The final push, actually the easy bit – the bench assembly. With the Veritas vice in place, the four legs are bolted to the underside of the bench, and the vice(s) fitted. Because I had added the Veritas, I had a vice left over so added it to the back of the bench behind the drawer. It only needed 3 holes to be drilled to fit it there, so no biggie.
The shelf is then bolted to the legs which provides a significant amount of rigidity. The vices are then screwed down, and the drawer assembled and fitted. Anyone who has ever bought anything from Ikea will have no problem putting that drawer together. The entire bench assembly should only take about 30 minutes. (Again, instruction manuals be damned).
The standard vice is a very simple animal- the two bolts at the rear of the guide bars are removed, then the base is unscrewed. The front jaw added then the unit inserted through predrilled holes in the bench skirt. The rear bolts are tightened, and the base screwed to the underside of the bench.
This was then repeated for the other vice that I fitted at the rear of the bench. No point letting one go to waste!
With all the vices and fittings in place, it was time to turn the unit over. Bloody heavy thing – weighs in around 80kg. Perhaps not as heavy as a full wood one, but enough.
The bench in position in its new home. (fwiw, the rear vice looks high because it has the removable jaw extension added).
With the Veritas in prime position, and clamps all around, this bench is ready to work. I’m debating whether to put my metal working vice on the bench as well – may do, especially if I park the Festool Vac under the bench. The benefit of having the boom arm!
The bench can move a bit when pushed on, but it is pretty good. There is some spring in the legs (unavoidable), but the majority of the movement would come from the feet. If you were serious about bench stability, I’d not use the feet and instead would bolt the bench to the floor, and/or use a bracket to secure the bench to a wall.
I still have some holes to drill in the Veritas Vice jaws, so I can add some bench dogs. The plastic ones that came with the bench will probably go in the bin, and instead I have picked up some Veritas ones from Carbatec, which fit a standard 19mm hole. These will be perfect on the Torque Workcentre as well, as soon as I drill the new matrix of holes for the Walko clamps.
I got a set of Veritas Bench Dogs for the bench, and a set of Veritas Bench Pups for the jaws. Will see if that is enough for my typical use, not that they are particularly expensive, and they have a great, heavy feel. With some holes in the side of the jaws of the Veritas Twin Screw, it will also allow large sheets to be clamped vertically to the side of the bench as necessary.
I also found these Veritas Surface Clamps, which also fit into the same 19mm holes. The knurled knob tightens the clamp into the hole, and the arm moves freely up and down the shaft until a load is applied when it then locks into the ridging on the shaft. These too will be extremely useful on both the workbench, as well as on the Torque Workcentre.
So the whole thing has come together nicely. A combination of an easily assembled bench (that I didn’t have to make), and some quality fittings to finish it off.
One day, this bench will allow me to follow the reasoning of Douglas Adams (and the Deep Thought computer – a computer designed by pan-dimensional, hyper-intelligent race of beings to answer the question of life, the universe and everything (42), and then to design the computer that could explain the question) and use it to build THE bench. But not for a long time yet! This bench will keep me out of trouble for a long time, and more than likely will only help me contruct another if I happen to acquire a much larger shed that would give me space for a second one!
Over the coming weekend, I’ll try to get some photos of the bench in action, particularly the Veritas Dogs and Pups (and Surface Clamps) and how they work with the vices to secure items down.
FWIW, the standard (unmodified!!) version of this workbench is expected to be seen on “Better Homes and Gardens” tonight (Friday 20 May 11) on channel 7 at 7:30pm when the Amazing Race teams appear and complete some building challenges.
Filed under: Manufactures and Suppliers, Shed, Tools Tagged: 42, Bench Dog, Bench Pup, Better Homes and Gardens, Carbatec, Clamp, Cleantex, Deep Thought, Dog, Douglas Adams, Drawer, Festool, Life the Universe and Everything, Sex, Skirt, Surface Clamp, TV, Twin Screw, Veritas, Vice, Vise
