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Bill[_37_]

zzzzzzzzzz wrote:

How about a 3/4" plywood shelf on top of the stretchers. That would add a lot
of rigidity in side impacts and some heavy stuff stored there would help
stability.

Maybe down the road a bit. I am not without project ideas.

FWIW, this evening I:

-- turned it upside down and beveled the 4 feet
with a block plane (thanks tiredofspam).

-- added the 16 additional screws suggested by Swingman, countersunk.

-- added a .09" shim under one end of the rear top board to improve it's
fit--it's "close enough to perfect" at both ends (thanks Alabama). I
created it from a paint mixing stick and a sheet of 80 grit. And Yes,
the batteries in the Harbor Freight digital calipers DO always seem to
go dead on the shelf. I still used it to estimate I needed .1" reading
from its rule. I used the micrometer Doug Miller sold me to measure the
..09".

--I used WD-40 to clean all the gunk off the new vise my wife bought for
Christams about 5 years ago. I promptly got quite sick (at that time)
hand-sanding the piece of plywood I was going to put it on. I did
breathe a little of the dust. But as I've mentioned here before, I've
had issues just being in the same room with fresh plywood/particle board.

I'm wondering whether I might do okay with a couple of small pieces of
something along the lines of Baltic Birch style plywood to mount above
and below the bench for the vise (hoping that it outgasses less or
slower than cheaper plywood)? If you knew how sick I got/get you'd
understand my trepidation. It's a "scary shortness of breath" sick. But
knowing the source (s) makes it better than when you don't know...and I
already endured that. Last time I checked, the Formaldehyde-free
plywood that Home Depot sells was only "countertop-grade" stuff, and I
haven't tried it yet. I see little alternative but to experiment a
little. The Baltic Birch stuff would be handy for jigs too... Anyone
have a favorite homemade-plywood recipe?

Is counter-grade stuff good enough for my vise application (reviews say
it's got gaps in it...)? Other F-Free substitutes? To me, my sense of
well-being is more important than stability.

Cheers,
Bill