Bench (furniture)

“ It is airy, pure, and clean within, but the window is so high that it is impossible to look out. The whole furniture consists of a high bench, made fast to a kind of table, a berth, which can be fastened with hooks to the ceiling, and around which there is a curtain. ”

“ Our cut No. 298, taken from one of the prints of Abraham Bosse, dated in 1633, represents the general character of the chairs and stools used in France at that date, as they are drawn in the works of this artist, and also the manner in which they were arranged round a room when not in use. On the left appears the end of a cushioned bench, which was generally of the length of two or three stools, and appears as a common article of furniture. Among other articles of furniture now 474 introduced was the couch, or, as we should call it, the sofa. ”

“ Nailing a piece of leather or strips of leather across a frame cannot be dignified by the term upholstery. Therefore, such work is not to be considered under this head. The structure, in addition to the simple upholstery processes involved, requires but elementary bench work in wood in its construction.
After staining the stool take a small amount of tow, pull it out thoroly with the hands until all uneven bunches are eliminated; then spread it out evenly on the top of the stool as illustrated in Fig. 6. Then place a piece of muslin over this, tacking it with 4-oz. ”

“ The [93] shape at the bottom of the leg is merely suggestive and may be modified as desired.
Lay out and work the tenons on the stretcher. Then lay out and work the grooves upon the rails. Each side of each rail is grooved 1/8 in, to allow the leg to be recessed. This is done to give the bench the bracing that is needed to make it stand firmly. Work the grooves in the legs and the mortises for the rails. ”

“ Next take the 8-in. board and make the shelves. Set a bevel protractor at a 45-deg. angle, lay out the pieces as shown in Fig. 5, and cut them out with a saw. Eight pieces are cut out as shown in Fig. 4. These [Pg 44] pieces can be cut out of the scraps left from cutting the legs and shelves. Cut them so that the grain runs the long way. Place two of these braces on the bench with the beveled ends toward each other, but with a piece of 7/8-in. stock between them, and the other two beveled ends resting against a straightedge. ”

“ They are extremely strong and rigid, and with our steel and iron vise make an outfit practically indestructible. We make benches only fitted with our vises, and can furnish any style desired, either single or double. Cabinetmakers’, carvers’ or special designs made to order. Our prices are but little, if any, higher than asked for cheaply made benches with wooden vises or cheap cast-iron vises. This is an excellent bench to have about the house, and is suitable for boys from 6 years old to men of 60. They are superior benches for manual training and have plenty of capacity for the work. ”

“ In the same way, and for the same purpose, the work bench has temporary holding cleats at the end and a shelf in front, which are particularly desirable, because either a saw or a square is an encumbrance on a work bench while the work is being assembled, and tools of this kind should not be laid flat on a working surface, nor should they be stood in a leaning position against a truss or work bench. ”

“ If he buys the vise-screw, an ambitious boy can make a bench that will answer his needs, provided, also, that he can fasten it to floor or wall. It should be rigid. A beginner will find a hard wood board, 10"×2"×1/4", fastened to the forward end of the bench, a more convenient stop than the ordinary bench-dog. ”

“ Those in illustration are shown to be formed by checking [45] one piece of wood over the other, with shoulders to resist lateral strain. Proper tenons would be better, but more difficult to make. It must have a projecting edge at the front and ends, to receive the clamps. The bench should have a joiner's "bench-screw" attached to the back leg for holding work which is to be carved on its edges or ends. The feet should be secured to the floor by means of iron brackets, as considerable force is applied in carving hard wood, which may move the bench bodily, unless it is secured, or is very heavy. ”

“ The bench top must not be marked with pencil or scratched unnecessarily. Chisel boards are to protect the top from any accidental cuts and should always be used for that purpose. Bench tops that are scraped and shellaced or oiled every other year ought to remain in as good condition as when new except for the few accidental marks too deep to remove, which the thoughtless boy may have inflicted.
Good workers take pride in keeping their benches in good order. Tools that are not in immediate use should [4] be placed in their racks that they may not be injured or cause injury to the worker. ”

“ In planing small pieces on a bench, they usually have a tendency to tip up or slide around. This difficulty can be easily overcome by providing the bench with an extra back stop. For this purpose a discarded plane iron will do very well. Its edge should be notched so that it will easily enter the wood. The edges of its central slot should be beveled off, if an ordinary wood screw is used to fasten it to the bench. ”

“ One of the indispensable things for the boy carpenter is a good work-bench on which to plane, join, and construct the smaller objects that will be made from time to time. The bench must be substantially made, and be provided with a planing-stop, a vise, and a drawer in which to keep small tools, nails, screws, and the various odds and ends that are employed in carpentry. To begin with, obtain for the legs four spruce or whitewood sticks three inches square and thirty-six inches long,
A Work-bench frame. ”

“ The bench is composed of side pieces, legs, end pieces, and a central cross brace. At one end it is provided with stationary top pieces having curved inner edges, as shown in the upper view, which are covered with a thin strip of angle iron extending up flush with the top and bent to conform with the curved edge. To the upper ends of the legs are hinged supports adapted to extend upward to form continuations of the legs, to engage with and hold an ironing board in a horizontal position. ”

“ The framework must be well made, and the corner-posts and braces securely fastened with lap-joints, glue, and screws. The top of the bench should be thirty-nine inches high, and to one side of the bench a carpenter’s [45] vise may be attached, as shown in Fig. 14. The jaw of the vise is seven inches wide, one and an eighth inches thick, and thirty-four inches long. It is hung as described for the carpenter’s bench (see Carpentry, Chapter I.) . A wood or steel screw may be purchased at a hardware store, and set near the top and into the solid apron side-rail. ”

