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Mark L. Wells writes: I’ve read your book and the extra chapterr. Both are great. You provide so much more detail than anything else I’ve read, and I almost feel guilty for not having to work it out myself.
Anyway, I am going to rebuild my bench soon and I plan to put a leg vise on the front. When attaching the top, I assumed I would have to use mortise-and-tenon joints because of the tremendous shearing force generated by the leg vise. I’m concerned that the vise would just push the workbench top right off the legs. However, when I saw the simple L-brackets in this chapter, I started wondering if those would be sturdy enough to resist the force of the vise. The L-brackets would certainly be a lot less work!
Have you tried attaching the workbench top using L brackets when the bench has a leg vise?
Answer: Good question. My gut says that two L-brackets on the leg with the leg vise would probably do the trick. However, just be safe, I would probably put one stout 1″- or 1-1/4″-diameter dowel in the top of that leg. That should provide all the protection against shear forces that you need.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your bench design.
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