Building a Saw Bench - Part 1

I don't do a lot of hand sawing of large pieces of stock.  But on occasion I do need to use classic hand saws that I have.  I learned to saw from my grandfather who was a carpenter before power tools were invented.  He of course made his living at using his tools and was quite good at it.  When I was about 10 years old, during the summer I would go over to his shop.  He was retired and would be out there most days puttering around.

He would take a piece of scrap and draw a line across the board and have me try to cross cut and follow the line.  I would be using a chair to saw on, since his saw bench was too tall for me.  I had a great time and learned a lot.   Growing up I did not have any power tools.  I had rip and cross cut saws and brace and bit for drills.  When I was 18, I started working and got to use my first power tools.  Circular saw and radial arm saw.  So I started using the hand saw less and less.

Today, I have some good saws.  My dovetail and carcass saw are in constant use.  I have decided if I had a good saw bench I would use my hand saws more and they are quieter.

I looked around for patterns and found this one which I like.  It can be found here. http://www.billyslittlebench.com/blog/category/sawbench

What is important is to change the dimensions to fit you and the work that you will be doing.
This one is 32 inches long which I think is a good length.  The height is most important and has to fit your knee since that is what you use to hold your work.  Although, you could put holes in the top for a holdfast or clamp the work.  I measured  the height by using a couple of 2x4's on a chair and got 18 3/4 inches.  So now I was ready to go.

I purchased 2 - 2x12 - 8 foot which was more than enough stock to make the bench.  The wider common lumber is usually better because it comes from more mature trees.  I milled everything to 1 1/4 inch thick but 1 1/2 inch would work too.

I glued two 17 1/2 inch pieces together to make the feet.  These need to be mortised later.

I tenoned the side pieces with 3 inch tenons on the 5 inch stock.  These were 18 3/4 long which is the height of the bench.  These are 1/2 thick tenons.

I laid out the dovetails on the top of the two bench halves.  These were arbitrary, I used 3/4 inch for each pin and the remainder for the 2 tails which turned out to be 1 1/4 inch each.

Sawed them with my dovetail saw.

Sawed off the end pins.

Chopped out the center pin.

Then I matched the tails to the end of the bench sides and marked the lines with my marking knife. Then sawed the pins.

Chop out the pins.

Then see how they fit.  If you do it right  they should just fit in, otherwise you will have to trim a little.

Once I completed all the dovetailing, I set about drilling the mortises though the feet.  These are 1/2 by 4 inches to fit the tenons for the sides.  These are other methods for cutting the mortises but I have the tool so I am going to use it.

I also cut out the bottom to make pads for the feet which I think will work better on the uneven shop floor.

I dry fitted the pieces to see how well it went together.  Some of the stock had warped since I had milled it so I have some planing to do.

I will glue it up now and then make the stretchers and attach them.

I'll finish it up in part 2.

Here is today's video: