows connected to milkweed seeds inside the seed pod.

i used purple sauerkraut water as organic dye.

i had to tear and work the dye into the coma, it was being resistant like polyester at first.
it soaked in sunlight for 2 days, after that i tested how well it stayed in the fibers by washing it with soap.



it dried into a very light purple.
to test if the dye itself is light purple or if the milkweed fibers resisted it, i also dyed a wooden stick.



the wooden stick dyes vibrantly when wet, just like the milkweed fibers.
and it dries light purple, too. so this dye looks really vibrant but it's actually just light purple.
if the liquid dye itself were condensed further it could possibly dye more vibrantly.
i'll post more about it when i have different colors and try to needle felt something out of it.

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

okay so this is milkweed 'coma' i talked about a few times elsewhere.
i wanted to dye it different colors to see how well it takes to color.

milkweed coma is an organic fiber that helps milkweed seeds carry into the wind for propagation (similar to dandelion fluff)
it grows connected to milkweed seeds inside the seed pod.

i used purple sauerkraut water as organic dye.

i had to tear and work the dye into the coma, it was being resistant like polyester at first.
it soaked in sunlight for 2 days, after that i tested how well it stayed in the fibers by washing it with soap.

View attachment 3104516View attachment 3104515

it dried into a very light purple.
to test if the dye itself is light purple or if the milkweed fibers resisted it, i also dyed a wooden stick.

View attachment 3104517

the wooden stick dyes vibrantly when wet, just like the milkweed fibers.
and it dries light purple, too. so this dye looks really vibrant but it's actually just light purple.
if the liquid dye itself were condensed further it could possibly dye more vibrantly.
i'll post more about it when i have different colors and try to needle felt something out of it.

How are you fixing the dye Alum?

Right now I am working on a big project I can't share here but it's a massive pair of gates, 10ft tall from a very old Church nothing really massive to do on it just lots of clean up, and small repairs.

 

[HERE YOU GO]

How are you fixing the dye Alum?

Right now I am working on a big project I can't share here but it's a massive pair of gates, 10ft tall from a very old Church nothing really massive to do on it just lots of clean up, and small repairs.

non-iodized table salt and cider vinegar were put in the sauerkraut, it was made for food.
i poured out the liquid after it was done cooking, that's what the purple/pink dye is.

some very smelly vinegar cabbage purple dye. haha

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Ok Kiwi's, I want to ask you where do you work what's your bench and its basic statsm is it any flat surface or a kitchen table or a real work bench?

non-iodized table salt and cider vinegar were put in the sauerkraut, it was made for food.
i poured out the liquid after it was done cooking, that's what the purple/pink dye is.

some very smelly vinegar cabbage purple dye. haha

I think I see what your going for chemically your trying to make the dye's colour-fast my making the thread that take them up hydrophobic, If you use hot water and Alum salts in the dye and let the colur you've dipped dry out anf then get it wet it will be colour fast.

 

[HERE YOU GO]

I think I see what your going for chemically your trying to make the dye's colour-fast my making the thread that take them up hydrophobic, If you use hot water and Alum salts in the dye and let the colur you've dipped dry out anf then get it wet it will be colour fast.

yes, i've used Dharma Trading Company dyes and they use ultra fine non-food based dyer's salt and soda ash.
using the dye in a hot vat is very common, i was testing the dye in simple ways first before using more intense method like boiling since i don't know how the fibers will react to heat just yet.

before i use caustic materials and real dye powder, i wanted to test using lesser methods.
fabric pre-soaked in hot water and soda ash makes it prepared for dying as well.

the cabbage dye was extremely purple even though it wasn't hot for example, my own useless personal tests lol.

 

[moop_fogo]

Right just to bump this thread, would anyone be interested to see how you make uni - directional cut drill bits designed to be used in metal by Hand Braces?

I've got a handful of drilling jobs coming up that are not in my standard Sizes so I've got to make them, some of them will be made from cut down Wood Working Auger bits to reuse the shank and I'll melt down the rest later, and some will be from 1/4" an 3/8" tool steel square blanks I'll be adding a taper to and turning down the shanks to size.

If there is interest I'll take some photos and enplane them.

okay so this is milkweed 'coma' i talked about a few times elsewhere.
i wanted to dye it different colors to see how well it takes to color.


