Small bench ideas

[Sideways]

We haven't had a bench thread for a few days

Just thought I'd share a few pictures of a mini bench I've cobbled together and modified all with a view to being able to plane small items on it, yet be able to prop it against a wall when not needed.

This came about because I dismembered my original workbench because I needed better storage space underneath. I work a lot on workmates, trestles, etc that collapse when not needed, but none of these are any good .for hand planing. You can't do without some weight at times.

At some point I acquired some pieces of seasoned ash and glued them up into a 1000x240x60mm slab.
A parf guide gave me two rows of dog holes.
A small record vice went on one end.
A veritas vice from the sales went on the front.
Some maple leftovers gave me stubby feet and some extra depth at the front.
A Valchromat offcut went on the second end as a sacrificial bumper when it's standing on end leaning against a wall.
Etc

I have this perched across a pair of toughbuilt trestles just now and I'm finding that it is stable enough to be useful for hand planing and scraping at a DIY level.

Obviously unfinished tail vice

The only thing that is perhaps unusual about this is that I have chosen to attach the vices and most of the supplementary timber on the underside using stainless bolts. By boring some of the dog holes a little deeper, I've been able to set the bolts down through the dog holes so they don't interfere with the top surface or use of the dogs and clamps.

A consequence of using bolt through is that I've been able to tinker with this as my ideas evolve. For instance it's now 180 degrees rotated from how I first started to use it. The little record vice on the end was the sole vice on the front when I first made it. The big veritas popped up and I was able to repurpose and move some bits, add others and evolve. The big vice added a lot of weight and now it's more usable but also at the limit of anything I'd want to move by hand.

I'd love to see anyone else's solutions to the problem of how to make a bench that is normally stored for space saving but is heavy or rigid enough to allow at least some hand planing.

Cheers

 

[Sideways]

 

[Sideways]

 

[MarkAW]

Looks nice. Versatile. What finish have you got on the face?

 

[Sideways]

I don't remember but it was probably danish oil on the ash top and the maple blocks underneath.
From the intense yellow of the birch ply cheeks on the front vice, I may have used boiled linseed oil when I put those on.

 

[Chris152]

Really nice. I've been thinking about making something that I can do the occasional woodwork on and put away at the end of the day, now that everything in the workshop is covered with grease, oil and metal. That looks a cracking job.

 

[Sideways]

I'd been scratching my head for a while about what sort of frame to make to prop this up on. I knew that splayed legs would be important to resist the side force of planing.
A need came up and slapping it on trestles was an improvisation that turns out to work well enough to make it useful.

Even wider splay on the legs would be better but I could also hang a lump of iron underneath it or place the black end against a wall, those would help too.
I suppose a horizontal prop could even be used to brace it off a wall some feet away to resist the push of a plane.

 

[Jameshow]

Mines alot more basic and has been left outside for days. Has a apprentice toolbox that fits in the gap.
Used to make a camper van I was making.

 

[MikeB1972]

I use a knock down mini bench.

Or a selection of bench top benches/vices that just clamp onto whatever is available.