Replies

1. 
   roc | Jun 16, 2011 02:08am | #1

   where to go [from here]

   Hi Bob,

   Nah dude nah.

   You may not like this but . . .

   Keep in mind I made my own traditional European bench and . . . I am on your side . . . but . . .

   These sorts of scuzzy woodworking benches are (or were recently ) in demand for home decoration.  Sell this bench to a home designer and build, or God forbid, buy a new bench.  Really.  Trust me.  Unless you like getting all your nice sharp power tool blades resharpened ALOT while you cut this thing apart and put it back together then pass on this project.

   Unless you are just a glutton for self inflicted punishment, and building your own bench from scratch qualifies but to a lesser degree, don't try to cut this all apart and clean the wood of grit so you can re joint it and glue it all back together etc,, etc., etc.,

   I wait with abated breath to hear the other replies you will get.  Too bad this isn't during the hay day here on Knots.  This could start the fight of fights.  Keyboard wise.

   PS: if you are not going to do traditional hand tool work then you could get away with using it as a basic bench surface , bussssout the big 'O belt sander ,  but if you want a flat reference surface for precision, traditional , hand tool wielding work.  If you want the tail vise to work, then nah dude nah.

   :   )

2. 
   DonStephan | Jun 16, 2011 09:05pm | #2

   If the vises both are operable you could make some use of it.  Looks like the tail vise has wooden thread with few threads per inch which I really liked on my first bench - fewer turns when opening or closing the tail vise.

   The top is only as good as the surface is really flat, the vises very functional, and the base stout.  Without a base, right off the bat you're limited to lighter duty use, but it might suffice if the other two conditions are met and you're interested in light duty woodworking.

   The Workbench Book and some others will give you a good idea of designs for a suitable base, but then you'll have to decide if you want to build a base to fit this top now with the chance within a few years you'll desire a better top and may not want to fit it to the already built base.  Then again might not be an issue . . .

3. 
   PSeverin | Jun 17, 2011 05:59pm | #3

   Use it.

     I say: clean it, put it together and use it.  If you really can't stand the top put a layer of baltic birch plywood over it.  There seem to a lot of people who would rather spend their time making a perfect workbench than making a piece of furniture.  One doesn't need a perfect surface for most work and a good bench hook eliminates a lot of those chores.  So clean it and use it.    

   There is a man north of here who has a woodworking school that preaches making work benches out of construction grade  2 x 10 and 2 x 12...no vice, just hooks and front aprons to clamp boards to.  They seem to make them in 4 hours or less and move on to what woodworking should really be about.    

   My experience is that you use what you have and make do.  It is probably going to be just fine.

   Peter

4. 
   jpwglw | Jun 17, 2011 07:30pm | #4

   Go for it!

   I suppose that I'm an eternal optimist and that is why I'd just go for it. It appears stained from use and darkened from exposure to the elements but I'd be willing to bet that just under that "skin" is a pretty fine surface. Perhaps planed just a touch. Then again, shouldn't a woodworker's bench look used?

   The metal parts (excluding nuts and bolts that can be replaced) could be sandblasted and oiled or rust could be removed with a product like naval jelly.

   PS: I'd love to have a workbench but it's not a tool that you can't make do without. For years now, I've used the old plywood on two sets of sawhorses! One day though, I will have that woodworker's bench.

5. 
   roc | Jun 17, 2011 10:51pm | #5

   Aaaalllll Righty Then We Are Steam Up and Under Way
   What projects do you envision making on your newly acquired work bench ?

6. 
   EdHarrison | Jun 18, 2011 03:25pm | #6

   Looks Great

    

   Great find. The extra wide tool tray, placement of the pop-up planing stop and the placement of the dog holes make me think it was craftsman-made vice storebought. I'd use evaporust (avail at car parts stores) to clean up the rust on the hardware. The scraper attachment on a multi-tool will quickly remove the paint and gunk splotches, and a benchplane will quickly flatten and resurface the top. 

   I prefer heavy, but knockdown (so that they can be moved without a forklift) bases for my workbenches, using something like bed-bolt type hardware. That way you can move your bench from point a to point b with just a hand truck. I use a softwood, like Douglas Fir beams, for example.

