I was enjoying a video post that popped up on my instagram feed…@newapproachschool…(Blaine Lewis’s facility in Tennessee…
in it i caught glimpses of an interesting contraption sitting on the various benches…which i will describe as a square tubular stand, mounted on a clear base, that has a GRS (or similar) dovetail mounted on each of the 4 sides…i saw bench pins, benchmates, soldering stations all mounted on this lovely thing…
basically, when using a lower setters bench with a ball vise and microscope, this contraption allows the user to have the bench pin, etc at the proper/ raised height…without moving to a higher jewelrs bench
i am not sure what secures it to the bench top…
i need to make one! …and! one day attend classes at this beautiful facility
Hi,
haha! thank you fast fingers! i couldn’t get a screenshot! i kept missing!
cool right? i want! i am always crouching down on my pin at my setting bench!
and! i saw a bench here on tge forum where the bench is a low contained space with the pin attached to the back wall…i geel like i would loose less melees!…like a jura setters bench…
i wonder if the clear base is secured?…or just stable and works by downward pressure?
Hi,
…speaking of adjustable height bench pins… i saw the one below on a YouTube channel…of a guy who had also built a semi-circular jewelers bench…inside a half of a geodesic dome window he made…from materials given to him by a friend years prior…
it was the most wonderful bench i had ever seen…i did not save the info on the guy…could not recall his name
this post reminded me of him…i recalled the bench pin he had created…and searched for that…
i found it!…and his name!…Nik Colyer
he is a kind of renaissance man machinist artist creator writer…!…lives in the forest!…
i think i found him by accident on youtube when i was looking for machinist type info
here are the hits i got…enjoy!
here is the link to his studio build journey:
here is a youtube video showing him inside his studio:
here is the bench pin he created:
julie
adjustable height bench pin
circular jewelers bench
semi circular jewelers bench
geodesic dome window
geodesic dome jewelers studio
nik colyer
I reached out to Steve Frei, owner of Otto Frei today and shared this thread to see what he knew. Steve said that it’s not a GRS tool that is commercially available and that he’s never seen it before.
If you’re really curious, you should reach out to New Approach. Those folks are generally pretty good about responding to emails.
Julie,
I really like Knew Concepts products and have and use their Bench Pin, though mostly for just precision sawing, as it is a very stable surface to saw on, so I know that they make high quality products. Now, as far as this new Bench Pin Tower, to me it looks like it has a pretty wide stance for mounting on your Bench and a lot of limited-use space on the sides and underneath - though I guess you could use the sides as a Pliers Rack and maybe store a GRS Soldering Station underneath? I would be very curious to hear from some people who have or do use this on their Bench…
Personally, I think that the Tower that you initially started this Topic with and that Brennan posted a photo of is absolutely brilliant, it looks to be fairly compact, while allowing you to use all (4) sides of the tower to Mount other GRS-Style Plates and Accessories on it. From the photo, it looks like it is a piece of Square Tube Steel with a Flat Cap Welded on with a Knobbed Screw that goes through the Screw-Tapped Top Plate and down to a maybe Delrin Pad (to make it Spin Easier) and then to the Screw-Tapped Steel Flat Round Base which also has Holes around the edges so it can be Mounted on your Bench. Then there are Holes Drilled-in it and Tapped for Screws to Mount the Mounting Plates on each side. My guess, like several others, is that you Loosen the Knob on top and that allows you to Rotate the Tower to the side with the Accessory that you need and then you Re-Tighten it. I do agree with Brennan, that it does look like it is attached to a Poly-Carbonate Base, which I imagine makes it easier to remove from your Bench (or Bench Drawer/Lower Level which is where it looks like it is) to another Bench/Table or to Storage, though it may make it a little less stable for heavier work, unless it’s clamped down…
I am really impressed with this Design, they should Patent it and start producing and selling it, I would most likely buy one! Though I’m also thinking about making my “version” of it too, maybe just not as tall or maybe even taller, depending on where I wanted to Mount it… Thank you so much for sharing this Julie!
Jonathan
yes, i was thinking the same thing…its not as versatile as the 4 sided one…which has the added benefit of conveniently holding/ storing 3 other things.
like Nik Colyers bench pin holder, its primary function
is adding height.
there is a forum member who first made me start thinking of this concept…especially since i would one day like to move to a setters bench, like jura’s…that has a lower table…and would need a raiser bench pin…
on a side note…re the knew concepts tower…perhaps one foukd stack 4 of the metal brackets…to allow for 4 dovetails…and them mount the tower on a locking/ rotation base…?
Julie,
I agree with you on Mike’s Bench, I saw his post a while back and really liked some of his ideas, including the Swing-Away Bench Pin, I Bookmarked it so that I could go back and look at it in more depth. I tend to Bookmark any Topic or Post that has an interesting idea, new technique, cool tools or specific information that I’m unfamiliar with or an interest in - that way they don’t get lost in the shuffle of so many others.
For those of you who don’t do this or don’t know how: Click on the (3) little Dots next to the “Reply” at the Bottom of each Post and then Click on the Bookmark-like silhouette (next to the Flag silhouette) and it will pull up a Box that you can Type in what the Bookmark is for and if you want to be Reminded about it.
There are so many great ideas and so much valuable information for Jewellers & Metalsmiths on Ganoksin, that you would be very hard pressed to find it anywhere else and for that I am so thankful to everyone who participates and shares their knowledge, techniques and ideas with the rest of us! Thank You All!!!
Jonathan
Following is a link to a series of pictures of my home made bench pin riser. I use it to cut 10 degree tilt pancake dies. It is located away from my main pin so that I don’t mix steel shavings in with precious metal shavings…Rob
i have s GRS adjustable height bracket that is similar…of course i did not think to make my own at the time! woulda saved alot of money! thank you for posting!
