Thread: Adjustable height work bench?

I saw this on another forum only in the last 2 weeks, give me 24 hours and I should have something for you ... I hope

This is copied from what my mate said on another forum

Dave Paine; I think you are looking to make a version of the jack bench.

This uses screw jacks to raise / lower the table.

http://www.jack-bench.com/index.htm

See video of this working.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/...ight-workbench

This design uses a scissor jack to adjust the height.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/view...ssembly-table/

I have seen another design which also used scissor jacks, but cannot find the link at the moment.

Edit - found the link
http://videos.americanwoodworker.com...-Woodworking-B

I have put some links in above there are some other links there as well if you want more

the last link may not have worked so I got my mate to send me a fresh one. Dont know if this is anythng like what you have in mind

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=41552

My head is going round at all the possibilities Dave...

Let me think on it a bit, I might be able to distill something down out of all this...

If you knew the mountain of crap stored in my shed that has to go to make room for this table - might get rid of a bit more today with any luck.

In the meantime, put head into thinking mode.

that is flamin nuts, man I love the idea.
What about an old hospital bed frame... may have to remove the head & foot boards but you could raise/lower and tilt it if that need ever arose.

I do have another basic option ... I'll post that as a new thread and leave a link here when I get a round to it

Here is another bench I really liked. A rather simple height adjustment as it is ATM. It could be modified to have some kind of 'jack' system for greater ease of use.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f163/c...6/#post1694126

Instead of another bench I use two other methods:

Method one is a pair of cheapo plastic folding saw horses, 10 years old now from Bunnies. I throw an old door on the top; that gives me a simple assembly bench that takes up no room when stored.

Method two is I use my panel cutting stands; these are two wooden stands with 5 beams of 75 X 35 timber thrown over them; it's primary purpose is to allow me to cut up whole 8 X 4 sheets with a circular saw; but as it only stands 600mm high its great for assembling kitchen cabinets. This arrangement again knocks down and is usually stored outside.

Just checking out my options for the mechanism... at the moment a motorbike scissor lift table seems to be a likely contender.

Likewise a "hospital bed"... adjustable, if I could find one at the right price (They aren't cheap).

Evil bay has electric (12V) electric scissor car jacks for around $100 but, it might take more than 1 if I want to make it mobile on castors as well.

I have the timber on hand... so I have to decide on a mechanism to be able to progress any further.

Still sorting issues on my table saw with new fences etc to replace what was missing.

No doubt I will then discover that my saw arbors probably not square with my miter slot in the saw bench table, and my sliding table is not square with either of the miter slot or blade requiring a complete, re set up with micrometers etc.

The fences arrived from the UK with no timber stops - no brackets etc to attach them to the sliding table.

If I ever get the stored crap out of my shed to make room to work & my machine set up right....MAYBE - I can get on with using the tools to make an adjustable bench.

After waiting nearly 8 weeks on these parts - it's somewhat frustrating / disappointing when they arrive and are missing little bits 'n pieces to allow you to finally use them and then have parts supplied that weren't ordered & don't fit & have no use to me etc.

I keep telling myself I will get there....... one day!

I have an old stroke sander, the type with a "pillar" at each end and an adjustable height rolling table in between.
The table is a scissor lift arrangement operated by a hand wheel which raises and lowers the table. Two of the four leg are fitted with wheels so the table can be removed from its sanding location and used as a work bench.
I love it.

I have the timber to hand for this, and am itching to get started.
But first I have to source "the right mechanism" and then design something.
Electric, Hydraulic, Scissor Lift Jack etc.
It occurs to me - that most workshops these days have a compressor...
Why not say - air assisted shock absorbers.... off a car?
Connect air to 4 of them - 1 in each corner and up she goes, and bucks the rider?.
Maybe a retractable spring loaded locking pin arrangement at each end (on both legs simultaneously) for stability under load?.
Still thinking..... one of those air bag exhaust jacks maybe?
Air rams?
Just haven't seen anything yet that grabs my fancy....for simplicity... and ease of use...
The height adjust rise and fall table mechanism...on old stroke sanders might just be the answer yet.
Cheers

Call them what you will - Vices / Vises... I have been looking at the US mostly work bench vids and WIP threads with photos etc.

