Crafty DIYers

[BigV]

Also, it is tough to say how big that work is. Those might be matchsticks in the background.. Maybe it's a paperweight or a bookend and not a table..

[xoxoxoBruce]

Gotta have a bench, why not a good one?

[glatt]

It's a nice bench to be sure.

But I have a few quibbles.

Why so many bench dogs in the picture? (those removable pegs sticking up) I know the picture is posed, and meant to show off the newly made bench, but do you really need to show that you have all those bench dog holes? In practice, you are only going to be using one bench dog in most situations. You don't need a dozen of them. Just one, and you move it to different holes. Maybe a spare in case you misplace the one. Actually, you would want a second dog for the support next to the side vise.

What's with the red accent paint on the chamfer on the vise? I feel like that's just asking to have red markings get on all your projects as you accidentally bump against it. It's this guy's vise, so do what you want, but I wouldn't want that.

And the vise spinner has just a metal bolt sticking out. Carve a wooden handle for it to match the tail vise. You're not done yet.

Sorry for being critical. It's a nice bench. It really is.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The wood appears to be mahogany which is fairly soft and not all that strong.

[glatt]

It's almost like the guy who made this doesn't know how to use a bench.

You should start off with an old hollow core door on top of a couple saw horses. Use clamps to hold your work down. Once you figure out how you work, and what you need, look at solutions others have used in the past if you want to upgrade. If you are going to customize a tried and true design that has been used for centuries, that's great! But make each change for a reason that suits you. Don't just use some wood that you read about as being a fancy wood and think that it somehow makes the thing superior. And that red paint or gel stain or whatever it is?! Why is that on the vise handles? It doesn't look like something I would want to touch. And why on the vise chamfer itself? But I'm repeating myself. Paint doesn't belong anywhere near a workbench unless it is paint splatter from a project you are working on and your workbench is a hollow core door on a couple sawhorses.

[/curmudgeon]

[xoxoxoBruce]

I can see the vice chamfer, sometimes working on a piece held in the vice you want to cut or drill on an angle and the vice jaw gets in the way, especially one this thick. The chamfer allows the piece to be clamped lower in the vice than would be necessary with the thicker jaw.

The red paint warns of potential bump and pinch zones if you happen to be working nude.

[glatt]

Oh, the chamfer is a fine idea. It's painting it that I have an issue with.