Craftsman Rotating Tool Bench

[stihlcollector]

Found this at an Antique Mall that is closing In a couple of months, and the price was right!


It has 3 mounting areas, and came with the bench grinder, a double mount buffing motor and a Workmate type clamping fixture.


There are 2 sliders that give added work area and also anchor the swivel unit with a metal clip to level it up and secure it.

I moved the buffer to the same area as the grinder since I don't plan to have it against the wall and can use it from both sides, and added a Craftsman Scroll Saw to the now open side of the swivel. The swivel works well, just have to hang on when the release pin is pulled since it is not damped and it certainly is not balanced.

And I suppose since I am retired I am entering a second childhood since I couldn't resist buying this Erector Set since I remembered having one just like it when I was in Elementary School.

 

[milky2k]

I always wanted one of these but I don't have the room. I'm so jelly.

 

[RTM]

a Workmate type clamping fixture

That is a real Workmate item, forget the name / number.

 

[Skyman]

That is seriously cool. I've never seen or heard of one until now. Great score!

 

[gleman]

That is a real Workmate item, forget the name / number.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

Now that is a whole new level of cool, at least for me - NEVER seen one like these. Very cool find! Thanks for sharing & congrats on the purchase!

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[rust in the eye]

This gimmicky workbench does nothing for me but that Erector set is a gem. I'd have been all over that like a bum on a bologna sandwich!

 

[ssjones]

Wow, that bench would solve all my problems.
I have a metal restaurant table where my buffers are mounted (for antique briar tobacco pipe restoration) and I also need the room for m fly-tying (new hobby, kayak fly-fishing). Being able to transition between the two would be cool!

 

[stihlcollector]

Thanks Gleman for the info on the Workmate, I had no idea it was an original B&D item. It is missing all the stickers.
Rust, as I was wandering through the mall I found an Erector Set similar to this one but it was rough and missing many of the contents, priced at $40 so I kept looking and found this one for $40 as well so I snatched it quick!

 

[stihlcollector]

Thanks Olli, I don't know if SEARS did much marketing in Germany. I think this bench dates back into the late '80s or maybe only the '90s, not sure. Probably a little crude for German standards of quality.

 

[captain14]

Thanks Gleman for the info on the Workmate, I had no idea it was an original B&D item. It is missing all the stickers.
Rust, as I was wandering through the mall I found an Erector Set similar to this one but it was rough and missing many of the contents, priced at $40 so I kept looking and found this one for $40 as well so I snatched it quick!

Post up pics of your workmate in the GJ Workmate thread. I just bought one very similar to yours fall.

Black & Decker Workmate

I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate a thread to the Black & Decker Workmate, that folding, versatile bench and vise that has helped many a do-it-yourselfer around the world, including me. It has helped me immensely the odd times I have had to work with wood and sometimes even with the...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Steve_P]

That Craftsman bench is very cool. IIRC, someone had a picture of one here years ago, but I think that this is only the second one I've seen; they must've not sold very well.

I had an Erector Set when I was a kid- 1970s. Forgot all about that. IIRC, mine had a really small motor, like 1" diameter, that I want to say was clear plastic and had a pulley on it for doing something....

 

[Beerhippie]

The Crafty work center seems like a handy idea for a smaller shop, but I'm getting flimsy vibes from it. How stout is it, really?

Your Erector set even has the motor/gear drive! You'd have been the envy of the neighborhood when I was a kid!

Speaking of Erector, does anyone else recall the huge "Giant Erections" sign on 99E (McLoughlin Blvd) near the Ross Island Bridge in Portland, OR, back in the day? What adolescent male wouldn't get a chuckle out of that?

 

[stihlcollector]

Beerhippie, it is actually well made. I just used the buffer and even though it vibrates a lot, the bench is solid.
Steve I got the motor out and plugged it in, nothing, so I spun the shaft by hand and it slowly started spinning, then making lots of squealing noises, so out with the spray lube, and both ends have a lube hole so I sprayed it in and off she goes, running like new. It has a transmission on it with 2 speeds in each direction, and a little shift lever. Open gears so keep the lawyers away!

I found a pdf online that gives the history of all the sets from the 1920's up and in 1957 they quit using the 71/2 as a model number and went to a 5 digit model number so this is at least a 1957 or earlier set, which is all the more amazing since the condition is pristine. Even the book is in excellent shape, not brittle or fragile. Got lucky finding this one for sure.

 

[Beerhippie]

With that fractional HP motor and worm drive, I'll bet that open gearbox can do a job on little fingers!

We learned the hard way back then... those that survived! I still recall the grade-school playground with a HUGE jungle-Jim that looked like a sci-fi ('50s sci-fi) rocket. It had to be twenty feet tall with an open center and it was placed on asphalt! Natural selection at work.

 

[kbuhagiar]

I still recall the grade-school playground with a HUGE jungle-Jim that looked like a sci-fi ('50s sci-fi) rocket. It had to be twenty feet tall with an open center and it was placed on asphalt! Natural selection at work.

And yet...I don't ever remember hearing of anyone dying from a fall from one of those contraptions.

 

[Beerhippie]

And yet...I don't ever remember hearing of anyone dying from a fall from one of those contraptions.

There we things we just didn't talk about....

Cars were so incredibly dangerous that most dead folks you knew about died that way. (Where's the "hiding behind the couch" emoji when I need it?)

 

[SRU1436]

My dad has one of those, and has owned it FOREVER.

 

[milehiguy]

And yet...I don't ever remember hearing of anyone dying from a fall from one of those contraptions.

