Shopsmith Forums

JPG40504 wrote:Ah So! Closer inspection(magnifying) reveals the 'quadrant' is 'merely' a brace(what looked like a slot in it is actually a rib). Does it take different sized lasts?

I assume what looks like a joint on the pedestal about 1/4 - 1/3 of the way up is only that(it does not rotate).

Yes it takes all manner of last including high heel and I even made one into a flat platform as a work spot.
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The "joint" just above the base is as you say a joint but that is also where you insert or remove thick cast iron spacers (by loosening a bolt up the center) to adjust it for user height. A feature Shopsmith could use.
Pretty easy on a 10-ER, just a little harder on a Mark V.

robinson46176 wrote:Since I picked up the ball and ran with it I will start a new Jawhorse thread.
I find it an interesting tool and have talked myself about half way up the wish pole.
Here is an Aussie link with a review and an interesting comparison.

http://stusshed.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/and-now-for-something-completely-different-photos-of-the-jawhorse/

Hey Farmer you beat me too the punch. My Jawhorse arrived yesterday, the C clamp attachment arrived today as did the saw blade from Shopsmith. I need to do a bit of assembly before your picture. I worked late last night helping a friend turn a clock pull. Today had PT which left me to sore to care about assembly or Pictures. Perhaps tomorrow.

About the value. I am very please at the quality and can afford the price so find it a good buy. fjimp

Farmer

I agree with you on the price of the Jaw Horse. I paid $150.oo each for the three Jorgenson vices I have on my bench when I built it a couple of years ago. Also paid about a C note for this old workmate a decade ago when installing a bunch of oak interior doors in a church. I could clamp the doors in the workmate while routing for the hinges and drilling the lock sets. I think the Jaw horse is much better quality.

I also understand the concerns of some folks here, at just under $200.oo it is a major investment for a hobbyist.




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Mark

Funny thing about boys and new toys. We just can't leave them alone. I just completed the assembly of the Welding attachment. My foremost reason for desiring the Jawhorse dealt with it being Steel. I needed a welding station to prevent fire. Now I will no longer need to use a vice mounted on a wood top workbench. Plus I will not need to worry about my bride or another assistant getting burned while holding steel in some strange position. My house although not expensive cost a great deal more than a couple hundred bucks to build. I don't need any fires. I also purchased a log holder for it that can hold logs for cutting, stripping bark or even hold a chain saw for chain sharpening. This sucker is steel, heavy and goin no where when in use. Last Christmas I installed a new passage door and frame at my daughters house. The extra hands available were my wife or daughter. Neither of whom could hold the door in the right spot for hinge attchment. The Jawhorse will. I can fold it up, use the roller to move it and the rear leg as a pulling handle. Even this one armed guy can do things again. Yes I will post the required picture. First I need to dry the garage out a bit. We have had a substancial amount of rain today and both cars were put away wet. Plus I want to create some sort of teaser before doing the Picture. I plan on posting by tomorrow night. Unless of course the realtors keep me too busy showing the homestead. Hey I know this sort of purchase doesn't fit everyones budget, who knows next year it may not fit mine. Three years ago when a decision was made to move back home and move toward retirement I elected to create the shop of my dreams. I have done so and am enjoying playing both with it and in making a wide variety of projects. I count myself as extreemly fortunate to have created my dream. Now I pray we will manage to complete the move and both live long enough with sufficient health to enjoy oursselves. fjimp

Apologies for dropping into the conversation, but thought you might be interested in my first-hand observations:

Obviously, the wesbite Stu's Shed (where the original post referred to) is mine, but just to be clear from the outset, I have no formal association with Rockwell, Positec, Worx, JawHorse etc. I did at one time demonstrate for Triton, but only because of my strong belief in their products (and it made some occasional weekend pocket money for more tools).

The JawHorse is a development from an older (Australian) product called the Triton SuperJaws, which, although costly (comparatively) is an incredible clamping tool / vice / press etc. For reasons that perhaps beggers belief, when GMC bought Triton, they got rid of the Triton engineers (including the designers of the SuperJaws), who subsequently went to work for Positec, who is the parent company of Rockwell.

The JawHorse is the latest (upgraded) version of the SuperJaws - thus the similarity, and the improvements. (GMC also didn't bother protecting the patent on the SuperJaws, so the JawHorse can exist, but that is another story).

I have had a SuperJaws / JawHorse in my workshop now for something like 7 years, and if I had to do it all over again, I'd buy another like a shot. They are a very stable tool, yet portable. I use them all around the workshop (I currently have 3, which is perhaps overkill, but 2 isn't!)

Some of the jobs I have done with it:

Chainsawing firewood (Log Jaws accessory grips incredibly).
Pushing turned wooden pens together (very carefully!)
Pushing bearings together (has 1000kg of force)
Clamping panels (900mm+ jaw opening capacity)
Clamping small projects for glueup
Hanging doors
Tool stand (very stable platform for my SCMS and Steel Cutter)
Anvil
Welding Clamp
Bicycle Repairs
Outfeed support for the tablesaw
Light pole (supporting a length of 4x2 with the light at the end of it)
and of course, as a vice for woodworking.

