help with workbench...

[chris toomey]

hey guys

this summer i came into a pile of lumber. included in it was what thought to be 12/4 x4"x8' red oak. i planned to build a work bench out of it this winter. i picked up a record 52E viseat a discount store for 25 bucks, but only the 7,however. i had planned on extending its size with wood pads. i wasn't planning on a tail vise. i was going to use the wonder dog system by veritas.

today, however, i discoverd that half of the pile is hard maple. more than enough for the top. with all the talk of workbenches lately...i'm now wondering what to do. for the amount of work it will take, i wonder if i should invest in a good shoulder vise and tail vise. the wood was essentially free. so what would you do? i'm getting into hand tools...mostly for joinery...learning dovetails...scrapers. could i invest in a good shoulder vise and use the wonder dog system? your help is appreciated.

chris

[Mark Stutz]

I think this counts as a gloat, so beware of Tyler! ;) :D As a novice Neander take my advice for what its worth, however I am already dreaming of a solid tail vise for planing. I'm undecided on the shoulder vs. front vise argument. A 4 in. thick top should give you plenty of mass, to keep it from walking around the shop! :(
Summary: go with a tail vise for sure.

[Leif Hanson]

It's mostly personal preference, IMO - I like shoulder vises myself, and standard wooden dogs.

Bob Key's bench pages (http://www.terraclavis.com/bws/benches.htm) is a great resource for bench building info.

[chris toomey]

thanks guys...but i don't have a personal preference. hoping to tap into your collective wisdom. i figure others have been down this road and i can benefit from their mistakes er i mean experience.

[Tom LaRussa]

thanks guys...but i don't have a personal preference. hoping to tap into your collective wisdom. i figure others have been down this road and i can benefit from their mistakes er i mean experience.
Chris,

I would say it depends on how much general woodworking experience you have and how well equiped your shop is now.

For example, I am currently building my very first "real" woodworking bench, on the cheap, out of 2x4 and 2x6 pine/fir from Lowes. The one tool I am really missing for this project is ... a woodworking bench! I hate to think what it would be like trying to build a really nice bench, out of really nice wood, without a bench to work on. :(

BTW, if you search this thread back a couple weeks you can find several threads on the subject of building benchs -- the beautiful way, by Louis, and the cheap way, by yours truly.

[Aaron Kline]

a word of advice, do not use the oak for the top where tools will sit on. It will put a coat of heavy dark rust on iron quicker than you can imagine. I found this out the hard way!

[Louis Bois]

Hi Chris,

As Tom mentioned, I'm in the midst of building a fairly heavy duty bench based on the old european style benches, ie, sliding tail vise and shoulder vise. I didn't arrive at the conclusion to build this style overnight. After considerable deliberation and years of "trying things out" I decided that this style of bench best suits my woodworking needs.

The bench is a tool that will be with you for a very long time so it's a good idea to put some real thought into how you intend to use it. If you have the opportunity to see other woodworker's benches, by all means check them out. If not, try reading a few books that outline all the different styles available. This will at least give you some idea about the pros and cons of each design. The Workbench book and Sam Allen's "making workbenches" are good sources to check out...your library may even have them.

Here's a link to another source of information on different workbench styles.
http://geocities.com/plybench/bench.html

As for the wonder dog system by Veritas, you could easily incorporate the use of their holding devices into just about any bench design you decide to make.

I seem to remember an old saying that goes something like this:

THINK 3 TIMES
MEASURE TWICE
CUT ONCE
:D

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask any other questions...

[Tim Sproul]

Chris,

My suggestion is to let the 12/4 boards acclimate for a bit longer. I'd try a basic bench like in Keys' site or make a 2x4 and plywood/sheetgood bench. See how you work....what things you'd like in addition or different. Then go about designing a bench using a thick, laminated hard maple top.

I've got a Veritas twin screw vise to use as a tail vise....and I know some are quite happy using same vise in front.