Benchcrafted / Shaker bench

[Monte Milanuk]

http://benchcrafted.com/Benchbuilding.html

Anyone here started on one of these babies yet?

[john brenton]

Oh man, I shouldn't have looked at that. That is a beauty. Oh well, wouldn't suit my needs anyways, but I'd sure like to see it everytime I walked into the shop.

[John Shaffner]

I'd be afraid to actually use the darn thing!:D

[David Weaver]

Nice bench, but way too much work to just make a functional bench, unless making benches is something you like to do more than using the bench to make things.

[george wilson]

My leg vises in the instrument maker's shop had the sliding part at the bottom with the drilled holes and peg to keep the jaw parallel,too. I didn't mind stooping down back then.

There is another way to keep a leg vise reasonably parallel,though. Imbed vertically in the front and back legs on the vise,on the INSIDE of the jaws,facing each other,steel rectangular,long bars with "T" slots milled into them. Make a stout "X" of,say,1/4" (or more) x 1 1/2" steel bars with a stout bolt through the center of the X. At all 4 ends of the X,there are T shaped blocks bolted,or stoutly riveted to the ends of the X. They are just loose enough to swivel. With this X brace installed into the T slots embedded on each jaw,as the jaws open and close,the X brace will force the jaws to stay pretty parallel.

Trouble is,this requires metal work to make. You can't get by with using those flimsy aluminum T tracks they sell for router table use. They would get bent soon.

Another solution: Buy a Veritas double bench screw outfit,with the chain drive. Install it vertically in your leg vise. This is a more practical solution for those who don't have a milling machine.

Then,us old timers won't have to get down and hurt our backs adjusting the peg at the bottom.

OR,you could simply make a steel peg out of a length of rod. Bend the rod 90º,and leave a long handle on it,sticking up,and resting in the back of the stationary jaw. Maybe hold it with a loose clip. A little fussy to get it into the holes,but not that bad,and no bending over!!

[Jake Elkins]

When planning for my leg vise, I had come across this mechanism in Landis' book. Seemed much easier than the peg in the hole method, and a lot less complicated than the Croix de St. Pierre-ish design described above. Does anyone have any experience with this type of adjuster?

203281

[george wilson]

That looks good,Jake. A woodworker could hacksaw the rack out easily. OR,beef up the wooden bar and cut notches in that. I think a good thing to do would be to laminate some good hard wood,like oak,like plywood. Then,saw the rack out of that. The crossgrain center strip would help support the teeth.

[Brendan Dahl]

George was your reply meant for my thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?170073-Leg-Vise-Roller-Guides ? It seems a little out of place here.

[george wilson]

No,it was a reply to the picture at the start of this thread. I'll check out your thread.

[Norb Schmidt]

You could sandwich that steel tooth plate with indents every quarter inch or so in a wider wooden guide bar. That would enable you to use the weight balancing roller wheels Benchcrafted employs on there leg vise and eliminate the pin. The only question I have is would (and could you make) it strong enough to take the clamping pressure? One might be able to add strength by flame heat treating the teeth and pedal assembly.

Perhaps the bigger question is: who's tried this and why doesn't it work?

[Jeff Wittrock]

When planning for my leg vise, I had come across this mechanism in Landis' book. Seemed much easier than the peg in the hole method, and a lot less complicated than the Croix de St. Pierre-ish design described above. Does anyone have any experience with this type of adjuster?

203281

That looks like a nice simple mechanism.

I was just thinking. What if the foot "lever" were eliminated, and the rack was just extended a ways past the vise jaw. By stepping down on this extension, the rack would be raised, and by lifting up on the extension with a foot, it would push the rack down to engage. Seems like it would be even simpler. I guess the downside is that the extension sticking out past the jaw might be getting in the way.

-Jeff

[Chris Fournier]

That would be a great workbench! If I hadn't already built a bench or two that are pretty similar in concept - work surface and storage I'd spend the time to build a beauty like this one. It's your business card to all that come into your shop looking to hire you.

[Tony Shea]

After some experience with tool storage under the bench I vow never to make this mistake agian. I don't think it is ever a good idea. It sucks to have something critical setup in front of your bench in the vise and then need a tool that is in a drawer right behind the peice. I was amazed at how often I was not able to get into my drawers without taking something out of the vise, or off the front of the bench I had been working on.

[Jake Elkins]

That looks like a nice simple mechanism.

I was just thinking. What if the foot "lever" were eliminated, and the rack was just extended a ways past the vise jaw. By stepping down on this extension, the rack would be raised, and by lifting up on the extension with a foot, it would push the rack down to engage. Seems like it would be even simpler. I guess the downside is that the extension sticking out past the jaw might be getting in the way.


I had thought about this too, but I think the downside, in addition to what you mentioned, is that you would have to continually apply the leverage with your foot as you are moving the front jaw (i.e., turning the handle while standing on one leg). Might not be a problem for most, but for a general klutz like me, this would be a deal breaker.

Still curious if anyone has any first-hand experience with this.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

I was amazed at how often I was not able to get into my drawers without taking something out of the vise, or off the front of the bench I had been working on.

That just gave me the idea that since my bench will be in the middle of the floor, I could put the drawer openings on the back side of the bench.

Thanks.

Cliff

[Chris Fournier]

After some experience with tool storage under the bench I vow never to make this mistake agian. I don't think it is ever a good idea. It sucks to have something critical setup in front of your bench in the vise and then need a tool that is in a drawer right behind the peice. I was amazed at how often I was not able to get into my drawers without taking something out of the vise, or off the front of the bench I had been working on.

Rarely a problem in my experience. This is not to say that I haven't groaned about moving something to get something else but under bench storage is a golden plan. Everything is right at your hands and the tool weight is a workbench asset to say the least. The efficiency per square foot in terms of floor space is remarkable. I have found that messing up a procedure and locking myself out of my bench tools has forced me to think ahead and avoid this folly in the future. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!