How to make your bench Just little bit longer.

[Andrew Gibson]

I am working on a dining table that will end up being a little over 6' long the boards i am using are a little over 6' long and my bench is right at 6' long... so i can't use my inset vise and dog holes to hold the work...

so I drilled a hole in the end skirt of my bench and used a holdfast to secure the boards. worked like a charm... here is a pic.

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I also posted a post in the Blog section a video from today of me steam bending some chair backs for the first time. Check it out and let me know what you think.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Cool solution.

Pam

[john brenton]

What's holding the other side?

When I have a piece too long I put a clamp on the edge of the underside of the board and it stops up against the edge of the table. Its still no fun, but it does work well on anything at or above 4/4.

I'm thinking I need to build be bench long enough to work a bed rail. That should cover everything lengthwise.

[Andrew Gibson]

The other end is up against my end vise... a LV inset vise.
I was very pleased with how well this worked. I was able to scrub plane and smooth with no slipping or other unwanted movement of the workpiece.

My ideal bench would be longer then 8' but...

[Michael Peet]

Andrew, very resourceful. Did you tighten the vise against the holdfast, or hammer the holdfast in against the vise?

Mike

[Andrew Gibson]

I Tightened the Holdfast against the vise. I don't think the holdfast would stay in place and tighten the other way around. I was careful not to really pound on the holdfast as It could put a lot if force on the end vise.

I may have to try and see today If the holdfast will stay in place and let me tighten from the vise end.

[Andrew Gibson]

Ok so I did try to use the end vise to set the tension and it worked.
I put the holdfast in place and gave it a little bump with the palm of my hand. That set the holdfast, then I was able to use the endvise to set the tension.

[Jim Koepke]

All I can say is BRILLIANT!

Figuring out how to hold something still while working on it is one of the major uses of woodworking brain power.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

Andrew,

Is that bench patterned after Roy Underhill's portable bench? It sure resembles it, but has obviously thicker boards and more heft.

[harry strasil]

My bench is only 5 ft long but there are 39 dog holes in the top and I can clamp any length board by using dogs and wedges to clamp on the sides of the board. FWIW

The bench is full at the moment or I would set up and take a pic.

[Andrew Gibson]

Andrew,

Is that bench patterned after Roy Underhill's portable bench? It sure resembles it, but has obviously thicker boards and more heft.

Sure is. I saw Steve branam's blog post on the one he built, and I needed a bench that was sturdy enough to handle scrub plaining, without being so heavy that I couldn't move it around. The result was a bench that weighs around 150 lb and is portable enough to breing to woodworking shows and meeting, yet dosen't walk around the shop.

[Steve Branam]

Sure is. I saw Steve branam's blog post on the one he built, and I needed a bench that was sturdy enough to handle scrub plaining, without being so heavy that I couldn't move it around. The result was a bench that weighs around 150 lb and is portable enough to breing to woodworking shows and meeting, yet dosen't walk around the shop.

Cool! I hadn't realized you built this until I went back and found your post on it and looked at the date. Two days after I got laid off, ugh! I wasn't doing anything related to woodworking for a while there, not even lurking on the forums. I'm glad you liked it and took it to another level!

Although 150 lbs is stretching my definition of portable! :D

[Andrew Gibson]

Although 150 lbs is stretching my definition of portable! :D

I have been hiting the weights. I'm aproaching a 400 lb deadlift and squat, not bad for a skinny 170lb guy. So the 150 lb bench somehow seems more managable... does that count as a gloat in this forum?

[Mark Baldwin III]

I have been hiting the weights. I'm aproaching a 400 lb deadlift and squat, not bad for a skinny 170lb guy. So the 150 lb bench somehow seems more managable... does that count as a gloat in this forum?

No one ever believes that us skinny guys can push big weights. Before I blew out my shoulder, I was pushing around 350+ on the bench press. These days, my 100ish pound bench feels pretty heavy! Nice bench by the way, kind of makes me want to build a second one.

[Steve Branam]

I have been hiting the weights. I'm aproaching a 400 lb deadlift and squat, not bad for a skinny 170lb guy. So the 150 lb bench somehow seems more managable... does that count as a gloat in this forum?

:eek: Yeah, that counts! Now I know who to call if I ever move from this house and need to carry my full-size Roubo out of the basement!

[Andrew Gibson]

No one ever believes that us skinny guys can push big weights. Before I blew out my shoulder, I was pushing around 350+ on the bench press. These days, my 100ish pound bench feels pretty heavy! Nice bench by the way, kind of makes me want to build a second one.

A 350 bench is big for just about anyone imo... My long term goal is 315, but I need to be a little more consistent to get there I think. I always seem to stall in the first few months of the year with colds and other distractions. My current best bench was 240 I think.