Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Finished my workbench (mostly)
John Meikrantz
>Finally finished the workbench that I've been building for a LONG time. Problem was, before the workbench was finished, it became too useful! Finally got the top finished, and vices put on. Laminated oak base, solid core door top with a skin of tempered hardboard with oak aprons all around. Lee Valley twin screw vise on the front, and a Jorgensen quick release vise mounted in the tail position. First time posting a pic, hope it comes through!
John
Re: Finished my workbench (mostly)
Tom Colligan, Peoria
>Nice work, John. Very neat and simple.
Re: Finished my workbench (mostly)
Frank Mutchler in Colorado Springs
>Nice job, John. Did you have any trouble mounting the twin screw vise? I can't tell if you used dog holes or not?? Square or round?
Now you've got no excuses....furniture on demand for SWMBO!
Re: Finished my workbench (mostly)
John Meikrantz
>I had no trouble mounting the twin screw vise. After reading several horror stories about the difficulty of installation, I was a bit nervous about it. But, I just followed the directions, didn't do anything to be "extra careful", and the vise installed without any trouble. Don't really see a big issue with the rear jaw sagging at full extension, but then again I haven't used it fully extended very much.
In the picture, there are no dog holes. As of last night, there is a row of round dog holes extending the length of the bench. Round, because it's too hard to make square holes after a bench is built, and I don't think squares would do too well in particleboard. I have some Veritas bench pups, as well as some Rockler made bench dogs that fit in a 3/4" hole. The Rockler dogs are a great deal for the money. They are like the "dogs" that come with a Workmutt.
As far as building stuff goes, having a bench has already made a huge difference in being able to use hand tools! A large, flat, stable surface with the ability to hold stuff down sure makes work a lot easier!
John
Re: Finished my workbench (mostly)
Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, South of Miami FL
>Looks good! How well does everything work? Are you happy with the design? Would you make any changes if you had to do it all over again?
Re: Finished my workbench (mostly)
John Meikrantz
>Don,
It really works well. The base is loosely designed like the Woodsmith #50 bench, but I used cross dowels to hold the stretchers, with dowels for alignment. The feet and "arms" are attached with M&T joints. I am surprised at how heavy the bench is, and how stable. It doesn't move at all, even under heavy planing strokes. I think a decent bench is an essential shop tool, and I don't know how I got so much accomplished without one.
I am going to build another smaller, more utilitarian bench out of softwood, i.e. a Borg bench with threaded rod assembly for the GITs and also to put a mechanics type vise on.
So far, no complaints with the current design. I will also be building some storage drawers underneath...
John