G'day from Marty

G'day Everyone,

Just signed up for this forum. I did woodworking in High School and even took away the Year 10 School Prize for the subject back in 2001. One of my major projects back then was a small English-style workbench, which I still have to this day. I was going to put it up for sale on facebook marketplace, but once it was out of the garage I got all sentimental for it, and decided that I would do it up. The front apron (6"x1" mystery timber) was taken off, and I took an oscillating sander to it remove years of gunk that had accumulated - some of which was enamel paint and I think some sort of marine grease. I didn't take it all the way down to remove all the marks. The dings and imperfections are part of the story of me as a hobbyist. Just enough to get the old finish off (estapol varnish? It's been nearly 20 years so I don't remember) then I gave it several rubbing downs with a rag using a mix of raw linseed oil and methylated spirit. The colour came up real nice. The trestle legs and single centre bottom longitudinal beam (66mm square meranti/maple) got a similar clean up and rub down.

I perhaps didn't make a great choice for the bench-top. I took some 1/2 inch MDF and glued 1/4" Masonite to the top and bottom, giving me a fairly heavy 1" thick top. 20 years of use and abuse (the bench lived outside under an awning for nearly 2 years) meant that it was in pretty shabby condition. It has also been used as a temporary lathe stand for a time and work-table for fixing bicycles and other metallic stuff. I'm thinking of making a new top from a laminated beech panel from bunnings. The way I designed and built the bench, I can't really use anything thicker, though I may use some of the left-overs from the beech panel to beef up the ends of the bench for clamping and gluing a 1" thick board along the back for something similar.

Anyways, I am prone to rambling at the keyboard, I decided I should get back into the woodworking. A lot of YouTube videos and online resources assume either European or North American location, so I am unfamiliar with a lot of the woods they are talking about. I hope that an Australian-based forum will help me get going in the right direction.

Welcome to the forum Marty.

G'Day & Welcome to a top forum "Marty",
There are quite a stack members around Sydney and cross NSW plus the rest of the country.....
You'll find a heap of helpful & knowledgeable blokes & ladies on the forum and for most very willing to assist.
Make sure you show off your handiwork as everyone loves a photo, especially WIP [Work In Progress] photos with build notes.
Enjoy the forum.
Enjoy your woodwork......
Cheers crowie

Welcome to the forum.

Regards
Keith

Welcome to the forum

Thanks for the welcomes. I also hope that there are occasional and regular meet-ups/swap-meets for hobby woodworkers.

Welcome to the forum Marty