If you ever got over to an Australian wood show, you'd be amazed how many stands/demonstrations have a SuperJaws in use, just as testament to how highly regarded the product is.

If you are just looking for a workbench clamp, then this may not be your first option, but for all its versatility, and that clamping range and force, it really is a superb addition to any workshop.

Oh, and if it is anything like here, 2nd hand versions rarely come up for sale (no one ever gets rid of them once they have them!), and when they do, they typically go for 50% + of their new price, even if they are 10+ years old!

If you have any questions, I can attempt to answer them, but please do remember, I am only defending the product as a avid supporter and long time user, not as any company rep. You can get me through my website, email, twitter, or replying on here (although someone might need to let me know if there are questions on here that need addressing!)

Hope my intrusion....isn't!

Regards,
Stuart

Maybe I'm not seeing it right, but unless I were doing a lot of work with a draw knife, I don't see where I'd find the jawhorse very usefull.

I don't normally want a 3 legged saw horse. I want my 4 legged so they are stable at each end. I count on that stability a lot.

I have never found the need for a vice on my sawhorse.

I do have a B&D shopmate, or whatever they call that portable stand. I have the fancy model that does vertical clamping. Don't think I've ever used that feature.

foxtrapper wrote:Maybe I'm not seeing it right, but unless I were doing a lot of work with a draw knife, I don't see where I'd find the jawhorse very usefull.

I don't normally want a 3 legged saw horse. I want my 4 legged so they are stable at each end. I count on that stability a lot.

I have never found the need for a vice on my sawhorse.

I do have a B&D shopmate, or whatever they call that portable stand. I have the fancy model that does vertical clamping. Don't think I've ever used that feature.

We all work differently at different kinds of work so what one finds useless someone else may find to be something they can barely do without.
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This item is maybe more of a contractors tool perhaps but is a man that builds a house including all of the woodwork less of a woodworker than a man that turns pens on weekends?
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4 legs are great on a flat floor (most of the time) but can be almost useless on rough surfaces. That is why you never see a surveyor setting up a transit on a quad-legged stand. Three legs will sit solidly on about any surface.
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Actually as useful as I see this tool potentially being I would consider it almost useless for draw-knife work. The direction of hold and support is all wrong for that unless it were bolted to the floor. I do have a special spot picked out right under a ceiling fan where I want to sit a "shave-horse".
Like Jim I see this as more of a general purpose tool that will be useful for a lot of jobs, many unrelated to woodworking, that can also be very useful in the woodshop. You have to store it someplace so it might as well be where it is handy in the shop. Also as I said earlier, I keep looking at it as a possible bench vise with other lives. That is the way I have lived my whole life. When you are a farmer you don't often get to (or want to) divide everything into separate little pigeon holes.
If I felt as little richer I would have built a large room onto my farm/metal/mechanical shop for the woodshop rather than have it in a separate building 200' away. I constantly work back and forth between them. Many items I have built over the years are both steel and wood.
This sort of thing is common...
http://picasaweb.google.com/robinson46176/Woodworking#5324999441080558962

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I do clearly see your point that for many guys this tool might be rarely used depending upon the type of work they do. I have a BIL that does a good bit of very nice woodworking from toothpick holders up to large pieces of furniture but knowing him well I suspect that he would get little use out of one of these. He has two brothers though that tend to work a lot more like I do and I could see them using one constantly. Especially the brother that besides furniture makes a ton of rustic outdoor stuff.
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Different strokes...

Wow I learned a lot today about the history and uses of my new tool. My original desire to have one is to weld without assistance. When I assembled the Welding Accessory I was pleased to learn it included metal jaws to hold steel. As originally configured the Jawhorse has heavy rubber liners on the vice. Nice for woodworking but a potential issue if welding. When looking at the width of the vice jaws I realized this would be a great extra set of hands. one could lock the side of a cabinet or a door in place while installing to other parts with no worry about it moving. The three verses four leg isue, I own three shopmates. Yes they have four legs and yes they are handy. But those legs really don't do to well for most verticle clamping. The verticle shopmate, well I have never been smart enough to make that work for me. Generally speaking it gathers dust. The nature of having three legs put me off before I bought the tool. Now I realize it allows a whole different set of options for use in tight or uneven spaces.

How many should a fellow own? I expect to buy another.

Hey I am a big believer that everyone should stick with what works best for them. Personally I like the Jawhorse a great deal. It's a keeper. I am sorry but the pictures won't be delivered today. Life has me working on other things just now. I thank God that I live in a country whewre we are able to pick those items that serve us best and otrher can make their own choice. fjimp

At last here is a picture. Now we shall see if I am smart enough to insert it.