# What is this Lervad clamping system for?



## CWolf (Jul 8, 2008)

I bought this clamping fixture at an estate sale today and wonder if anyone has seen it before or can tell me what it was designed for.









It was made by the Danish company Lervad, best known for their workbenches. I looked through their web site and did other web searches without finding anything like it. It is about 12" by 19", has four small wooden vises operated by round knobs, and comes with 12 bench dogs, six of each of the two heights shown. On the bottom are two clamps to attach it to a bench or other surface. It looks as though it's never been used.


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## Tedstor (Mar 12, 2011)

Carving would be my guess. That many vises/dogs would be needed to hold irregularly shaped pieces. 
Pretty cool find at any rate.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

Great find. My guess is it could have many different uses; glue clamp-ups, carving, etc. Looks like it could have something to do with Lego.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Looks handy for any small parts working.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Send Lervad a pictured email and ask them. They'll probably
get a kick out of it.


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## CWolf (Jul 8, 2008)

I tried emailing them, but the addresses listed at their UK web site don't work, so they bounced back. As far as I can tell, they have no U.S. representation now.


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## 4ndrew (May 22, 2010)

Hi, I've only just come across these posts…my thinking is that as Lervad make classroom workbenches for children to use…is it possible that this is a 'table top' version for children to use in primary/elementary school that could be stored vertically when not in use?


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

Since the words, "made in Denmark" are in English, means it was designed to be sold in English speaking countries.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Sign carving? Picture frames? Looks interesting, definitely a problem solver, whatever its intended purpose is!


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

I does look interresting but also I see whay it has been called a childrens device as it does not have a stout professional look required in industry possibly a hobbiests tool. Have fun. Alistair


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## 4ndrew (May 22, 2010)

I have sent an e.mail to Lervad in Denmark - we might get a clear answer sometime next week!


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## CWolf (Jul 8, 2008)

What email address did you use? The one I found at their web site, [email protected], doesn't work, as I reported last year.


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## SawTooth1953 (May 7, 2009)

I can see it being useful during glue-ups of picture frames and toys. It is the right size. You'd set up a 'fixed fence' of blocks on 2 sides using 2 or more dogs and then use opposing vises to apply pressure. Variations on that for other glue-ups of smallish projects or sub-sections of not so small projects… whatever fits in that 12" x 19" field and is within the height of the dogs.

I don't think it is made to hold stock for carving… not nearly stout enough.


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

OOPS! Just noticed tis post is 9 months old so I'm Late to this party but my first thought was that the pins on the dogs are pretty small and may not take a lot of force to snap 'em off. So I'm thinking it's for picture frame making


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## CWolf (Jul 8, 2008)

I'm surprised I haven't been able to find out what it is. However, there is now one for sale on eBay:

This one is missing two of the vises, the below-table clamps, and all of the dogs that I have. The seller doesn't seem to know much about it.

I'm pretty sure it's not for picture frames, especially not mitered ones, for numerous reasons. To start with the most basic problem, a picture framing clamp should be symmetrical, and this is not.

I'm especially puzzled by the tall dogs. It makes sense for the short ones to have angled faces, to force a work piece down to the table. But what purpose do the upper angled faces on the tall dogs serve? They would seem to suspend a workpiece above the table.

It is definitely for light duty, limited more by the small knobs on the vises than anything else. With their small diameter and smooth surfaces, it's clear that it wasn't designed to apply a lot of pressure.

There hasn't been a followup from 4ndrew, so I assume he wasn't able to contact Lervad either.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Very interesting….the hook has been set : )


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## Holbs (Nov 4, 2012)

odd. I have one of the Levrand work benched I picked up at an auction. Even bookmarked their page of the model in my LJ's "my workspace". The link worked a couple months ago. But now, i get a 404 error. They must of removed the "English" version of their website because the other Levrand items appear there on main page.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

I was just on their site. Google Chrome can translate everything for you : )


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## Holbs (Nov 4, 2012)

I will say this: their benches (at least the one I have) is not a piece of art or will not win any awards, but it IS highly functional and useful, even if bare bones. I could assume the same would go for your clamping device (it does look kinda neat).


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## SawTooth1953 (May 7, 2009)

CWolf,
I beg to differ on your premise that this cannot be for clamping mitered picture frames.

I think one of the vises needs repositioning. In your first pic, where it shows the far vises opposite of each other, you should put them on the same side… both on the right or on the left. Then you'd use dogs to fix the frame parts of 2 adjacent sides, and the vises to snug up the other 2 sides… a spanning bar might be needed if the frame isn't large enough for the span of the vises… or move the pairs of vises closer to each other.


