# New-fangled work bench question



## msbeal (Oct 3, 2010)

The New-fangled work bench has been around for years and many have built versions of it. I am in the design phase with a slightly shorter version for my small shop. 

I have a dumb question that's plaguing my mind and was hoping someone who has experience with the long pipe clamps on top could answer my question. 

The part of the clamp with the spinner handles pushes its attached face plate towards the center of the table but the plans don't tell me which wood frame part that hold the clamp is fixed to the table and which is possibly movable. Another words I'm having a hard time picturing how this works exactly. 

The part that has the 1" holes, and holds the pipe up, must be attached to the table and the top part that is the 'jaw' must be movable is my surmise. 

If they were both attached permanently to the table top then screwing action would pull the pipe out of their far holes which can't be right. 

However, the way its shown in the plans it has the top traveling jaw of the clamp being blocked by the fix part with the holes in it. Do you see my conundrum?

The only other possiblity I can see is the pipe on that end must stick out long enough to allow a loose floating wooden top piece its full closing distance, about four or five inches or so but the plans don't really make that clear. 


I've attached a picture and I hope it makes it.


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

does this help?


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## Gannicus (Dec 26, 2012)

Chris Curl said:


> does this help?


Where can I get these plans guys? I've seen this on another youtube video, and thought wow, this is pretty awesome.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

*Another option*

BernieL has a good thread on adding pipe clamps to a bench.

In this case he uses aluminium T tracks for the stops. I think this is a good solution. Simpler than moving blocks up and down.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/versatile-small-shop-work-bench-unique-40361/


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Thanks for notice Dave - the simplicty of my bench is nice but the best part about it is its' versatility. I can do a lot more then just pinch boards.


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

gannicus, if you use google sketchup, there are a couple of 3d models of it you can download


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## msbeal (Oct 3, 2010)

*Thank you Chris Curl*

See how your picture makes sense whereas the one I have, the one I paid good money for, makes no sense whatsoever. 

Just to be clear, when I get my pipe clamps I will be able to, open the business end up, staddle it over the fixed permanently attached wood piece, run the pipe through all three holes and screw it on home thereby allowing the traveling jaw to do its thing. 

Thank you very much. 

As an aside, I love the front vise configuration but I'm not entirely sold on that long center end vise set up. Do you have any experience using that long vise? Is it handy or not?

There was another issue with these store bought plans (from Finewoodworkers.com). They had the front vise pipes resting on a quarter inch of wood under the holes. It sure seemed to me any downward force at all could easily break there. I'm adjusting it to both used 3/4" pipe clamps (with the spiffier turn handles) and give it more wood beef below those front holes. 

Just know your advice really helped me at my design stage.


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## Deanr (Jul 29, 2011)

I was inspired by Bernie's thread and attached the clamps a little differently while still using the T-Track.
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f9/pony-clamp-bench-44711/


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

msbeal said:


> See how your picture makes sense whereas the one I have, the one I paid good money for, makes no sense whatsoever.


for what it's worth, i opened up sketchup and downloaded it from the "components" window. then i could look at it from any angle i wanted to. the image is a screen capture from the sketchup window.

the model i had open did not show the joinery intended for the legs


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