Ramblin' Dan's Workshop

I am trying to create the most comfortable working environment I can while I am working for hours at my bench. One of the most important is body position. The bench pin is a simple device that jewelers have been using posibly forever to get their work up into a comfortable working height.

Many of them have a large Vee notch in the center of the pin and I assume this one will have one before too long. The Vee provides clearance and support for sawing. There is no "law" stating there has to be a Vee in the pin.

This bench pin is a small part of the GRS Benchmate system. It's made is the USA by the way. The pin and bracket are removeable from the back plate and other holding tools can be clipped onto the bracket.

Here are some pictures of the 10 minutes it took to install the kit.

The baseplate and the Bench pin with its bracket. The screws are included. Only four screws are needed. I drove the nailheads in a bit farther. (See pix below.)	Here I am useing my iPhone as a level. It is a function in the new iOS7 compass accessory. There are also many apps available for a level.
The plate is mounted and this shows the two bolts for holding the pin in the base.	The bench pin can be used with the slope up or down. Its all about how the users like it and how it is being used at the moment. Down is the most popular.
Brand new never been used condition. I am planing some retractable arm rests for each side of the pin.	I have installed two armrests 3/4 x 2-1/2 oak. Their length is longer than the bench is wide.
Two simple brackets under the top (1 each arm) are fastened to the underside of the bench top. All they do is keep the arm rests in line. There is a little clearance cut in the cross pieces to let the arm rest slide freely.	The right hand rest is fully retracted. I'll have to see if this much sticking out will be any problem.

I never thought I'd do a photo spread on a bench pin. But this is kind of a special (and expensive) one. It is one component of a system I will be able to expand. These photo's also demonstrate  the nice feature of the sliding bench, pull out what I need. Ah, life is good...