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Work Bench

comments (6) January 21st, 2010 in Reader's Gallery

tskinner tskinner, member
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Workbench for my shop, Hard maple top 2 1/2" thick with 4" dog strip and end caps.  Shortened a traditional bench to fit my space and used a quick release front vise, added a couple of holes for bench hold downs, looking forward to many years of solid use.


Design or Plan used: Traditional bench modified to fit my workspace
posted in: Reader's Gallery, WorkBench
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Comments (6)

jollypond jollypond writes: tskinner, Thanks so much for the information. It will go a long way in helping me build my base.

Posted: 1:58 pm on January 26th

tskinner tskinner writes: jollypond, my bench is 30 1/2 x 73 1/2 the 30 1/2 includes a 7 1/2 tool tray.

The base is hard maple glued up to get heavier legs and cross members for both weight and support.

For the bench hold downs, I would try and use my drill press and a couple of unspecting relatives to help move the top around. adding vises to the laminated top should be pretty straight forward, need 3 1/2" thick at point where added (depending on vise used) could add a spacer block if needed, one on the front, one on the end, some of the heavier vises have a pop up dog in the vise jaw, add a few round dog hole while your are on the drill press and you will be good to go.
Posted: 12:28 pm on January 24th

jollypond jollypond writes: Oh, I forgot to include, any suggestions on how to add holes for a bench hold downs for a top that is pre-made but not attached to a base?
Posted: 8:31 am on January 24th

jollypond jollypond writes: Great looking bench. I have a laminated maple top 30" wide x 60" long and have been looking for some plans to build the base and add vices. Yours bench is very similar to my idea of what I want. I am a beginner/intermediate woodworker so I have a limited knowledge of how to proceed with my idea.

What are the dimensions of your bench and what kind of wood did you use for the base?
Posted: 8:21 am on January 24th

tskinner tskinner writes: Thanks for the comment, the tail vise uses a standard 1" vise screw with standard wooded runners ang guides, I have about 1/8" of lift under load.
Posted: 6:55 am on January 24th

GT64 GT64 writes: Great looking workbench. Make or buy that is the question. which shoulder vice did you use? I have heard some have a tendency to lift under load.
Posted: 10:36 am on January 23rd

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