Old used workbenches - are they out there for sale?

[Dan Karachio]

My wife saw me reading my various workbench books and told me she often saw them at antique shows in the midwest, maybe ten years ago. Though I want to build a bench, the idea of finding a nice "vintage bench" is appealing. After all, you need a bench to built a bench right!

I have looked all over the web and on Craig's list and I don't see any anywhere. Does anyone have advice on this - New Jersey/Philadelphia area.

[John Schreiber]

I haven't seen them either, but I have heard of them at auctions. Often the workbench is so beat up that you might not want to use it, but there may be fantastic old vises still attached which are worth more than the bench.

[george wilson]

The only old benches you are likely to find are what were called manual training benches from old school shops. They have tops abt. 2" thick,and are boy height. They are maybe 2' wide,and 4 or 5 feet long. Nothing to get excited about.

[Alan DuBoff]

Dan,

Old vintage benches are listed on ebay and craigslist all the time.

Look up auction 400030403915 (no direct links to ebay on SMC).

Also, you can try crazedlist.org to search multiple areas, but they do come up there also. The ones I see most often are shaker style with a leg vise, or the traditional european style as the one on ebay.

[Justin Green]

I see them here in Texas all the time as well. Folks are using them for kitchen islands and decoration. They typically sell anywhere from $700 - $1,200 here. They're not as common as rusty old planes mind you, but most of the decent antique shows have one or two. I passed on one at $900 that my wife liked for a kitchen island.

Most of them are pretty abused and that's a lot of the draw for the antique folks. Roundtop is a huge antique show (or group of shows) twice a year here in Texas. There's a few dealers that are always taking workbenches and old chemistry lab tables from schools and selling them. One had these really cool cast iron seats that were attached to the legs and swiveled out from under the table for the kids to sit on.

[Craig Johnson]

Here in the Pacific Northwest they dont come along often, but, just yesterday I saw one on Craigslist with both an end vice and front vice, looked like maple with the recessed tool tray for 90.00.
Thats one of those that I think "damn, wish I had 90.00."

[Jim Koepke]

Try putting up a "want to buy" ad.

If your local supermarket has them, there are often people who have one sitting around they do not want or know what to do about it.

Be prepared to take a few calls as some may have a bench that they think is a great bench that is nothing more than a door dad nailed to the wall with a piece of plywood on top.

jim

[Rob Luter]

I've seen about a half dozen in the last year at antique shops. Most were old Roubo style with leg vices. All were pretty beat up, wobbly, and priced way too high. For less than half the cost of these you could build a fantastic hardwood bench that's set up the way you want it. Even less if you use SYP instead.

[george wilson]

I must be in the wrong part of the country.The only place I've ever seen old benches were a few in Pa. where they never seem to throw anything away !! I did notice some English company who seemed to have a lot of old school benches for sale.Not anything you'd want,and certainly not worth the shipping.

The thing about Va. and the South in general is that the area was agricultural,and other than that,a lot of other antiques got carried off after the Civil War.(not benches,of course.)

[David Keller NC]

Dan - Your profile does not say what part of the country you're in, but the place to go to find an old, usable workbench is at an MWTCA meet. You should join this organization anyway if you're into hand tools - there is no place better to see many thousands of hand tools in usuable (or collectable, if that's your preference) shape than a big MWTCA meet.

Contact your local area president (the site is www.mwtca.org (http://www.mwtca.org)) and let him know that you're looking for an antique bench. It's likely the person will know of at least a few local members that have one or more that they'd like to sell. Though it's true that a true antique will sell in the $800 or more range, early 20th century benches can be had for less. Obviously, this is such a large and heavy object that shipping would add a great deal to the cost, so you'll want to find one within driving distance.