John Morris

@It Was Al B, we'll need your shipping address to mail the certificate too. Thanks! Please PM me.

Tonight I pulled my end vise from my new bench. When I picked up my bench over a month ago, I noticed the vise was very stiff. Beyond stiff, actually the tube holes swelled around the tubes to the point of zero clearance, as a matter of fact the wood was tight around the tubes. I don't know when the last time was that the previous owner used his vise, it could have been years, judging by how his shop appeared to have not been worked in for a long time, he may have not known that his vise was nearly in-operable. at 95 years old, he may not have even been able to spin the handle, maybe, maybe not. I was able to turn the handle, it was tight but functioned. I removed the end vise from the bench top, I had to remove 4 bolts and unscrew the tube supports from under the top, the straight slot screws were a joy to spin out. Image below, end vise removed. Once it was unbolted and unscrewed, I had to wiggle it off the hard wood spline you see in the first image. I quickly set it on the floor, it was heavy. It is as wide as the bench, and takes up about a half of the real estate under the bench. Jim, the previous owner, all his work was and is so precise, I have viewed his metal working, leather work, and woodworking, and all his work was done with careful precision, I am only surmising here, but with his machinist background I am wagering he made this vise to operate with very close tolerances, regarding the tube holes, possibly not taking wood movement or swelling into consideration. But then as I type this, I am telling myself, he was a highly experienced woodworker, he must of known about wood movement, so the fact that his home is only blocks from the ocean, may have more to do with the swelling around the vise tube holes than the manufacturing process. Top of the vise, note the dog holes in the top face. I had to remove the pins that held the sliding block in place on the operating tubes. The two inside tubes are fixed, the two outside tubes slide. The tubes were so tight, I had to use a combination of pounding, and letting the vise do its own work against it self. I inserted two blocks of wood between the end tubes, and the stationary block, then screwed the vise closed, and pushed the end stationary block off the tubes. Vise is flipped over and viewing bottom of vise. Finally, after much persuasion and heavy thinking, I got the entire assembly separated. I had to carefully beat and push the blocks off the tubes, imagine how stiff the vise was to actually operate. Now the work begins to create some daylight between the tube holes, and the tubes themselves. I am being creative right now on how to do this, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated. My first thought is to spend some time with a sanding drum on a drill, and just sand the inside of the holes till I have about 1/32nd all around the tubes. I love this old vise, I hope to breath new life into it, and have a fully functional end vise, I know I will, just takes a little elbow grease.

Just replied, so sorry!!!!!!!!!!

I never use these GIF's, but this is one of those moments. Larry, welcome back ol timer, completely happy to see ya!

@HARO50, I could not imagine going through something like this with my own children, positive thoughts and strong positive vibes being sent your way, and to your son.

Man, I bet @Larry Buskirk would sure appreciate this resto! And welcome to our community @DrillRestorer!

Good Monday Morning! Good Monday morning Patriot Woodworkers! What did you get done over the weekend, and what have you planned for the week ahead! Inquiring minds want to know. Please tell us what's happening in your shops, your life, and any events going on with you. Thank you for being here folks! This past weekend I focused on my new addition to my shop, this fabulous workbench, oak base, with oak cabinets and walnut drawer pulls, with a 4" thick top made of Maple and Oak. It has an end vise that is very powerful. The top mounted vise is a really cool one too, it's an old Columbian, but I'll move it to another location in the shop. If anyone has been following my good fortune, I was contacted by some life long friends awhile back, and informed that their neighbor was looking for a recipient of her deceased husbands woodworking shop, he was a WWII and Korean War Navy Veteran, a very accomplished woodworker among other trades, a high school shop teacher since he came out of service for our nation, his name was Jim Eckler. Our friends recommended myself as the recipient, and here I am now. I sincerely believe it was Providence, that I have received this gift of a bench and many hand tools, as in my own life, I was ready to move to mainly a hand tool shop and downsize significantly, I was hesitating for awhile, then this happened, and this event touched me off to make the move. Over the past few weeks I have sold off all of my machinery but for one lunchbox planer, and I purchased a Shopsmith with a portion of the proceeds of my big sale, for the moments I really need power, and tucked it in a nice compact corner of our garage. This bench, will be the mainstay of my work space, I really love it, it's at least 40 or so years old, and it has a ton of character. The holdfasts I purchased off a young man from Ebay, he hand forges these holdfasts and they work very well, if you are in interested in the holdfasts let me know, I'll give you the contact information. I can't wait to get to work on my bench, and honor it appropriately. Raffle Winners Congratulations to the following winners of our annual community fundraiser! Thank you to all who participated in the raffle, your contributions help us stay live! Laguna Tools $500 gift certificate redeemable at Laguna Tools and Supermax Tools (WINNER! @It Was Al Easy Wood Tools Mid Size Micro Detailer ($120.00 value) (WINNER! @p_toad) Wood River 4 Piece Butt Chisel Set ($62.00 value) (WINNER! @Artie) Wood River 6 Piece Bench Chisel Set ($90.00 value) (WINNER! @DuckSoup) Short and sweet Monday topic guys, running late for work, be safe all, and have a wonderful week ahead!

Absolutely, great suggestion, I've already knicked a knuckle!

Hmm, I'll have to check mine again, seemed that when I used the TS, there was a spot on the garage floor of dust, where the dust was being directed too, I was thinking, sheesh, not too bad, if it directs it that precisely, perhaps I could just use a bucket. But then I only cut a few items, I had not used it all day long on a job. I did have the guard in place, so perhaps that helped. Really I have not used mine enough to come to in depth educated opinions, I am still enjoying the honeymoon.

Al, many folks don't realize it, but Laguna Tools has accessories you may purchase with your certificate, the machines would be out of the question unless you wanted to offset the cost of a machine with the certificate. You can also use that certificate at their other company Supermax Tools since Laguna owns them now, see https://www.supermaxtools.com/ Also see some wonderful Laguna BS blades, and accessories at https://lagunatools.com/accessories/bandsaw-accessories/ Their accessories are universal fit for other bandsaw machines. Their Driftmaster Fence from what I understand is a dream to use. See it at https://lagunatools.com/accessories/bandsaw-accessories/bandsaw-fences/driftmaster-fence-system/ So you do have options with that certificate. I don't know if @Grandpadave52 knew that either, but he may have a certificate in his possession from a past raffle as well, if I remember correctly.

That's right!!!!! I know how hard it can be to say no Artie, it takes practice.

Good question Herb, I do! There is one beam in the garage that if I tried to tilt it up at the point, it would hit, but fortunately I have plenty of ceiling space without beams, just the one beam is all.

Are you kidding me? To be a fly on the wall in your shop, while you are working. I'd do it for a spell, till my wings got tired! In other words, I'd love to watch the master clock-man at work!

I found out Gene, that the saw dust port is so direct, a DC may not even be needed, a bucket under the port (with hose connected and directed to the bucket) is about all that is needed. Do you have the plastic housing with dust port that encompasses the blade assembly?