Workbench

Workbench Wednesday – #18 (2018) Bob’s Tricked Out Nicholson Completed

With the basic bench being fabricated it was time to work on the “add-ons” for Bob’s Nicholson gunsmithing bench.  In truth this was a thinly disguised exercise in preparing for an upcoming workshop I was teaching in Arkansas.  In short, it was all about threading and fabricating wood screw based vises, including a mobile Moxon vise and a twin-screw face vise for the bench.

My starting point was 1) buying a 1-1/2″ Beale wood threading kit, and 2) a case of 1-1/2″ store-bought dowel stock from a home center.  My initial effort with the threader revealed that the off-the-shelf dowel stock was inadequate for the task and I impregnated the screw stock with diluted epoxy to give a cleaner finished surface after the threads were cut.

After threading the dowels I made a bunch of handles from scrap SYP construction lumber.  All tolled for Bob’s workbench and the workshop workbenches I made over 50 vise screws.

Then I threaded a bunch of the female fittings using the tap provided with the Beale kit.

In the end I had a bench with lots of clamping/work stations.  This has served as my model for Nicholson benches ever since.