I am curious if anybody else has tried Jeff Miller’s benchtop bench (FWW #176)?
About 5 years ago I blew out a disk in my lower back in a wrestling match with a 40 foot ladder. Surgery fixed much of the problem, but I still experience cramping and numbness in my right leg and foot and of course, at times, pain in my lower back. Especially when I’m leaning over a workbench. So when I saw Jeff’s idea for his auxiliary bench, it definitely caught my eye.
Long story cut short: I built one from pieces and parts I had laying around the shop and have been using it for about two weeks now. It has been a big help to me. It puts the work piece more up in my face (did I mention I had eye surgery 18 months ago?) which makes marking out and general hand work much easier and comfortable. I’m still getting accustom to it, and there may be one or two adjustments made as time goes on, but I think it would be a handy asset to any shop.
Thanks Jeff.
-Chuck
Replies
Chuckh,
Yup, I love mine too...especially for sawing dovetails and planing/scraping afterwords. I find it particularly useful and convienent when making mortices with a plunge router.
If I were going to do it again I'd probably tweek it several ways:
align holes in base with workbench dog holes...easier to secure
maximun length...what fits under end of workbench
slightly lighter...easier to lift
put screws as far apart as possible...hold wider stock
BG,
Good idea about designing it to line up with the bench dog holes. I'm going to come up with a bracket of some type to anchor one side with the end vise on my bench.
It could be lightened unless of course you were planning to do some heavy mortising on it. In the video, Jeff brings out an even larger version and I think you can here him grunt as he lifts it onto the bench :-)
I built mine from a hodge-podge of material I had on hand. Oak feet and top rails, pine for the vertical legs and stretchers, and the top and vise are made from two pieces of birch plywood laminated together. Dimensionally it is pretty close to the plan, but mine is probably lighter than the original. Even the vice screws are from a length of 3/4" threaded rod that I've been kicking around the shop for the past 15 years.
The vice itself took a little getting used to, but I'm doing better with it. Spacer blocks help a lot.
Let me know if you come up with any other possible enhancements.
-Chuck
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