Construction of Shop Bench.-The machine or repair shop beach must be convenient to the machines, and ample space should be allowed for a person to pass between the workmen at bench and machine. Four good swivel vises and two surface plates, as well as a couple of small bench anvils will serve for a small shop. About five or six feet of bench room should be allowed between each vise. The bench will be about two feet wide, and 34 or 36 inches high. The legs can be made of iron pipe or castings, or of two by four inch scantling, while two inch planking across the top will form a backing for another covering of seven-eighths inch hardwood floor strips closely fitted together. The average machine shop bench of rough plank with gaping cracks along the top cannot be too strongly condemned, as not only is it difficult to work on the irregular surface, especially in laying out fine work, but many small parts will be lost by falling through the openings in the bench top of the floor. A strong shelf should be placed on the wall about two feet above the bench for tools, stock, etc., when not in use, and a heavy shelf under the bench, about 18 inches from the floor, can be used to hold the odds and ends accumulated in a machine shop. A very practical shop work bench may be constructed by using cast iron bench legs that may be obtained upon the open market as a foundation to which the timber and planking of which the bench is composed is attached. The approximate form of one of these legs is shown at 1, Fig. 9, which also outlines the amount of space recommended between the bench and wall for heat to rise and to check window draft. This space, which should not be less than three inches wide will also allow water from the sprinkling system to reach any fire under the bench. The end view shows the usual method of building and the approximate size of the planking of which the bench is composed. The office of the cast iron leg is to make possible a stiff bench without depending on the walls for support, as is the case with the usual wooden shop bench. It would be apparent that this construction lends itself very well to various factory conditions as the bench is a unit structure when built up that may be changed from place to place without damage. The brace between the legs is just at the right height from the floor and is so built that it forms a basis for underneath shelf and bin construction, if desired. These bench legs are spaced not more than eight feet apart and the benches should have a maximum overhang of not more than one foot as shown at 2, Fig. 9. The views at 3 and 4 show the accepted method of arranging the planking. The system outlined at 4 in which hardwood matched flooring is used is a very satisfactory one, as there is no opportunity for loss of small parts through gaping cracks, such as exist in the usual hastily constructed shop benches. The method of using the bench legs for support of bins or drawers is clearly shown at 7, while two methods of corner construction are shown at 8 and 10. The former shows the usual practice in building the bench around a projecting corner while the latter demonstrates clearly the system used in filling a corner. The usual end con-struction is outlined at 9. Bench Furniture.-The most important item of bench furniture is the machinist's vise outlined in section at Fig. 10, A. These are obtained in a variety of types adapted for the various mechanical trades. The vise for the automobile repair shop should have swivel jaws and should be capable of being set at various positions relative to the operator by means of a swivel base. The form shown in section is the simplest type and may be used for furnishing most of the bench space. Two or three of the cheaper simpler forms of vise may be used to each combination swiveling vise, as most of the work will be of a nature to which the simpler vise is adapted. The various forms of bench vises are clearly shown at Fig. 11. The Massey is a combined form adapted for pipe or straight work. The serrated angular jaw plates are set beneath the parallel jaws used for straight work. The Prentice device is the combination form that may be included with advantage in the equipment of all shops. It will be observed that the back jaw is mounted in such a way that it may be swiveled to assume any desired angle when an irregularly shaped piece is to be held by lifting out the locking pin A which serves to keep the jaw in the parallel position when it is in place. In order to swing the entire vise around without loosening the anchorage plate it is necessary to lift the pin B which keeps the upper and lower parts of the base in a fixed position. Another form of bench vise that is of value when fitting small pieces is known as a die sinker's vise because of its almost universal use by mechanics of this class. This is carried by a base piece hav Fig. 10.-Some Indispensable Items of Bench Equipment. ing a large ball formed at the lower end held firmly between a pair of jaws that may be tightly clamped by a hand-locking lever. As will be apparent the use of a ball and socket joint to hold the vise enables the operator to set his work in any one of a large number of positions. By releasing the clamp lever the ball is free in its socket and the vise may be set at any desired angle. The Columbian pattern is the old stand-by of blacksmiths and |