[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

Inspiration

I very much need to upgrade my current clamping solutions in the shop as my Jay Bates inspired Moxon Vise just isn't cutting it, I cant work on all face of the workpiece like you can on a traditional Woodworking Woodbench which currently isn't in the budget.

I just wanted to say before anyone comments about it, I couldnt afford to do the entire project in Maple or solid oak so I used construction grade lumber Kiln dried 2×4's for part of the worksurface and bottom frame and integrated solid oak into the workbench section as that would be getting alot of abuse.

I went to WoodCraft and saw a solution to my problem and it was called a Sjobergs Smart Vise

While researching the design I also came across this project plans by Jeff Miller of Popular Woodworking and also used these ideas to go into my version.. I have attached the plans here

but as usual I couldn't afford it and to be honest it didn't have great reviews and was a little small for me at only 14 1/2"x12" but more importantly I need to adjust the height of it as I am kind of tall at 6'2".

So I decided to use this Smart vise as the inspiration for my build.

So off I went to design my own plans on Sketchup and spend nearly 2 days doing all kinds of woodworking practices like using chisels, saws, routers any conceivable project I could use this bench for so I could determine what he work surface size needed to be and more importantly what its final height should be.

 

[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

Budget & Materials for Project

I gave myself a budget of about $80.00 for what materials I needed which are detailed below and since I already had alot of material on hand already like the pipe clamps and 2×4's all I needed to get was the solid oak and benchdogs.

Materials Used:

(4) 2×4x 8'
(16') of 1×2 Oak
(8') of 1×4 Oak
Glue
1/4" x 4" Hex Head bolts , washers and nuts
Bench Dogs ( I used these from WoodCraft)

"1/2 Pipe Clamps ( I had these on hand so I didnt need them but I ive attached a link as there what I used in the model)

 

[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

Sketchup Design

Usually with any complicated or big project I do I usually go to Sketchup and create a set of plans that I can use through the various stages of the build, that way I can do the build in a methodical fashion and ultimately not screw up anywhere.

Like I said earlier I will inclose a set of plans that I made later on in the blog or with the final project posting.

 

[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

Trestle Base - Upper & Lower Stretchers

This is where I started the project with building the platform base.

Its made with Kiln dried 2×4's and this section is a piece of 2×4 cut down the center that way both sides on the base only needed 18" of 2×4.

As you can see in the diagram below this piece is mortised out to receive the platform risers or legs. I centered the mortises which I drilled out on the drill press, hey are not through mortises the mortise is about 1" deep.

This piece is exactly the same as the bottom trestle base, the only difference is the face that you mill out the mortises is on the bottom face and not the top, that way the riser blocks will fir in between them.. see below diagrams

These parts are attached by risers and that is next!!!!!!!

 

[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

The Risers

Again I only used 2×4's for this.. but this part has a lot to it, as it ties the top and bottom pieces discussed in the previous entry and it also has a mortise on the inside face with a 1/4" hole drilled through to receive a 1/4×20 hex head bolt that attaches the wide stretchers…

Take a look

Again I used my drill press for most of the mortises and a chisel to square of the corners left by the dill bit. I used my dado stack to do the tennons.

 

[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

Wide Stretchers & Completed Base

These 2 stretchers attach the left and right side of the bench and again I used a pieces of 2×4. Put a tennon on the left and right sides of the stretcher and then measured from the outside face of the risers to a convenient place to attach the the wash and nut in the middle of the stretcher by drill a 1 3/8" hole on the left and right side of the component thus being able to drawer everything tight with a wrench…

Pictures explain this better than I can right the direction so here it is

Below you can see the base complete in its entirety

Next is making and attaching the vise jaws and then finally the top

 

[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

Vise Components

The vise is made up off double up 1×4 solid oak boards that I glued together to form the inside and external vise components…

I had to carefully place 3/4" holes to receive the black pipe that will be used to tighten and loosen the vise jaws.

After the oak components dried up I placed some dog holes in the top so as that I could use the vise to clamp pieces especially since this was the reason for the build.

All that was left is making the top

 

[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

Top

I made the top nice and big at 24" wide by about 18" deep so I have a lot of room to work on.

The top is made from 2×4's with the rounded edges cut off so the sides were vertical to the top and I also used 1×4 solid oak to give the top that much more strength.

Excuse this drawing as I kind of mesh to drawings to gether to show the relationship to each other.

Here is the dog hole placement they are 4" apart.

Anyway thats all i have I am in the finishing stages of the actual build and need to apply a couple of coats of the Polyacrlic and I have to say I am very please with the outcome and the pipe clamps work awesome very smooth and and more importantly very strong.

 

[EdsCustomWoodCrafts]

Sketchup Plans

For those of you that need more detail in this project here is a link to my my Sketchup plans that I have stored on my Google Drive

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1V2X4Dk7bOV4rtexCK1_Wb_tD1hF_huK4

 

[icemanhank]

Sketchup Plans

For those of you that need more detail in this project here is a link to my my Sketchup plans that I have stored on my Google Drive

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1V2X4Dk7bOV4rtexCK1_Wb_tD1hF_huK4

Thanks for the blog and the plans mate, very kind of you.