View attachment 3104516View attachment 3104515



View attachment 3104517

Bump. What have you geniuses been up to?

Wow. I've never considered what is possible with milkweed fiber.
Did you ever do anything with the finished product? It looks nice & soft.

mycologist post your custom drill jobs & bits!

I've been beat from my normal job, I haven't had energy for much lately.
I have been interested in making simple devices with unistrut lately. Planning a rack for the bed of my truck, & maybe a sliding drawer system for the bed, with the trolley wheel brackets. I use it at work often & it's really versatile, like giant erector set or legos. lol

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

mycologist post your custom drill jobs & bits!

Will do I've been a bit fucked of late, had a relative pass away, course work, and then a van accident But I will be making some more soon so I will happily record the process this time.

I'm planning on doing a small Blister Steel run I've mentioned it to @HERE YOU GO and the process but it's a privative way of making steel from Iron using a trick of the Carbon Cycle for some stuff I want to play with. I'll be doing it solo this time and it takes a long time to do so I'll be sleeping in a camping chair for 15 minutes at a time for a day or so

Other than that I am making myself a new jointer plane soon, I need one that's a little longer than normal and it's easyer just to make one than find one in the lenght I need, so I've got some nice beeach timber put aside for it and some very nice 01 tool steel I'll make the iron from.

I like your Uni strut idea how do you join it with the clip sections or Zebbidy clips? I've not worked with it much myself apart from building my old bench and that lasted me a while.

 

[HERE YOU GO]

Did you ever do anything with the finished product? It looks nice & soft.

I have not made anything out of it yet, but i went and found all the stuff for needle felting today so i can start.
the next thing i wanted to do was dye the milkweed with factory quality pigment but i can't find them.
i would hate to think this whole box of pigment i had is gone.

this wooden mallet i have quickly got chewed up, so i was going to make a new hammer head for it and share pics.
i can't make the new head until i fix my sander though, the belt flew out and i can't find it anywhere.
i ordered a supply of belts so there's extra in case it happens again, but it hasn't arrived yet so i can't sand anything til then.

i made a wooden butter knife and conditioned it with a mixture of refined coconut oil and 100% beeswax.
i picked refined coconut oil specifically because it is processed in a way that fatty acids and a few other things are removed to prevent oxidization.

Will do I've been a bit fucked of late, had a relative pass away, course work, and then a van accident But I will be making some more soon so I will happily record the process this time.

no wonder you were gone for a bit, i assume you're alright though since you're here?

Other than that I am making myself a new jointer plane soon, I need one that's a little longer than normal and it's easyer just to make one than find one in the lenght I need, so I've got some nice beeach timber put aside for it and some very nice 01 tool steel I'll make the iron from.

nice, i have beech logs sealed and drying for the year. i kept calling it ironwood.

 

[moop_fogo]

Will do I've been a bit fucked of late, had a relative pass away, course work, and then a van accident But I will be making some more soon so I will happily record the process this time.

I'm planning on doing a small Blister Steel run I've mentioned it to @HERE YOU GO and the process but it's a privative way of making steel from Iron using a trick of the Carbon Cycle for some stuff I want to play with. I'll be doing it solo this time and it takes a long time to do so I'll be sleeping in a camping chair for 15 minutes at a time for a day or so

Other than that I am making myself a new jointer plane soon, I need one that's a little longer than normal and it's easyer just to make one than find one in the lenght I need, so I've got some nice beeach timber put aside for it and some very nice 01 tool steel I'll make the iron from.

damn. glad you're ok

curious to see how your homemade steel comes out. will you be adding anything to the iron? haha don't fall asleep for too long...

making your own jointer sounds like a precise job. good luck

I like your Uni strut idea how do you join it with the clip sections or Zebbidy clips? I've not worked with it much myself apart from building my old bench and that lasted me a while.

Lol i haven't heard them referred to in that way before, but probably T /L brackets + Zebiddy clips!

I have not made anything out of it yet, but i went and found all the stuff for needle felting today so i can start.
the next thing i wanted to do was dye the milkweed with factory quality pigment but i can't find them.
i would hate to think this whole box of pigment i had is gone.

