Rescued Relic: Gunsmith Workbench
 

A friend of mine recently sold her house which was built around 1907. Sometime in the 30's a Gunsmith lived there and had this Gunsmith bench built into the garage studwall. They were going to tear it out and throw it away! I kindly stepped in, carefully took it out and reassembled/reinforced it in the place I call my "paddock". I though you guys might enjoy the pics. The thing is loaded with character. Check out the wooden vice at the left side. All of the drawers are ammunition boxes as well.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...0_966154_n.jpg

Very Cool!

Cool.

Clearly you need some spoons to work on now.

Chris, there are many guys here who are into both guns & wood working, and huge talent in both..

Thanks for sharing..

Thanks Byron. It's definitely a neat piece. I'll post more pics of the drawers later on.

Chris,

Seriously cool!

There is so much to like about that bench...nice save.

No pics, but I just refinished a bench my wife's grandfather, a master boat builder, used. It is not nearly as cool as yours, but the thought is the same. I planed it with an old electric Porter Cable planer that my grandfather owned.

The Boat Builder, like much of his generation, cobbled work appliances together with what they had on hand. The base is metal piping, which I grinded and painted...labor of love. Jack was a great dude, eyes like a hawk, could spot a phony from the cab of his truck.

My daughter poly'ed it and keep saying have beautiful it looked.

Again, nice save!

Love it...shows depression era creativity...the use of ammo boxes as drawers. Very good save!

Great find and glad you saved it!

Verrry Nice! And they were going to throw it away?? How about some close-ups of the vise?

Karl
88 Targa

Well yeah....got a lot of character there... The ammo boxes if they have their logos intact are worth about $40 to $75 each...

The sides of the ammo boxes are in good-excellent cond. the fronts have similar patina to the workbench itself...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...0/DSC_1118.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...0/DSC_1119.jpg
Here's the vice. Look at the bottom the piece that runs through the 2x4 is notched making it adjustable to bring the vice outward apx 1 foot.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...0/DSC_1117.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...0/DSC_1115.jpg

Nice, got it. Thanks

Karl
88 Targa

Gunsmith's bench.....
 

Nice find! Congratulations on saving it. Hobby gunsmithing can be lots of fun and potentially lucrative. I have "acquired" several firearms that were in some state of disrepair, that with a little work, were returned to the working world. Some I kept, some were sold at a profit. Here are a couple of pictures of an 1885 Winchester rifle that I restocked, relined the barrel and added a single set trigger to make a tack driving varmit rifle. It was originally in .22 short rimfire but is now chambered for .22 mag. Half inch groups at 100 yds are pretty easy. The wood started out as a 4 foot long walnut stock blank. After several months of work it turned into a semi-schutzen style stock with an oil finish. The scope is a 6.5x20x44AO.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1278444794.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1278444854.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1278444914.jpg

Very nice bench!!