| |
Tools, Materials and Hardware
I used basic hand and layout tools, clamps, a pair of base-model
portable workbenches and an electric drill and drill guide to
build this bench. It was to be the prototype, so I used pieces
of wood I already had for the top and made the base using structural
2" x boards. These parts have worked so well I haven't
changed them — I think the bench will outlast me.
I bought the hold-down, tail-vise gear and shoulder-vise screw
(and nut) from catalogs. Lag screws with washers hold the top,
the shoulder-vise-jaw support and the tail-vise support in place.
Threaded rod, washers and nuts secure the long base rails, the
shoulder-vise arm and the copper-tubing-sheathed leg-vise pivot.
Structure
 |
|
 |
| The top-rail tenons are haunched for extra strength. |
|
The assembled end frames and connecting long rails. |
Base
The simple English base layout is two end frames joined by long
rails. The shoulder vise doesn't need a fifth leg to support
it. The legs and rails of the end frames are glued up pairs
of 2" x 4" boards with wedged through tenons. I haunched
the top-rail tenons for extra strength. Connecting the end frames
are 2" x 8" long rails with stub tenons. I bored holes
for threaded rod through the leg, stub tenon and rail to meet
holes in the rail sides for nuts and washers. A box containing
clamps and jigs adds mass by sitting on a slatted shelf across
the long rails. Choose a bench height that works for you, subtract
the thickness of the top and you have the leg height; the frame
width and long rail length are defined by the top.
|
|
