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Thread: Apartment Bench V1.4

  1. #1

    Apartment Bench V1.4

    So I've been meaning on making a post about my bench for some time, but Michael Peet's post asking about the advantages of the split top Roubo made me post this.
    First the reason I made a split top bench over other designs. I'd been picking away at buying tools and picking up the skills to make piece of value for a little over a year, when my partner and I found out the building we were living in was getting torn down. So we found a new place 2 blocks away and for cheaper..... but also smaller (about 600sqft small), and having 3 cats, 6 bicycles, other hobbies and a bunch of crap, space would be at a premium. So we came up with the idea for raising our bed off the ground and making use of the space under it. Plywood became my best buddy for a month while I made the 5 pieces that make up the unit. Because I would be breaking down a lot of sheet goods with my circular saw I made a bench with a "X" cut out in it lining up with the 54" length and 11" wide of most of the pieces I would cut. The dimensions also happen to line up with how much space I was able to negotiate with my partner for woodworking in the new apartment.
    So after I built the casework, but before moving I cut the bench down to 54" long, so I could fit it into our small apartment. With only 600sqft my partner and I are committed to small space living but I don't want to give up woodwork due to lack of space so my bench so all my tools need to take up the smallest amount of space. For that reason my bench's dimensions are a little weird when compared to some of the other bench designs that are floating around.
    As a new fine woodworker I'm working on smaller projects so my bench can be a lot shorter then the 6'-8' benches most are building. Also the location of my bench is in a corner so I don't get much access to the back of my bench, so I made the bench deeper to give me more bench space while staying short. The front section of the bench (9 7/8" wide) is the planing/sawing area, while the back section (24" wide)is used to keep tools, other parts of what I'm working on. The gap between the sections is about 7/8", but like others I rarely hang my tools in that area. But it does make a great spot to "hook" in my bench hook and shooting board. Mind you this is still the prototype of what I want to build to replace it tho not far off after working with bench with and without vises over the past 6 months. My ideal bench is just an upgrade of what I have working so far. A face laminated front section of hardwood with a torsion box for the back half, and flush Roubo style legs/strechers. If you have questions about how I made my tail vise or anything else about my bench feel free to ask.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
    Nice. I like the wagon vice. I wish I had planned for one on my bench.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
    Posts
    1,148
    Look realy usable, and if it work, that's what count!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Falls Church, VA
    Posts
    107
    Nice bench. Do you find it stout enough to plane and saw on? I'm curious to see how you put the wagon vise together. It looks like the screw doesn't protrude when you back the vise block out. How is it attached at the ends?

  5. #5
    Looks like the thrust plate is captured at the end of the bench.

    The threaded part (nut) is connected to the rod and is captured to stop from rotating so it translates into linear motion.

    The only issue there is that the rod is not moving and it's may be in the way to clamp a board upright.

  6. #6
    You are an inspiration.

    I wish the moderaters would pull good stuff like this into a hall of fame sort of folder.

    Please keep posting things like this.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Rochester, NY
    Posts
    681
    Neil, your bench is a study in resourcefulness and it looks functional as well. Glad to hear the split top works out for you. I am still on the fence whether or not I will attempt it.

    Welcome to SMC!

    Mike

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Espoo, Finland
    Posts
    46
    Great to see another apartment dweller on here. My fiancée and I live in almost exactly the same size apartment (roughly 56 sq m), but we've got some catching up to do with cats and bicycles - only 2 of each so far! Trying to sort out some shop space has so far been a bit of a problem - I'm currently relegated to the balcony, which is not so practical considering its been under -10 out there for the last couple of months...

    I'd like to know more about how you have arranged your living space around your woodworking corner. I've been trying to figure out a layout for our flat that would allow me to have a small bench inside, though it would likely have to be even smaller than yours.

  9. #9
    As long as the saw horse brackets are tightened down all the way the bench is sturdy enough to do anything except for aggressive scrub planning I'd say. The wagon vise is pretty much a homemade version of the Benchcrafted tail vise. Spent some time looking at the pictures and figured out what I needed to do to make one out of wood. I bought a tail vise screw from Lee Valley, which has a garter plate that you bolt onto the end of your bench while the nut is screwed to the dog shuttle. In the 3rd and 4th picture you can see the bench dog sitting in the shuttle is blocked with plywood around the vise screw. Which keeps the screw out of the way if you wanted to clamp something in the dog run. Then in the 6th picture you can see on either side of the dog shuttle and the plywood blocking I added a strip of 1/2" wide UHMW plastic that fits into 1/2" wide dados in the plywood box that contains it all. The thickness of the UHMW is about a 16th of an inch thicker then the 1/2" dado in the plywood box. That is because I add a wedge to tighten everything down and I want it to bottom out on the UHMW not the dog shuttle. I imagine enough people will show interest in the homebrew version that I'll make a whole post showing you step by step how to make a perfectly functional wagon vise for the price of a tail vise screw ($36.50 plus $6.20 for the handle) and some scrap wood.

    And for Tristan, I think the only way we have room is because we moved our bed off the ground. The bottom of our queen box spring is 54 1/2" off the ground, giving us 7' x 5' x 4.5' of space to put our computer, two book cases, two wardrobes and a channel in the middle for extra rubbermaid boxes. Without doing that we wouldn't have the space for the bench. Also having 11' ceilings let you do things like that. Getting rid of a a lot of stuff, or just not having much is also another great way. Plus most of our space is in just one room with two doors, to a small bathroom, and a hallway with a small kitchen off that. My advice is to put it in a corner with the back and left hand side against the wall. Store your tools on the wall if possible, and your wood under your bench. Also with having such a small bench adding some weight to the bottom of it helps a lot. There has been much talk of silent woodworking, but I haven't heard much about apartment woodworking. Which is odd because the only way you can work in your apartment is without power tools pretty much. Hopefully there are more apartment woodworkers out there and we can all start sharing our resourcefulness of getting the most out of the least space/tools.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Madison, WI
    Posts
    345
    I think I've got it figured out, but it would never hurt to show that how-to thread. Show us how to build your vise!

  11. #11
    Just to throw in, I started out as an apartment woodworker. When I moved in with my then girlfriend, I was relegated to the porch. We bought a house and the garage has a wee 6x6 foot space that I share with the water heater as my wife approved woodshop space and it feels kind of cramped. My eventual bench will have to be fairly small as well as a result.

    On your wagon vise, I noticed you're using a wooden dog. Was thinking of something similar for my leg vise, though I'm not sure it's even needed. Any problems with it? My idea I think is more risky as I'm worried about cracking open the chop if I tighten too much given that it's much thinner wood.

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