Work bench

JCP

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
75
Location
Elkin N.C.
Hi everyone

I've been reading your posts for a while now and thought I would jump in. I'm not an artist or anything like that , I'm actually a machinist that would like to try my hand at some simple engraving using hammer and chisel . I'm 54 yrs old and believe you're never to old to try anything within reason. So after reading a few books and studying engraved firearms photos I would like to get started , I'll be 55 yrs old next year you know.

I would like to build a small sturdy work bench with holding fixture of some type and would like to know if there are any drawings with diminsions avaliable anywhere.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jack
 

pilkguns

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
1,874
Location
in the land of Scrolls,
Jack take a search through this forum, there are number of photos and things already posted related to this. Not specific dimension, these will have to vary due to your personal physical details, height, weight, length of arms, type of work yuo expect to do, magnification used etc. If you have a specific question, feel free to ask
 

monk

Moderator
Staff member
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
10,857
Location
washington, pa
you have to sit at some table, bench, card table, just anything to see what is a comfortable working height for you and how you intend working. use this as a basis for building your bench. build your bench twice ( at least ) twice as large as you'll think you will need. poke thru this forum and look at all the benches. most look as though they should be a good deal larger, right ?? there's no such thing as a too large bench. to engrave , one must be comfortable, so the bench sort of has to be an extension of your own body. even if you only use a couple milk crates and a chair, that is ok, as long as you're comfortable while working there. some jobs i've done, a work bench wouldn't work- i had to use plastic milk crates and lotsa bad language to get things to work. sometimes the stuff you end up doing looks rather skrewy and crazy, but if it works, who cares ? when you engrave toilet seats and lids, you don't ever look much crazier than that !
 
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
46
ALoha Jack,
Take a look at the thread below yours, "Ideas on a stand-up vice. There are some good pictures there too.

Aloha,
Robert Booth
The Koa Bench Goldsmith
 

FL-Flinter

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
100
Location
Florida USA
Jack, I just started graving myself (40 and wore slam out) wish I would have tried it long ago! I have no training, never read a book, just picked up a few things here and there off the web. Best advice I can give you is just jump in with both feet and sink to the bottom. When you start cutting some lines, then go read over the forums again, you'll quickly see what you're doing wrong but it gives you instant feed-back to work from. Folks here are wonderful, I've been reading this forum off and on for a while and just started posting recently when I finally started cutting some lines.

My other bit of advice is don't make anything too permanent to start with. I have my work area set, mostly for gun building but since I tried graving, I noted a lot of things that need to be different not only for graving but overall. Lighting, layout, space ... it's all getting changed around and likely will be a few more times till I get something that works best for me. Take in all the info and suggestions and try many different things until you find what works best for you.
 

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