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The swiss army knife of workbenches

8045 Views 18 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  Joeb41
The new-fangled bench has been called the swiss army knife of workbenches. I built one recently, but I tweaked it a little to suit my desires for it.

It is 8 feet long, 30" wide, and 36" high.

The main differences in mine are the way it is constructed, and the t-track.

I made much beefier legs for it, and have a 2x10 apron along the front. these upgrades give it more strength, weight and stiffness.

The use of an apron for added structure came from Paul Sellers, It gives it the structure a bench needs, along with providing a place for the holes for the front vises, without giving up space below for storage. I also used a wedge technique from Paul Sellers for securing the legs in such a way that it can be taken apart and put back together easily, without sacrificing stiffness.

I also took a cue from Bernie and added t-track.

It is easily the most versatile bench I have ever had.

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Sounds great Chris and congratulations for building your best bench... but I'd love to see a picture of it. :yes:
Now I see and congratulations Chris. Well done on the bench and I like your homemade hold down clamp for the t-track. I bought a commercial one (came in a Rockler set ). The advantage you have is the size of it. The commercial one has a slot in it. I think I'll combine the 2 ideas. But I am impressed with your bench. I can see some advantages of your bench over mine but I'm completely, 100% satisfied with my bench. Thanks for the pictures.
Michail - If you want to get your tracks parallel to each other, use a story stick. A story stick is the most simple basic jig ever and very useful in a number of ways. A story stick can be a piece of wood with a determined mark on it while installing cabinets and it will tell you the highest and lowest point of your floor. But in our situation, figure what distance you want your tracks to be from each other, cut 2 sticks at exactly the distance and place them between the tracks... your tracks are now parallel. Any questions... ask
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