Clamps and Vices

[PaulJohnson]

This is a takeoff of the Shop Cabinet thread. There was an interest in clamps and vices.
Please chime in with thoughts and pics. As you can see I clearly have an issue.

My go to's are my record style vice and various size F clamps.

@gothic - Please note the benches are not clean

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[Lily left the valley]

*enjoys all the eye candy and bookmarks for future use*

[phil]

it looks like that bench opens and the whole end acts as a clamp?
the bar clamps, the movable part on every one is facing away from the end with the screw. It looks like they are all put together backwards but that surely must be must be something I'm missing.

Looks like your shop is well laid out and quite spacious !

Phil

[PaulJohnson]

The clamps appear that way in the pic. In reality they are alternated on the racks so they fit better. It is an optical illusion.

The bench vice does open all the way to the right. It’s purpose is to use bench dogs to hold a piece in place. One dog goes in the stationary bench and the other dog goes in the moveable vice. The screw is in the housing of the bench and is a 2-3” wood screw.

[phil]

that's an interesting bench vice. must be quite old too. If it could only tell stories of what it held.
good size of bandsaw for a home shop too, mine is a bit small for ripping. It had plastic wheels that wobbled and I used pulley sheaves with the V belt glued in for the blade to track on but its just a bit too little to really work well to resaw with. It's OK just for cutting curves. Ive seen a lot of the newer ones fail and some of the stuff is so cheaply made its laughable. I had the brakes wear out because it's basically a chunk of rope not a brake shoe. Ive seen motors die on a couple almost right after uncrating. metric shaft motors are hard to replace since most all north american motors were standard shafts. Ive seen the tires fall off not being held by a shoulder or glue , just friction fit. no crown on the wheel so they dont track right. Ive seen the new porcelain guides just fall out and get lost right away. knobs and things made of plastic falling off, threads in the cheapo castings stripping as if they were plastic. buttons and things look like they were made as a kids toy. give me an older one any day.



I obtained some bench dogs that were for holding metal. they fit a round hole, about 1/2" dia and just hold themselves down due to the shape, sort of a look like the handle on an umbrella with a flat part on the end.

I need to drill some holes to use them and then maybe I could also use some of the same holes with the pin thing that sticks up from my wood vice. for now I just make do I can usually just use a clamp.
Yes I just viewed the bar clamps wrong I see now every second one is reversed on the rack to make room. You have a nice collection of them there

Phil

[PaulJohnson]

I am lucky to have two benches.
The one in the picture was my grandfather’s from his cabinet making business. He immigrated to the US from Sweden in 1913. My guess is the bench was one of his first purchases. The top needs to be be resurfaced from a century of use. It gives me great pleasure to use it. The bench is most used for my finish work.

My other bench my dad made for me. It was a solid walnut door from a bank where my mom worked. He made it when we bought our first home in 1989. The tool rack on the back mirrors the one he had in his bench. I added the second tier as I collected more hand tools.

My obsession for clamps extends to a collection that I have not brought in from the garage, yet. They are the old wood screw type of varying sizes with the wood threads.

For years when I was asked what I wanted for Christmas I always said clamps and pencils. A woodworker can never have enough of each.

[1918ColonialRevival]

Seeing your work area makes me really want to clean up my act. I'm way too ashamed to show what my work areas look like. Let's just say they bear a strong resemblance to the aftermath of a Category 4 hurricane.

[PaulJohnson]

Oh, rest assured the mess is on the other side of the camera.
The current setup has been a work in progress. There is still a ton of stuff still in boxes to be unpacked. I have made a conscious decision to only unbox stuff when I need it or have a place to put it.

Too many times I have things laying around and have to move something or step over something else to move about the shop. That is a pet peeve and as I get older much more hazardous.

To quote a post from Phil, “I have more ideas and projects, than time.”

[phil]

"Oh, rest assured the mess is on the other side of the camera.
The current setup has been a work in progress. There is still a ton of stuff still in boxes to be unpacked. I have made a conscious decision to only unbox stuff when I need it or have a place to put it."

I feel much better now. I was getting jealous ) besides, the more stuff you have the lass airspace to heat. I look at it as an energy saving effort.

[Lily left the valley]

"Oh, rest assured the mess is on the other side of the camera.
The current setup has been a work in progress. There is still a ton of stuff still in boxes to be unpacked. I have made a conscious decision to only unbox stuff when I need it or have a place to put it."

I feel much better now. I was getting jealous ) besides, the more stuff you have the lass airspace to heat. I look at it as an energy saving effort.

So true!