Workbench Build — 2019, Part 9

Squaring The Ends

The next task was to trim and square the ends of the bench top. The top is 5" thick and I need to do it with a handsaw. The first step was to cut a kerf around the ends with my Veritas Combination plane and the kerfing plate I made for it.

The kerfing plate was made from an old rip saw that had some bad kinks in it. I cut it down and removed a lot of teeth. I also filed some gullets for chip clearance. It works really well.

The finished kerf, a good crosscut saw will tend to follow the kerf while cutting. It is also much easier to see than a pencil line or a knife line.

My good Disston D-15 went through the Douglas-Fir without any trouble.

This is the cut right from the saw.

This is after using my No. 62 with a sharp iron. That wood is really amazing. There are some areas with 60 rings-per-inch. Old-growth wood is like that and you don’t see softwoods like it anymore.

The end-grain is beautiful.

Once the other end was trimmed the top is now sized and the joints are cut. It’s looking like a bench.

I’m getting a strong feeling about this bench, it’s going to be awesome.

-Eric