1. What jig do you have for your drill to help make straight holes? Does that base slide along a shaft or something?
2. Most benches people build have the edge of the bench top flush with the legs to make clamping easier. Was it a deliberate decision to recess the legs?
3. How do you like the low angle jack plane? I'm slowly building up hand tool collection and want to spend wisely. I've seen a few videos or people I respect say that a low angle jack could be a good starting plane because it can be used for so many different things. What are your thoughts?
Thanks for posting the build progress. I love me some bench porn.
1. The jig I used was called the "versatile drill guide" from lee valley, item 50J40.01. It works ok but I probably wouldn't buy it again. I also have a drill press so I sometimes just use the drill press to drill into a scrap piece of wood then use that scrap piece as a drill guide.
2. Yes recessing the legs was deliberate because I don't like to stub my toes on the legs. Paul Sellers also had a video on how he clamps things and he uses a clamp in the end vise for long boards and it seems to work well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SozekTvPpJM
3. Love the low angle jack plane. Its very versatile and if you are a hybrid woodworker you only need a handful of planes and the jack plane will probably get used the most. I also recommend reading Mark Spagnuolo's book on hybrid woodworking, he has some good advise for what to purchase for starting out and you can see how he uses these hand tools for various common joints.
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Good, Fast, And Cheap Workbench
@jhurrell said:
1. The jig I used was called the "versatile drill guide" from lee valley, item 50J40.01. It works ok but I probably wouldn't buy it again. I also have a drill press so I sometimes just use the drill press to drill into a scrap piece of wood then use that scrap piece as a drill guide.
2. Yes recessing the legs was deliberate because I don't like to stub my toes on the legs. Paul Sellers also had a video on how he clamps things and he uses a clamp in the end vise for long boards and it seems to work well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SozekTvPpJM
3. Love the low angle jack plane. Its very versatile and if you are a hybrid woodworker you only need a handful of planes and the jack plane will probably get used the most. I also recommend reading Mark Spagnuolo's book on hybrid woodworking, he has some good advise for what to purchase for starting out and you can see how he uses these hand tools for various common joints.