David Barnett Bench Question

Bench Slave Question and

David Barnett

>Yes, Don, it has a 3/4" diameter peg that fits into the dog-holes, and yes, it works very well and I totally like it.

I have a stand-off rear jaw (Kirby style) on my Record 52-1/2ED vise, allowing me to clamp pieces with thicker sections without interference from the bench edge, something I thought hideous when I first saw it on another bench, until I worked with it awhile, that is. Because I opted for this (and would do so again), it's convenient to make a bench slave that's exactly the same distance from the edge, giving me a backing board for such tasks as cutting DTs on wide panels (I use a clamp across the bench on the end not held in the vise).

It's easy to make, gets out of the way when I don't want it around, stores extra dogs and has been used as a stop on occasion.

I used cork sheet on the sections that touch the bench, by the way.

This picture better shows the relation of the vise to the slave.

Re: Bench Slave Question and

ChrisKnight

>David,

Having gone the opposite route when I made my bench many moons ago - that is to have the rear jaw flush with the bench - I am intrigued to know what exactly you mean by clamping pieces with thicker sections. I am having trouble visualising the sort of thing you are talking about.

Chris

Thanks, Dave!

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, South of Miami FL

>

Non-flush vise mounting advantages

David Barnett

>The things I work on might help you visualise, as it's otherwise difficult to describe exactly how I do things. I find it much easier to work on such things as gunstocks with spokeshaves, rasps, chisels, for example. The same goes for the occasional guitar neck, table legs; cabriole, tapered, etc. -- just about anything that varies in thickness or is shaped so that holding it in a flush mounted vise might make it difficult (this includes warped timbers or bent laminations). I really like to get my hand between the bench edge and the work when I'm doing shaping or finishing, especially when aiming for symmetry with files, rasps, and gouges. For asymmetrical organic shaping, it gives me extra options for approaching the work with advantages in grain direction, vision, and ergonomic support. A tall Guimard-influenced lamp base is a good example. Wish I had a picture.

I also hold workpieces in clamps/jigs/fixtures between the vise jaws, and many of these elements protrude in one or more directions. Having the extra relief is helpful.

The relief also comes in handy for semi-woodworking uses, as when wrapping shagreen around an edge, and for non-woodworking uses, as when I hold eggbeaters horizontally, cranking above the vise top to wind wire onto mandrels for jump rings. My right hand rests behind and somewhat below, pulling the wire taught while winding.

I wouldn't be surprised if I use this vise about half to hold timber and the other half to hold a clamped object or tool for some other task. Maybe I should've gone for a pattern vise, instead.

Anyway, I hope this helps, Chris. If it doesn't really answer your question, I'll gladly try again.

You're welcome, and a trivial tweak...

David Barnett

>Early on, I added leather to my vise faces (I'd used cork until I bought another hide), so I also replaced the cork on the slave with leather of the same thickness to maintain planarity.

Re: Non-flush vise mounting advantages

Chris Knight

>David,

That is very clear, many thanks

Chris

A different Question on your table

Bart Goldberg

>Dave, How did you attached the rear face of your twin screw vise to the table?

Thank

Bart

Nuts'n'Bolts *LINK*

David Barnett

>Straightforward and simple, as shown in the Lee Valley instructions at this link. Scroll down to:

A. Standard Twin-Screw Vise

After seasoning and settling for a year, I realigned and retightened. It had moved maybe 1/32nd of an inch or so. The only other time I tweaked it was after the move to Florida. Hasn't moved since.


LV twin-screw vise installation

Re: Bench Slave Question and

Mitch

>Hi David,

I'm building a bench with a similar base construction. In fact, I'm going to drill the holes into the legs for the stretchers tonight. I was just going to use one bolt (3/8", 6" long) for each end. Obviously, two bolts on each end would be stronger. My bench will be collapsible, so I'm wondering if the strength of two bolts is more important than the time saved by only having to attach one bolt. In your opinion (factoring out my simple laziness!), how much difference in strength would there be with two bolts versus one bolt in each end?

