Has anyone tried this innovative bench design by Josh Finn (FWW)

[Greg L. Brown]

Has anyone built or heard of anyone using this bench design by Josh Finn from Fine Woodworking #202: http://www.finewoodworking.com/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=31729

I need to build my first bench and I'm taking a hard look at this design. This one looks not only doable, but quite versatile. It also breaks down for easy storage (which is critical for me since I share my garage workshop with a car and kids' toys).

I was thinking this bench and a Festool MFT/3 table (yes, I'm thinking about getting on the Festool bandwagon) would be a nice setup.

Anyone built this and like it?

Thanks,
Greg

[David DeCristoforo]

Any carpenter who has ever worked outside of the shop has used a similar arrangement. Basically two saw horses and a plank. Or in this case, a torsion box. If you like this "design" and it suits your needs, go for it. There is nothing more satisfying than working at a nice bench that you made yourself.

[Chris Friesen]

I've used hollow-core doors on sawhorses. Similar idea. Mine sucked for hand tools as it wasn't heavy or stiff enough. Maybe his does better. (I built a more traditional bench for hand tool work.)

Think about how you're going to hold the work. How would work the face, edges and ends of a large panel? What about narrower pieces (aprons, stretchers, etc.)? How would you handle a drawer box or a cabinet carcase?

[Billy Trinh]

I'm on the fence to build this set too but still undecided. The system seems to depend on lots of bar clamp usage. no vise or dog holes. The weight seems a bit light for hand tool work. Like you mentioned, portability is very appealing for my 1 car garage. I would put some dog holes if i decide to build a pair.

[Peter Quinn]

I haven't built that exact set, but I've used similar set ups at work all the time. I built one 16' long as a power planing table for a guy to put that "hand scraped" look into long/wide custom floor boards. We use others as knock down assembly tables, often they are recycled as soon as the job for which they were built is finished. If space is at a premium or great flexibility is needed due to the wide range of project sizes then this seems like a good system. I still like a heavy solid stationary bench for heavy hand tool work, but with the right geometry the portable set up could certainly work.

[Jim Foster]

If you have not seen it, the English workbench from Chris Schwarz's book looks really versatile, and pretty lightweight.


Has anyone built or heard of anyone using this bench design by Josh Finn from Fine Woodworking #202: http://www.finewoodworking.com/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=31729

I need to build my first bench and I'm taking a hard look at this design. This one looks not only doable, but quite versatile. It also breaks down for easy storage (which is critical for me since I share my garage workshop with a car and kids' toys).

I was thinking this bench and a Festool MFT/3 table (yes, I'm thinking about getting on the Festool bandwagon) would be a nice setup.

Anyone built this and like it?

Thanks,
Greg

[Michael Schwartz]

Looks like two long torsion boxes and a pair of sturdy sawhorses. Just a more refined version of your solid core door on horses.


Wouldn't trade my Roubo style bench for it but, in my machine room I do very frequently throw some stuff down on a pair of plastic folding sawhorses.

[Greg L. Brown]

Strange, I thought this was a "revolutionary design" that would get lots of "+1's" However, I'm a newb; what do I know!

The general consensus I got from the replies is that it's not all that great. I still like the versatility of Josh Finn's design, but maybe I should look at other designs before I make this one.

Thanks for the advice,
Greg

[Stephen Edwards]

If you want to be really portable, simple and yet perfectly adequate for many tasks take a look at these:

http://www.ebcoproducts.com/stor.html

Two of these with a 2x4 screwed to the tops of the sawhorses and a salvaged solid core door for the top make a good work bench or work table. When not in use, they take up very little room. I rigged up a "temporary" extra table, as described above, in my shop a couple of years ago for a specific task. It worked so well that I haven't taken it apart yet!

IIRC the folding metal saw horses were less than $30 per pair. The door and the 2x4s were freebies.

You can clamp, screw or bolt jigs to the door. It's a very simple, inexpensive solution that works well. Additionally, with an arrangement like this you can be building things in no time at all! In fact, you can use it to build some other kind of bench once you decide what will suit your needs and your space the best.

