Hi John,
I have looked at your workbench from FWW #139, and think it looks like a very nice and practical design. My plan is to build one myself and I have a couple of questions.
1. Where did you get the clamps and the drop-in vise jaws that you used? If you have any idea of european or swedish source, that would be excellent, but US-based will also do.
2. I have a small table-mounted lathe that I would like to ‘hide’ in the workbench. The current idea is to put it on a board with hinges and then be able to just lower it down in the backend of the workbench, so it is out of the way when not used. But I am concerned about – having it in the backend would be a very uncomfortable working position; – hinges on the top of the workbench; – etc. Haven’t found a real good solution yet – do you have any suggestions?
Best regards, Tommy Telandersson
Replies
Tommy,
The clamps are made by an American company called Jorgensen. They are commonly available here in stores and in catalogs. What you want are their "Pony" brand bar clamps for 1/2 inch pipe, model number 52. If you do a web search, you will find numerous suppliers in the U.S and Canada. Pipe clamps are a very old design, there may be someone closer to home that makes something similar.
Be aware that you will also need the proper sized black iron pipe which you probably won't find in Europe, and that 1/2 inch pipe is a nominal size, it is actually larger in diameter, .840 inches, and the pipe will have to be threaded on the end that the screw portion attaches to.
For the lathe I would suggest attaching it to a base that would either fit down in the well with the panels removed, or you could mount the lathe on a larger base that would position the lathe close to the front of the bench. If the base extended back to the well area you could clamp it down with the well clamps.
John White
Hia again John, and thanks for the info.
I've found the Jorgensen stuff and am trying to find out how I best can get the stuff to Sweden. One thing though - you said the pipes are special and it would be hard to get them in Europe. The clamps would be useless without the correct pipes, I guess, so I am wondering where I can get the proper pipes?
Rgds Tommy
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