Needs Pictures: 0
Results 1 to 11 of 11
Thread: Workbench Tracks
-
29th June 2016, 06:29 AM #1
Workbench Tracks
Hi friends
I am planning on building a new workbench with ply. Now marine ply is heavy duty price so have decided to go normal ply. Just wondering about form ply. Any suggestions?
Next question is I wish to incorporate tracks and you hear about mitre tracks, incra tracks, kreg, aluminium etc, etc. Enough to really confuse a guy with not a lot of readies and on a pension. Due to various army injuries I am unable to hold things down hard enough to make a difference. Might as well put a feather on which will be of greater use than the pressure I can put on to hold down a work piece so I have been investigating various hold down clamps (like the kreg but ouch). The terminology is also getting me down a bit. So I am looking for hold down things that fit into a track. I will be searching the universe for whatever hold down things I can find so are the tracks universal or does every brand have their own style and sizes. Having my luck lately they would come in all different sizes. Got taken for a $4700 ride last month which still hurts.
So, any info even on pre loved stuff would be great as I'm at a loss here. Wish to join the 21 st woodworking century but need help.
Many thanks
RogerWith kind regards and may the wood chips fly
Islander
-
29th June 2016 06:29 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
- Join Date
- Always
- Location
- Advertising world
- Age
- 2010
- Posts
- Many
-
29th June 2016, 08:07 AM #2Senior Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2012
- Location
- Shepparton
- Posts
- 140
form ply will do as good a job as any other my workbench is made of it and no problem,just pick good form ply with no blow voids
-
29th June 2016, 08:42 AM #3
I don't have a permanent workbench, I just use slabs of MDF, old doors and door packaging boards clamped to a pair of those heavy-duty tripod stands (a cheaper clone of the Triton Superjaws from Masters) ... so I can't install tracks.
Instead, I'm using the Kreg Klamps and just drilling four holes and routing a recess for the plates, reasonably easy to remove and reinstall ... also, the dog clamps with the long bolt
Not as flexible as a track system but works for me for my needs.
-
29th June 2016, 10:05 AM #4
McJings track is the cheapest I've found (two profile sizes). Note that is NOT anodised. They are not pre-drilled though, so you need a countersink that will fit into the track to drill them (I use a CS from Lee Valley for that - best and cleanest general purpose CS anyway). It does some very minor damage to the top of the track if you are not spot on with your drilling alignment.
All the different brands have different profiles, so bolt heads that work in one won't necessarily work in another. The ovoid flat washer bolts and nuts are they best way to get around this (and slide better anyway). With those, if they are a little wide you can grind off the sides. McJings also have those in metric sizes.
McJings also have Toggle clamps (not sure of the price) up to huge sizes, but the best Toggle clamps are the Bessey automatic adjustment ones - can clamp different thicknesses without adjusting the clamp. The thickness range is about 20-25mm without adjustment. Those Bessey boys are not cheap though.
Lee Valley have recently released a big range of hold down methods.
Yeah, I've fooled around with t-track a bit
-
30th June 2016, 12:42 PM #5
Roger,
I reckon you cant beat holdfasts for holding things down and no tracks required. Would also be a money saver. Mcjing has them for about $15 each.
Particle board flooring will cost less than ply so perhaps that overlayed by the form ply.
A split top design really allows all kinds of clamping options using F or G clamps too.
Have a read through some of the past bench builds I think just about all kinds of benches have been done.
Regards
John
-
30th June 2016, 01:31 PM #6
Holdfasts are cheap and the holes can be put anywhere on the benchtop. Additionally there are other types of holdown such as Veritas Wonderdogs that can be used in these holes. You just need to make the top rather thick; I think from memory holdfasts need a minimum of 2 inches to be effective. I'm pretty sure the Veritas website has this information.
If you're going for a composite working surface then again; I agree that a few layers of moisture resistant particle board with formply top and bottom will give you some mass and the required benchtop depth. Then the first job you can do with your new bench is to produce some solid timber edging to go around it to reduce the chances of moisture getting into the layers.
-
1st July 2016, 03:00 AM #7
for ideas, you my care to read this catalogue from Lee Valley Lee Valley Tools - Online Catalog
regards from Alberta, Canada
ian
-
4th July 2016, 10:44 PM #8
Consider using 19mm form ply for the bench trough area and an overlay of marine ply or a good face quality ply for the working surfaces.
I make a lot of jigs that use toggle clamps, so it should not be too difficult to incorporate a T track into the inner edge of the working surface to take various "carriages" that incorporate toggle clamps as the hold down mechanism. Just be mindfull that the toggle clamp pressure with tend to lift the T track with equal force so the track will need to be screwed down very well. Hold fasts are probably the better option for larger work.Mobyturns
In An Instant Your Life CanChange Forever
-
4th July 2016, 11:32 PM #9
Why not normal ply say from Bunnies 16mm and glue a few sheets together for mass
you could cut to size and place the track during glueupregards
Nick
veni, vidi, tornavi
Without wood it's just ...
-
5th July 2016, 12:32 AM #10.
- Join Date
- Feb 2006
- Location
- Perth
- Posts
- 27,796
If your surfaces are thick enough, or you don't need to inset the T-track into ply then take a look at this.
Cheap HD T-Track
The extra depth does have it's pluses and minuses. and standard T-tracl bolts won't work, but you can't argue with the price of $33 for 6m
-
5th July 2016, 07:25 PM #11
Sounds like a good idea. Will try it with some test pieces. Many thnaks
With kind regards and may the wood chips fly
Islander
Similar Threads
-
Jig for Tyre Tracks
By Knappen in forum TOY MAKINGReplies: 4Last Post: 28th January 2016, 10:15 PM -
jig for excavator tracks
By bobman 58 in forum SCALE MODELLINGReplies: 8Last Post: 23rd September 2011, 06:01 PM -
Incra T Tracks for my CNC bed
By jb2060 in forum CNC MachinesReplies: 5Last Post: 17th August 2009, 10:49 PM -
?? Tank tracks ??
By TTIT in forum TOY MAKINGReplies: 35Last Post: 23rd January 2009, 01:01 PM -
aluminium tracks?
By mic-d in forum DESIGNS & PLANS FOR PROJECTSReplies: 8Last Post: 19th September 2004, 12:36 AM