I'm building my mondo workbench/assembly table. I'm using torsion box
design for the bench top and am currently trying to figure out how I am
going to mount my vices. These are the vices I'm currently looking at:
http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?&offerings_id=2147
Right now my bench top is 4.25 inches thick. What I am concerned about is
how deep the 'back' of the vice is. In other words, if I mount the vice
to the underside of the bench top, will the top of the vice be flush with
the bench top? Can anybody point me to some drawings with dimentions for
such a vice?
--
Frank Stutzman
"tom" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> It's usually best to have your hardware in hand before hacking up the
> bench. If you can find a copy of The Workbench Book, there's a lot of
> good info there to be read. Do you think a torsion box will be strong
> enough to mount a vise upon? Tom
>
Sure - fill in the web in that area with solid wood.
"Frank Stutzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Sigh. Ya just gotta love usenet. Ask a question and get a half a dozen
> questions back that are only tangentially related. Could someone just
> take a tape measure to their vice and tell me the dimention I need?
>
Ya gotta just love some of the questions. The answer, already given, is the
same answer as any other "how big" in woodworking. Make it fit. That's
what the sport is about.
Sure helps when you have the iron at hand and available for a couple of test
runs so you don't put wood in the way of stabilizer bars and such, BTW.
Be sure and have blocks in the web for your dogs before you laminate the
skins.
On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 16:06:24 -0500, Leuf <[email protected]>
wrote:
>>However, the reason I'm going with this design is because I need this
>>table big (4 ft by 16 ft) and free standing. It also needs to be
>>exceedingly flat and as level as possible. A torsion box design seemed to
>>be the most economical way of accomplishing all this.
>Well here's another one :) A freestanding bench with vises and dog
>holes wants to be as heavy as possible. 3 sheets of MDF ripped in
>half will get you 2-1/4" thick with no less work getting it flat and a
>lot less work getting it put together. Inlay some hardwood where the
>dog holes will go and you're done. 4 sheets gets you 3". Mine is
>only 2'x4' 3 layers and it laughs at anything that tries to move it.
Oops, I was thinking your bench was 2' by 16'.. double my numbers on
quantity of sheets. Okay maybe you're on the right track ;) Maybe
even half the bench torsion box, half solid might work.
-Leuf
The link says they are 3"deep?
"Frank Stutzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm building my mondo workbench/assembly table. I'm using torsion box
> design for the bench top and am currently trying to figure out how I am
> going to mount my vices. These are the vices I'm currently looking at:
>
> http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?&offerings_id=2147
>
> Right now my bench top is 4.25 inches thick. What I am concerned about is
> how deep the 'back' of the vice is. In other words, if I mount the vice
> to the underside of the bench top, will the top of the vice be flush with
> the bench top? Can anybody point me to some drawings with dimentions for
> such a vice?
>
>
> --
> Frank Stutzman
>
"Frank Stutzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm building my mondo workbench/assembly table. I'm using torsion box
> design for the bench top and am currently trying to figure out how I am
> going to mount my vices. These are the vices I'm currently looking at:
>
> http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?&offerings_id=2147
>
> Right now my bench top is 4.25 inches thick. What I am concerned about is
> how deep the 'back' of the vice is. In other words, if I mount the vice
> to the underside of the bench top, will the top of the vice be flush with
> the bench top? Can anybody point me to some drawings with dimentions for
> such a vice?
>
>
> --
> Frank Stutzman
>
why build a torsion box if the design does not have any torsion loads ???
Glue solidly top, bottom and to the webs. You'd want to make it as much like
a solid piece as possible.
"Australopithecus scobis" <[email protected]> wrote in message > I
wonder what happens inside a torsion box. In my complete and utter
> ignorance it seems you'd want to nail/screw your blocks dead center: one
> nail per vertical face, through the center of the web segment. Engineers:
> what's OP's best method to attach these blocks? Would pressure on a dog
> cause the block to rotate in place, munging up the thin web?
>
Australopithecus scobis <[email protected]> wrote:
> Make your wooden faceplate(s) as tall as necessary to reach the top of the
> table. The iron doesn't have to go all the way up.
Well, one of the features I want in a vice is a pop-up bench dog. If the
vice is shorter than the thickness of the vice, it would make the bench
dog less functional.
--
Frank Stutzman
Mike Richardson <[email protected]> wrote:
> The link says they are 3"deep?
I read that to say that the jaws are 3" deep. The mounting surface would
be something over 3" from the top of the vice. The question is how much
more?
--
Frank Stutzman
tom <[email protected]> wrote:
> It's usually best to have your hardware in hand before hacking up the
> bench.
Probably true.
