Considering a Mark VII workbench

[robinson46176]

My old faithful work bench I built back in the 1970's sat in a poor environment for about a year on too damp of a floor and the base rotted where it contacted. Of course I "could" just repair it, but where is the fun in that.
I was looking at an extra Mark VII frame I have with some odd castor set and thinking that it is just about the right size. My bench top is maybe 6' long and 30" deep. I could remove all of the old bench base and mount the whole bench-top assembly on top of that Mark VII frame. I would add some outrigger type supports front and back to increase its foot-print a little when it is lowered and I would add braces down at each end so the possible extra weight would not place the lower supports (sphinx front legs) at risk of bending. Beyond that I see no problems with using it and it would fulfill my mandate to have everything in the shop but me on wheels. Being a Mark VII frame I could just flip the pivot cams and lift the upper part off to work on it or move it out of the shop if I wanted. Also it would be just kind of cool to have a "Shopsmith" bench.


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[robinson46176]

It took me a while to find these pictures of the "odd" casters I mentioned. They are surely home-made but show production quality.
The first picture shows why I call the lower frame supports "sphinx front feet".
You have to lift the end to swing the feet under or out on top.

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[robinson46176]

I just stumbled across this short thread from 2012 where I was going to replace my old bench. That was before my dicky ticker changed a lot of things and tossed a lot of planning out the window.
As it turned out I have not done this...
I repaired my old bench instead. As I think I mentioned in another thread, my old bench has a few short comings but over the years I have gotten used to it and it has become an old friend. It came from a time way back in the 1970's when extra money just didn't exist. The front 2/3rds of the top is two very old very hard 2" x 10" boards from maybe the 1940's that were the old dimension in the "old school" southern yellow pine" that you can't walk in and buy any more. The back third is a couple of old dimension 2" x 4" laid flat. A lot tougher than today's typical "white wood" but nothing like that old SYP. I drilled several rows of holes in the top so I can stick in pieces of 3/4" oak dowels and use wedges to clamp stuff for glue-up stuff. It originally had to sit backed up to a wall and I had a piece adross the back so stuff wouldn't keep falling off between the bench and the wall. That was about 4 shops ago and I recently cut that off flush since it has a permanent home out in the middle of the floor. I have the stuff together now to build a tool tray across the back like the Scandinavian benches. I have a couple of through holes in the middle of the top where I can drop in a hold-fast or two and I also have one of those "stops" that is recessed near the left end that I can turn a thumb-screw to lower it below the top. Right this moment it has 3 vises mounted to it. Two are permanent and flush with the top and the third is one of those clamp-on aluminum thingies that do 300 things.
Since the bench was originally more of a carpentry bench than for better woodworking it has gaps between the boards almost 1/4" wide and I would like to close those up. I'm thinking about carefully cutting them out wider and cutting some tight fitting filler strips from black walnut to glue in the slots. I'll likely finish the top clear but paint the base. Kind of a bucket list thing.

I am still planning to use the old Mark VII base but more as an assembly/work table than a woodworking bench. I have a couple of upholstery projects waiting and it will serve well for that. I'm considering making the top with a drop-leaf on each side so it takes up less space when not in use.