Anyone use a Moravian base on a Paulk Smart bench (1 piece)? Anyone flip a Paulk bench to use both sides?
All,
I was looking at building a Paulk style bench (3ft x 6ft like the Smart bench – one piece) and heard that some do not like all the holes drilled. I was wondering if anyone ever notched the top so that the bench could be flipped over so that they could now use a smooth or less perforated surface?
Also, I am not a big fan of the sawhorse base. I was thinking of making a base similar to a Moravian and use 3/4″ dowels to locate the top onto it. I thought of drilling 3/4″ holes on the bottom to attach to the Moravian bench. By making them the same diameter as the top and the same spacing, I could be able to flip the top over and get a fresh surface without any holes or very few. I could layout the holes slightly differently on the bottom than the top as long as the 4 base location holes remain constant with the top. Should the idea of dowels not work, I am sure one could use a bolt or something to attach the top. Might need one or two even with the dowels.
Yeah, the Moravian base is slightly less portable but would think it is very sturdy and maintains the portability.
Thanks for the feedback.
Frank
Replies
You should be fine with the Moravian base, I think. Especially considering the Moravian bench is designed for hand tool use, including planing where there is considerable shear force across the pegs, and it holds up fine to that, whereas the Paulk bench is, I presume, going to be used more for power tool use, which is arguably less demanding. The other advantage of the sawhorse base is, of course, in a mobile workshop setup, which Paulk’s bench is designed for, then you also have stand-alone sawhorses available if you don’t put the top on, whereas you’d lose that utility with the Moravian base. But may not be a consideration for you.
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