> Do you think a torsion box will be strong
> enough to mount a vise upon? Tom
Yes. I plan on filling the web where the vice will go with a soild block
of wood. Maybe even some of the surrounding webs.
--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Hood River, OR
mike hide <[email protected]> wrote:
> why build a torsion box if the design does not have any torsion loads ???
Uhmmm, I'm no mechanical engineer, but where did I say that there wasn't
going to be any torsion loads? There may or may not be. This bench is
going to be used for a lot of things.
However, the reason I'm going with this design is because I need this
table big (4 ft by 16 ft) and free standing. It also needs to be
exceedingly flat and as level as possible. A torsion box design seemed to
be the most economical way of accomplishing all this.
Sigh. Ya just gotta love usenet. Ask a question and get a half a dozen
questions back that are only tangentially related. Could someone just
take a tape measure to their vice and tell me the dimention I need?
--
Frank Stutzman
Australopithecus scobis <[email protected]> wrote:
> Good point. Consider, though, that you could put a couple of holes in your
> face plate for removable dogs. I don't like the metal dogs in vises; too
> harsh for the wood, but ymmv.
Thanks, thats an item I hadn't thought of.
> What are you doing about dog holes in the middle of the bench? I can't
> readily visualize how one would do that with a torsion box.
More solid blocks filling in the webs. My webs are 5.5 inches square.
I'll fill in every other (maybe every third) web in with a solid block
that I will drill for dogs.
--
Frank Stutzman
Well, I did what I should have done first -- called somebody and had them
take a tape measure to one.
The folks at the nearest place that might have one (Rockler in Portland,
200 miles away) were very tolerant of my inane question. The 9 inch Pony
vice they had on hand would fit a bench up to 2 1/2 inches thick. My
design is currently 4 1/4 and I'd like to make it 4 1/2. I'm going to
have to think about how I'm going to do this a bit more.
--
Frank Stutzman
On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 06:02:36 +0000 (UTC), Frank Stutzman
<[email protected]> wrote:
>mike hide <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> why build a torsion box if the design does not have any torsion loads ???
>
>Uhmmm, I'm no mechanical engineer, but where did I say that there wasn't
>going to be any torsion loads? There may or may not be. This bench is
>going to be used for a lot of things.
>
>However, the reason I'm going with this design is because I need this
>table big (4 ft by 16 ft) and free standing. It also needs to be
>exceedingly flat and as level as possible. A torsion box design seemed to
>be the most economical way of accomplishing all this.
>
>Sigh. Ya just gotta love usenet. Ask a question and get a half a dozen
>questions back that are only tangentially related.
Well here's another one :) A freestanding bench with vises and dog
holes wants to be as heavy as possible. 3 sheets of MDF ripped in
half will get you 2-1/4" thick with no less work getting it flat and a
lot less work getting it put together. Inlay some hardwood where the
dog holes will go and you're done. 4 sheets gets you 3". Mine is
only 2'x4' 3 layers and it laughs at anything that tries to move it.
-Leuf
On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 05:09:19 +0000, Frank Stutzman wrote:
> if I mount the vice
> to the underside of the bench top, will the top of the vice be flush with
> the bench top?
Make your wooden faceplate(s) as tall as necessary to reach the top of the
table. The iron doesn't have to go all the way up.
--
"Keep your ass behind you"
wreck20051219 at spambob.net
On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 02:01:17 +0000, Frank Stutzman wrote:
> Well, one of the features I want in a vice is a pop-up bench dog. If the
> vice is shorter than the thickness of the vice, it would make the bench
> dog less functional.
Good point. Consider, though, that you could put a couple of holes in your
face plate for removable dogs. I don't like the metal dogs in vises; too
harsh for the wood, but ymmv.
What are you doing about dog holes in the middle of the bench? I can't
readily visualize how one would do that with a torsion box.
--
"Keep your ass behind you"
wreck20051219 at spambob.net
On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 00:01:47 +0000, Frank Stutzman wrote:
>> What are you doing about dog holes in the middle of the bench? I can't
>> readily visualize how one would do that with a torsion box.
>
> More solid blocks filling in the webs. My webs are 5.5 inches square.
> I'll fill in every other (maybe every third) web in with a solid block
> that I will drill for dogs.
Whoops, you answered that same question a couple of posts after the one I
replied to, sorry.
I wonder what happens inside a torsion box. In my complete and utter
ignorance it seems you'd want to nail/screw your blocks dead center: one
nail per vertical face, through the center of the web segment. Engineers:
what's OP's best method to attach these blocks? Would pressure on a dog
cause the block to rotate in place, munging up the thin web?
--
"Keep your ass behind you"
wreck20051219 at spambob.net