Care and Feeding of an old Workbench

Wow, what a great problem to have. I’ll defer to the real woodworkers here for their wisdom, but as for me, I’d probably just sand it down and apply some oil to it, make sure all the joints are tight. As for the screws, wax is all I know of to use as a good wood lubricant.

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

I’d just get a can of Min-Wax furniture wax and apply a good coat to the screws after wipeing them down with a dry cloth. An air chuck on a compressor will help as well. Then I would get out the tools and go to work. Use will tell you what you need to do next.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

can we see it, can we see it?

I have an old single screw that was used as a tail vise…It comes apart easily and can be wirebrushed to clean up the threads. Don’t forget the base is threaded too. Then wax (not oil) it good and reinstall. Oil on the threads will find it’s way into your project, ruining the finish. OH…If the handle is sound, keep it. It’s a part of the history of the vise!

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Yes, lets see some pictures.

-- http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/

Another thing to look at is the flatness of the top. If you’re going to really use the bench for woodworking, then it will need to have the top flattened (if it isn’t, of course – if I were a bettin’ man, I’d lay money on it not being flat, though).

Some people might bawk at this, wanting to maintain the integrity and character of the bench. That’s fine if you don’t want to use it. Call it a museum piece or something. Maybe you could put it behind your sofa and call it a sofa table.

But using a woodworking bench that isn’t flat will create more frustrations for you than anything, especially if you do any hand plane work.

I think your grandfather would prefer you get it fixed up and cleaned up and put it to good use.

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Alright, after reading about Photobucket and resizing photos, I’ll try to provide a picture of my grandfather’s workbench:

Assuming that all the html I can see above will produce the picture of the workbench, I’ll attempt to include a picture of the face vise as well:

The first pic should show that I haven’t even cleaned it yet. I’m still sort of studying it. The second pic should show the large wooden screw that operates the face vise. I bought some paraffin today and plan to use it to lubricate the screw and the two guides.

Pete

-- At war with my faults, at peace with my neighbors

A bit more on the workbench: I notice that the pics were truncated on the right, so you cannot see all of the tail vise. I think the pic conveys the style of the workbench, however. By comparison with most plans for workbenches I’ve seen, this is unusal in that it is bolted together using several perhaps 6” long, 1/2” bolts and nuts, and in several places large lag screws. Also, the top is completely separate from the base. I mean separate – they aren’t even connected! The top cross-pieces of the base are sort of captured by pieces under the top, but you can literally pick up both ends of the top and walk away. I’m trying to think of a non-intrusive way to steady everything – perhaps some clamped bracing.

As Ethan pointed out, the top is no longer flat, and I’ve got some work to do there. I also thank Thos. suggestion of using compressed air – it got some of the … uh … hmmm … debris out of various cracks, and will make the general cleamup easier.

On the original question, I’m planning to melt some of the paraffin and brush it onto the inner parts of the vise. I know furniture wax was suggested, but there was none in the three rows of Min-Was products I looked at today. If anyone knows anything against paraffin, let me know. I plan to hold off a day or two. I’ve waited for this workbench for over 20 years, so a couple more days is no big deal.

Pete

-- At war with my faults, at peace with my neighbors

You have a couple of choices to make: 1. as mentioned above call it museum piece clean it up and put it on display or 2. spend some time fixing it up and use it as a workbench. Myself, I would refurbish it and get it working hard as a workbench. Paraffin is not the best choice to wax the threads. Brush clean the wooden threads and put a good coat of paste wax on them and buff it in. As for the top try and come up with a way to bolt it securely to the base. A good workbench is rock solid. Several choices for getting the top flat. You could take the top to a cabinet shop and let them run it through a wide drum sander or planer. Another choice would be to build a flattening jig for a router. Whatever choice you make it appears that you have a workbench that you will chersh for a long time.

-- Genius is immediate, but talent takes time.

Jeff: It won’t be a museum piece! I definitely plan on putting it to work. My plan for the top first involves making some decisions on: a) a noticeable split in one of the boards; and b) handling a spot where someone (recently) gouged it badly with a saw. On the second item, I plan to enlarge and smooth out the bad spot, then carve a replacement huck to glue in. On the first item, I’m still unsure. Eventually, however, I plan to tackle it with a large plane, then a sander. I’m still thinking about how to best make it “rock solid” without butchering the original design of the bench. Thanks for the comment regarding paste wax – I’ll hunt around for that.

Pete

-- At war with my faults, at peace with my neighbors

Pete, I echo what everyone else here has said. You have a treasure…. a big treasure. And putting it to work would be the best thing. That’s what it was made for. I’m not a master woodworker or anything like that, but I have a suggestion you may want to try on the wooden threads. Grizzly sells a lubricant called Slip It…. It’s just what the name says. You can buy it in a qt. can or a spray can. A little dab goes a long way. It’s silicone free so it won’t stain the wood. I use it on every non-painted surface in my shop to prevent rust. It helps wood glide accross the table on my table saw. I was making a jig once and had cut a small piece of pine to fit into a cut-out on another. The fit was very tight and I thought I was going to have to try to shave some off, but a dab of this stuff on the sides and it slid right in. I’d test a small area with the Slip It before applying it to all the threads. Thanks for sharing those photos. You are a very lucky man.

-- Make things with wood.

Pete, that’s just one of the coolest family heirloom tools I’ve ever seen. I’ve got a few drawknives, and adze and a stanley 45 plane that were all my grandfather’s, but what you’ve got there is just plain priceless! Thanks for posting!

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Wow that’s a beautiful vise. And it isn’t even polished up yet. Awesome old bench. Thanks for posting it.

Wow. What a treasure!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com