Unique workbench

[NHokpic]

My work bench has been a solid core door sitting on a frame built into my workshop floor. It has served me very well for 12 years but last month I decided to do a face lift. But I wanted my bench to have a few new features and came up with this plan
The 1st two pictures is the sum of intense thinking about this bench. I needed a clamping system that would fit my budget. I buried 2 pipe clamps into the surface of the bench, covered it with bamboo flooring and placed 2 T tracks just below the surface of the bamboo.

The 3rd picture shows the result. I have 80 inches of clamping space. Now my bench gets versatile. In the 4th picture, I popped out the bar clamps in about 30 seconds and placed a bar clamp so I can cut boards of the edge. The last picture shows a swivel vise screwed onto a board attached to the bench using the T track. To the right, I have 2 mini saw horses that can be attached as well. There are many more possibilities like 2 hand screws to hold a board on edge. I have a sliding leg that hangs over the front of the bench. It has holes and a large dowel so I can clamp a board in the face vise (R side of last picture) and the other end is supported on that leg. As a matter of fact, any bench top tools can be easily switched. Hope somebody can benefit from my unique bench. I happy!

[Rolf]

Well aren't you the clever one!!!

[wood-n-things]

Smarty pants. That is a kewl idea!

[evilbadger]

That is a cool bench.

[ubgoofy2003]

Way to go ! That is a real cool workbench. You really put some thought & work into that one. I bet you really enjoy using it too. Good Job.

[NHokpic]

Clever one" and "smarty pants" are not as accurate as ubgoofy's comment. As a matter of fact, I put so much thought into it, I'll accuse myself of being a slooooooow thinker. But I am very happy with the outcome and it is a pleasure to work on. I'm even using it to glue up projects because the glue does not stick onto the finished surface of the bamboo flooring. At the moment, I have a large panel door drying in the clamp. Thanks for the comments.

[NC Scroller]

Super idea.

[jim_mex]

Great work Bernie! - definitely a highly practical and well thought out project.
Well done and thanks for sharing it with us.

[Doug Nelson]

Thanks for the pictures and great ideas, I am going to do a little re-work.
Doug

[Greenfield_Bob]

Very nice, wish I had one.

Bob

[tgiro]

Some great ideas at work there! I love to see craftsmen shape their own environment and see the wonderful results of that.

I just don't have the money to spend on all the fancy woodworking equipment from WoodCraft, Klingspor, Rockwell, and all the other neat toy stores. I like to see what great ideas other come up with and then plagerize the heck out of them

Seriously, great work, there.

[NHokpic]

Tgiro - plagiarize all you want and to all other comments - thank you. If I didn't want folks to plagiarize my idea, I wouldn't have posted it. My workbench is the result of restless leg syndrome. I worked hard all my life and now that I'm retired, I have a hard time sleeping at night. I pace the floor and think and pray etc.

I saw a workbench (I think it was in an old Fine Woodworking magazine that had a bench with T tracks and an expensive $300+ Veritas dual crank end vise. It got me thinking. Over the course of a month (pacing the floors), I came up with this solution. I am very happy with it - my bench seems to evolve with my needs. Im building a country hutch for our kitchen and I need to cut a couple of daddos in the sides. I've already used a high fence and I'm thinking the high fence with a spacer board clamped at 90* - perfect for a true matching daddo on both sides. I'm beginning to think of my bench as a work system, not a bench. That would make it a tool.