New Bench

[snapper]

I have never added a TV or fridge to my shop.   Just seems odd to me to watch TV when I am in the shop, and I dont need a beer when running power tools as I have enough problem with keeping my fingers out of the way.

I did peg board when we got married and I had space in the garage.   I was constantly knocking those hangers off the peg board.  Perhaps it just reminded that I am not that organized.   

Fleener

[Eric Smith]

Getting there. Cut two acres of grass today. That are up a bit of time.

[Craig Wilcox]

Eric, I really like your shelf unit - inspiring!  Most of us always need a place to put things, sticking them in a box makes them hard to see/find.
With locks, it is kind of easy - I get plastic food storage boxes slightly bigger than a standard lock.  Then when I am disassembling them for polishing, etc., I can keep all the little parts together easily.
Ah, but other things - and we all have them.  Ramrod pipes, other odds and ends - that shelf unit, where an item can be seen, greatly simplifies the process.
Think I'll head down to the lumber yard and get me some 1 x 10's!

[smart dog]

Hi,
Here is mine.  When I die, my family is supposed to drag the bench outside, put me on top, and burn it like a pyre with bag pipes playing.
 




























dave

[Eric Smith]

Smart Dog, that a fantastic bench. I have seen photos of your shop before, but never really detailed pics of your bench. My hat is off to you for the excellence of your shop as well as the quality of work you do in that shop.

[Craig Wilcox]

Dave, never having seen one - what does the bicycle-type chain do, and how does it work?

Note to your wife - remove all the steel from the wood before igniting.

[BillPac]

That is way to nice to burn.

[smart dog]

Dave, never having seen one - what does the bicycle-type chain do, and how does it work?

Note to your wife - remove all the steel from the wood before igniting.

Hi Craig,
The chain is a drive designed and made by my friend Jim Ritter, a master boat builder.  It acts on the parallel guide moving it in and out automatically as I tighten or loosen the jaws of the leg vice.  That keeps the jaws parallel with the leg of the bench preventing racking.  The old way was to insert metal pins into the holes of guides to keep the jaws from racking.  The leg vises are incredible with respect to holding power yet never damaging the wooden object being clamped.  Along the the sliding "deadman" with all the holes in it, the vices give my bench tremendous flexibility for holding work. 

The holes on the top of my bench fit stops and braces but also my moveable rest, which can be angled and and moved to where I need it.   
dave 

I also mounted my task lamp on a block of wood with a pin for the holes so I can move it around the bench.  I have outlets in the ceiling above the bench so I can keep plug cords off the surface.


dave

[rich pierce]

Out of my league.  Way out of my league!  Great design and workmanship.

[Nordnecker]

My first bench had a top laminated out of pine much like Dave's. Over time, the edges of the boards wore down and opened up. Sawdust and shavings would accumulate in the cracks. Oddly, other people who visited my shop would pick up a scratch awl or a nail (whatever) and scape the dust away, leading to bigger cracks and more stuff getting into them.
At some point, I decided to rehab my bench and used that lamination as a core for the new bench top. It was quite a project. After the new top was done, I couldn't use the shabby old base that the old one sat on and that was another involved project, too.
It's a very personal thing.
I found that any horizontal surface, especially against a wall, becomes a catch-all. I like to be able to completely walk around my benches and try to limit the size and depth of anything against a wall.
My bench has 3 drawers under it. They are not deep, but tools get piled on top of each other and stuff ends up in the back of the drawers or buried.
I got an old Gerstner machinist chest some years back and that helped a lot with organizing the small stuff. These drawers are very small and shallow. But really it's the same problem on a much smaller scale. The little drawers are full of little teeny tools and parts. Things still get lost, buried, forgotten.
Enjoy the journey.

[ed lundquist]

Built this a couple years ago and it has served well, would change a few things but it's fine for the time being. Like to work all around the

[Craig Wilcox]

Thanks for the response, Dave.  I had been racking my brain, to use a pun.  That was one of the ideas that were flitting like moths through my brain.

I did notice the drilled sliding board, especially when you had the butt of the gun there while you were working on part of the foreend.  Great idea!  Does the bottom have a stop pin to keep it in place?  Or does just the weight of the item being worked on to hold it down?

I have the first two workbenches done and filled with gun-type thingies.  The 3rd one is in progress in the garage.  It will be shorter, at 6' long.  The dust collector machine will occupy the space where the bench is 2' shorter.  There is also a belt and disc (6" x 48" for the belt, 10" dia. for the disc) which will also take up some floor room.  The place still sounds like an echo chamber!

Neighbor's Dad quit his carpentry business, so I have a bunch of stuff - some in un-opened boxes, or unused.  Nice morticing machine with the tools for making mortises, 1/4" up to 1/2or 5/8". About 10lb or Forstner bits, twist bits for a hand auger, brad point bits, squares, calipers, brad point bits, by 64th from 3/32 up to 1" - all in great shape.  Tomorrow he will bring a 10" table saw - brought me the blades yesterday.  Lots of sorting!

But I drift - today is my 75th birthday - a whole 3/4 of a century!  At any rate, really enjoy seeing your bench, and seeing you using some of the same construction techniques that I use.

[Eric Smith]

Starting to shape up. Just a few more details.

[Stoner creek]

Starting to shape up. Just a few more details.

VERY NICE! Just too tidy.

[Eric Smith]

Stoner, your bench looks only half as bad as my other bench. This one is new. Give it time.  My shop vac is parked right where your's is.   

[Eric Smith]

Adding an old wood vise and a new parrot vise. Can't quite decide on lighting yet.