Outdoor Bench Ideas?

Re: Outdoor Bench Ideas?

mike recchione

>I'm in the middle of a similar exercise myself, except my "outdoor bench" will be in my garage. My requirements are a little different from yours, in that the main considerations driving my choices are lack of space for a large bench (I can only fit 4'), the need to support a bunch of different types of work, and a great disinclination to spend a lot of money on this bench.

Some of the solutions I've been considering might apply to you - mostly along the lines of removable fixtures that modify the way the bench works. You could store these indoors to protect them from the elements.

For edge jointing, one thing you might consider, for example, is if you plan to have a skirt on the front of the bench, tap it for wooden screws in a few places. You can use these to create vises as you need them. A removable leg vise might also work for you. You can either make the "nut" parts removable and store them indoors, or make them easy/cheap to replace. Yet another alternative is a planing hook and a combination of holdfasts and pegs in the skirt (like the Taroule(sp?) version of the Roubo bench in The Workbench Book).

For holding wide boards or chair seats, one of the fixtures I plan to build for this bench is a removable twin-screw vise that clamps onto the front of the bench. There's one like it in The Workbench Book, based on a modified bookbinders clamp. Of course, if you have a skirt on the bench, this is easy to accomplish by just providing holes in the right places. For various reasons, I don't want a skirt, so I opted for the clamp-on approach.

For face planing, I often use stops rather than the tail vise, and I don't plan to have a tail vise on the new bench. There are a bunch of great ideas for stops of various kinds and other fixtures in The Workbench Book and in Robert Wearing's Making Woodworking Aids and Devices.

Good luck with your new bench!

Re: Outdoor Bench Ideas?

David Miller from Iowa

>While the rust proof strategies you are contemplating are noble, I wouldn't necessarily presume that metal vises are a no go. I gave my Dad blacksmith's leg vise about 10 years ago - we butchered up a tree trunk and made it a free standing monster out by his junk building. It has been out in the rain and snow since then and, with an occasional slathering of grease on the screw, it works fine. Yes, it is very rusty, but functions well. At an auction this summer I bought a very old Massey quick release vise (no screw - notches and cam) that had obviously been out in the rain for years. Rusty as heck, but it still worked easily. I think that if you had wooden jaws on your vise a small bit of greasing you could make a standard vise work for a substantial time.

Re: Outdoor Bench Ideas?

Alan Hamilton

>Don,

As always when in doubt, seek the counsel of a saint--in this case Saint Roy of Underhill.

In one of his Woodwright's Shop books Saint Roy builds a perfectly useful bench that has no vises or other manufactured holding devices. He has decidedly low-tech implements for doing all the holding a joiner requires. For example, to hold a board to work on its edge, he attached a kind of hook on the left front of the skirt; a hold-fast on the other end of the board does all the rest.

I don't remember in which book Saint Roy makes this bench, but that's a good thing. It gives you a good reason to get all of his books.

Alan

Re: Outdoor Bench Ideas?

Steve Kubien

>Hi Don,

How about drilling some holes through the WIDTH of the bench top. Insert some pipe clamps and viola!, you have an as-wide-as-want-it face vise. Take them in the house when not in use. I can see it now...All the neighbours have an umbrella stand in their front hall but not Don. Oh no! Don has pipe clamp storage!! Heck, add your longest jointer, some regular pipe clamps and you are well on your way to having a mobile tool chest in the front hall.

Seriously though, the pipe clamp idea, some wedges, cleats and a couple of holdfasts and you are all set. Check out Sam Allen's work bench book for ideasfor wedges and wedged cleats.

Take care,

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario

Re: Outdoor Bench Ideas?

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>Thanks. I have one of his books, buried in my office/library. I will have to dig it up, and see whether the bench is in the book I have.

Re: Outdoor Bench Ideas?

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>You are tempting me. I have a spare Record vise that I bought when the were remaindered at Big Lots....

Maybe some kind of miracle rustproofing, and lots of grease on the screw?

Re: Outdoor Bench Ideas?

David Miller from Iowa

>Just grease the screw an let it ride. It will rust, but if you have wooden jaws, the workpiece will never know.