Search results

Well that is very true! Different horses for different courses

I’ve often heard this as a criticism of disc sanders. But I’ve found that having a slow linear speed near the middle is excellent for precision work and then having the fast outer part is useful for faster stock removal. I’d argue that having the variation in linear speed is a benefit as opposed...

If your speakers are a bass reflex and front ported design, and as long as you can get a proper secure fixing to your wall so the speaker enclosure can’t move/vibrate when in use, then this is actually good. It’s the same principle why people put spikes on the bottom of their floor standing...

Thanks for the link, I did consider these and was about to go for them but then thought about how infrequently I’d need to move it. The bench in its current state can be shuffled along on its plastic feet relatively easily, whilst not budging too readily either. I’m looking forward to the day...

With the vice fitted I tentatively started the MFT grid with the Peter Parfitt parf system. Reading the manual and watching the videos seemed really complicated but in practice it was pretty intuitive. Marking out, pilot drilling, and finally 20mm drilling with the parf kit was an absolute...

Then with a piece of beech on the front part. I ground off the end of some m7 coach screws to attach it on. It’s a handsome looking thing with a fresh paint job. I think the cool black blue colour sits really nice with the warm pinky beech. What’s slightly confusing is that the angle of...

The main part installed with its facing panel bit on. Then with the front part. The quick release mechanism was a bit of a faff to get in, the lever spring needed to be held in tension whilst I held the slidey bar and hammered it in place. Three hands would have been ideal. I’m so...

I spent far too long deciding what kind of finish to put on the vice, but found out that you can get 2pack paint in a spray can. I thought it was only available for pros with proper spray gun setups. I bought some panel wipe to clean of all the residual muck and dust from the vice, masked off...

Cheers Martin. There’s a lot of faffy detail I’ve not included in the thread too, mostly because I was cracking on and forgetting to take photos. One thing was that two of the beech staves are domino end-jointed half lengths (didn’t have enough full length timber). Working out a way to send a...

Ha I did think about it, would certainly have been a lot quicker!

Hey Andy that could be a good shout. And maybe something I could retro-fit. I am fortunate though in that I have access to another workshop space where there is a decent through draft to take care of any lingering dust. I honestly don’t know how people back in the day could work without a mask 🤷‍♂️

A very sensible piece of advice!

At this point I realised I’d have to remove the whole beech part of the bench top as I wouldn’t be able to drill the hole or drive in one of the coach screws for the vise. But with that off I could clamp the vise in situ and drill the pilot holes for the coach screws and do a dry-fit.

Once I’d got the depth I chiselled out the gaps for the curvy brace bits on the vise (no idea what these are called) Ive sat the rear part of the vise about 18mm back from the bench side. A piece of beech facing will sit in front once it’s bolted in.

While the vise was in its raw state, I started on making its house in the beech. I masked and marked out where it would go. Then chiselled out the edges, following behind with a palm router to clear out the remaining mass of material.

Cheers Ian, a lot of planning for sure. The design is an exploration more than a confident idea. I know I have a tendency to over complicate things sometimes, but I’ve tried to keep clarity of concept for this design. Hopefully it will at least do a lot of things I need it to do.

Alongside doing all this I had been restoring a big old Record 53 vise. I got it at an auction for £40 which I reckon was a right bargain. Here it is pre-treatment. It want in too bad nick. Everything moved, it just needed some love. I dismantled it and gave it all a good wash. Then...

With the MFT box sat in situ I gave it a couple of coats of OSMO. To be fair MDF doesn’t look completely unattractive with a bit of Osmo!

Next I added the threaded inserts to the frame for the MFT side. I made a template for these positions on a piece of hardboard, so that they would register perfectly with the bolt holes in the MFT. When driving in the inserts I squirted some silicone lube in there. Even on highest setting the...

With the body of the carcass made I marked out and screwed down the lid. I also drilled out the holes for the bolts. I planed and sanded the sides then gave the edges a 3mm roundover.