About a month ago I bought this very cool new tool from Stewart MacDonald Guitar Shop Supply that doubles as a shop stand and workbench. It is a pedestal stand which adjusts vertically, and also rotates on a ball bearing swivel 360 degrees. I also purchased a vise that fits it perfectly called an "angle vise" in the Stew Mac catalog. When joined to the stand, the vise/pedestal combo is amazing.
I've made several different fixtures which mount to the vise including a top with a hollow radiused form for acoustic guitar work, a smaller routing and carving table for electric bodies, and a vacuum dish that uses air to hold parts in front of me at any angle, rotation, and height I want. All the fixtures have a block mounted under them which drops into the vise for a secure hold, but just to be safe, I made a long pin that slips through the vise jaws and the block to hold the fixtures in case the vise comes loose. Nothing can fall this way.
It's compact footprint in my shop allows me to move freely around it, work from any side want to, and has
opened up my other benches for more work!
Please visit my website to see more on guitar making and repair at www.customguitars.com
-Scott
