Benchcrafted vise install- watch those measurements!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

EDITED!... It turns out I may possibly have screwed up and measured wrong, but I prefer to believe that my ruler is off by 1.75". That's my story. But seriously- I did make changes to the Benchcrafted plans, but the ultimate mistake was that I somehow misread that the bottom of the hole was 1.75" above the crisscross mortise, but it turns out the CENTER is 1.75" off. Oops. The recess ends up very close to the crisscross mortise if you drill correctly, so when I drilled it too high, everything looked fine- yup, that's about right... nope, that's not right.

Because my top is 5" thick, I lowered the legs a couple of inches to keep the top at the height I wanted. I thought I had considered everything when making this change. Tonight I drilled the hole for the vise screw. I was so happy it came out perfectly straight, but then I realized there wasn't room for the bushing in back. Easy fix- I will just chop out a little recess and there is still plenty of meat left in the stretcher, but boy did I learn sum'n today. The good news is there is still room for the screw, and now it will sit flush to the stretcher.

353070

[Jim Ritter]

You could also flush the nut hub down into the leg and leave the stretcher alone. I had a similar situation with my bench but it was on purpose. I scooped the whole corner of the stretcher away so the nut could be removed if necessary. I'll see if I can find a pic.
Jim

[Patrick Chase]

Because my top is 5" thick...

Why don't you just take this to its logical conclusion and buy a nice solid granite optical table?

[David Eisenhauer]

Hazy memory tells me that there was a mention that changing the height of the bench from the plans would affect the placement of the leg vise in the construction notes that were issued by Benchcrafted. Sounds like you fixed it anyway, so all well that ends well. How long is your bench going to be?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

You could also flush the nut hub down into the leg and leave the stretcher alone. I had a similar situation with my bench but it was on purpose. I scooped the whole corner of the stretcher away so the nut could be removed if necessary. I'll see if I can find a pic.
Jim

I am considering letting the hub into the leg, but then it seems you lose the additional busing on the front of the leg.


Why don't you just take this to its logical conclusion and buy a nice solid granite optical table?

I tried that. It was so heavy it fell through the floor and landed on top of grandma, may she rest in peace. The good news is we didn't have to buy a headstone.


Hazy memory tells me that there was a mention that changing the height of the bench from the plans would affect the placement of the leg vise in the construction notes that were issued by Benchcrafted. Sounds like you fixed it anyway, so all well that ends well. How long is your bench going to be?

Rub it in, David. Rub it in.

[David Eisenhauer]

While I did not really mean it that way................ I deserve that. Never mind, carry on. You need a bench, you deserve a bench, you can't afford not to have a bench.

[Brent VanFossen]

I had the same issue with the stretcher in my build, and I chose to trim some material out of the stretcher to allow the nut to be removed should the need arise. This was not a mistake on my part, just the result of the dimensional choices I made and how I dealt with the issues.

You could have lowered the position of the screw a little more, but that would have affected how far you would have to bend over to use the leg vise. Any design is a compromise. I wouldn't feel at all bad, and it sounds like you have a plan to address your problem nicely.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

While I did not really mean it that way................ I deserve that. Never mind, carry on. You need a bench, you deserve a bench, you can't afford not to have a bench.

I was kidding. I didn't really take it that way.

Also forgot to answer your question- the longer half is just over 7'. The shorter half 6'. The two halves are not equal so that my pattern maker's vise hangs on an extension and I can easily work three sides of it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I had the same issue with the stretcher in my build, and I chose to trim some material out of the stretcher to allow the nut to be removed should the need arise. This was not a mistake on my part, just the result of the dimensional choices I made and how I dealt with the issues.

You could have lowered the position of the screw a little more, but that would have affected how far you would have to bend over to use the leg vise. Any design is a compromise. I wouldn't feel at all bad, and it sounds like you have a plan to address your problem nicely.

I put it as low as the plans allowed (1.75" from top of the crisscross Mortice to bottom of the recess), but suddenly I do remember raising everything up 1/2" from the bottom because I wanted to round the bottom of the chop and wanted that extra 1/2" to ensure there was plenty of wood around the mortice. That added to my situation.

