The Brothers Abraham have announced – finally – the second French Oak Roubo project Nov. 8-14, 2015, in Georgia. Check out the announcement here.
If you missed out on the one last year and you want an awesome French bench, don’t miss this one. Eventually all our backs will give out.
The event will be in the same place with the same assistants (me, included) and the same incredible machinery. Registration opens Sept. 2, 2014.
— Christopher Schwarz
Come to Cincinnati this weekend to scarf up the wood that is left at Midwest Woodworking at a significant discount – 25 percent off the already-low prices for solid wood and 40 percent off veneer.
Midwest is located at 4019 Montgomery Road in Cincinnati, and the sale will go from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bring cash or check – no plastic.
I’ll be there to scrounge up some pine, mahogany and sapele for some future commissions. If there are enough people who are interested, we might organize an expedition to the nearby Madtree Brewing taproom, which is less than three miles away and has good beer and brings in some good food.
If you see me there, let me know if you’re in or not for Madtree.
See you there!
— Christopher Schwarz
I have concluded that the surface-mounted tee-nuts (item 94122A200 from McMaster-Carr) are difficult to break, but they do break at the collar if you tighten their mating bolts too much.
So I removed these 14 tee-nuts from my knockdown Nicholson bench. When it comes to a workbench, nothing should be light- or medium-duty. I replaced them with an old standby for me: the six-prong steel tee-nut for wood, also from McMaster-Carr (90975A163).
These are less expensive – $13.72 for a pack of 50 – and can be tightened with prejudice. You’ll crush the wood before you strip or break these tee-nuts. The downside? They will sometimes fall out when your parts are disassembled.
And here ends the great surface-mounted tee-nut experiment of 2014.
Tomorrow I’ll finish up this workbench – flatten the benchtop and install the crochet. I’ll also shoot a video of how the bench knocks down for travel. I am pleased with the way it goes together.
Then I’ll get back on a pair of Roorkee chair commissions.
— Christopher Schwarz
Here’s the good news: The bench is assembled and works well. I’ll explain the construction details in the coming days.
And the bad: I destroyed one of the knockdown fasteners tonight. I tightened one of the 3/8” hex-head bolts that fastens the top, and the head of the bolt began to spin freely. Nuts on the tee-nut. The collar of the tee-nut had ripped free from its mounting plate. The broken metal looks porous and weak. I am not happy.
I am going to torture-test a few of these tee-nut fasteners from McMaster-Carr and see if they all break or if that one is an outlier.
Stay tuned.
— Christopher Schwarz