I picked up this workbench base today. I have no clue the intended purpose when made. It has "new haven machine company, new britan conn" on one side" and "patent date Nov 7, 1901" on the other side. The vise I am showing was attached to the top with wood planks.
Any idea why the stepped down front? What could this have been used for? It's almost a knock down bench.
Any theories are appreciated.
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(05-01-2021, 11:10 PM)Scott W Wrote: Any idea why the stepped down front? What could this have been used for? It's almost a knock down bench.
Any theories are appreciated.
Not a theory -- the stepped-down front allowed for the installation of a much thicker plank than needed on the back half of the bench.
The front is where all the heavy duty pounding took place.
(05-02-2021, 12:02 PM)Joe Bailey Wrote: Not a theory -- the stepped-down front allowed for the installation of a much thicker plank than needed on the back half of the bench.
The front is where all the heavy duty pounding took place.
05-03-2022, 07:54 AM (This post was last modified: 05-03-2022, 07:57 AM by CStan.)
The base is a "school base" and designed to hold vises on opposite corners of the bench, to be used simultaneously by two students.
When you see a bench top with a trough down the middle, it was a top originally designed for the same use -- so students working on both sides of the bench at the same time had access to a "tool drop."
I am fairly certain, since I had multiple family members that worked there, that the New Britain Machine Co. was in New Britain, CT, once known as the hardware capital of the world (Fafnir Bearing, Stanley Tool, Corbin, Russell and Erwin, Landers Frary and Clark, Union Mfg, Skinner Chuck, the list goes on and on.).
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