We had been writing about the unpacking and setup of our Rockwell Jawhorse. The more we examine this piece of equipment, the more we came to realize that the Jawhorse is one of those "I wish I had one when..." type of tools.
The Jawhorse is cleverly designed, ruggedly built, and easy to operate. Of the various emails we have received about this unit, the most asked question was about the quality of the construction. In this FirstLook segment, we'll take a closer examination of the just that question.
We took a few pics of the joints (frame, rail, supports) throughout the unit. Note the beefy welds at all of the potential stress points. We would be extremely surprised if this unit fails under normal or even heavy use.
The adjustable jaws are obviously the main feature of this piece of equipment. It is this capability which enable the Jawhorse to take on its variety of tasks (workbench, sawhorse, one-ton vise, machine press). The jaws are padded with a rubber-grip to prevent marring of the workpiece. They can open as wide as 37" and clamp with the force of over a metric ton of pressure.
All that force is generated by a cleverly-designed easy-to-use ratchet mechanism. The movable clamp sits on a rail. The clamp has holes on the bottom which may be moved by a foot-operated lever. The pressure from the leveraged can be substantial.
There is more to this Jawhorse. The next installment of this FirstLook series will be the last. The FirstUse series, where we put this tool into use, will start in August. [Permalink] - Jawhorse FirstLook
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