[David Eisenhauer]

I was just thinking about weight. 5" thick at 7' long makes for a load to handle. Good thing you are going split top because a one piece 24" wide top would do some damage to your body.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I was just thinking about weight. 5" thick at 7' long makes for a load to handle. Good thing you are going split top because a one piece 24" wide top would do some damage to your body.

I am expecting the whole thing, vises and all, to weigh in at 500 pounds. The base alone is 95. I am done with benches that move around when you're planing!

The reason I went 5" is I got a deal on the ash in random widths around 7". I could have ripped them in half to 3.5" but I really wanted something bigger. I don't have a lot of room to store wood, so I went 5" and ended up with offcuts to make a 2" top for a tool cabinet. I would have been happy with 4", but in my case 5" just worked out.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Argh!!!! I misread the plans. I even made notes and checked my notes. It's 1.75" on center for the hole. Somehow I made it 1.75" from the bottom. So. Well.... It appears I am not perfect after all.

353097

[Malcolm McLeod]

Malcolm, I'm about 70% thru with build of BC's Roubo. I got the leg vice installed and tested (then pulled off to finish the tops).

You are gonna LIKE the vice!! I had not laid hands on one previously, but it works just like the videos...:cool::D:D:D:cool:.

One small warning: the small wood screw that holds the criss-cross wear plate in place can intrude into the bolt hole for the front stretcher attachment. If you then try to drill through the leg to align and extend the hole into the stretcher, the drill bit can hit the screw (if you've left the wear plate in place). This can wreck a perfectly good 1/2" brad-point bit! DAMHIKT. Either pull the screw before drilling, install the wear plate with the screw at the bottom, or buy another drill bit.:mad:

[Cory Newman]

Thanks for all the tips, all my Benchcrafted hardware showed up last week. I've dimensioned the leg stock and glued it up last night. Get to spend the weekend making mortises.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Ok, let's play a game called "find the mistake." One tiny error in my drill list caused this.

353108

[Tom Vanzant]

Malcom McLeod, you're lucky it was just a 1/2" brad point. I ran a 10" Freud flat-tip rip blade into a hidden hardened steel pin. Luckily, none of the shrapnel found me!

Malcom S, your benchtop may be ash, but the base is surely mahogany, right?

[Malcolm McLeod]

Ok, let's play a game called "find the mistake." One tiny error in my drill list caused this.

353108

Isn't it a party foul to actually be able to find it...??:o The 'arrow-ed' dimension on the right should go to center of hole. BTDT recently!!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Malcom McLeod, you're lucky it was just a 1/2" brad point. I ran a 10" Freud flat-tip rip blade into a hidden hardened steel pin. Luckily, none of the shrapnel found me!

Malcom S, your benchtop may be ash, but the base is surely mahogany, right?

yes, Mahogany. I get it here fairly reasonably. The ash I had to ship down.


Isn't it a party foul to actually be able to find it...??:o The 'arrow-ed' dimension on the right should go to center of hole. BTDT recently!!


Yes, you got it. Not sure how I did that but I do have eye issues and it causes a problem like dyslexia, for the sake of keeping explanation short. I believe I misread the instructions. Sometimes I read one line and it blends in with another line. That's part of why I make a cut list and drill list and then verify it again. This time it didn't work so well, but I should have caught that mistake.

[William Fretwell]

"To Centre"
That's the trouble with writing stuff down!

[David Warkentin]

Glad to hear others are building these. I have exactly one leg glued together and need to dimension and do mortises etc. The Benchcrafted hardware is NICE.

[Cory Newman]

I dimensioned my legs yesterday and made three mortises today, 9 more to go.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Something else I just realized- I went with the Lee Valley Bench Bolts, and it turns out they are 2" shorter than the Benchcrafted bolts. Lee Valley's are 6" long, and Benchcrafted's are 8". Funny thing is, I think 8" would be a bit long, but 6" will require me to drill the recess for the bolt head and washer a little bit deeper. I'm going to head now to the chandlery and see if they have stainless bolts 7" long, which I think would be perfect, placing the nut far enough from the edge of the stretcher, but not too far.

Boy, can anything be simple?