It seems pretty common, to have these veritas type single and twin screw vices attached - with fancy turned wooden handles, and end vices as well - all of which have massive chunks of wood for the jaws, and some of the benches seem to have many rows of dog holes as well.

I'm not knocking them - they obviously are popular.

I just can't for the life of me tho - figure out, why?

Such large thickness of timber for the jaw - surely that just soaks up half the threaded travel length of your vice opening/closing screw - meaning now you can only get a piece of wood half as thick INTO the actual vice?

Why a Vice across the end of the bench... I've never in my life needed to use one across the end of a bench...when along the side of the bench will do?
(Ive usually had drawers in each end of the bench for storing "handy things" in...

Why a twin screw vice?... surely if you don't screw each handle even numbers of turns with the other handle, the vice gets "out of wind" and will want to bind on the way in or out? (Which would make opening it in a hurry to take a heavy piece of wood a right royal PIA?)

Whats wrong with our old dawn carpenters vice/s with a 3/4 inch piece of forgiving timber as the jaws liner, mounted on the side of the bench?.

Lastly all those gopher - er dog holes - surely things just fall thru them onto the floor, right when you need them at hand (pins for your dawn sash cramps etc?) like in the middle of a glue up when your glues kicking off and time is at a premium?.

What Am I missing here?

Are these benches designed for the 'purists' - who only use hand tools (e.g. the Amish) andthey can position a dog anywhere they want and plane something against it with their wooden block plane maybe?

I am guessing I am missing something obvious here. I mean my present small bench has a side mounted vice and one dog hole for a planing stop adjustable up or down with a slot in the dog & a big wing nut, washer and bolt arrangement, from below!

Since I am going tohave to design this new assembly / work bench, to get around whatever height adjustment mechanism I finally settle on... it all determines whether end drawers become part of the design or not for e.g.

Thought I would throw myself at the combined wisdom of the forum members - in terms of the usefulness (or otherwise) of some of the bench designs i see in esome of the links above.

From the purely height adjustment perspective... the toothed legs with scissor locks to set it at the desired height appeals looks wise to me - however the idea of manually lifting and raising lowering each end every time - not so!

The car scissor jack seems to work - but is somewhat "agricultural" in operation. (Sounds like a coffee grinder ip operation with that battery drill).

I just haven't seen anything yet that REALLY grabs my fancy for a mechanism.

So have at it - what is it I am missing about these polished furniture grade timber benches... that I see in the threads above - that I am missing please?

20 years working on a old asbestos filled fire door laid on a pair of legs - as a low assembly bench.... and a pine work bench with 2 end drawers and a side mounted dawn carpenters vice, served s really well...

What is it that I am missing?

Someone must know?...surely?

I did once see fancy bench at a solid timber doors making factory... a bench with many rows of dog holes... and fancy compressed air operated sash cramps - they would cramp up a series of doors flat across this bench by moving the dogs to the width of the door - glue up and hit the foot pedal and the air sash cramp would operate to hold it all, while electric paddles were used to instantly cure the glue holding the styles & headers together at all 4 corners!.

They would do say 10 doors at a time - glue up and put panels in - cramp up, cure with paddles - release, and stack for sanding thru the drum sander, and glue up another 10, and they did this all day every day, (talk about soul destroying repetitive assembly work) BUT they could make solid timber cabinet doors at half my cost & 1/10th my time (Coz I used mortice and tenon joints & 72 hour epoxy resin and sash cramps for a couple/3 days). And I had to wait for them all to come out of cramps before I could use the cramps again to cramp up the next lot! Then again - mine didn't fall apart after 6 years...

I can't see me needing such a "specialized bench design" tho any time soon.

Keen to hear thoughts - specially from anyone's made / used one of these fancy benches, and can sing their praises?.

Just coz I havent had a fancy work bench in the past - doesn't mean that I shouldn't have one, this time around, does it?

Cheers

Multiple dog holes appeal to me ... had never really noticed it before but looks like it could be handy

I saw the curved metal fittings that go into the dog holes to pin the workpiece down, on you tube, - they don't look all that user friendly to me... well not so much for electric hand tools work like trimmers and routers etc. They look to me like they might get in the way.
I've always had either flat bench tops or a recessed well in the middle...
No idea where I would get the metal hold downs from anyway.
Maybe it's one of those things - of what your used to using.