| Review by Chris Wright | posted 301 days ago | 1241 views | 0 times favorited | 9 comments |  |
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- Noden Adjust-A-Bench Legs
- Brand: Noden | Category: Shop Gear
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I had first read about this bench in the September ‘07 issue of American Woodworker. Earlier this month I met the inventor and got to try out the system. The system allows you to have a work surface at a height that you need.
I ordered the leg set, the caster set and their “one rail” system.
Here’s what they all looked like when the packages arrived.
Here’s the legs. They are made from 11 gauge powder coated steal.
Here’s the whole base assembled. The One Rail system eliminates one of the support rails without compromising support. Unless you purchase a full kit, you have to provide the wood rail (or rails) and the threaded rod.
You also have to provide the top. Here I used an old piece of bowling lane wood. With the thickness of my top the bench can go from 28 1/2” all the way up to 45” high.
I’ve only had it assembled for a few days now, having it on casters makes moving it around the shop very easy. The casters can be adjusted up to about 3 inches so it can be leveled and lowered so that the top can rest on the steal legs directly, if the work you’re doing is to much for the wheel locks.
This is a great bench. The only down side I’ve found is that if the legs are close together, then the sliders can bind up if you try to raise or lower one side to far in one movement. Other then that, it is a great bench system, and I’d recommend this system for anyone looking to make a new bench or assembly table.
-- "At its best, life is completely unpredictable." - Christopher Walken
9 comments so far
Woodchuck1957
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950 posts in 658 days
posted 301 days ago
Well it certainly looks nice, but I just priced out what you bought and it came out to $770 without a top. OUCH !
pitchnsplinters
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252 posts in 332 days
posted 301 days ago
Nice bench. I saw the same article and have been intrigued since. Do you have a lot of flexibility on the spacing of the legs? Any recommendation on a good separation?
-- Just 'cause a cat has kittens in the oven, it don't make 'em biscuits.
Derek Lyons
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261 posts in 462 days
posted 300 days ago
Woodchuck, Ouch indeed. For what you get it seems significantly overpriced.
-- Derek, Bremerton WA --
Chris Wright
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360 posts in 375 days
posted 300 days ago
Well, I admit, it is expensive. However when has anything that is made 100% in America been cheap. This isn’t something that is farmed out to a sweat shop in China or Taiwan. It’s made with the highest quality materials.
-- "At its best, life is completely unpredictable." - Christopher Walken
Woodchuck1957
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950 posts in 658 days
posted 300 days ago
I don’t expect it to be cheap, I expect it to be reasonable.
Derek Lyons
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261 posts in 462 days
posted 300 days ago
Chris, again I’m in agreement with Woodchuck.. Even made in America, even made of the highest quality materials… The price still seems steep for what you get.
Don’t mistake me though, if you’re happy with it that’s the important part.
-- Derek, Bremerton WA --
acanthuscarver
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156 posts in 606 days
posted 300 days ago
Chris,
I missed seeing you at the Baltimore show. I used one of the Noden benches for the first time at the show in Novi, Michigan last November (I borrowed a bench for my seminars and demos rather than ship my bench from PA). I’m a fairly skeptical guy when it comes to newfangled ways of woodworking. I’ve got to say, I was extremely impressed. So much so, that I now own an Adjust-a-bench too.
For over twenty years I tried to figure out ways to raise my workbench in the shop for when I’m carving. Nothing I came up with was both sturdy and easily adjustable. The Noden system is both. I can rapidly adjust the height for delicate carving or router work then drop it down and hand plane a pile of lumber without sacrificing stability. I think it’s well worth the price. My next purchase will be an additional set of legs so I can make my downdraft table adjustable. It’s a great, heavy duty system that should hold up for many years.
-- Chuck Bender, period furniture maker, www.acanthus.com
motthunter
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2079 posts in 693 days
posted 300 days ago
i need to look into this set up.
-- making sawdust....
Doug S.
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306 posts in 602 days
posted 298 days ago
Yup. Put the same setup under mine and haven’t regretted it yet
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/7307
-- Use the fence Luke