Who here has the ugliest workbench?

Re: My bench 5 of 7 

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.

Re: My bench 5 of 7 

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.

Re: My bench 6 of 7 

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.

6 of 7 is the last pic

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>I messed up and put in two #5's. Dang it.

T.O.

Re: My bench (A

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>This shot was to mostly give an idea of the top itself. It is made up of many, many, many short pieces of laminated 2x4's that where cut at opposing 45 degree angles on each end to facilitate the pieces slidingup and tight to each other. I had to bore a hole thru each piece to pass a piece of 3/4" all-thread. There are 3 rods running thru the top at approx. 1/3 intervells. The top is 70 3/4" long, 39 1/4" wide and from the floor to the top of the top it is 38 1/4" which is too high for a Neander bench for many operations.

T.O.

Re: My bench (B

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>Here is a shot of the drawers that are beneath the top. These drawers where addes as an afterthought after the bench was completed as the original plan called for just an open space under here, but I felt it was a waste of space. They are made of 3/4" plywood, and the inside deminisions of them are 12"x25" and are of various depths. The bottom is held in place by a simple dado that runs all around.

If I had to make these drawers again I'd make them half again as wide and have only two rows of them vs three. I'd also have the runners intergrated into the sides of the drawes vs the external rail that I have now, but as I say the where built as an afterthought almost 10 years ago, and I really wasn;t aware of that idea at that time.

T.I.

Re: My bench (C

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>Here is my homemade shoulder vise. All made of off the shelf hardware. Handle is made of a plumbing T a 3/4" dowel and a nail. On the jaw,behind that large flat washer is a cavity, and in it is a large nut with a hole drilled thru it and has a bent nail pinning the nut to the rod. Crude, but works real well. The jaw itself is only 6" long, and opens to 2 3/4".

T.O.

Re: My bench (D

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>Here is the end of my tail vise. Quite self explanatory. The rub block for the handle is a piece if aluminum that I shaped to be a bit more fancy than simply are square block.

T.O.

Re: My bench (E

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>This shot shows the dovetail slide thaqt that helps guide the vise when opening and closing.

T.O.

Damn Boy, We need to learn you about...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA


>posting pics with text... I think that FL sun has got to your head...

Re: My bench (F

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>This is trhe inside of the outer face of the tail vise. It shows the dowel that I used as a guide rod, which I had to wax, and of the threaded rod that screws it in and out. the hollow that you see where the threaded rod goes thru is to allow it to fit over the square plate that is threaded for the rod. The plate is bolted to the piece that is attached to the top.

T.O.

Re: My bench (G

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>This is just a shot of one of the drawers to show one.

I think if I had to build this top again I'd:

1)Have the top flush with legs and face frame of the bench and not overhang the bench frame itself.

2)Since I plane left to right I'd have the shoulder vise on the right end of the top.

3) More than likely totally eliminate the tail vise, and go with perhaps a small closed one. I rarely use the tail vise anyhow, but 10 years ago I thought it was an absolute requirement. Ahhhhhh well, live and learn.

Hope somebody gets an idea or two from these pics and if any more info is needed just ask.

the bench was made from 98% recycled material. I may have $30 in it at the most.

T.O.

Re: Damn Boy, We need to learn you about...

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>When I tried adding text to the post with a pic it wouldn't go thru. I don't know why. I know this thread has gotten totally screwed up. When I posted the A,B,C's I thought they's go in order like A B C not backwards like they did. Just not my night I guess, which really comes as no surprise as it really wasn't my day either.

Took me 6 hours to assemble a 5 shelf storage shelf system that I got out of the dumpster at work. Seems the shelfs that I got didn't go with the legs that I got. The legs had the slots that would accept the matching studs in the shelf corners, but alas the shelves didn't have the studs, so I had to make them, than wrassle by myself tp assembl;e the whole thing, than drag it to the place I wanted to put it, which was no easy feat unto itself, plus it was VERY humid and I was drenched with sweat the whole time.:~( Got'er done tho! :~)

T.O.

T.O.

Correction

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.


>I plane from right to left, thus I'd have the shoulder vise to my right on my next top I think.

T.O.

Todd, that is a great looking bench!

Pete Ducklow


>You did a great job of making your own vises, etc. Very innovative. Plus your bench looks lived in, like an old house with lots of memories. Thanks for posting!

Nice bench

jim reed @ tallahassee


>For a country boy, you do good work. Thanks for the pictures.