Jawhorse Thread...

[robinson46176]

Since I picked up the ball and ran with it I will start a new Jawhorse thread.
I find it an interesting tool and have talked myself about half way up the wish pole.
Here is an Aussie link with a review and an interesting comparison.

http://stusshed.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/and-now-for-something-completely-different-photos-of-the-jawhorse/

[robinson46176]

I really thought there would be more interest in this tool than is showing up here.
Here is a comment of mine from "the other thread".
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I have been looking at them with this urge to build one into a work bench as a primary vise. I haven't really got it all figured out yet but I can see a foot operated vise being very handy when you want to grip pieces and need at least three hands. How many times have you tried to close your vise with your knee while you held the parts?
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Surely everybody has a vise??? You can't do it all on a machine. :)
I have a small herd if vises in my metal shop but they are all machinist or blacksmith vises. In the wood shop my main "shove a board in it" vise is an old wooden one with a big steel lead screw that I built onto my bench years ago. I do vises backward from most guys, I generally mount it on the right end of the bench (everybody else mounts it on the "wrong" end) :D . The exception to that is when I have one on each end. Right now I have one of those funny looking vises on the left end. I think the name starts with a "Z" but I can't think of it right now. I also have several smaller clamp-on woodworking vises but unless I am using the old wooden one I am usually using one of two B&D Workmates, or sometimes both of them.
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I'm really about due to build a new workbench... One of these "Jawhorses" might be a good excuse.
Does anyone have one of them and if so how do you like it?
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Here is a link to the factory page. Be sure to click on the accessories page too.
http://www.rockwelltoolsdirect.com/?source=gg-branded&gclid=CLC0hIXAj5sCFQVuswodLxjgoA

[curiousgeorge]

My opinion is that this is not very useful and too expensive for the average hobby woodworker. Where as if you are a professional carpenter/woodworker there might be a reasonable excuse to spend that kind of money on a "holding/clamping" device. To justify this kind of expense the tool should be used constantly and the average guy just doesn't need something like this that often. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[reible]

Hi,

Have to go with George on this one. Yes I'm a tool addict and yes it is a cool tool but I have a bunch of other things I want that I could get for that amount of money, and probably will.

Ed

[bucksaw]

I've want a 3 legged saw horse for years, but not enough to fork out the $150+ required. Great idea though.

[robinson46176]

If you guys all think that these are too expensive how on earth did you end up with Shopsmiths? :D
It is really easy to drop $100 plus in a good bench vise and none of them have the foot tighten feature. I have played with these at a couple of different stores (Lowes and Rural King) and I can tell you that they are not just glorified B&D Workmates. They are not the flimsy stuff we are used to seeing.
Its kind of funny how I don't see this as seriously overpriced but that I often have a "Fred Sanford" over Shopsmiths accessory prices right along with most of the new "super precision" high priced gizmos that I see mentioned here so much.
I suppose a lot of it is the differences in the way many of us work (and we do all work differently). Its not that one group is right or wrong, just different. As I grew up anyone with quality woodworking power machinery was highly envied and in a very small minority. In my early years even most professional carpenters (not big contractors) were still using all hand tools. Few job sites ever had power until the place was built. I recall old carpenters debating whether or not they even wanted to own a power saw of any kind. When my father and I were building gates, remodeling buildings and the farm house in the early 1950's he bought a nice Craftsman 6 1/2" circular saw in a nice rather large metal case (I still have that saw and case). That saw held a place of honor and pride and was given great care in use and storage. We also had one, just one, 1/2" electric drill. Small holes and very large holes were drilled by hand. "Everything else was hand tools.
It always surprises me when someone mentions not using a bench or vise a lot. To me that is the one central point of a shop of almost any kind.
As an off subject example I spent over 20 years as a shoemaker, among other occupations at the same time. I still have a complete western boot shop sitting and waiting for me to find some time. In that craft a lot of special tools and heavy machinery is normally used but the central point of all work is the repair station usually called a repair jack or last jack. The last jack is pretty much always sat right in front of a work bench. One machine I have sells new for over $40,000 and others for less but still scary amounts. Note that I didn't buy any of them new. :eek: Still this one simple station is where most of the really detailed hand work happens and a boot may be placed on this station dozens of times in the process. It is a simple device but hard to describe in detail so I'll post a link to a picture. You will notice that it bears little resemblance to the little household last stands commonly sold in antique shops across the country. Few real shoemakers ever used those in the hey-day of the craft.
http://picasaweb.google.com/robinson46176/WesternBootShop#5348282978273781730
While I have owned several of these this one I keep because it was bought for my father when he began work in a busy local shop that had maybe 10 other guys back in the 1920's. He tracked it down in his later years and gave it to me.
I work the same way in both the metal shop and the woodshop. "Everything" in the woodshop is based around two things, the bench/vise/hand tool rack and the tablesaw. The bench (homemade and not fancy) has two vises and a bench-hook. It also has a pop-up stop and holes for one piece hold-fasts. It also has holes in the surface that I drop short pieces of 3/4" dowels in for surface clamping using wedges.
I have always used a small blacksmith shop area for farm machinery repairing and a little puttering. There everything is secondary to 4 main items. The bench and special blacksmiths vise, the anvil, the forge and of course these days the main welder. Still the bench (with 2 vises) is the normal starting point.
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I have woodworking machinery all over the place but I am still a Roy Underhill fan. :)
Note too that I never bother wearing hearing protection or a dust mask when using hand tools. :D

[JPG40504]

I assume the red arm rotates(hence the quadrant adjustment), but I do not see where it pivots. Also is the other clamp used for height adjustment? Just Curiosity at work here.

BTW if you hand sand FAST enough, you might need a dust mask!:D

It you use a hand hammer too close to your ear on an object which tends to ring, ear protection would be advised!:D

I agree with everything else you said.:)

P.S. I like the HORIZONTAL application of the pine paneling! Horizontal really makes sense(furring strips NOT needed). Looks NICE also!

[reible]

I'm going to wait for them to show up at garage sales for $10-$15. That is if and when my wife lets me back on the circuit... which I think means I do a clean out of the last 30 years of "good stuff" I have collected.

Part of the thing is I would never be satisfied with just the jawhorse... after attachments cost is what I'm looking at. And this is a newer tool so there are more attachments likely to come out. So if you buy it the way you want it how much does it cost? No different then any other such buy but one does need to look at the whole picture.

Ed