When I was in grade school in the 70s, we had one of those jungle gyms as well as a freestanding metal slide and a set of swings all in a shallow playground area filled with sand. I remember a classmate getting seriously injured when the slide fell over pinning them underneath it. As far as the monkey bars, I was hanging upside-down in the center section and slipped off, landing on my head. They had strategically (jk) placed a sharp rock underneath it so that I split my head open. The wound bled profusely, as head wounds do, so by the time I made it to the nurses office, I looked like a character in a horror film (think Carrie, but without the long hair and dress). I didn't die, but I learned real quick to be more careful when hanging upside-down!

 

[Beerhippie]

When I was in grade school in the 70s, we had one of those jungle gyms as well as a freestanding metal slide and a set of swings all in a shallow playground area filled with sand. I remember a classmate getting seriously injured when the slide fell over pinning them underneath it. As far as the monkey bars, I was hanging upside-down in the center section and slipped off, landing on my head. They had strategically (jk) placed a sharp rock underneath it so that I split my head open. The wound bled profusely, as head wounds do, so by the time I made it to the nurses office, I looked like a character in a horror film (think Carrie, but without the long hair and dress). I didn't die, but I learned real quick to be more careful when hanging upside-down!

Don't forget the two-story-high swing-set that you could launch halfway across the rock-hard playground from! Extra points if you landed without breaking any bones....

 

[JradM]

That design, or something like it, makes so much sense to me. I wish some company would come out with a modern-day equivalent.

I have 3 grinders, two belt sanders, a disc sander and a polisher. If I could mount them some way that I didn't have to go through the rigmarole of lifting any of them off a shelf and attaching them to a workbench - that would be awesome.

I've sort of DIY'd myself a solution, but a table that flipped, or I guess a multi-level stand, would be world's better.

I have other benchtop tools I'd want that for too.

 

[Beerhippie]

That design, or something like it, makes so much sense to me. I wish some company would come out with a modern-day equivalent.

I have 3 grinders, two belt sanders, a disc sander and a polisher. If I could mount them some way that I didn't have to go through the rigmarole of lifting any of them off a shelf and attaching them to a workbench - that would be awesome.

I've sort of DIY'd myself a solution, but a table that flipped, or I guess a multi-level stand, would be world's better.

I have other benchtop tools I'd want that for too.

Bonus point if the rotating table itself rotates and retracts into the floor! Something right out of a Bond villain's lair... pushes red button on the desk... table rises from floor; rotates to table saw: "No, Mr Bond, I expect you to DIE!"

 

[Beerhippie]

That design, or something like it, makes so much sense to me. I wish some company would come out with a modern-day equivalent.

I have 3 grinders, two belt sanders, a disc sander and a polisher. If I could mount them some way that I didn't have to go through the rigmarole of lifting any of them off a shelf and attaching them to a workbench - that would be awesome.

I've sort of DIY'd myself a solution, but a table that flipped, or I guess a multi-level stand, would be world's better.

I have other benchtop tools I'd want that for too.

Maybe something like this?



A real space-saver!

 

[JradM]

Maybe something like this?



A real space-saver!

That would be great! A horizontal version would be good too. Then the circular shape would give you clearance on each side for large things.

 

[Kscardsfan]

I've only ever seen them in old catalog pictures, never a real one in the wild. I have wanted one ever since I first saw it to make up some room in the garage. Do you have a model number or anything from it? I would love to see if I could sucker a friend of mine into helping me fab something like that up.

 

[PowrKraftsman]

With that fractional HP motor and worm drive, I'll bet that open gearbox can do a job on little fingers!

We learned the hard way back then... those that survived! I still recall the grade-school playground with a HUGE jungle-Jim that looked like a sci-fi ('50s sci-fi) rocket. It had to be twenty feet tall with an open center and it was placed on asphalt! Natural selection at work.

The ones I remember had spiral steps to allow kids to climb to the top.

 

[Beerhippie]

The ones I remember had spiral steps to allow kids to climb to the top.

Shaking head--with tears in my eyes. Kids these days!

I helped build a couple of local city playgrounds in this new century. BOOORING! Big plastic tubes for slides--about eight feet tall. Nothing that moves. Nothing exposed where you have to learn not to fall. No fun at all--unless you go outside the structure....

 

[neophyte]

Maybe something like this?



A real space-saver!

These rotating book desks weren’t designed to save space, they were designed so that a scholar could easily switch between multiple books when researching a topic, or writing a treatise on a subject.

 

[Beerhippie]

These rotating book desks weren’t designed to save space, they were designed so that a scholar could easily switch between multiple books when researching a topic, or writing a treatise on a subject.

But, filled with mounted power tools, it would certainly save space--footprint, anyway.

 

[rust in the eye]

I still recall the grade-school playground with a HUGE jungle-Jim that looked like a sci-fi ('50s sci-fi) rocket. It had to be twenty feet tall with an open center and it was placed on asphalt! Natural selection at work.

My grade school had a similar climbing thing. One of my classmates fell and broke his arm. The school whacked a few feet out of the bottom and carried on. There was another injury later so it was cut down further and moved to another spot with pea gravel.
One of my elbows still bears a scar from falling on my bicycle where the pea gravel had migrated onto the adjacent sidewalk.
Looking back it almost seems they were trying to kill us.

 

[stihlcollector]

I've only ever seen them in old catalog pictures, never a real one in the wild. I have wanted one ever since I first saw it to make up some room in the garage. Do you have a model number or anything from it? I would love to see if I could sucker a friend of mine into helping me fab something like that up.

I found the manual online, HTH

 

[Kscardsfan]

Now to see if I can sucker Clint into helping me fab one up.