Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I have four benches. The Crasftsman hold all the junk one, the hard working MDF covered one, and the two you can see here. The one peeking in on the left is on wheels and the sheet metal top cost more than the rest of it but it is good for messy, oil covered parts and is well worth it. It wipes clean and you can't hurt it. The one on the right is my labor of love bench. It took some time and money to do and now I'm almost afraid to use it.

68DSU wrote:I have four benches. The one on the right is my labor of love bench.

You have some wood working skills.......

If you are afraid to use your woodworking bench (for it's intended use)....not oily parts...
How are you going to drive your roadster......

A towel over the top and frequent use of the other bench.
You can see the yellow roadster peeking in the back of the photo. The DSU has seniority in the garage so it will always win.
I wish I would have respected the car more when I first bought it in the 70's, I wouldn't be rebuild ing now.

That is a pretty wood working bench.

Rich

I have been looking for a good mechanics vise for my new shop bench. All I have found are made in China. And the ones that are made in USA are in the $1200-2000 area. I had looked at the vises at Home Depot (china ) Made by Irwin. My G/friend got me one for my Birthday today. Im not impressed now that we got it home. The handle is about 6" long and about 1/2" in diameter. Now what im I going to be able to do with dinky thing. The one at the house I was renting was about 5/8 in dia. and about 12" long. You could reef on that thing and get the vise tight. Is there a made in USA 5-6 in. vise out there for around $80-100?

Rich

K1200 GT wrote:That is a pretty wood working bench.

Rich

Wood is easy. relatively cheap and if you make a mistake you have firewood.
If I only had the painting skills of some of you, I would be set.

Only good source is garage sales and used industrial supply /tool places. Mine are probably 50 yrs old, cost a whole $15.00

68DSU wrote:

K1200 GT wrote:That is a pretty wood working bench.

Rich

Wood is easy. relatively cheap and if you make a mistake you have firewood.
If I only had the painting skills of some of you, I would be set.

Start with spray finishing your wood projects (win win).....Painting is as forgiving as wood working...
At least my wood working buddy is good at painting (wood).

So I took some good advise here and put some 3/4" MDF over my 3/4 plywood. Holly crap is it ever heavy now. Bought a 5" Olympia vise, Life time warranty, powder coated, blah,blah. Went to Costco today and saw a nice wheel borrow for $60. Dont need it right now but will soon. Thought the hammered paint looked a lot like my powder coated vice. Yep, what a match....not that it matters just thought......

Rich

I bought one of the cheap "made in China" vices a few years ago. The female threaded piece broke. The part is not available and the thread pitch cannot be matched. So now the stationary part stays bolted to the bench as an anvil.

I have several benches which I built in when I built my shop. They are similar to the "cantilevered" designs above, and the space underneath houses a shop vac, spare engines and parts on those $11 H.F. moving dollies.

I have gotten by with a wood top.

As far as a bench to "bang" on... I wanted to share a tip given to me by the friend who taught me 1/2 of what I know.

Make an I-Beam saw-horse!

What? Why? Who needs THAT? - you do! - you just don't know it yet.

If you are fortunate enough to have access to a scrap yard anywhere nearby, this is a very feasible project. Particularly if you can buy the steel at scrap price.

I found an I-Beam 5 feet long, with a top "bench" about 6 inches wide and a middle span "height" of 8 inches. It's very heavy. 4 simple, sturdy 2" square tube legs were welded/gusseted and bolted to the beam to raise it to a working height just lower than my main workbench.

I have a large vise on one end of this "I-beam sawhorse" and I work on it whenever "banging" is needed. The edges of the I-beam are great for hammering metal, and the bomb-proof attachment of the vise proves useful. For those of you that have gone through all kinds of gymnastics working on items in your vise, you can also appreciate being able access it from basically 3 of it's 4 sides.

Um, pics in order - will do shortly