An old work bench I restored....

[L84ARACE]

...or more like revived, and gave it new life. I pulled this out of a barn on my family's farm. Power washed it, sanded the hell out of it, and gave it about 8 coats of tung oil. I took the vice apart and cleaned it up. There is a brass tag on it that says 'built by H.C. Waldman 1911'.

The before.....

...and the after...

 

[wryt01]

That came out AMAZING!!!!!

 

[amguttin]

thats awesome.

 

[KCarGuy]

Nice, Old, Beefy, Wooden Work Bench!
I Like it.
Looks like it was worth all the work.

 

[kfainf]

Great looking workbench. You did a great job on the restoratio!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Great find, great job!

 

[thightower]

Nice job. You can't beat old craftsmanship.

 

[Erampu]

H.C would be pleased. Good job!

 

[onewaydave]

Nice job. Now you need to make a couple of drawers and I'd put a bumper below the foot of the post vice. It was made to work that way anyway. A piece of pipe between the stump and the floor would work. Could be decorative to match your good work.

Dave.

 

[BMcC]

Great job!

 

[colt zantop]

very nice! turned out killer!

 

[Perrorojo]

Great work.

 

[AZ Pete]

Just right! Not too much restoration, not too little.

 

[John in OH]

Very nice job! Too bad that old bench can't talk ... I'll bet it could tell some terrific tales about work that was done on it.

So, how did you prep and finish the vise? I really like the patina on the metal.

 

[LSU]

Nice. Any idea what type of wood the top is?

 

[impala4speed]

Wow, you did a very nice job. That vice is very cool. Any idea who H.C. Waldman is?

 

[oldmerc]

Nice find ,awsome vice

 

[L84ARACE]

Thanks for the comments. I just took the vice apart, soaked the parts in Simple Green, lightly wire brushed it with a drill attachment. Then I wiped it down with some Kramers Antique improver oil. It should be good for another 100 years!

I'm really not sure what kind of wood it is.

 

[NUTTSGT]

That bench has alot of character, job well done.

 

[TennesseeZ]

I'm just going to echo what everyone else has said, that's a really nice bench, vise, and you did a beautiful job on it, just enough of everything. But you almost made it too nice to use!

 

[ihatelaramie]

Very nice! Now the question is, what are you gonna do with it? It's almost too nice to use as a bench, but... Either way

 

[nine4gmc]

They don't build them like that anymore!! Really nice!!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Just right! Not too much restoration, not too little.

I could not agree more

 

[Chandos]

Superb job, a real inspiration! I've got an old wood-working bench that requires the same treatment. I've already required the tung oil. Your finish is gorgeous. Any tips?

Chandos

 

[maddawg308]

That is just pure awesome there! Love it!

 

[don long]

That old table is going to be a great addition to your garage now what type of work will you be doing on that pretty wood?

 

[L84ARACE]

Here's a shot after the power wash but before I stripped off the old paint that was spilled on it over the years.

I did most of the hard work with a belt sander, starting out with a pretty rough grit. It really wasn't too bad.
I plan on using it pretty hard, and there will be some beers consumed around it that I am for sure.

 

[DrJaymez]

Beautiful. Great to see a 100+ year old bench put back to work. These things were meant to be used.

 

[Lippyp]

The vice is a blacksmiths leg vice and as has been said is meant to be mounted so that the bottom of the leg is on or slightly in the ground/floor, this takes the force of you pounding on a hot lump of metal and transfers it to the ground rather than the bench.

Nice looking bench, my dad has something similar that was in an old tumbledown shed that was in their garden when we moved in in about 1970. Eventually the shed which was only being held up by an anciant climbing rose on the outside got taken down and a new sectional concrete shed built around the old bench which is still there now. His was a woodworking bench as it had a really old woodworking vice bouilt in complete with wooden screw about four inches in diameter! Their house was built in 1927 but I suspect it predates that too by some way!

 

[slik560]

THAT is a collector's item. Well done!!!!

 

[ClickClickBoom]

Might want to seriously look into what benches of that type are going for in your area. Industrial/ primitive are the new "in" design. I've seen benches cleaned up like that going for $1k plus as decorative pieces, or kitchen buffets/ islands.

Might be worth enough that don't want to beat it to death and may be better served building something new.

 

[L84ARACE]

The vice is a blacksmiths leg vice and as has been said is meant to be mounted so that the bottom of the leg is on or slightly in the ground/floor,..

That would make sense as there used to be a good sized anvil that sat on a stand right next to this bench in the old workshop it used to be in for years.
Unfortunately, I do not know what ever happened to the anvil.
My dad & grandfather are both gone so I can't get the whole story anymore.

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

[bobadame]

That is a beauty. Thanks for not painting the vise.

 

[Kevin54]

WOW!!!!!! I LIKE it!!! Great job on the "revival" and not a "restoration" What you have done is add all sorts of character to it. That definitely classifies as a hand me down bench that later on in life the kids can use and hand it down again for a few more generations!!!

 

[Shea]

Man, my first impression was that it was going to be a lost cause based on the before pics. Boy was I wrong - it looks awesome! I especially like the hardware of the vise.

 

[smithbd2]

Too cool! Awesome job on the clean up/restore.
Now you need some old hammers and pliers to restore
to go with it.

 

[Journaler]

Haha, when I saw the first picture, I thought, "that's a nice old metal bench."
It took a few more picture for me to realize that it was wood.

Good job on the restore!

 

[L84ARACE]

Too cool! Awesome job on the clean up/restore.
Now you need some old hammers and pliers to restore
to go with it.

It's funny you say that because I actually used an old hand wood planer that my father-in-law gave me to even out one of the joints. I felt like fricken' Roy Underhill on the The Woodright show!

 

[L84ARACE]

Haha, when I saw the first picture, I thought, "that's a nice old metal bench."
It took a few more picture for me to realize that it was wood.

Good job on the restore!

Yeah there was layers of old grease & oil just soaked into that top that I scaped and sanded out. Also some old nails pounded in that I left in there.

 

[Big A]

Nice to see it restored, not over-restored. Great bench, good work.