The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Pallet Rack benches almost done

I torched the uprights apart and then rewelded them back together 24 inches deep. Bench top is at 36 inches, I just need to make a decent top out of MDF or something. I snapped this picture tonight after spending all do plumbing air around. Never seem to have the right length of pipe . . . back to the Home Depot tommorrow to get the last couple of pieces of pipe to finish up, then insulation and wallboard.
[img]http://www.kinemation.com/Trucks/Images/newbench.jpg[/img]

Lookin' good Ken! Is your shop what they call "post and beam" construction? Jacques

Gotta love that old warehouse racking!

I built this cab stand out of some of it..it unbolts to take apart, etc..real easy to move cabs around.

And it was FREE!

http://users.eastlink.ca/~randyjewers/stand2.jpg
http://users.eastlink.ca/~randyjewers/stand1.jpg

Swampcat, not post and beam, but rather Pole Barn construction. Here is a post of progress pics taken while building it - that should give you an idea of the construction. I am kinda slow - I logged the area that this sits on in August of 2000! Dug the first post hole in November of 2000. It is easier to forget about how much work you put into something when you take a long time to get it done. The inside is easier because you don't have to work in the rain and cold.

shop progress

Nice looking shop. Bench is really nice--I like the lights. Surprised no vise--most used item on my bench.

Yes, Buzzin, the vise will come when I put a "real" top on the bench. You can buy MDF in 54 inch widths so that when it is ripped in half it is 27 inches - that is the depth the benches will be when they are done. I'll get two sheets of this and put down as a bench top and then I'll mount the vice.

Mapleleaf - nice cab dolly, looks like you could set the whole truck on that thing without fear of hurting it! :p

Bought a live hose reel at Home Depot last night for $49.00 for a 25ft x 3/8 hose. This is the lowest cost unit I have seen (Ampro) - upon inspection when I got it home it had the "Made in China" sticker on the bottom :rolleyes: It is defitely a world economy.

Ken, is that part of the Rugo restoration on the floor there? Shop looks like it's comin' along well.

Yup, Rugo is going to show up Sunday am and we are going to fire off the diesel burner hooked to a pressure washer and see if we can clean it up without scalding each other Then POR15 it and start on the springs. . . at some point we run out of things to take apart and it will start to go back together.

Air plumbing should be done on Sunday too - get to see where all the leaks are :o Bought the MDF today and ripped it in half for the benches. Also picked up a 6in Wilton vise - $69.00 at Lowes. The 5 inch vise I have mounted in the garage was like $179.00 (Made in USA) . . . the $69.00 vise said Made in China to Wilton specifications. I compared the two and only noted that the US made vise had carburized crank handle and swivel clamps while the asian one had chromed mild steel handles. Castings look the same weight - time will tell.

I will start hanging ceiling joists next and hanging sheetrock - that will brighten it up. Soon the split in labor between the shop and the trucks will swing more toward the trucks!

Buzzin, you're not looking closely enough! Ken has a vice on that bench...it's the brown bottle just to the left of the center posts on the top shelf! Looks like one of them light beer bottles!

Kook--

Thanks for correcting me. Apparently Ken is going to get rid of the bottle vise and replace it with some chinese rig. Whatever lights your fire-- but; I'm not a proponent of chinese vises. My old man has an original Wilton vise(note: American made)from the 1940's which is fine for wood working but not a serious vise for metal work. Real vises are made by Emmert and Oliver and literally operate as a third hand. Jaws are a foot wide and open eighteen inches. I have an Oliver patternmakers vise (1920s vintage) and wouldn't be without it--spins through 360 deg and can be moved to any angle relative to the bench. This vise is heavy--weighs 90 lbs but once you have worked with one nothing else will do. Emmert turtleback is the same weight and same vise for that matter.

Also have a 5 inch blacksmiths post vise made in the mid 1800s--no known manufacturer. Real good for filing, bending metal, beating stuff and holding items for welding. My dos pesos--good vises are indispensable--especially if you are fooling with old iron.