Bench Bull The Jack of All Bench Jigs, Part 2

popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/bench-bull-the-jack-of-all-bench-jigs-part-2

Yoav Liberman

December 24, 2015

For Part 1, click here.

I crosscut our first batch of Bench Bulls from a 7-1/4 x 2-1/2 rough pine beam that we found on the street in front of
our school. The beams were discarded by our schools neighboring townhouse at the end of their home renovation.
This is the kind of basic sawn pine beam that is used in construction, and I think might not be that easy to come by at
Home Depot, Lowes etc. Our first Bench Bulls have only one clamping eye or socket. On the last one, which I built
toward the end of our trimester, I bored two sockets to make clamping operations more versatile. I also built this bull
a bit longer than its siblings

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If you decide to work with that kind of lumber, I recommend boring a few sockets every 3-4. You might also want to
make your bull longer than the one I built. It will enable you to clamp to it wider workpieces. Think about clamping
hope chest parts for dovetail cutting. And dont be stingy with the number of sockets along its length; they will prove
themselves useful down the road.
In the first Bench Bull that I built for myself I included, in addition to the sockets, a few 3/4 through-holes close to the
base of the bull and through its top. These holes accommodate some of my Veritas clamping jigs that I use on my
portable workbench, such as Veritas Bench Pups, Fast-Action Hold-Down and Bench Blade. (Youll find all of those
at Lee Valley.)

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The Bench Bull that I built for my own use is 14 inches long. Its size and proportions allows it to work great with either a pair of 4 F-style
clamps, 2-1/2 Pony #56 (3/4) pipe clamps, or the Veritas Fast-Action Hold-Down.

The Fast-Action Hold-Down can substitute for the horizontal F-style clamps, while the Bench Pups can be great
when chiseling or planing. The 3/4 holes through the Bench Bull top can also be used by the Fast-Action HoldDown to arrest workpieces from above.

A pair of Veritas Fast-Action Hold-Downs installed through the Bench Bull act as a vise.

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Bench Pups will clamp workpieces on the Bench Bulls surface for chiseling, carving, sawing and more.

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A Bench Blade, used with a small shop-made T-square, will prevent small parts from moving. Here I mounted one of my sandpaper sharpening
blocks onto my Bench Bull.

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If you dont own the Veritas Fast-Action Hold-Down (at $84 this little gizmo is not cheap) you have yet another
option for an integral horizontal clamping system that will substitute for the F-style clamps. Consider using a 3/4
pipe clamp fixture. A pair of these installed through 1-1/16 holes just below the socket holes will practically act as a
bench vise. Drill a few holes in a row to allow yourself to migrate or add more pipe clamps as needed for the shape
and size of the stock.

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If you decide to build your Bench Bull from dimensional lumber, you may choose to incorporate spaces or gaps in
between the lumber segments to be used as clamping sockets. Choose this way if you dont have a drill press and
feel uncomfortable drilling long and wide holes by hand. To accommodate your pipe clamps cut a few 1-1/16 x 11/16 dados across the second pine board (see drawings).

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Here are a few Bench Bull build-up configurations using 24, or 64 dimensional lumber available in any home improvement center.

One of the main challenges of making a wide Bench Bull with through-holes is drilling through 6 and wider
laminated wood block. You can circumvent this if you drill each ply of pine (or wood of your choice) before
sandwiching them together. To ensure perfect alignment of the holes, insert your pipe/stem of choice through all the
holes then glue and clamp the block together. Once the glue cures, joint and plane your Bull.
What diameter drill bit will you need? Youll need a 3/4 bit for the 3/4 Veritas jigs stems, a 7/8 bit for 1/2 black
pipe clamp and a 1-1/16 bit for 3/4 black pipe clamp.
Below are a two more sketches to help you build a Bench Bull from dimensional softwood. But of course, if you want
to invest in a nicer, longer-lasting Bench Bull, build it from hardwood. Next time, I will show my latest Bench Bull; it
incorporates 1/2 pipe clamps with a movable vise jaw.

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This Bench Bull is laminated from three pre-drilled vertical beams. After the core has been jointed and planed it is capped and bottomed
with two additional beams.

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This Bench Bull has a hollow core.

Yoav Liberman

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