Patty's Little Bench with old tools

Bench Exchange
20

WOW! Fantastic job by both of you!!! :heart:️:heart:️:clap:t3::clap:t3:

21

Patty & Tom on #25 Drill Press-Oh WOW-coolest and drool worthiest! Gotta
shut my jaw now. Jammy restoration-like yummy raspberry jam! Must have
taken lots of time and expertise. Thank you for the share and for restoring
this still useful piece of history.

Eileen

22

Thanks Eileen-
You gotta love the old tools & I am fortunate that my husband lets me use them after he restores them. In fact he encourages it.

I have a second , as least as old (1920’s or earlier) dress press on the across from my bench space, on the end of his little machine shop bench - a Buffalo Forge Co., “Junior”. We call him ( or at least I do ) just Junior for short .

Here’s a photo taken when he first restored it -
it’s a little dustier now :slight_smile

Junior.jpg732×1002 499 KB

What I’m still waiting on, is the 1937 Hardinge Cataract Bench Lathe that he’s in the long process of rebuilding. He said he will teach me to use it when it’s done.
No photos of that - it’s kind of ugly right now .

Thanks again -
Patty
Live Oak Studios

3 Likes
23

Love the old tools some things deserve restoration they have so much to give.

1 Like
24

Thanks Robert, I couldn’t agree more.
They are also a pleasure to use.

Patty
Live Oak Studios

1 Like
25

being a tool junkie
its a work of art

26

Thank you !
As I mentioned previously , I can’t take the credit there- my husband Tom is the art restorer in the family :slight_smile:

Thanks for looking ,
Patty
Live Oak Studios

27

My Christmas Present & a nice addition to my bench !

My husband made me a small ( ? ) hydraulic press for Christmas .
It wasn’t a surprise, because we discussed what I wanted it for , and so I knew he was making it. Oh, and I got to choose the color .

I’ve recently been working on making metal beads & the larger discs were a little much for our 3 ton Dake Arbor Press, so we decided that a 12 ton jack would be a good compromise . I think it will also be fine for using some non-conforming dies . And since I already do a fair amount of etching, I wasn’t too worried about embossing.

He built it around a 12 ton Harbor Freight “stubby” jack, to try and keep the overall size more compact. It really was his own design, as I haven’t seen anything quite like it on the web.
It’s all 3" structural steel channel , with an extra 1/2" X 2" brace across the top.
He used 1/2" plate as platens and made a tool holder for the upper platen so I can put anything with a 1" shank in it & he says he’ll make me some adapters for anything smaller. And we even found the springs at the local " Re-Store".
It weights in at 57 lbs, so to me it doesn’t seem that “small” - but it’s still bear-able to huff up onto my bench.
Anyway, it seems to work perfectly & I like it.

Patty
Live Oak Studios

bench press.jpg1024×1110 885 KB
"

2 Likes
28

Do you-all adopt…
(tool envy again)
Jim

29

Probably could arrange it and all - but doubt you’d enjoy the 4 am call for milking the cows ;-}

Happy New Year ,
Patty
Live Oak Studios

30

Hey (so to speak…)
I get up that early to go surfing…
I guess their’s still moisture involved…
Thanks, J

31

Probably should just stick with surfing - even low tide would smell better than the cows :wink:

Patty
Live Oak Studios

32

I not only love the tools, I love the way the benches seem to be set up. Not overly deep, a back wall designed to hang small tools and a high shelf above with under-lighting for the work area and space for storage on top. It’s really an efficient use of space. It’s different than what you usually see. I’m close to a mini shop remodel and yours has given me some really good ideas. Thank you very much for posting the images, very impressive!

Please also compliment you husbands fine work…really hard for me to describe hope beautiful I think his tool restoration is. I’m a little choked up…really.
Mark

33

Thank you for the kind words Mark.
I only hope that your remodeled shop has more room than mine :slight_smile:

We live in an octagon house , with very limited floor space, but a lot of ceiling space, and the shelves above my bench go up 5 tiers, with the top shelf almost 8 feet above my bench. We’ve learned to be creative with shelf space.

As you saw we also appreciate old tools - They come from an era when the design was meant to be beautiful as well as useful.

Thanks again.
Good luck with your remodeling.
Patty
Live Oak Studios

35

Drooling…very nice thanks for sharing :wink:

1 Like
36

Patty thanks so much for sharing. I am a retired art teacher struggling to set up a functional studio with as little money as possible. Last night my cheap Chinese drill press broke. It has only been used a few hundred times to drill small holes in metal 20 gauge or thinner. It is the one Rio sells for $60 approximately. I needed it the next day for a class & a small local atore sold it to me for $112. They won’t take it back h refuse to admit it is the same one. Anyway, it seems like a round belt that drove the motor transferring power from the spinning motor to mlke the drill spin snapped.i would appreciate any auggestions including paying you & your husbans to fix it & paying to ship it to you. Thanks

37

2 posts were split to a new topic: Advice on building a clip to hold my torch head

38

Don’t feel alone, I had the same thing happen to my cheap Chinese drill press- and the fix is easy & cheap.

Here’s a link to McMaster Carr to buy a neoprene belt.
At $ 1.83 each , I’d recommend to buy a couple and you’ll be set for good :slight_smile:

Neoprene Rubber Round Belt
Black, 1/8" Diameter, 9-1/2" Outer Circle

Thanks for looking at my bench & for your nice comments.
With us, both at my jewelry bench and most everything we seem to do here, our pocket is shallow so we try to be creative and come up with solutions that don’t cost a lot.

Patty
Live Oak Studios

39

do take before and after pics! fun stuff!

40

Thanks for looking Gaile :slight_smile: