Jim C Bradley
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Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Missing Leg
It seems that there once was a good ole normal (well almost normal) bench with four legs and several criss-crossing beams and things.
Well, along came a Rockler 12 inch vise (much larger than the old HF).
View attachment 46719
View attachment 46720
The 12 incher required some of the space where a beam did reside. So, much to the dismay of the beam, I sawed out a section. This wasn’t enough for the poor thing so my son, Glenn Bradley, sawed out some more.
View attachment 46721
This sorta left the support to the left of the vise, well, missing.
View attachment 46722
Well, Glenn and I finished (ha ha) the job except for new skin for the top and finishing. So Glenn finally got to go home. He was a few hours late and tired as heck, but who cares?
I happily used the bench and the vise. Then Glenn called from work and said something like, “You know that additional leg you were going to have us put on the bench, we didn’t, did you?”
Not only did I not put it on---I hadn’t even thought of it, let alone cut the wood to make it. I hadn’t even noticed that the leg was missing. As one of our great FWW members keeps saying, “If in doubt, build it stout.” That, "heck for strong" workbench was stable as a rock.
However, since then I did cut out and temporarily installed (thats woodworker for “shoved it") the leg. Now that is really bad. I imagine all of you know the defination of temporary. That’s something you do that is only going to be that way for the next 20 years (just ask any 20 year old temporary school classroom about that.)
So what will happen next is that my wonderful son will come to visit and ask something like, “Why in the heck don’t you have that leg installed?” This usually has the effect of shaming me so I do it. Then, when he comes next time I don’t get another lecture. All this time I thought it was the parent who was supposed to shame and lecture the child into doing the correct thing.
Here is a close-up of the vise. Isn’t it purdy? Don't cha admire that moustache?
View attachment 46723
Here is a pic of the front of the bench complete with uncompleted leg temporarily installed.
View attachment 46724
And a close-up of the installed vise.
No, I do not have a pet though this photo might lead you to believe that. However, I have a neighbor---well a half a mile away neighbor--- who has 8 (eight) cats. Thank God I live a half a mile away. She uses a lot of Scoop Away. When I’m lucky I can get an empty container from her trash pick-up on Wednesday mornings. They are always nice and squeaky clean. I use them for shop waste buckets and use them to store a few things like small cut-offs.
Oh yes, Sherlock did not find the missing leg: I had to make one.
Final, for now, pic.
View attachment 46725
Enjoy,
Jim
It seems that there once was a good ole normal (well almost normal) bench with four legs and several criss-crossing beams and things.
Well, along came a Rockler 12 inch vise (much larger than the old HF).
View attachment 46719
View attachment 46720
The 12 incher required some of the space where a beam did reside. So, much to the dismay of the beam, I sawed out a section. This wasn’t enough for the poor thing so my son, Glenn Bradley, sawed out some more.
View attachment 46721
This sorta left the support to the left of the vise, well, missing.
View attachment 46722
Well, Glenn and I finished (ha ha) the job except for new skin for the top and finishing. So Glenn finally got to go home. He was a few hours late and tired as heck, but who cares?
I happily used the bench and the vise. Then Glenn called from work and said something like, “You know that additional leg you were going to have us put on the bench, we didn’t, did you?”
Not only did I not put it on---I hadn’t even thought of it, let alone cut the wood to make it. I hadn’t even noticed that the leg was missing. As one of our great FWW members keeps saying, “If in doubt, build it stout.” That, "heck for strong" workbench was stable as a rock.
However, since then I did cut out and temporarily installed (thats woodworker for “shoved it") the leg. Now that is really bad. I imagine all of you know the defination of temporary. That’s something you do that is only going to be that way for the next 20 years (just ask any 20 year old temporary school classroom about that.)
So what will happen next is that my wonderful son will come to visit and ask something like, “Why in the heck don’t you have that leg installed?” This usually has the effect of shaming me so I do it. Then, when he comes next time I don’t get another lecture. All this time I thought it was the parent who was supposed to shame and lecture the child into doing the correct thing.
Here is a close-up of the vise. Isn’t it purdy? Don't cha admire that moustache?
View attachment 46723
Here is a pic of the front of the bench complete with uncompleted leg temporarily installed.
View attachment 46724
And a close-up of the installed vise.
No, I do not have a pet though this photo might lead you to believe that. However, I have a neighbor---well a half a mile away neighbor--- who has 8 (eight) cats. Thank God I live a half a mile away. She uses a lot of Scoop Away. When I’m lucky I can get an empty container from her trash pick-up on Wednesday mornings. They are always nice and squeaky clean. I use them for shop waste buckets and use them to store a few things like small cut-offs.
Oh yes, Sherlock did not find the missing leg: I had to make one.
Final, for now, pic.
View attachment 46725
Enjoy,
Jim
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