Here’s what I worked on yesterday (Sunday)…

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A year and a half ago I purchased an antique cabinet maker’s bench from a tool store in NJ that was on it’s way out of business. The bench front vise hardware reads “CHRISTIANSEN CO. - CHICAGO, ILL.” (anyone heard of them?).

My haul that day was a good one (for less than $300)… I walked off with the bench, a brand new Mitutoyo Combination Square and several dozen out of print back issues of Fine Woodworking in mint condition (which completed my collection of that fine publication).

The bench was a mess… As far as I could tell it had been used as a machinist’s bench. It was covered in oil and was pitted with nails, screws and suffered from a wonderfully fine coating of beige colored mold on parts. The first few weeks I had it it sat in my basement covered with kitty litter after I had soaked the top with mineral spirits. This removed (for the most part) the oil and grease that had covered the top. Some time last summer I hit the top with a random orbit sander which exposed the shiny metal specks of shavings and nails that were stuck in the 3 1/2″ thick [what I then assumed to be] maple top. These were patiently removed with various tools and methods.

Yesterday, fueled by nothing more than a case of “when am I ever going to finish that bench” blues I loaded a 80 grit belt on the belt sander and attacked the top once again. Once the belt sander had removed most of the deep pits and valleys I super-sharpened my trusty #5’s Hock iron and cap breaker and took to the top… for 90 minutes. Boy, am I sore today.

The end result is that the top is flat within +/- 1mm (yes, I used feeler gauges and my machinist’s straight edge - I am that much of a geek). But, that is not the really cool part… The thing that blew me away was that upon planing down the top with I discovered that some of the boards that make up the top are bird’s eye maple! Cool! Why? I don’t know other than it looks nice.

So next comes the rest of the bench. I plan on scrubbing a bit with bleach and/or mineral spirits. I plan on a few hours worth of random orbit sander on the legs, sides and vices and… I am considering filling those square dog holes with scrap maple and converting them to 3/4″ holes to accommodate many of the excellent 3/4″ bench dog accessories available on the market. I am also considering rebuilding the vice mechanisms. Anyone out there have any opinions?

In the mean time… I have some reading to do.