   Going to a bunch of flea markets today here in Stevensville, MT, during something called Western Heritage Days or Pioneer Days, or somethin' another - I hope I find something like your bench top.

1. 
   boilerbay | Jun 19, 2011 09:51am | #7

   Agree with Ed, I'd clean,flatten, evavoprust, retighten and plane the top and good to go. Make a hell for stout base. Put a board in that sucker and start some dovetails! Tail vise is in great shape and it doesn't have to be square or accurate. Looks like the screw is sound. This was a true  cabinetmakers bench. Great find. Unless you want some pretty thing for show, use this for the go. Benches are to be used. Not abused, but used. Pretty benches seem to belong to people who don't actually make things.

   Don't know if the older bench threads and photos are still around but there was a great thread here once that showed how woodworkers benches really look like. Do a Search. about 3 -4 years ago.

   Again, Great find.

   BB

1. 
   roc | Jun 19, 2011 06:38pm | #9

   Klausz Bench Business Card

   Just to balance out all the ugly only, here is an exerpt from a description of a visit to Frank Klausz's shop to keep in mind :

   When a customer enters Frank's shop he encounters  the workbench, which also functions as a desk and business counter.  Even if the visitor doesn't comment on the bench, it's a fair bet he's noticed it.  If Klausz could fit his workbench in his wallet, he would hand it out like a business card-it is his best foot and he puts it forward.

   As we all know (or maybe you don't ) Frank Klausz has not done much woodworking or made very many projects.  He spends most of his time waxing his bench and taking photos of it and that bench was a mere thirty years old or so at the time so it doesn't really count  but this was the best I could do on short notice.  Call me a romantic . . .

   http://books.google.com/books?id=KFkMse6izCsC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=klausz+bench+business+card&source=bl&ots=vdAbHrtt_s&sig=ektK46fN4UQQCa0Wo9gp-pT7OdQ&hl=en&ei=6Hj-TdbMItTViAKZs-ntBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=klausz%20bench%20business%20card&f=false

1. 
   boilerbay | Jun 20, 2011 10:39am | #10

   The bench I've seen in some of Frank's older videos and the big one that is in his main shop is as torn up and kerf marked/chisel gouged as one could be. Dark and stained blotched. He may have another, and of course the "new"one for but the big one he works on is the one he goes to for the dough. By the way, the bench that Frank is using in that reference is the "New Klaus Bench" he recently designed and was later profiled in FWW and the "Workbench Book". He sells the design for it. You are also seeing it in it's infant stage, rather than what it will look like in middle age. Look at the benches of Frid, Esherick, Mallof, Krenov, the Hall brothers, Stockdale. Their benches are also just a "touch" used.

   

Most benches one sees in photos are examples of newly produced and unused benches or are examples of how beautiful a bench can be made. Most benches reflected in the Schleining, Landis et al books are shown in their new state. I doubt if anyone would buy a books where the photos were of old modified and normal used benches. Certainly would ruin the FWW's cachet.

   

I'm not saying one should not take care of their tools and keep everything in Bristol fashion if possible but it's just a tool like a chisel. Sure, all woodworkers keep the edges sharp, but not many who use them for other than a wall display won't have the handles munged or acid sweat marks on the length of the blade or be perfectly square at the tip or will spend more time perfecting the edge than doing the job.

   

This bench can be fantastic with little effort. I would pass a metal wizard over it though.

   
BB

7. 
   roc | Jun 19, 2011 06:01pm | #8

   Either Or ?

   Before we nice bench owners chuck good sense into the bin and all rush to the shop to start cutting saw kerfs and drill holes into our nice work benches rather than use sacrificial wood here and there check out this intermission :

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJoGTf6KL8s

8. 
   Troy | Jun 20, 2011 06:28pm | #11

   If I where me I would take all the parts off (vises etc) scrape the crud off glue any loose laminations back together and find a cabinet shop that will run both sides through a wide belt sander.  After that it should be pretty flat and you can fine tune it with a jointer plane.  Then clean up all the parts and put it back together. 

   Let us know what you do and post pictures

1. 
   roc | Jun 22, 2011 11:46pm | #12

   Troy, sorry to hear about your condition

   Must have been a shock when you discovered you weren't you.

   :   )

   > If I were me . . .<

   Ignore me.  I am just bumping up this thread to keep it going.