Dano,
I made the double sided head so the people in my bow building classes can use either side. I got lucky finding the tractor seat, happened to stop by Mark Baker’s house the day after building these, and mentioned I was looking for one. He had a tractor seat in his yard, which he gave me.
Dustin,
After taking the pictures I put carpet on the deadheads and main beam to keep from damaging the back growth ring. That, with the leverage of the foot plate and arm keeps every thing held snug. On previous models I used 3/8” thick leather instead of the carpet and it worked even better: I just didn’t have any around when I made these.
Cade,
I also like using a bench vise, how my back is feeling at a given time will determine which one I use. The impetus for these was to allow seven different people to build bows in my shop at the same time.