Felting looks neat, I always see folks making different items that way at the annual living-off-the-land festival where I am.
The cabbage die made a nice color, surprising that it wasn't more vibrant..

this wooden mallet i have quickly got chewed up, so i was going to make a new hammer head for it and share pics.
i can't make the new head until i fix my sander though, the belt flew out and i can't find it anywhere.
i ordered a supply of belts so there's extra in case it happens again, but it hasn't arrived yet so i can't sand anything til then.

i made a wooden butter knife and conditioned it with a mixture of refined coconut oil and 100% beeswax.
i picked refined coconut oil specifically because it is processed in a way that fatty acids and a few other things are removed to prevent oxidization.

oh nice. I also tend to use beeswax on wooden projects,. It seems to give a great texture to softer woods & the simplicity of it is attractive considering the lengths some ppl go to with wood finishes. what kind of wood will you be using for your new mallet head?

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

no wonder you were gone for a bit, i assume you're alright though since you're here?

Yea I'm fine now thanks for asking.

nice, i have beech logs sealed and drying for the year. i kept calling it ironwood.

Beech is the mild Steel of the woodworking world it's everywhere and tough as nails to a lot of tools get made from it.

damn. glad you're ok

Thanks I am now.

curious to see how your homemade steel comes out. will you be adding anything to the iron? haha don't fall asleep for too long...

Nope just pure carbon, I will be trying differing carbon sources though like Charcoal made from differing tree's there was ideas about this back in the 17th centuary but mostly I think it was down to the size of the carbon grains not the originating wood.

making your own jointer sounds like a precise job. good luck

The nice think about plane making is it's very forgiving so if you fuck up in the bed angle you can correct it with the iron, it's fun work

Lol i haven't heard them referred to in that way before, but probably T /L brackets + Zebiddy clips!

oh nice. I also tend to use beeswax on wooden projects,. It seems to give a great texture to softer woods & the simplicity of it is attractive considering the lengths some ppl go to with wood finishes. what kind of wood will you be using for your new mallet head?

BLO and paste wax - name a more iconic duo

 

[Mr. Confederate Man]

What have you geniuses been up to?

Not as much cool like the rest of the guys here, but been rebuilding the engine for my Volkswagen Beetle and about to start sewing a duster for myself

 

[HERE YOU GO]

Felting looks neat, I always see folks making different items that way at the annual living-off-the-land festival where I am.
The cabbage die made a nice color, surprising that it wasn't more vibrant..

when i look up milkweed fibers it doesn't seem to have a lot of known uses, they used to fill life jackets with it.
the cabbage has potential, i bet it would have dyed deeper if i concentrated the liquid and fixed the fibers with soda ash or dyer's salt prior.

I think I see what your going for chemically your trying to make the dye's colour-fast my making the thread that take them up hydrophobic, If you use hot water and Alum salts in the dye and let the colur you've dipped dry out anf then get it wet it will be colour fast.

yes, it was a very small organic dye vat in a bowl, the fibers soak in the dye for over 24hrs.
alternatively i could have kept the vat on simmer but i didn't make enough cabbage dye to fill a pot at the time.

oh nice. I also tend to use beeswax on wooden projects,. It seems to give a great texture to softer woods & the simplicity of it is attractive considering the lengths some ppl go to with wood finishes. what kind of wood will you be using for your new mallet head?

i'll be using birchwood, i have a debarked pole that is practically the same diameter as the damaged head so i should only have to cut a chunk off, sand it and drill a hole for the head to screw into the handle.
it's a cheap wooden mallet from amazon that holds the handle and head together with a screw.

as for the finish, they don't test the effects of finish being food safe as much as they could be and there aren't enough results for testing the problems with finish and what is and isn't food safe.
rancid oil can be harmful, that's why the oil being unable to oxidize is so important. a lot of thinners shouldn't touch your hands and claim to dry safe, but are they? not really.
some tests say traces of finish have been found in the diet of civilians, traced back to ink on cereal boxes, confectionery glaze and various other things
the choice of coconut oil and beeswax is a test for a food safe finish, i don't like almost every other mixture of food safe finish out there and had to make my own.

BLO and paste wax - name a more iconic duo

i just looked up a video on YT with paste wax, people put extra non-food safe crap in it.
like the thinners, i don't care if my wax is harder, i'll warm it up, i don't want thinners in my wax.
like i said above, finish has been found in civilian diets and linked back to cereal box ink etc, etc.