Swedish Workbench - advice please

[snozz]

I've picked up this Swedish workbench for a tenner, but unfortunately it has been outside for a few weeks and has warped in the rain..... is there anything that can be done to fix this, or am I better off rescuing what I can from the basic frame (which seems undamaged) and replacing other parts?



Snozz

 

[Dave]

Why a Swedish Workbench? I've never heard of one before.

I like the big clamps. Id probably just leave it and use as is, or take the planks off, and get the electric plane on them.

 

[snozz]

Why a Swedish Workbench? I've never heard of one before.

Because it was made in Sweden? http://www.mollefors.se/en/about/

The clamps don't work at present as they have swelled due to the water - I was wondering whether they are likely just to work again once it has dried out thoroughly and been given some oil etc. Such a shame it was left out in the rain

 

[Mouse040]

Is it a sjobergs bench or a cheep copy

If its a sjobergs strip it down re clamp and glue it will serve you well for many years I paid 2k for my bench when I was doing my apprenticeship and never regretted it

So strip it back re glue with a flexible glue ( titebond is good ) leave for a few days belt sand the top flat and oil repeatedly

 

[Skaukraft]

Nice piece. To bad it has been out in the rain.
But some planing, sanding, oiling and adjustments and it will still be in usable shape I think.
Well worth a try in my opinion.

Edit: As Mouse040 said, if it is a Söberg it is absolutely worth saving. They are well built, so it can take a beating. But don't dry it up to fast. Give the wood some time.

 

[snozz]

It is a Sjobergs ... That's why i was excited when i saw it!

 

[ged]

If you work with your hands and with tools, a good bench is one of the most important bits of kit you can have. From what I can see in the photos it looks like it has the makings of a very useful bench which will do you many years of service.

Assuming it's worth salvaging you need to let it dry out slowly, preferably somewhere like under a car port, not indoors. If you put it somewhere really dry like inside a heated building it will dry out much too fast and the wood will probably split badly. The best eventual home for it is probably a garden shed where it won't suffer from central heating. If it must be indoors I'd suggest wrapping it in tarpaulins to prevent it from drying out too quickly, but watch out for places where the wood is in contact with the damp inside of the tarpaulin which could start fungal growth. It might be as well to treat the whole thng first with a rot preventer such as one of the 'Cuprinol' products. It will need more than one coat as it gradually dries out. I'd do that anyway on anything like your bench as a matter of course. Once it's as dry as you can get it outside you can move it inside if you must, but again take precautions to prevent it drying too fast.

It should take at least some weeks to dry out, don't try to hurry it. The wood will move as it dries out. Check every now and then for the movement, and don't do anything serious until it's all but undetectable. If you do too much before it's reached the level of dryness at which it will hopefully spend the rest of its life then the wood will just move away from the work you've done and you'll have more problems than you had to begin with.

Then you can think about what work you will need to do to it, if any. Hopefully most of the work will be closing up joints so it gets back to being a solid workbench and not some rickety thing that won't stay still while you're trying to work on it.

If you can identify the maker it might be worth getting in touch with them about it to ask for advice.

 

[mr dazzler]

Capillary action, a nightmare in a case like this, water has got into every single joint and done its thing. This is a bad case especially on the tommy bar where the wood has split right open, and the top boards look to have delaminated as well, and the dovetails on the tail vice are popped out of joint...was it in fair condition before it got wet?
A lot depends on what exactly you want to use the bench for, and how confident you are at taking on joinery?
A purist cabinet maker will aspire to a perfectly smooth, flat, perfectly level "refererence surface", for doing very precise measuring, setting out, fitting, test assembly adjustment and final assembly. That is the top level accuracy, which most of us have no real need for. On the other hand if you are doing less demanding work, you might get away with levelling the top after letting the wood dry out slowly, or simply fasten a sheet of 18mm ply over it? Personally, seeing as the sub frame is sound, I would consider removing the top and vices, and build a new top, maybe get a record vice off ebay, leave the old top to one side until such time as you are confident or inclined enough to rebuild it...

 

[Dave]

Because it was made in Sweden? http://www.mollefors.se/en/about/

Sorry, should have worded that better. I meant why not just get a black and decker. Watcha making that requires one of those bad boys?

 

[dwardo]

Lovely bench that. As said above give it atleast a couple of weeks to dry out. Committing to any changes now might see all your hard work go to waste as it settles.

How could someone leave something like that out in the rain..

 

[snozz]

Sorry, should have worded that better. I meant why not just get a black and decker. Watcha making that requires one of those bad boys?

Not currently planning on making anything as yet - this was one of those "it's too cheap to leave!"

 

[snozz]

... leave for a few days belt sand the top flat and oil repeatedly

What sort of oil would you recommend?

 

[Mouse040]

I use Mylands furniture oil on mine

 

[Macaroon]

I think ged's post No.7 is percisely the right advice - that's a lovely bit of kit and I'd give it the time it needs to dry properly; it'll then tell you clearly how you need to proceed. Cracking find!............atb mac

 

[Stew]

Not currently planning on making anything as yet - this was one of those "it's too cheap to leave!"

Damn right! What a bargain!!

 

[demographic]

Give it a good bit of time to dry out, its possible to set a handplane up with a cambered cutting edge so it will remove shavings from a board wider than the plane iron without leaving gouge marks where the iron edges were. It takes a shaving thats thicker in its centre than its sides. You can remove high spots with the handplane then.
Its one of those things that anyone with a wooden workbench might have to do from time to time anyway as it will move with the change in seasons.
A jackplane (5 1/2) usually has a deeper camber than a smoother (4-4 1/2) will.
Setting a handplane up is one of those skills its worth knowing anyway and I just can't stand sandpaper, that's not woodworking, joiners, cabinet makers and carpenters use planes (and cabinet makers use scrapers) but decorators use sandpaper.

I can't remember where I heard this and have never tried it so take it with a pinch of salt.
The wooden thread on the shoulder vice can be eased by putting pumice dust on them and working it till it abrades it slightly.

 

[mr dazzler]

its possible to set a handplane up with a cambered cutting edge so it will remove shavings from a board wider than the plane iron without leaving gouge marks where the iron edges were. It takes a shaving thats thicker in its centre than its sides.

I have sometimes done that, by deliberately putting uneven pressure to the left then the right, back and forth while sharpening on the waterstones, it creates a VERY small radius on the cutting edge, leaving the centre proud of the mouth, and the corners hidden inside it. Another way to avoid those planing ridges is to have very small radiuses on either corner of an otherwise perfectly straight cutting edge, the japanese carpenters do that-they are the masters of waterstones and wood planes. Or use a sharp and fine set block plane or cabinet scraper to remove them. I've used all those methods on different projects they all work. LOL planing by hand gets a whole lot easier with some wax on the sole of the plane...The extreme form of curved edge is a scrub plane which can take 1 to 2 mm shavings at one pass, but they leave the surface looking like it was adzed, probably too extreme on this case, although looking again at the pics, the top boards are warped around 1/4 inch out of level.

Any way, good luck to you snozz, hope it does work out whatever way you decide to approach it.