The Blum Tool Company’s Bench Horse™ “original” is an 18″ × 48″ portable workbench designed for easy setup (”…less than 15 seconds!”). Weighing in at 55 pounds, this workbench can be used as a jobsite bench or a storable main bench in your small shop.
Its torsion-box top, constructed of ½” baltic birch plywood, has holes for ordinary pipe clamps (e.g., Pony #50 or #56 clamp fixtures for threaded ¾” black pipe) bored every 6″ on all sides so you can insert a pipe clamp through to the other side and create vise locations just about wherever you want. There are also two rows of dog holes along each long edge of the top.
The bench’s legs, tubular steel with adjustable levelers, do not protrude when folded up, as shown above. A small accessory tool box ($24), which can be used for storing bench dogs, vise blocks, or small tools, fits into the bottom recess shown on the right in the picture above, and is secured by two turn buttons.
The Blum Bench Horse “original” costs $369 (two bench dogs are included). Available accessories, in addition to the small tool box, include ¾” hardwood dowel bench dogs ($4.50 ea.), vise block and bench dog ($25), and an end vise pipe and pin ($25; a threaded 18″-long ¾” black pipe with holes for a locking pin; used with the pipe clamp vise block for clamping boards between bench dogs). A video on the Blum Tool web site shows general operation and use of the bench and accessories.
If the original is too big, you can get the Bench Horse™ “pony” (13-½” × 36″; 31-½” H; 38 pounds; $199); if the original is too small, you can get the Bench Horse™ “plus” (24″ × 60″; 35″ H; ¾” baltic birch; 100 pounds; $599).
Various web sites on blogs give Blum Tools very good to excellent reviews, so I expect that Bench Horse™ will be high quality. Is it worth the price? Does it give you ideas on building your own? Let us know in comments.
Portable Workbench [Manufacturer's Site]