Hopefully posting links is allowed, but my google news feed had this youtube video -
https://youtu.be/Qg1vsumLXcY
I think everything about this bench is cool as hell and thought you all would enjoy.
[OP]
Member
Hopefully posting links is allowed, but my google news feed had this youtube video -
https://youtu.be/Qg1vsumLXcY
I think everything about this bench is cool as hell and thought you all would enjoy.
Contributor
A built for TV workbench! Yes some nice features like the seriously laminated bench top for dimensional stability. The round bench dogs with a flat face were required for the end vise that can angle a little. The vise fast and slow modes are rather mute when it only opens 6 inches.
Good width and stability but rather short. Splayed legs reduce the steel required for the base, as does the short bench.
Grammercy hold downs in the dog holes may not work well, better off to the side. The centre chisel holder I’ve seen before may work well when wanted.
Delivered to your workshop is nice, no mention of price of course! Still not the same as building your own!
You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!
Member
I follow Matt Cremona on youtube and saw that he supplied the wood for the top. He has an interesting channel mostly dedicated to Urban Logging.
[OP]
Member
I see Will is not a fan
Contributor
I've seen those vises in videos a couple of times and in every one, the action looks to be more than a bit stiff. Would be curious to try in person. Still super fun, even if custom build for the YT crowd.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
--Yogi Berra
Member
Michael,Originally Posted by Michael J Evans
I see Will is not a fan
You can add me to Will's group. Way too complex and in a short while that complexity would have me barking at the moon. I'm in the KISS school of work benches and about the only thing that bench doesn't have is a built in cup holder and maybe a couple more vises on each corner.
Chris,
I agree and that is a new vise, not one that has been in the shop and full of dust and dirt. Folks keep reinventing the wheel instead of looking at what has been proven to work for 100's of years. When I see benches like that one for some reason I think of the "Far Side" cartoon of the two time traveling cave men on a log hooting as they fly over the streets, benches built for the "hoot factor" not to work on.
ken
Contributor
Just might be THE PERFECT BENCH for the projects Adam Savage does...
Doesn't look like he would have enough room for anything larger IN HIS SHOP... and, not everybody has enough room for 5-6 benches, any way...
BTW...Go and watch a few episodes of Myth Busters....and maybe THEN you can understand what Adam needed for HIS bench...
Member
You can see the bench (and other stuff) made on Andy Klein's youtube channel. He's a clever guy, even if you don't have the problems his stuff solves.
Contributor
Nothing against the bench (I’m sure it’s useful for some people, just not for me), but frankly I found Adam Savage to be so annoying that I stopped the video after 7 minutes.
Contributor
One more in the Will and Ken way of thinking. I am also in the "simple is good" category. I have no doubt that the vices will work quite well, and do like the adjustable angle feature on the end vice. At the very least I have to add, however, that the bench looks extremely well made and solid, and should last a lifetime. It looks like you could do a lot of woodworking on it. It is also light years ahead of the saw horses and planks I work on.
On the minus side, I am like the group that Andy put in the traditional group of woodworking folks that have not necessarily loved the design. For me it isn't a gripe with functionality, but I too would like more length. It would be hard for me to love a workbench with steel legs and steel material as part of the sides of the bench.
I am sure the steel works fine, and i also think that after a while with it in your shop you would not notice such, but I just would rather have an "almost entirely wood" traditional design. I guess that is why I would rather restore and have a type 11 Stanley Bailey plane or one of the BedRock planes than a new premium plane. It has nothing to do with the cheaper cost of the type 11, I just plain like old and traditional. Why, I don't know...I just do.
I would not put the vice design in the "Far Side" category, but rather Rube Goldberg comes to mind. Again, I am sure the vice is extremely well made, is very strong, and is extremely functional.
This is hard to admit, but I just like the "LOOK" of the almost all wood traditional bench. It is just that simple. Maybe it is also that I have wanted a traditional bench for probably more than 40 years. I don't like the tool cabinet under the bench feature. The high school woodshop benches were like that when I was in school, and I really didn't like that set up much.
Stew
Last edited by Stew Denton; 11-06-2020 at 11:25 AM.
Contributor
Could someone work wood on this bench? Sure
Is it wanted for my shop? No
It is a nice show bench. For some it is possibly the perfect bench. It just isn' for me.
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 11-06-2020 at 1:16 AM.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
The gears look VERY nice! They don't look smooth though.
Difficult to judge from video but I "think" Benchcrafted is way more smoother. I have the classic leg vise. Normally I rotate it fast one time and it continues to open/close on its own.
There might be other advantages of gears but not clear from video.
Contributor
What a fantastic bench!!!! I absolutely applaud Andrew's creativity and the workmanship in this creation. Absolutely!
I loved the video, the excitement of Adam is quite contagious, and genuine. He clearly loves the bench, and recognises the ingenuity.
My preference is for olde worlde traditional vice benches, but I'd happily have this in my shop, and use it. Those vises are so clever: two speed, rear vise can angle. I am not sure if the faces of the dogs angle down (3 degrees is preferred), but the internal magnets are so clever and useful for holding the Gramercy hold downs.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
I'm a fan of Adam Savage, and marvel at what his crew can make.
His obvious delight at this bench is heartwarming.
This thing is wikkid kewl and WAY above my paygrade.
Contributor
The tops are solid slabs, not laminated. Matt sawed them and they were dried in a vacuum kiln. Him and the gentleman with the kiln are investigating if there is a workbench market for the dried slabs.
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