Big huge complex project. OK, maybe not...

[robinson46176]

This one of those quickie little things that actually has more thinking in it than it looks like. Then again I was heavily medicated when I started thinking about it.
It's one of those things that you grab a scrap to whip one out because you are pretty sure that you will want to make changes to it right away.
This is for my bench to serve a few specific purposes and not many people (if any) would have a bit of use for it, but it will serve me.
It may be the only one in the universe.
I'll post this picture now then when I get a chance later this evening I'll post some more with an explanation. Don't hold your breath until then, most bird houses are more exciting.

Guess what.jpg (96.5 KiB) Viewed 2660 times

[robinson46176]

My old homemade vise is located at the right end of the main bench on the front. I know most guys like them on the left front but I like the right front. That corner is also closest to the door to the outside of the basement which has my only windows and I love natural light.
Some time back I mounted my large Reed vise at the left end but around at the end, not at the front. That bench sits out in the floor and I work all around it.
Here is the Reed vise.

Vise mount 2R.jpg (109.81 KiB) Viewed 2620 times

Here is the adapter mounted in the vise.

Vise mount 3R.jpg (102.21 KiB) Viewed 2620 times

I do sometimes want to support a board on edge at the left end of the bench. I have this cute little cast iron vise that we used to have mounted to a sawhorse for remodeling jobs.

Vise mount 4R.jpg (94.67 KiB) Viewed 2620 times

With it in this position I can clamp a long board (I often work with longer boards) upright in a vise at both ends of the bench at once.

Vise mount 5R.jpg (101.2 KiB) Viewed 2620 times

On the odd occasion that I want to work a board on edge up on the bench I can move the small vise a couple of inches to the left so the board rest on the bench top. Most of the time it will just hang under the bench.

Vise mount 6R.jpg (106.7 KiB) Viewed 2620 times

See, I told you to not hold your breath.

[dusty]

Neat project, farmer. It just goes to show that you really need a Zyliss Vise at all.

[robinson46176]

Neat project, farmer. It just goes to show that you really need a Zyliss Vise at all.

One of those resides on the back right corner of the bench most of the time...
I don't use it a whole lot but it is useful at times.

I also have hanging nearby 2 B&D Workmates (one is an older one with the aluminum frame and the other is newer with the black steel frame).
I'm fond of having a lot of options.

I also just have a lot of stuff because like some others here I have just been around a while.
My father and I spent almost 40 years building up the farm shop together. Granted, it was more metal working and carpentry work but a lot of stuff is useful for several platforms. I also inherited tools (I was the only grandson) from my maternal grandfather (a toolmaker) and a childless uncle that I used to help remodel apartments many many years ago.
Family has understood for a very long time that at Xmas I didn't want a shirt, I wanted a tool.

[robinson46176]

A massive change to the big huge complex project.
I had thought about this to start with but didn't really think that it was necessary. Turns out that it is. With the heavy little cast iron wood vise hanging out on one end it can take a bit of effort to line the mount up with the big vise and have a hand free to tighten the big vise. So I went with my original plan and put a couple of dowels in to go into a pair of holes in the end of the bench that line the mount up properly so it supports itself taking care of the weight all being out on one end. Can you tell that I have just been messing around lately?
Then I couldn't find my dowel centers... Still in a box someplace. Rather than measure and screw it up I just clamped the mount in the vise and drilled all the way through the mount and into the bench. That way it "had" to be right. I'm sure the two dowels glued all of the way through the mount makes it stronger but then again I am also sure that it didn't need to be any stronger.
Anyway, it works just great.

Vise mount 7R.jpg (94.78 KiB) Viewed 2397 times

Tomorrow I will invent fire...

[robinson46176]

These are piddly little quick & dirty projects but I am enjoying doing a few of them because I have wanted to do them for a long time but just never had either the time or the energy nor the "round tuits".
When my woodshop was still in the farm shop if I wanted to bend a little piece of steel for something I just walked a few more steps and used one of the 5 or so larger metal working vises at several locations there or if I wanted to beat the crap out of something I could use the big anvil in the blacksmith shop. Several times since I move the woodshop to the basement I have wanted a regular vise to bend something or even just to hold a tool differently for sharpening. I have had the little vise in the picture for a long time and used to keep it on a smallish bench in our store. I "think" it was on a bench I got at an auction but I can't remember for sure.
Since I was on a roll I grabbed a couple of pieces of scrap and made this mount for the little vise. I expect it to get a reasonable amount of use.
Now I need to unmount the vises and clean them up well and paint them and also paint the mounts because if I don't do it now I may never get back to it.

Vise mount 8R.jpg (105.1 KiB) Viewed 2332 times

Vise mount 9R.jpg (93.65 KiB) Viewed 2332 times

Now I need to get busy making and installing mounts for my version of wall cleats and start getting some serious hanging up done...

[fitzhugh]

These small ad-hock projects are what makes a shop run well. I've taken everything but the two Shopsmiths and un-completed bench* out of my shop to clean (landlord's guys didn't cover the door when sanding Sheetrock in the bathroom next to the shop) so I have shop stuff on my mind every moment if the day. I spent the hour before falling asleep writing down a list of all the projects large and small I've had kicking around in my head forever. All too often I find I can't think of one to take on at the moment, like going to the bookstore and forgetting all the authors I like. That won't be a problem for the next few lifetimes now!

That's one I forgot to remember and add though I've meant to do it for ever: mount my little crappy metal vise on a board that mouns in the vise. Thanks

*like incomplete, only for much longer and with weaker excuses

[rpd]

*like incomplete, only for much longer and with weaker excuses

At my house those are called "projects".