Originally Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:47 am
Gday,
I was perusing the OLF and seen a question come up from Ed Haney about setting up a workbench for guitar building in a small space, Ed's question went as follows.
Ed Haney wrote:
I am planning to build a workbench. Due to space constraints it will have to have one side against a wall. I was thinking something about 30" wide x 8' long and 42" high since that is my waist height (I'm tall). I'm wondering how much a face vise and dogs are used for guitar building, our would hold down slots on the table top be more useful? Do you agree with the tips that Frank Ford has on his site?
What features do you find MANDATORY?
What features are in the "NICE to have" category?
What features are a WASTE and should be avoided?
Thanks for any input you have.
Ed
As i have had to set up in a small area myself and had to come up with some unique ideas to do so, i thought i would share with Ed and posted the following.
Kim wrote:
If it is guitar specific and you will be at this for the long term, i would suggest that for all the money involved with vices, dogs, jigs and whatnot that you instead bite the bullet and consider going straight to vacuum clamping and be done with it. I say this because the foot print is small, the systems are very adaptable and you can clamp an instrument safely and get at it from every aspect without things getting in your way.
I still reckon you need to have a place to lock a radius dish in place though, and as Allan suggest, a peninsular allows access from the sides. My solution is to have a 600mm sq x 38mm thick drop leaf hinged to the middle of a longer mdf bench. When needed, (which is a lot) the leaf is swung up into position and secured with a single prop angled at 45deg back to one of the support legs of the bench, it takes all of 5 seconds to drop and then reposition the leaf. The 600mm leaf does not sound much but you need to consider that it swings out from the main bench which is 700mm wide, in effect this gives you 1300mm if you want it but i generally find i work from one side of the leaf with the neck hanging over the other. The leaf also has a hole in the centre and a "T" nut had been epoxied into the bottom. This allows a headless bolt to be screwed into the leaf and the required radius dish to be secured to the middle of the leaf via a central hole in the dish. The dish can then be moved like a lazy suzan, or you can lock it in place.
What is i like about this idea is that once in place, the drop leaf aligns with an over head 600mm sq x 38mm thick slab of mdf suspended from the ceiling by 7/8" allthread and this forms the top part of the gobar deck. There is also a length of storm water pipe attached to the allthread supports in which i store the fiberglass gobars for quick access. The top surface of the suspended deck is used for storage of various clamps and the current mold but also, as it is hard wired, there is 6 switched power outlets along the rear edge which does away with extension leads and a light built in the centre which is protected by a small 10mm thick piece of glass let in flush with the underside. This all works well as there is no uprights on the gobar deck to get in your way and the light lets you see what you are doing.
WARNING: If anyone tries this at home, just be sure to drill some good size vent holes in the mdf around the light fitting to let the heat of the lamp out or you could end up with a real fire hazard on your hands. I also sealed the mdf with thick old shellac to bond the fibers and lessen the risk, it works well.
Cheers
Kim
Ed then got back to me by PM and ask me to share some images. I have shown these a couple of times in the past but have changed PC recently so as i began to upload the images to my host site to link to the OLF and type out some explanations of what and why, i thought rather than keep this in a PM, it may help a few others here at my home forum if i just post it all at the ANZLF and give ED the link so he can drop in for a look.
Anyhow, here is my response..........
Hello Ed,
I only have some old images from when i fist set this up a few years back and my workshop was still under construction hence the shelve unit full of construction power tools etc, also i have modified a few things on the deck since.
None of these images clearly show the full support prop but it is a straight forward affair. Just make sure the hinges for the drop leaf are fitted accurately so the leaf will sit flush with the rest of the bench when folded up into position. The single 45 degree support prop is aligned with the centre of the leaf and about 3" in from the outer edge. I glued and screwed a hardwood 'capture' to the underside of the mdf leaf to receive the end of the prop. This capture is made from app 20mm sq fillet and is shaped like a shallow "U" or kind of like this..... [ I made something similar for the other end of the prop and checking the leaf sat level with the rest of the bench, it was then fixed to the bench leg. To make this all works properly, each 'end' of the support prop has two facets, a larger one, cut to bear against the underside of the leaf or the bench leg, and a smaller facet cut to sit flush with the vertical edge of it's capture. If you get this right, it will ensure the leaf always locks to that exact same position every time. Mine it is plenty strong enough, i am 6' 4" and can stand on it with no problems, in fact most of the mounting frame fixed to the ceiling was constructed with me standing on the leaf. Please excuse the ball head vice in the way.
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In the following images i had not yet fixed the PVC pipe to hold the gobars but that is straight forward, just cap one end of a short length of storm water pipe and cable tie the sucker to the althread supports through some pre-drilled holes. You may also notice PVC pipe has been placed over the althread, this is done to prevent marring when putting your work piece or mold away for the day.
The support frame for the top deck up on the ceiling is pretty rough but I don't look up there too much so i just went for function Razz You will need to check your own ceiling structure to make sure it is up to the task. You need to account for the amount of 'upward' pressure the gobars will place on the ceiling when in use and also the weight of the deck itself permanently hanging from the ceiling. I done this by fixing 2, 3x2's directly into the ceiling joist over the bench. To align the overhead frame with the drop leaf i used a plumb bob and marked the pair of 2x3's. I then fixed a second pair in place at 90 degree and after checking with the plumb bob again, i drilled and fixed the 7/8" althread rods into the over hanging ends. By fixing into the over hanging ends, it gave me clearance to lock the nuts securing the 7/8" althread without the need to venture up into the ceiling cavity, which in my shed, is virtually nonexistent. It also created a kind of canter-lever effect and the whole configuration effectively spread the load over a much larger surface area. It's crude, but effective.
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Here is a link to Ed's Original Post at the OLF if anyone want to check it out.
Hope this helps you and others Ed Cool
Cheers
Kim
