Thread: Lost the Plot

Looks great , I have also been thinking of going the steel frame/timber top route too when I get round to it.

I like the way you will setup the router

I finally got the boards for the benchtop this week. I've a neice whose boyfriend works for a cabinet maker and he was able to get me some sink cutouts for nothing. They are rough cut with a jigsaw, so they need to be straightened and squared before I can join them. Looks like a long weekend's work to join them and mount the router and vise into it.

Nice work, its going to be strong thats for sure. I keep meaning to make a good bench but haven't done so yet. I will be making mine from timber, when I get around to it. I have no welding skills.

I've been a bit remiss in updating the progress of my bench. I've been waiting for my sawbench and dustcollector to be returned from a loan to an ex boss so that I can do the timber edge on the bench top. In the mean time I've reconditioned the vice , a record quick release type and made the router plate insert. I had my better half order one of those zero voltage safety switches from woodworkers supplies and she bought me a bench dog pro gaurd to go over the router bit when not using a fence , they gave it to her for a discounted price because of no box. So I guess that I'll have to mount that on the plate before I use it.

The first two photos show the plate in progress and finished.

The last three are of the vise, it came out of a school in Darwin but has had no work at all. Practically brand new....now!!

G'day Speialist,

I like the obligatory empty stubbie of XXXX sitting in the background of one of your earlier shots. A must have after a good days work.

Great to see a thread on a steel bench, this will be a good one to watch.

And who has a level floor in your shed? Lucky bloke if you do. When I was building my bench it was about 1/4 of the way through and I realised the floor fell away at 15mm over 3m.

Thank you Waldo for your kind comments, that photo wasn't very good, the stubbie was still half full as it was friday and all was good. The good news is that I got my bench (table) saw back on monday , only to find that there was one horrendous growl comming from the spindle area .

I dismantled it today after work and found that it wasn't serious at all, the bearings are good, it was just the grub screw in the pulley had come loose and it was floating on the shaft. The growl came from the pulley rubbing against the spindle casting. Still maybe a good thing, now it's apart, I'll be able to fix up the dust chute. The saw is about 25 years old and was never designed for a dust extractor. I'll take some pics to illustrate tomorrow.

I guess this puts my bench top back for another week.... oh well.

Originally Posted by specialist

I've been a bit remiss in updating the progress of my bench. I've been waiting for my sawbench and dustcollector to be returned from a loan to an ex boss so that I can do the timber edge on the bench top. In the mean time I've reconditioned the vice , a record quick release type and made the router plate insert. I had my better half order one of those zero voltage safety switches from woodworkers supplies and she bought me a bench dog pro gaurd to go over the router bit when not using a fence , they gave it to her for a discounted price because of no box. So I guess that I'll have to mount that on the plate before I use it.

The first two photos show the plate in progress and finished.

The last three are of the vise, it came out of a school in Darwin but has had no work at all. Practically brand new....now!!

Good vice ,I have one just like it ,picked up at a local auction for $32.00.here in Katherine ,may have even come from the same place as your originally.
I am also building a steel framed bench with adjustable legs ,Im using a solid cored door for the top .I'm painting the frame this weekend ,as all the welding is completed.
I have been slack and not taken any pics though.
Might snap a few this weekend.

Kev.

The bench project has come to a standstill now that my table saw needs fixing So I thought that while it was apart I would fix the dust extraction port. As you can see what was there was absolute puss, done before I came to own it. the dust hole was in a piece of chip board that was screwed over the open side.

I wanted to bring the saw back to sort of original, so off came all the rusty plate back to the original frame, then fabricated a dust chute that would allow the dust to fall and halve the area under the saw for the dust extractor to pull from. The middle photo shows the finished stand and chute. I put a small frame around the four legs because they seemed to be a bit wobbly, it firmed up nicely.

I forgot to do an access panel.

Anyways, after a full weekends work, the saw is now 85% together, so maybe next weekend, I can start on my bench again.

specialist

G'day Specialist,

That third shot there of your solution for the problems with dust suction would be a geat solution to a similar problem with my 10HB - it's collection is also pathetic.



Just have to work a solution in with the access door.

Yes Waldo, it was the only way that I could think of to get the dust out quickly and have no corners for it to build up in. I actually made it to be an insert between the saw and the legs.

Here are a couple of photos before it was painted that show it better.

I suspect that the same thing could be built out of thin ply with maybe a downpipe end for the dust pipe to go onto. I only used steel because it was the same stuff as I cut out of the base and was free.

specialist

Finally, the finished bench.

It's taken a while, but the main part of the job is done.

I've still got to mount the prorouter plate for a start and then nut out some sort of fence fo the router, along with dust extraction. There is one of those remote switches mounted on the end, after pictures were taken though. Have to start on bedroom suite for the wife now , but will continue to update the thead regularly.

specialist