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Thread: My New English Workbench: The Official Tour

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    extreme southeast Nebraska
    Posts
    3,113
    Really nice bench and workmanship, each person must make their bench to suit their needs and ideas, and work with what they have at hand.

    Thanks for posting, you will always be proud of YOUR bench and its design.
    Jr.
    Hand tools are very modern- they are all cordless
    NORMAL is just a setting on the washing machine.
    Be who you are and say what you feel... because those that matter... don't mind...and those that mind...don't matter!
    By Hammer and Hand All Arts Do Stand

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Whippleville, NY
    Posts
    258
    Looks like a very versatile and well crafted workbench.

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Griggs View Post
    1. The front vise is a slanted leg vise. It’s amazing! It’s rock solid and the clamping capacity is huge (can cover 8” to the right of the screw). The picture shows a 10” wide board clamped in it. I had considered making a twin screw vise instead, but MAN am I glad I went with this.
    Attachment 186888
    I really like the vise. :-) I've never seen a slanted one before.

    I've been thinking of leg vices for a long time. I even considered making one when I built my bench a year ago. I'm starting to think it was a mistake not to make the leg vice instead.

    I'm not happy with my current vice. The most annoying thing is the racking. After using my bench for a year, I've found that I mostly just use the right hand side of the vice, which means that I always have to have something in the right thickness to clamp in the left side of the vice just to make it clamp properly. Also, even if I would decide to go on using that vice, I would have to mount it more solidly, as the force of the vice has managed to loosen it. I think this has happened because I only clamp things on one end of the vice, and I sometimes forget (or I'm too lazy) to clamp something in the other side of the vice every time.

    So, I'm planning to make a leg vice instead. :-)

    What kind of wood did you use for the vice? I've used oak for much of my bench, so I'm thinking of using oak for the new leg vice as well. It should be hard enough..
    Last edited by Staffan Hamala; 03-18-2011 at 7:10 AM.

  4. #19
    Congrats on a great bench!! I got to go over and see this brute. Chris did a fabulous job on the design and execution. The slant legs fantastically resist racking, and the sheer weight of the bench makes it appear "immovable." Chris, WELL DONE!

    BTW, don't forget to put some handle grabs in the runner board between the two main sections of the bench top.

    BTW, Chris has already completed a number of beautiful projects. This guy has talent!

    Arch, near NOLA

  5. #20
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Posts
    47
    Your bench looks sweet. I really love the slanted leg vise!

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Philadelphia, PA
    Posts
    3,697
    Hey folks, just want to thank everyone again for their compliments on the bench. I've seen so many inspiring benches on this forum and been given so much wonderful advice (and a few wonderful tools) by fellow Creekers. I love seeing other folks workbenches, and was really excited/proud to be able show off my own bench and contribute something cool to this wonderful source of woodworking information (that reminds me I will need to add it to the "show us your bench thread).

    There's something about workbenches that seems to inspire all of us woodworking geeks. Workbenches, good, bad, and ugly, remind us of all the creative possibilities woodworking offers. They remind us of all the things we might create some day, and that regardless of our current skill level we all have the potential to create beautiful, functional works of wood.

    Quote Originally Posted by Staffan Hamala View Post
    What kind of wood did you use for the vice? I've used oak for much of my bench, so I'm thinking of using oak for the new leg vice as well. It should be hard enough..
    I used 8/4 soft maple for the leg vise chop (although when hand planing it sure felt harder than most soft maple I've worked; can't help but wonder if its hard maple). I'm sure oak would work fine. In fact I was originally planning on using white oak but my lumber yard didn't have any 8/4 oak in stock. I think just about any hardwood could work as long as it's thick enough... at least 8/4.

    Quote Originally Posted by Archie England View Post
    Congrats on a great bench!! I got to go over and see this brute. Chris did a fabulous job on the design and execution. The slant legs fantastically resist racking, and the sheer weight of the bench makes it appear "immovable." Chris, WELL DONE!

    BTW, don't forget to put some handle grabs in the runner board between the two main sections of the bench top.

    BTW, Chris has already completed a number of beautiful projects. This guy has talent!

    Arch, near NOLA
    Hey Arch, thanks for the comments and very complimentary words. It was fun getting to show it and my other new toys off to you last week.

    BTW the bench would not have been what it turned out to be without Archie's help. Archie is the friend I was referring to in an earlier post who gave me the huge 5 inch thick beam (yes gave) and resawed it for me on his bandsaw to build the top. A HUGE THANKS!
    Last edited by Chris Griggs; 03-18-2011 at 7:34 PM.

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