ulmia workbench assembly question

[festal]

Hello all
Picked up this Ulmia OTT workbench yesterday from craigslist.  I got it from estate sales company not the original owner.  It was already partially disassembled and actually was not correctly assembled when i went to see it. 

Pictures of the bench:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YGn5PwUAW6cZSDG27

I'm trying to assemble it and have a question on the placement of top to the legs. Anyone have Ulmia workbench that can tell me if this is correct?

2 circled pictures - should the top be flush to the top part of the leg?  or it doesn't really matter?  it had 2 4 inch lag screws going through each leg into the top to secure it and someone told me to instead use one screw in the middle of each leg to allow for wood movement.  I was also planning to put domino into each leg for allignment purpose instead of a dowel to help with the load of the top.  Is that a good idea or not?

Thank you

 

[FestitaMakool]

Hi festal, first; congrats on a really nice bench!

To the mounting on the top:
I believe the bench top shall be flush with the leg. On many benches, including Sjöbergs, there are holes that hold clamps or wooden dogs horizontally “deadman”.
If the top is flush up front you’ll register a large flat board, door whatever - to the left in the vice, to the right - resting on a dog or clamp.

That way you can hold larger items vertically.

See next post.. I accidentally bought a second smaller Sjöbergs cause it came with a couple of accessories, as the clamp that acts as a deadman and to be used on the big hole on the top of now both my Sjöbergs benches..

 

[FestitaMakool]

Next post.. I happened to have a bench and a loooong narrow door at hand:
Sorry about the poor lighting and photos.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[festal]

Thank you [member=71478]FestitaMakool[/member] Sjobergs are a bit different.  The legs are flush to the top.  In my case there is a slight offset on the on the vertical part of the leg.  Horizontal part that attaches to the top sticks out a bit.  As you can see in the pictures.  So what I can do is make the top flush with the top horizontal part of the leg.  Now to figure out how to allign the domino

 

[Mortiser]

My Ulmia cabinetmaker's bench (different model than yours) has 1, approximately 1" locating dowel in the middle of each horizontal leg frame to mount the bench top to the leg assembly. The weight of the bench combined with the two dowels keeps the top from shifting. My leg assembly does not align with the face of the bench as the Sjoberg's does. I would not use lags screws as I don't think they are necessary and I especially would not use two on the same end of the bench, which would constrain wood movement of the top.
Mine has been a great bench for over 30 years. Hope you enjoy yours.

 

[festal]

My Ulmia cabinetmaker's bench (different model than yours) has 1, approximately 1" locating dowel in the middle of each horizontal leg frame to mount the bench top to the leg assembly. The weight of the bench combined with the two dowels keeps the top from shifting. My leg assembly does not align with the face of the bench as the Sjoberg's does. I would not use lags screws as I don't think they are necessary and I especially would not use two on the same end of the bench, which would constrain wood movement of the top.
Mine has been a great bench for over 30 years. Hope you enjoy yours.

Thank you. I figured that lag screws were added by previous owner not sure why. I don’t see any dowel holes on mine though
I was thinking of using dominos on each leg to keep the top on and one lag screw
Do you have any pictures of yours?

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[festal]

My Ulmia cabinetmaker's bench (different model than yours) has 1, approximately 1" locating dowel in the middle of each horizontal leg frame to mount the bench top to the leg assembly. The weight of the bench combined with the two dowels keeps the top from shifting. My leg assembly does not align with the face of the bench as the Sjoberg's does. I would not use lags screws as I don't think they are necessary and I especially would not use two on the same end of the bench, which would constrain wood movement of the top.
Mine has been a great bench for over 30 years. Hope you enjoy yours.

Do you have this piece attached with screws to the top of your ulmia?

Wondering if this is something that was added by previous owner or came like that
This piece is wider then the leg piece on my bench

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[Mortiser]

No, my model does not have that piece. I am wondering if the previous owner used that to raise the height of his bench top. I'm sorry I am not at my shop now but can send you a picture later today.

 

[Mortiser]

[member=71889]festal[/member] ... see under-bench pics attached. Note the first shows how the benchtop sits on the leg assembly. The second picture shows the benchtop lifted off the leg assembly (with a piece of 2x4) and reveals the dowel pen that locates the top.
Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[festal]

[mention]Mortiser [/mention] thank you

I ended up using 1 domino on each side and that did the trick. I did my legs flush to the front of the top.
I did one side of the top dominos with middle setting so there is few mm of movement left to right. I probably should have turned them 90 degree but it was harder to align so I did it this way

Will do one lag screw on each leg to secure the top and that should be good. I’ll keep an eye on movement and adjust if necessary

Do you have a picture of the under bench cabinet? And dimensions of it? Need to do something similar for mine
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