Veritas cast iron legs

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post but I've been reading for several weeks. Years ago, I built a Tage Frid workbench from plans published in FWW. (I reversed the plans and built it left handed.) After over 20 years, I've decided to build another bench with changes that I have identified as necessary for me. I want the top wider and without the tool tray. I'm going to use the Lee Valley twin screw system for the tail vise. I will use round dogs for both the tail vise and for the face vise and a large Record vise (yes, I bought one from Lee Valley before they disappeared) for the face vise.

I'm thinking about the Lee Valley "X" cast iron legs but I'm not sure. The positives as I see them are that they are simple to set up, very heavy and probably very stable. What I'm not sure about is accounting for wood movement (the connection holes in the legs are not elongated) and a lack of flexibility in height. I want the finished bench to be 35 or 35 1/2 inches high. The legs are 33" by themselves.

Does anyone have any experience with these? Are there any hidden problems with them? Why would you prefer these or solid wood legs? Thanks for your opinions.

Mark Blumer (East Lansing, MI)

Welcome Mark,

Glad to have you in the Creek. I'm new to this part of the forum but I know for sure some of our fellow waders can help you out. Great question, I'll be taking notes. I would also love to see your bench as it evolves.

W E L C O M E A B O A R D !

I'm still rather new to the neander side of things myself, but I'll offer an opinion. :p

The Lee-Valley site shows cast iron legs for $149 that are 33" high, 23" wide; and "The bench legs come with two 48" long truss-rod assemblies (1/2" diameter steel)"

I wonder how well the system truly resists racking when being forced by planing motion along the length? There are only 2 (ok, 4) points of contact to establish the resistance. I recognize that LV sells great products, but perhaps this is "ad copy"...marketing.

One major downside in using these, is that there isn't any flexibility for future "below the benchtop" storage (drawers, etc.).

As for the seasonal movement, you can always drill out the holes in the legs to elongate them.

And for your height concerns, make the benchtop 2 inches thick :D Really should be fairly thick anyway, right?

Dan.

Thanks for the welcomes. Dan, the point I was concerned with about the height is that I intended to make the top about 2 1/2" thick. Unless I bolted the legs directly to the top, it would actually be too high if I had to put cross cleats between the top of the legs and the underside of the top. I think your point about resisting the lenghtwise forces of planing is a valid concern. I wonder if these legs are any more likely to wobble that way than a more traditional set of wood legs with high and low stretchers.


MB