Hammacher Schlemmer Bench

[Mike Jury]

I have an old Hammacher Schlemmer Bench top in my stack of stuff to restore, and it is time for another of those restoration projects. So I have started to look for information on this bench. The printing on the underside of the bench indicate it was sold by Hammacher Schlemmer to the Board of Education Hasbrook Heights NJ. I have placed a call to Hammacher Schlemmer for any information they might have regarding this bench, such as old catalogs or assembly instructions. They Said they had nothing this old for reference.

After searching the web I have found a couple references and it appears the bench I have is a school model “L” or “J”. It is similar in design to the common model “B” in the general catalogs. It is probably described well in the H-S catalog 87 which was designed for school systems.

I would like to rebuild the base and reassemble the bench. And I will go ahead and build from best guess if I can’t find any additional information.

Here are pictures of the bench top lying on top of my last restoration project.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo279/shoottx/projects/HS%20Bench/Projects049.jpg (http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo279/shoottx/projects/HS%20Bench/Projects049.jpg)


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo279/shoottx/projects/HS%20Bench/Projects050.jpg




http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo279/shoottx/projects/HS%20Bench/Projects056.jpg

[george wilson]

Is that label on the cabinet of the bench,or on the top of the bench somewhere,like on the underside of the top? The cabinet looks a lot younger than the actual bench top.

[Mike Jury]

The HS bench top is sitting on another bench that is already refinished

The label is stenciled on the under side of the HS bench here are a couple more pictures for clarity

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo279/shoottx/projects/HS%20Bench/DSC02498-1.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo279/shoottx/projects/HS%20Bench/DSC02501.jpg

[Don Orr]

That's a pretty cool benchtop Mike.

The base you have it sitting on looks very familiar to me. I have a double sided bench from a school in NYC where my FIL worked as a shop teacher many years ago. He got one when they were getting rid of them. I got it when he died. My base has drawers on both sides-a total of 14. The top is maple and a little beat up but functional, with a tool tray down the middle. I scraped and sanded all the hideous light green paint off ( except 1 drawer front to show what it used to look like) and cleaned it all up, fixed all the drawers and put a coat of oil on it. I lagged the top onto the base and added a vise and this thing is a beast. I can't move it if I try, especially with the drawers full ! My base looks just like yours.