I have in the past few years learned the value of hand tools and now I would much rather use them than all of my big iron tools. I spent some time and collected and restored hand planes, saws and then I realized I was missing the most important tool, a bench! Then one day I picked up the Popular Woodworking and saw the 21st Century workbench and I loved the way the bench was put together. In the end I couldn't bring myself to do the split top but I like the idea behind the design. I would like to thank Robert Lang because I learned a great deal from reading his article and studying his bench design. I pushed myself on this project trying mortise and tenon joints for the first time and the stretcher design was fun also, a keyed through mortise and tenon. I almost attempted a draw-bored mortise and tenon for the short stretchers but I was afraid the SYP would split too easily. My thought on putting the keyed through mortise and tenon on the top and bottom was that if or when the wood moved and the joints became loose I could reach down and give the wedges a few taps and the bench would be rock solid again and if I ever have to move it I can break it down in a few minutes. The primary wood is SYP and the secondary is black walnut. I did the walnut on the edges and on the vise because I figured this is where it would get the most abuse. The top is 4" thick and it is 7' long and 30" wide. Critique and comment please.