“ When planing thin wood, one end of the board is braced against the bench stop. Ralph found that starting with a new bench had another advantage. It helped his pupil to take good care of the bench. Harry was very careful not to saw or cut it as he might have done with an old bench, and to foster this spirit of carefulness, Ralph gave him for his first problem the making of a bench hook. (Fig. 90.) The tools used in its construction were:
Fig. ”

“ With many places which could be utilized for water-power, the old country saw-mill has not occurred to them.8 Their tools appear to be roughly made, and of primitive design, though evidently of the best-tempered steel. The only substitute for the carpenter's bench is a plank [pg 38] on the floor, or on two horses; a square, firm, upright post is the nearest approach to a bench and vise, for to this beam a block of wood to be sawed into pieces is firmly held (fig. 26) . ”

“ For work at home, use an ordinary kitchen table with smooth top. For use in business, a table eight feet long, three feet wide and thirty inches high (or as high as is convenient for the presser, this may be easily determined by using) . This is called a tailor's bench. The balance of the tools are the same for work at home or for business.
The kitchen table or tailor's bench may be used for several purposes; the first of which is to place the iron, press-jack, sponge cloth, and garment while cleaning and pressing. Also for men to sit on while sewing. ”

“ Any boy who is handy with tools can make a bench in a short time of pine or white wood, the top being of hard-wood. If the joiner-work is not too difficult to carry out, it would be better to make the legs and braces of hard-wood also, to lend weight and solidity to the table.
Fig. 14.
The wood should be free from knots and sappy places, and as heavy as it is possible to get it, so as to make a really substantial bench. The top should measure four feet long and thirty inches wide, and not less than one inch and a half in thickness. ”

“ If he has a nicely finished bench, he should learn to work without injuring the bench. A cutting board should always be at hand to chisel and pound upon and to save the bench-top from all ill use. The bench-hook should have one side for sawing and one for planing, the former having a block shorter than the width of the board so that the teeth of the saw, when they come thru the work, will strike the bench-hook rather than the bench-top. ”

“ The old-fashioned screw vise is cheap, and a cheap vise may be made at a cost of half a dollar, by purchasing the screw and nut and making the jaw and guides by hand, but this again calls for the use of a bench. So taken all in all it will pay the young woodworker to save his money and buy a good vise even if the bench is home-made.
This is just where our boys had their first argument; Harry wanted to begin by building a work bench. [135]
Fig. ”

“ Take a board thirty inches long by six inches wide for the jaw, and bore a hole a little larger than the screw, six inches from one end. Bore another hole the same size through the apron and table-leg, six inches below the [Pg 6] bench-top (see A in Figs. 4 and 5) . The portion of the iron screw marked B in Fig. 2 should be set into the hole bored in the bench-leg and screwed at E (Fig. 1) , while the portion D is to be screwed to the jaw. If a wooden screw is used, the portion C in the drawing (Fig. 3) is nailed to the inside of the bench-leg.
Figs. 4-5. Details of Bench-vise. ”

“ Well, now, as to birdcage and hutch-making, you must have, first and foremost, a bench whereon to work. Any old table will do if it be strong enough. But one thing it must have, and that is a contrivance to hold the wood on which you are working with the plane or other instrument. This may either be the wooden screw apparatus, or what is cheaper, the bench-lug.
The tools and things you really want, and must have, to make anything like a job, are (1) a nice sizeable saw, one that will either rip or cross-cut, so it must not have a back to it. ”

“ Care should be taken to protect the top of the bench from injury; it should never be marked by the chisel or cut by the saw. If chiseling has to be done on the bench, place the work on the bench hook or on a board, and in sawing use a bench hook such as is shown in Fig. ”

“ One sees in that way, for instance, why the tool marks left by the old carvers on their work look more effective than smoothly perfect surfaces, when associated with the rough timbers of the roof, or the uneven surface of the plastered wall. One sees, too, the effect of time and friction in the polished surfaces of bench ends, rubbed and dusted by countless hands until they have become smooth to the eye and touch, and a mental note is made to avoid sharp or spiky work in anything that is likely to be within reach of the fingers. ”

“ Bench made with Pinned Mortise-and-Tenon Joints, Low Back.
Fig. 167. Woodworking Bench used at Pratt Institute, Showing Self-Adjusting Upright Vise.
Benches. The essential features of a work-bench are a firm, steady table with a vise and places for tools. The joints are either pinned or wedged mortise-and-tenon, or draw-bolt joints. The best benches are made of maple, the tops being strips joined or tongued-and-grooved together. It is common also to have a trough at the back of the top of the bench, i. ”

“ People go their ways past his door but do not enter.
“At last it is time. He gets his knotted rope, secures it to the leg of the carpenter’s bench Hoode has had fitted for him. The bench is clamped to the floor; no doubt but that it can stand the strain.
“Now, with a wary eye upon the door, he takes from its hiding-place the replica of the toupé which is on his head, pads it out with a handkerchief, and sets it on top of a pile of books on the seat of the chair. The pile is just of the height to show the hair over the chair-back to one looking into the room from the passage. ”

“ You see that each bench is provided with a dust-brush, to be used in removing the shavings; and a neat workman will keep his bench as free as possible of rubbish. If you want to brush off your bench, you must move your planes twice, or put them on the floor. On the shelf they are always out of the way when not in use. ”

“ Running along each side of the compartment, just under the windows, is a long, leather-covered bench, which serves as a seat during the day, and a berth at night. It is equally uncomfortable in both capacities. ”

“ Opposite the window a modern sideboard, which might have cost two-nineteen-six when new, completed the tale of furniture. The general impression was one of fulness; the low ceiling, and the immense harvest of overblown blue roses which climbed luxuriantly up the walls, intensified this effect. The mantelpiece was crammed with brass ornaments, and there were two complete sets of brass fire-irons in the brass fender. ”