In my opinion, it's very easy to over think this sort of thing.

[daniel lane]

Strange, I thought this was a "revolutionary design" that would get lots of "+1's" However, I'm a newb; what do I know!

The general consensus I got from the replies is that it's not all that great. I still like the versatility of Josh Finn's design, but maybe I should look at other designs before I make this one.

Thanks for the advice,
Greg

+1 for Josh's design! :)

I'm about to start building my own version shortly - I was hoping to get started this weekend, but not all the materials are in yet. :(

This design works really well for me, because of the space I have. Eventually I may like to build a more traditional workbench, but I intend to start on furniture for LOML and Josh's design just spoke to me. Good, wide-topped horses that can be used individually if needed, and the torsion box thicknesses can be customized to work as outfeed tables for my TS and possibly even my BS (if I stack them).

I have ideas that I think will improve it, but I want to see if my ideas work before I share...don't want to embarrass myself! If it works, I'll post photos before I write to FWW. ;)



daniel

[Brett McCrory]

I built the bench. It's as easy to build as you'd think it would be. It's useful in my shop. I don't remember what I thought I was going to use it for, but here is what I really use it for: Leight FMT, dovetail jig, worksharp 3000 (for sharpening plane blades and chisels), temporary place to set my wood when I'm using the jointer and planer, and sanding. It's really handy to use it for many tasks. I can't imagine someone making this bench and end up thinking it was a waste of time. If you need your first workbench, this is the one to make. Even if you ever upgrade to something with vises and dog holes, this one will still be very useful.

[Russell Tribby]

I built two of these benches and love them. I made some mods to mine that you can see here - http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=7067.0. It has been incredibly useful for me. I've set my SCMS on one end and have had the other 2/3 of the benches to use for whatever.
There are some more pics here - http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/festool-tools/2224-i-finally-got-use-my-bench.html.

[Greg L. Brown]

I built two of these benches and love them. I made some mods to mine that you can see here - http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=7067.0. It has been incredibly useful for me. I've set my SCMS on one end and have had the other 2/3 of the benches to use for whatever.
There are some more pics here - http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/festool-tools/2224-i-finally-got-use-my-bench.html.

Russell,
Great post, thanks for showing me your modified Finn bench. I'm also trying to decide if I should buy the MFT. The price is what really keeps me away from it. Anyway, as others have said, that seems like a nice combination of an MFT and a traditional workbench.

-Greg

[Nelson Howe]

I built it. I use it in my basement shop. I sized it to fit right between the lolly columns that are forever in my way anyhow. I made a couple changes that I like: Before assembly, I stacked the side pieces and drilled holes for pipe clamp pipes, and also for some dowel index pins. The index pins allow me to pull the two halves together and keep them perfectly aligned. The pipe clamp holes allow me to run pipe clamps through to use as temporary vises, to use the whole setup to glue up boards, and to spread the two halves wider than my support (which doesn't work all that well).

In all, I find it very useful. When I have the time and the room, I will build a real bench. But for now, this serves a purpose.

Nelson

[David Merzel]

Have any of you used the torsion boxes for a while to see if they will stay flat in their long dimension? Just staring at the plans before I start made me wonder if their should be a rib down the middle the long way. (Or am I being too much of a worry wort about this?)

[Jim Heffner]

Has anyone built or heard of anyone using this bench design by Josh Finn from Fine Woodworking #202: http://www.finewoodworking.com/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=31729

I need to build my first bench and I'm taking a hard look at this design. This one looks not only doable, but quite versatile. It also breaks down for easy storage (which is critical for me since I share my garage workshop with a car and kids' toys).

I was thinking this bench and a Festool MFT/3 table (yes, I'm thinking about getting on the Festool bandwagon) would be a nice setup.

Anyone built this and like it?

Thanks,
Greg
Greg, You might want to do what I did for a first workbench. I took 1/2
of a solid core door, centered on the bottom side and fastened a cleat about 18" or 20" long and the dropped the top into the open jaws of a B&D
workmate.Still a good, solid work table that can be broken down into component parts in a couple minutes and stored away...quite easily!