Space saving hinged bench

[ranald]

I can never seem to have enough bench space for assembly & for years planned a bench that hinger up using 60's & 70's car bonnet/hood springs. The prototype was published by Better Homes & Gardens Wood Mag last year. It is shown here also. It was excellent as it allowed a lathe & router table to be snugged against it (folded up)when not used, reducing floor footprint. It is quite and made from concreting FORM PLY which has a non stick finish & very durable construction




Unfortunately, despite it being cyclone rated & my adding 2 extra rails to the original 3 as engineered, my sheds walls were too flimsy to cop the stresses of the bench & its car bonnet springs. I really wanted a full four foot wide assembly bench so decided to hinge it down still cluttering some floor space.

Another point is that I made the bench height slightly below that of my table saw to avoid problems of its mobility.



The other point about this bench is that I used standard dog holes.My other tip to readers is to use old mitre saw clamps. Mine are from Makita & Hitachi (common here ) & can be picked up cheap at boot/ garage sales/fairs/markets. That introduced another issue & as I dont own a metal lathe I had some sleeves made to fit the clamps and slot into the dog holes. They cost a few bucks but allow me to use them on my other benches even B& D workmates.I cut a slot lengthwise to allow easy insertion & removal.



Regards,
Ranald