Making the Sliding Deadmen for My Workbench – Part 2

This post is part two of two of how I made the sliding deadmen for my work bench.  You can find the first part here:

Making the Sliding Deadmen for My Workbench – Part 1

I knew that I wanted to dress up the deadmen with something more visually appealing than the simple rectangular shape that they currently are.  To do this, I traced the outline of the deadman onto a piece of paper and experimented with a couple of designs.

I drew two possible profiles to see which I preferred.

The design on the right is a Roman ogee and is based upon arcs or quarter circles.  The design on the left is a Greek ogee and is based upon ellipses, instead of arcs.  I drew both out to see which I would prefer.  In the end I decided upon the Greek ogee.  This is the exact same profile that I used on the back fence of my table saw cross-cut sled.  I still had the template that I used to make it and it served perfectly here.  Once I had decided upon a design, I drew it upon the sliding deadmen.

The chosen profile pattern, drawn on the blank.

I like to start the cutout of these patterns at the tablesaw.

Cutting in the shoulders of the deadman at the table saw.

I find that cutting in the shoulders of the transitions this way first, yields a far crisper profile in the end.

This makes sure that the transition in the ogee remains crisp.

I then move over to the band saw to complete the pattern.

The rest of the cuts were made at the bandsaw.

The bandsaw cuts were a little rough, but they are easy enough to clean up with a rasp and some sandpaper.  At least now I have a vise to hold them in.  I’m starting to like having a workbench already.

As cut on the bandsaw.

Here it is all cleaned up:

After rasping and sanding the profile.

With the profile of both deadmen cut, I installed them in the bench to see how they looked.  I think they fit well with the overall design of the bench.

Both sliding deadmen shaped, finish sanded, and put in place.

Now I need to put some holes in them.  I laid one of the deadmen on a piece of paper and traced around the perimeter.  I drew three vertical lines to represent where I wanted the centerpoint of the three columns of holes.  I then drew in 24 horizontal lines that were spaced apart by ¾”.  I then went back and circled the intersection of row one, column one; row two column two; etc. etc.  I did this, alternating columns for every row down the template.

A paper template to locate the holes.

I used some masking tape to attach the template to the deadman, and then marked the selected intersections with an awl.

I cut out and taped the template to the deadman.

I looked through my drill bits and found that I do not have a ¾” brad point.  My options were a spade bit (no chance I’m using that) or my Wood Owl auger bit.  I wanted to drill these holes at the drill press, but the auger bit has a lead screw and will not work in the press.  What I should have done was wait and order the Colt Twinland ¾” brad point that I wanted.  But I didn’t want to pay shipping for a single drill bit and they didn’t have them on amazon.  Plus, I was impatient!

I ended up using the Wood Owl Auger in the cordless drill.

The Wood Owl ¾” auger.

I took a fine drill bit a drilled a small pilot hole in each of the awl marks.  I then clamped the deadman and a piece of backer wood in the vise.

I marked pilot holes with and awl and fine drill bit.

I augered through the deadman and into the backer board.

I clamped on a backer board and drilled the holes with the auger.

Some time, and a lot of chips latter, they looked like this:

Here’s how it looks before finish.

For the finish, I went with the same as the rest of the bench.  Four coats of hot danish oil. I wont bore you with another recounting of how I apply it, as I’ve done that several times here already.  One slight difference here is that I used a leather dyer’s dauber to apply oil to the inside of the holes.

I applied a coat of hot danish oil.

After the fourth coat had been sanded-in and left to cure for a few days, I applied two coats of mahogany paste wax.  This gives a very slight warming effect.  I made sure to get a good coat of wax in the V-notch so that the deadman will slide nicely.

After four coats of oil, I added two coats of wax.

With everything done. I installed the deadmen.  Here’s the finished product:

The finished sliding deadman installed on the bench.

In the next post, I’ll drill the dog holes in the benchtop.

More soon.

– Jonathan White