Finished Wit One Week To Go

Talk about working without a net. We leave for Oregon one week from today and all that is left to do is a little "clean up" on the bench and make a tool tray for the tool box. All done with a insane work schedule which BTW I'm working every day up to leaving. The joinery on the bench is not the prettiest I done but it is solid. My excuse is the whole thing was done in a rush....That's my story (it's true) and I'm sticking to it.


I'll pick the Motorhome up from the RV shop this afternoon and then the moment of truth. Did my measurements work or did I have a senior moment and nothing fits in the proper storage bins. I do have a backup plan, I don't want to use, but if nothing fits in the bins I can carry it all in the Honda Fit Toad.


BTW, if you look behind the fan the tool box is standing on end. The tool box needs a tool tray but that shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to build, said the fool. Then load the whole mess into the Motorhome's bins or the Fit, whichever works. I hope I have a chance to use it, as always MsBubba has plans for 60 days stuffed into 30.

Attachment 366718

Congrats, Ken. I really like the design.

Nice project Ken. I really like the look of your new vise also. Happy traveling!

Talk about a bench on a bench. You're king. 2 nice looking benches.

Nice bench Ken. Should be great for the road. Does the fan push more air that way?:p
Jim

Thanks guys,

I've never been a fan of leg vises but because of weight and portability I decided to go with a wood screw one. So far I like how it works much better than the metal screw ones I've used. Time will tell. I thought for about 15 seconds of putting an apron on the slab like an English bench and going viseless. I still think it would work but....

Yep it would be perfect if I were Wilt the Stilt or Shaq, for us mortals it is a little high :).

Cheap plastic and my 100 mph tape fails at much less than 100mph :). BTW, many years ago in a heavy icing encounter a hunk of ice slid off the windscreen and hit the horizontal stabilizer where it joined the fuselage pushing the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer back about 6". We landed in the boonies to drop off the PAXs and needed to return to KSLC for repairs. I found a piece of aluminum big enough to cover the leading edge, secured it with 100mph tape and it worked long enough to get back to KSLC. Forgive an OF's remembrance, I had not thought of that in awhile.

ken

I love it - rollin West. I am a couple of weeks behind you but not quite as far.

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Originally Posted by Nathan Johnson

Congrats, Ken. I really like the design.

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Me too! Let us know how it goes. Travel safely!

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Originally Posted by David Eisenhauer

I love it - rollin West. I am a couple of weeks behind you but not quite as far.

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David,

How far West?

There is always a place to crash at Casa Chaos if you make it to Tucson. Of course you might have to share space with two large hairy Labs one of which is always wet.

ken

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Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly

Me too! Let us know how it goes. Travel safely!

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Fred,

Thanks, I had to find space in the shop last night to give it a go before packing it away in the Motorhome. I can't tell you how impressed I am with the bench. Because the slab is only 50mm (2") it is different than my French/English bench with a 100mm (4") slab but not in a particularly bad way, it just has a different feel. I went through most bench operations while making the tool tray for the Japanese style tool box. I worked perfectly, rock solid and stable for all operations. I even enjoyed the leg vise, I've never been a leg vise fan but the wood screw makes it work well. Here are a couple of photos of how I left the bench last night.

Attachment 366795

From the other side, there is not a lot of extra floor space in my shop to work with.

Attachment 366796

ken

Ken,

Wow, the completed bench looks great! Your vise is a monster!

I have a vise screw that was my grandfathers, it is not real long, and he had it on a leg vise.

I have thought about a portable moderate weight medium duty bench for some time now, to be used for carpentry work I do on the road at the kids house, or at church or a church camp owned by our denomination. As a part of that have thought about a vise, but have not come to any conclusions. I have never really liked the idea of a leg vise, but do have my grandfathers vise screw, so could go that route. The screw is not real long, 16" OA length, and have thought about building it into a conventional vise or a leg vise. The leg vise would be a much easier build.

When you get back let us know what you think about the leg vise, since you will have used it quite a bit by the time you get back.

Again, really cool bench, congrats on the job you did on it!

Stew

That's a handsome bit of wooddorkery there, Ken.

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Originally Posted by bridger berdel

That's a handsome bit of wooddorkery there, Ken.

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Thanks Bridger,

I got your call but needless to say haven't replied. I expect we will leave Friday but it is not set in stone. I'll try to call later.

ken

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Originally Posted by Stew Denton

Ken,

Wow, the completed bench looks great! Your vise is a monster!

I have a vise screw that was my grandfathers, it is not real long, and he had it on a leg vise.

I have thought about a portable moderate weight medium duty bench for some time now, to be used for carpentry work I do on the road at the kids house, or at church or a church camp owned by our denomination. As a part of that have thought about a vise, but have not come to any conclusions. I have never really liked the idea of a leg vise, but do have my grandfathers vise screw, so could go that route. The screw is not real long, 16" OA length, and have thought about building it into a conventional vise or a leg vise. The leg vise would be a much easier build.

When you get back let us know what you think about the leg vise, since you will have used it quite a bit by the time you get back.

Again, really cool bench, congrats on the job you did on it!

Stew

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Thanks Stew, I expect by the time it is all over everyone, including me, will be tired of posts about the bench :)

ken