New Workbench

[jaycee]

Through various circumstance changes we had to re-allocate rooms in the house which gave me the oppotunity to build a work bench in what will become a workshop come storage area.

The bench is made from 3x2 with 25mm mdf top (flippin' heavy) and is 2400mm x 800mm (8 foot x 31") with a shelf underneath made from the remaining mdf ( originally 8x4 sheet.)

The corner support pieces will be glued to the top and then screwed into the frame, And the front 120mm Apron was glued to the frame which really stiffened up the whole thing. Everything else is screwed.

 

In the 3rd pic you will see three dog holes in the vice face piece which accept the dowels from the Ash strip in the 4th pic, this enables pieces to be secured whilst planing. 

I installed the vice 25mm below my original plan due to brain fog but it works fine.

There is a lot of room to add other components as and when I think or see something I like.

 

And it was finished with three coats of Patina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[soapbarstrat]

I recently found this on the side of the road less than a mile from my house. It’s got some old time mojo for sure. The vise is awesome! Holds large pieces of wood surprisingly firm.

[ScottR]

That one's definitely been work hardened.

SR

[mistermikev]

On 3/29/2020 at 6:05 AM, jaycee said:

 

 

 

 

my kind of rig.  I don't mind if my jigs or bench look nice or not (usually don't), but the focus for me is function.  they are a tool that does a job.  Yours does indeed look nice, but it seems like it was built with doing a job in mind.  I like that. 

@soapbarstrat 's bench is lovely too... because it looks like it's seen a ton of work.  Must have been built well.

[soapbarstrat]

Finally refurbished this damn thing. Wanted to keep a lot of the antique mojo. I guess I’m pretty satisfied with the results. Did most of the work with a wire wheel on a drill, just brushing it quickly across the surface to turn back time on the aging but not make it look too new. The metal bench stop is marked C.E.STEARNS & CO. SYRACUSE NY. on the bottom (forgot to take photo while I had it removed) Probably from the 1920’s. The lower ratchet parallel bar on the vise is rare.

The bottom of the legs could use repair work, but I want to use the bench a while first, to try to get an idea of any height adjustment I might need to make when repairing the legs.

[soapbarstrat]

Ever since I saw Perry Ormsby using a Workmate many years ago, I always kind of wanted one, but not enough to actually pay for one

I remember not long ago, somewhere on the Internet somebody else was showing theirs, at which point I said I was waiting to find a free one. They said they doubt I’d ever get a decent one for free. 

Well, a few days ago, someone on the next street had one out for the trash.

was it perfect when I first got it? Hell no. The  top had a bunch of paint on it. Part of it had been assembled incorrectly and a pin had gone missing. 

I reassembled the two incorrectly installed legs. Now I had one of the pins in it’s proper location. And it turned out the missing pin was down inside the other hollow leg. I carefully reinstalled it using a vise.

I also tightened all the loose bolts, especially the ones that were making the vise movement kind of sloppy. Applying some grease to the threads allows it to work while the parts are together more firmly. I got this thing tweaked real good.

Recently got the red vise at a local estate auction for $14.75 (I made the little StewMac magnet )

[curtisa]

I had something that looks almost identical to yours when I first started out, but it didn't have the 90-degree swivel arrangement for the two jaws. Served me well for many years.

$14.75 for the pattern makers vice is outrageously good going, considering the Stewmac one I bought must have cost me almost $300 to ship down here. Lucky sod!

[Bizman62]

Looks similar to the one I have but like @curtisa I don't have the jaw swivel system. Same brand, though, and cheap enough for me to have bought it as new - guess it must have been in the  €20 range.

[ScottR]

Nice!

SR