Høvelbenk i samlinga på Grytøy bygdetun. Benken er kring 185 cm lang og 60 cm brei over framtanga. Benken er bygd av ein planke som er 24 cm brei og 45 mm tjukk og går i heile lengda. Den har baktang av hjulmakartype og høvelbenkskuff som er omlag 20 cm brei. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Sidan eg har brukt mykje tid på å lære meg å løype never og tekkje med never og torv, prøvar eg å få praktisert litt kvart år. Denne sommaren arbeider eg med andre del av tekkinga på taket på det gamle våningshuset på Grytøy bygdetun. Grytøya er ei øy i Harstad kommune i Troms og ligg nord for Hinnøya. Bygdetunet har ei omfattande samling av gjenstandar og eg har nytta høvet til å fotografere denne høvelbenken som er ein av desse. Eg har ikkje funne noko informasjon om kor benken kjem frå eller kven som har brukt han. Eg går ut frå at han har vore brukt på Grytøya og at han er frå ein av gardane der.
Høvelbenken sett framafrå. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Framtanga med skruve er festa til benken med ein bolt som går gjennom benkeplata og kjem ut i høvelbenkskuffa. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Bolten for framtanga kjem ut i høvelbenkskuffa. Skruven har firkanta skruvro (mutter) som var vanleg tidlegare. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
I enden er bolten, som held framtanga på plass, avslutta med ein ring. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Famtanga sett frå framsida. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Høvelbenken og framtanga sett frå undersida. I undersida av benkeplata er det i forlenginga av framtangeskruven spor etter at benken har stått på ein fot eller eit understell som har hatt ein eller fleire stiftar som har halde benkeplata på plass. Understellet kan ha vore veggfast og snikra av material ein hadde for handa og har difor ikkje fått følgje med høvelbenken til museet. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Høvelbenken har baktang av ein type som er vanleg på benkar som gjerne er kalla hjulmakarbenk. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Detalj av baktang frå oppsida. Det er eit hol for benkehake i baktanga og ei rad med tilsvarande hol i benkeplata. Det er ikkje benkehake i benken i dag. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Skruven til baktanga er delvis fellt inn i benkeplata. Det ser ut til å ha vore gjort med ein stor hulkilhøvel. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Skruven til baktanga ser ut til å ha vore skore med eit jarn som har form som ein skulp. Det vanlege på nyare skruvar er at skruven er skore med eit jarn som er V-forma, ein geifus. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Detalj av baktang underside. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Deltalj som viser undersida. Legg merke til klossen som fester høvelbenkskuffa. Bordet som dannar høvelbenkskuffa er justert med høvel, men elles er det skuroverflate etter oppgangssag vi ser. Undersida av planken som dannar kjernen i høvelbenkplata er høvla slett på undersida. Truleg har denne planken vore planhøvla og dimensjonert i samband med at benken vart laga. Foto: Roald Renmælmo
Høvelbenken er av tilsvarande type som høvelbenken frå Holstvollen i Bymarka i Trondheim som Thor Aage tidlegare har skrive om. Også høvelbenken frå Li i Suldal er ganske lik i uforminga, men manglar baktange og rekka med hakehol. Ein vesentleg forskjell er at benken på Grytøya har høvelbenkskuff. Denne kan kanskje vere ei modifisering av ein eldre benk som har vore veldig lik benken frå Holstvollen. Dette er altså ein type benk som går att ulike stader i landet i ulike versjonar. Det vanlege er å finne desse utan understell så det er vanskeleg å seie korleis slike understell har sett ut eller kor høge benkane har vore.
Hello Ernest
I took some days for me to answer. I have been doing some work on a turf roof with birch bark on a house from 1770 on Grytøya where this workbench are from. I could only read comments on the blog from my cellphone and it was not every day I could manage to respond. The roof is finished and I am back in Målselv for a few days.
I can not see if the Danish bench has an end vice similar to the bench from Grytøy? I think theese vices are common also in Denmark and then the benches are usually called «karetmagerbænk». In Norwegian this is translated to «hjulmakerbenk» or «bøkkerbenk». Both «karetmager» and «hjulmaker» means wheelwright. «Bøkker»
means cooper.
The front vice on the Danish bench seems to be large and sturdy.
Workbenches in Norway, Sweden and Denmark seems to be related. Still there are a lot of interesting variations. I do hope that our blog could present some of theese.
Hope you did have success on that roof out on that island of yours. Did you see what looks like a single plank of hardwood – could it be beech I wonder – for the work surface on that Danish bench? It puts me in mind of your own Vasa workbench with its solid oak slab working surface.
Regards,
E.DB.
Hi
I finished the roof yesterday evening. I think the roof should be good. It is about 186 square meters so it was a big job. We used about 1500 kilos of «never» (birch bark).
I did see the massive plank. Several of the benches on our blog have a large plank that it is buildt around. Vasa, Skokloster and Helberg all have a massive plank about 14-15″ by 3-4″.