Thanks! By the way, that's a beautiful bench!

Regards,

Mitch

Re: Bench Slave Question and

John, NY

>Nice Bench!

That workshop sure is clean do you do dental work in your spare time? Seriously though, I wish I had the discipline to keep mine that clean, sure would make things easier at times... except the cleanin'!

Nice lighting too!

Look a bit more closely...

David Barnett

>If you're making a bench of stretchers mortised into the legs, you're fine with one bolt and nut in each end. What may not be apparent in the pics of my joiner's bench, but can be seen if you look closely, is that my bench is built with truss rod construction. Two threaded rods run through channels in the top and bottom of each stretcher. Single rods run through the top bearers, through each leg and the sled feet. There are no mortises and tenons. The entire base is many butt joints held tightly together, the legs and stretchers acting as compression members. This is a surprisingly strong technique, simple in construction and maintenance (it can be tightened or loosened with changes in seasonal humidity, for example), and one which I use for all my shop furniture. Here's a previous thread that shows a few more examples.

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/handtools.pl?noframes;read=33015

Notice the grooves in the repousse bench housing the truss rods. Others, as in the anvil stand, are enclosed in the stretchers and leg panels. Hope this helps.

Anyway, don't change anything. Your design is ideal for a take-down bench and is time-tested for any woodworker's bench. Although my bench can be disassembled, I doubt I ever would.

And thanks, by the way, for the nice compliment.

You can have more than one, you know...

David Barnett

>Dental work? No, but I did remove the stirrups from my exami... er... joiner's bench. As for a tidy work environment, it helps to have more than one bench slave, and I would've included her in the picture but I'm told that's so not politically correct, these days.

Regarding the lighting, and more...

David Barnett

>Glad you mentioned the lighting, as that's one of my most important tools. It certainly helps to have plenty of sunlight; something I don't take for granted after working for years in too dark shops in too dark New England winters. But I augment that with lots of Ott-lite True-color, that give daylight color temperatures near 5800 degrees Kelvin. I have one Ott-lite lamp, but use the 20-watt swirl bulbs in nearly every articulated lamp, and I have a bunch. These days, I'll have two or three on the joiner's bench (especially when laying carving), two on the jeweler's bench, two at the faceting machine, and so on. They make a huge difference to me when splitting those dovetail knife marks.

For directional spotlighting, especially when sharpening saws, I prefer halogens, and use fiber optic light guides with 150-watt illuminators, which gives a nice near-white cold light (the heat from the halogen lamp is fanned away through the back of the illuminator).

Just last night we were discussing optics and lighting in the Handtools Chatroom, having mentioned that optics were pretty much my most important tools. We talked about magnivisors, surgical telescopes, magnifier lamps, what powers, diopters, and so on. Good light and good optics (for us aging presbyopians) is worth the bucks. To me, at least.

Erratum

David Barnett

>"(especially when laying carving)" should've been "(especially when laying out or carving)". Any quips regarding statuary or figureheads may be sent off list, of course.

Re: Regarding the lighting, and more...

Frank House

>I know chatrooms are supposed to be ephemeral, but I am really interested in the topics you mentioned.

I tried to find a way of accessing a record, but got nowhere, can anyone tell me how to do so, please?

TIA

Frank

Chat logs? I'm clueless

David Barnett

>I do know some chats, those with guests; pundits, editors, famous woodworkers, writers, and so on, are logged and archived, but don't know if other chats are logged by the WC system or by participants. Ellis would know, of course.

Right now

Dan Donaldson

>I do not believe that the normal chats are being logged. I will have to check with Ellis to see what is involved in doing it. I think that there may be some extra stuff to do to it after the chats, and since Ellis is mostly buried, it may be hard for him to do it. Let me see what I can find out. It might be nice to have all of the chats logged for posterity;-)

Re: Right now

Ted Owen, Moderator

>That's my understanding, too. He has archived a few of the special ones.

Best, Ted