Portable Workbench with Two Quick-Release Vices

[Dr.Al]

This is my new portable workbench, used for clamping wood higher up than I can with the vice built in to the main workbench. Apart from the 160 mm diameter aluminium hand-wheels and some basic hardware, everything was home-made. The quick-release vice mechanisms allow the vice jaws to be slid open easily once the hand-wheels have been turned about half-a-turn anticlockwise and then they re-engage the thread when turned clockwise.

The vice jaws are 380 mm wide and the moving jaws are coated in leather to improve the grip.

The bench is made out of beech and American black walnut; the mechanisms and other moving parts are steel and the bearings & bushes are brass.

The dual-screw vice allows vertical clamping of stock up to 200 mm wide and also clamping tapered stock. Both sets of jaws open to a maximum of about 300 mm.

There's also a little edge guide that fits into a 12 mm slot in the fixed jaw of the dual-screw vice. This allows two pieces (one vertical and one lying on the bench top) to be aligned with their edges in the same position, which is useful for marking out the pins when cutting dovetails.

The dovetail guide has a storage slot in the side of the bench with a brass clamp to hold it in place but make it very easy to remove (by turning the clamp 180° anticlockwise).

There is a bit more detail about the design (and some higher resolution photos) on my website: https://www.cgtk.co.uk/woodwork/hand...tableworkbench.

There is also a very detailed build log, consisting of 67 pages and more than 400 work-in-progress images on another page on the same site: https://www.cgtk.co.uk/woodwork/hand...workbench/blog.

I've also recently added details of all the other woodworking tools and other projects I've done in the last year to my site: https://www.cgtk.co.uk/woodwork and there's an existing section with more metalworking-related projects: https://www.cgtk.co.uk/metalwork. This workbench probably involved more metalwork than woodwork, but it lives in the woodworking section of my site as that is what it will be used for. I'll try to post some of the other tools here soon.

[rayh__]

Sweet !!!!!

[Drew1966]

Nice Moxon vise.

[Dr.Al]

Thanks both.

[toeless joe]

Just went cruising around your woodwork website; very nice

[DIYer]

Thanks Dr.Al! We've added your Portable Workbench to our Workbenches category,
as well as to your builder page: Dr.Al's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Portable Workbench by Dr.Al

tags: vise, workbench

[marksbug]

OMG!!!!! whooda thunk it!! use round wheels for handles!!!! I hate the sliding handles!!!

[Dr.Al]

OMG!!!!! whooda thunk it!! use round wheels for handles!!!! I hate the sliding handles!!!

Thanks @marksbug . I went for round handles as I wanted it to sit on the bench without the handles hitting the bench or sticking up above the top of the portable workbench's surface, but having used them, I really like them.

[courierdog]

This would be the best mounted in place of my existing Workmate Top.
This would be much tougher and far more agile especially for those hard to handle long pieces that hang down.
The clamp on this approach is just awesome