thewoodwhisperer Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 A left-handed install would essentially just be the mirror image of the existing bench. I would put the leg vise on the right and the tail vise on the left. The overhang is longer for the tail vise so you would want to make sure that detail is adjusted to the left side as well. And the Benchcrafted plans for the tail vise to include pictures and information that you will need to adjust the vise for left-handed use. It shouldn't be too difficult though. Just a matter of not confusing yourself or getting parts mixed up. If it isn't too difficult, I'll see if Aaron can include at least one view of a left-handed version in the plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 I wonder if there's a way in SketchUp to put a vertical plane through the middle of the bench and then reflect everything around that plane. A little Google, a little YouTube... Voila! Instant left handed version! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 Yeah Aaron just told me its a few clicks, lol. So we will include a left-handed version in the plans for reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pants Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 time is money and i would not ever have the patience or the time to hand plane my top. if you spit it down the middle you have the chance to have a gap that you can clamp projects half way across the table for better stability. Honestly it doesn't take that long to flatten a top by hand after the first time. Getting the initial flatteness does take some time, subsequent flattenings (every year or two) shouldn't take all that long as it shouldn't go all that far out of flat. Personally I'd say it's quicker to flatten by hand, than it would be to build and use one of those crazy router sled contraptions I've seen folks do. And if you joint/plane the glue ups as you do them it shouldn't require to much flattening from the get go. Stability shouldn't be a big issue if you keep the width to around 24", any wider and it becomes more difficult to use the bench (and a real pain in the you know what to flatten) as it's difficult for the average person to reach that far across. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pants Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Any lefties want to talk about modifications for lefties ? Not much written about these modifications but I would imagine the leg vise may be more comfortable on ther other side so clearnace on the right of vise ? Whenever I use a bench , always seems it would be more comfortable with the side or leg vise on the on the other side ? Marc, do you have info on modifications for left handed people ? Swap the vice placements, leg vise goes on the right, tail vice on the left. As a lefty our natural inclination is to go from left to right so it's going to be more comfortable swapping the vice placement. I've worked on right handers benches and it's doable, but it's way more comfortable to work on my sinister one . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.