I finally built my bench slave

[Matt Woodworth]

First, my apoligies to the guys on woodnet for the double post. That's my other haunt.

I've been getting by with using a 5 gallon bucket, my shop stool, etc. as a makeshift bench slave for about a year now. Today I couldn't make progress on my primary project so I treated myself to a bench slave. Guys that know me know that I have a soft spot for purple heart. I just had to make the bench slave match the workbench.

You can click on the image for more pictures of my bench and slave. The bench slave is on toward the bottom.

[Louis Bois]

Nice addition to your slick bench Matt...and it only stands to reason that you would continue the purpleheart theme into its' design.

I've opted to build a sliding board jack into my bench as I find the slaves to be a bit tippy unless you make a larger base. Let me know how this one performs for you.

[Wendell Wilkerson]

What a timely post! I've been trying to figure out how to deal with long boards for jointing lately. I saw a picture Frank Klause using something similar to your bench slave. I am trying to decided between a board jack and a bench slave, so I couple questions come to mind. Since the a long board is just resting on the bench slave, do you have problems with vibration when you're planing the unclamped end? Have you had any problems where you can't quite get the bench slave to the right height for what you want to do? Nice work.

Wendell

[Matt Woodworth]

I just built it yesterday so I've only used it on a test piece or two. The height isn't that critical. If the board is angled slightly up or down it still planes just fine. I didn't have any trouble with vibration but the board I was playing with was only about 3 or 4 feet long. We'll see how an 8' long board behaves over time.

I like the idea of a sliding board jack, especially if you have the talent to build it nicely so that it's solid, slides nicely, and removes if you need it. However, I use the storage under the bench so often I was concerned that the board jack would suit my bench as well as a bench slave.

[Jack Hogoboom]

Beautiful bench. I especially like the storage compartments with the finger joints. If only I didn't have 4 kids and a job...I could really get some woodworking done. Sigh.

Jack

[Zahid Naqvi]

You can click on the image for more pictures of my bench and slave. The bench slave is on toward the bottom.

I must be missing something 'cause I don't see any pictures.