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## CWolf (Jul 8, 2008)

The vises can't be moved. The unit is designed to have vises only in the four positions you see in the photos. The one on eBay shows the same setup. I can see why at a glance the overall design of the unit might make it appear that they can be moved, but it does not have this feature.


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## SawTooth1953 (May 7, 2009)

CWolf,
Oh, boy! That stinks! The pics make it look like moving a clamp or two was do-able. I thought I had this one solved!

Spence


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## 4ndrew (May 22, 2010)

Apologies…this is extremely late. I visited the Lervad workshop last year (2013) - close to where I was staying in Denmark. the manager remembered my e.mail and said he had replied…it didn't arrive but then sometimes these things don't always work - he was pleasant and offered to sell me a full size bench…but then I already have a couple of Swedish benches…!

Upside is that this was a prototype for an American customer that was never followed up in production. The manager had no further information. I understand that the American market then ceased distributing workbenches and concentrated on weaving looms that must have been a better seller!

(If you are near Seattle, and want a genuine Lervad 'minimalist' bench (I think they are brilliant) there is one for sale today on Ebay.com… for $450! Collection only is a little too far from the UK!)

With my background in education, I can still see that it would be very useful in a primary school classroom for craft activities and could then be stored away for another day. Could be used by two or three small children, but these days there would have to be a greater distance between children using tools safely!


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## CWolf (Jul 8, 2008)

Hey, thanks for following up! That's cool that you were able to ask someone about it.

So he didn't know anything about its intended use? Did he say it was for an educational use, or are you just speculating about that?

I also don't quite understand what he might mean by "prototype". The unit I have looks to me like a full, manufactured, production model, with none of the characteristics I would expect from something that would normally be called a prototype. This is borne out by the fact that the one on eBay looks exactly like the one I have. If it was a prototype for one customer, why would they have made more than one? And how would one prototype wind up in the home shop of an amateur woodworker in Michigan and another wind up in California?

I still haven't come up with any use for it myself, so it sits on a shelf in my shop.

Did he remember getting the email from me in 2012? Like you, I didn't get a reply.


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## 4ndrew (May 22, 2010)

OK, my memory is hazy…if I remember rightly, I was told that there were two prototypes made for a US customer…but the manager had absolutely no idea of the intended purpose.

Until I re-read the description, I hadn't realised how small it is! so maybe used by just one child?! The educational use is purely my suggestion from looking at the scale of the item, the chunky vise handles and the 'bench dogs' would be easy for young children to use. And from having worked in classrooms, an item not in use everyday in a primary school classroom would need to be easily stored away. Lervad have long made work benches for upper schools…and I think still do.

Modern Lervad products seem to be well finished, both from illustrations in their catalogue and from Ebay sale images. It would be worth a manufacturer making a prototype up to production standard if he was to stand a chance of making a sale…

As for California and Michigan…sometimes people move home half way across a continent!

As for a current use….if the dog holes happened to be 19mm / 3/4", it could be placed on a hollow base an could then be used as a small clamping board using Veritas adjustable bench dogs?

In our conversation it did appear that there had been two correspondents to whom the manager said he had replied.

So, that was the extent of our chat. As some Danish road signs read - 'Blind Vej', the French have the 'cul-de-sac' and it may be that we have the veritable 'dead end'!

I'm sorry not to be able to enlighten any further!

Kind regards

4ndrew


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## CWolf (Jul 8, 2008)

Actually the dog holes are much smaller than that-only 6mm / 1/4". It's for very lightweight work, so the instructional angle definitely makes sense.


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## CWolf (Jul 8, 2008)

Well, after four years, I found an answer! Another one of these came up on eBay, so I asked the seller about it and he sent me this image from a 1991 Leichtung catalog! Sort of odd that the "workbench" only has the Lervad name on it, yet Leichtung presents it as their "exclusive" and even obscures the Lervad name in the photographs.


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## 4ndrew (May 22, 2010)

Well done CWOLF! Delighted that the mystery is solved.

I've been tempted to make a workbase similar to the Veritas ones, http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=73498&cat=1,41637, with the possibility of a Moxom style vice on the front, which could then be mounted on a workbench.

Leichtung was 'absorbed' by Woodworker.com (http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/home.exe) noted around 2002! But I can't see any comparable product there.


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