Finished workbench top *LINK*

Re: Finished workbench top

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>Really sweet there. I like that bench alot wish mine was finished.

Re: Finished workbench top

Bob Sobieck

>Wow! Really looks good. I have an old laminated southern pine one that has gotten hard over the years. Servicable, but nothing like yours.

bob

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Clay C in Miami

>That's just beautimous. I like the look of that face vise, but I don't recognize it - what is it?

Clay

Re: Finished workbench top

Kurt Loup

>Thanks, Clay. The face vise is a quick release Wilton I picked up at Lowe's on closeout. I removed the pivoting jaw and added a wooden jaw. You simply pull out a pin to remove the pivoting jaw. It will only take a minute or two to reinstall if needed. I routed a slot for the rear jaw in dog hole strips, so the front apron is now the rear jaw.

Kurt

Re: Finished workbench top

Chris Knight

>It looks great, very well done.

What are the two grey jacks for I wonder?

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Peter Berglund in Denver

>Very pretty indeed. What wood? The end looks like white oak. Really cool vices.

Peter

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Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>Just a guess but I bet they are rv or trailer leveler jacks.

Kurt...in the background there appears to be another tail vice.Is this your second bench?JR

jacks

Kurt Loup, Baton Rouge

>Chris and Joe,

Yes, they are trailer tongue jacks I purchased from Harbor Freight for about $13 each. I replaced the crank arm with a bicycle sprocket as can be seen on my tablesaw. The bicycle shop gave me enough chain so that I can link 4 together at each corner. They will mount to the inside of the stretchers. My tests show that they will easily raise the bench, but I'm not sure if the smaller footprint will be too unstable. If stability is a problem, I can slide blocks under the feet or slide a block underneath with casters to move the bench around. The jacks will provide between 12-18" of adjustment over the current height of the bench, 33.5". I can easily turn the sprocket by hand. I expected more resistance with the weight of the bench, but it is actually not much more resistance than turning without a load. The jacks are rated for 2000 lbs. each. The bench hidden in the back is a traditional cabinet maker's bench with a shoulder vise and tail vise made from plans in the book Making Workbenches by Sam Allen. I like the shoulder vise, but I don't like the holding power of the round dogs. The angled sqare dogs hold better on the new bench. Can't remember if the round dog holes are angled.

Kurt

Re: Finished workbench top

Kurt Loup, Baton Rouge

>Thanks, Peter. The bench is a mix of red and white oak with two coats of Watco Danish oil. I did use some mahogany on the vises.

Kurt