On this bench from Grytøy you can see another typical sort. The plank are about 8-10″ by 2″. A lot of old benches are made of such planks. They do often have a front vice like this on Grytøy.
Yes, I guess with the workbenches from a hundred and more years ago the massive top was the best possible option.
Yes. Now we would glue smaller pieces to get a more stabile top.
When you use a massive top you can move to a different humidity and even use it outdoors. The Vasa bench with massive parts of oak and without screws could also be used in rain.
Nice exchanging bench words with you Roald. I think I prefer a more stable bench top. The long one in my workshop with holdfast and bankstoten, which is not flat can be a bugger to use. Ideally the bench surface itself should provide the majority of the hold for a workpiece.
E.DB.
Hello Roald,
Is it my imagination or does the «pinch» of the tail vise actually increase while closing, due to the declining angle of the trough that the screw rides in?
Hello Dennis
It is a good question. I do belive that the screw are in a right angle even that it seems to be a declining angle. The part that is hollowed out on the underside of the benchtop seems to be made with at large hollow plane. The hollow are longer than the screw just to start the groove. The part of the groove where the screw rides in have enaugh room for the screw to moove paralel to the benchtop. I think that was the intension from the one who made the bench.
When that is said I must also say that it might be hard to drill straight holes that big with the tools that where common in Norway about 100 years ago.
Høvelbenk 
Hello Roald,
Recently I was in Denmark on the island Møn and saw a workbench in an old farmhouse.
[IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c325/ernestdubois/Workbench/Workbenches/IMG_6199_zps4106e0ca.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c325/ernestdubois/Workbench/Workbenches/IMG_6199_zps4106e0ca.jpg[/IMG]
Maybe these photos will show.
Regards,
Ernest
Hello Ernest
I took some days for me to answer. I have been doing some work on a turf roof with birch bark on a house from 1770 on Grytøya where this workbench are from. I could only read comments on the blog from my cellphone and it was not every day I could manage to respond. The roof is finished and I am back in Målselv for a few days.
Thank you for your photos of the Danish workbench. The bench seems to be of a «normal» Scandinavian type similar to several of the benches I wrote about in this post: https://hyvelbenk.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/den-normale-hovelbenken-i-noreg/
I can not see if the Danish bench has an end vice similar to the bench from Grytøy? I think theese vices are common also in Denmark and then the benches are usually called «karetmagerbænk». In Norwegian this is translated to «hjulmakerbenk» or «bøkkerbenk». Both «karetmager» and «hjulmaker» means wheelwright. «Bøkker»
means cooper.
The Dane, Børge Askholm, has made an online Danish woodworking dictionary with a large chapter on workbenches: http://www.baskholm.dk/haandbog/14_arbejdsbaenke.html
The front vice on the Danish bench seems to be large and sturdy.
Workbenches in Norway, Sweden and Denmark seems to be related. Still there are a lot of interesting variations. I do hope that our blog could present some of theese.
Regards Roald
Roald,
Hope you did have success on that roof out on that island of yours. Did you see what looks like a single plank of hardwood – could it be beech I wonder – for the work surface on that Danish bench? It puts me in mind of your own Vasa workbench with its solid oak slab working surface.
Regards,
E.DB.
Hi
I finished the roof yesterday evening. I think the roof should be good. It is about 186 square meters so it was a big job. We used about 1500 kilos of «never» (birch bark).
I did see the massive plank. Several of the benches on our blog have a large plank that it is buildt around. Vasa, Skokloster and Helberg all have a massive plank about 14-15″ by 3-4″.
On this bench from Grytøy you can see another typical sort. The plank are about 8-10″ by 2″. A lot of old benches are made of such planks. They do often have a front vice like this on Grytøy.
Yes, I guess with the workbenches from a hundred and more years ago the massive top was the best possible option.
Yes. Now we would glue smaller pieces to get a more stabile top.
When you use a massive top you can move to a different humidity and even use it outdoors. The Vasa bench with massive parts of oak and without screws could also be used in rain.
Nice exchanging bench words with you Roald. I think I prefer a more stable bench top. The long one in my workshop with holdfast and bankstoten, which is not flat can be a bugger to use. Ideally the bench surface itself should provide the majority of the hold for a workpiece.
E.DB.
Hello Roald,
Is it my imagination or does the «pinch» of the tail vise actually increase while closing, due to the declining angle of the trough that the screw rides in?
Dennis Laney
Hello Dennis
It is a good question. I do belive that the screw are in a right angle even that it seems to be a declining angle. The part that is hollowed out on the underside of the benchtop seems to be made with at large hollow plane. The hollow are longer than the screw just to start the groove. The part of the groove where the screw rides in have enaugh room for the screw to moove paralel to the benchtop. I think that was the intension from the one who made the bench.
When that is said I must also say that it might be hard to drill straight holes that big with the tools that where common in Norway about 100 years ago.
The hole of the bench dog in the vice are a bit to the side of the screw. Some old similar vices does have a special bench hook like this one: https://hyvelbenk.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/hovelbenk/