Emmert Vise Bench Butchering

[Jared McMahon]

Sometime before Doomsday hits, I hope to build a real bench, buy some real tools and actually do some woodworking. That point may be nearing so I'm revisiting my bench plans. I'm toying with the idea of incorporating an Emmert clone but when I looked at the end result in SketchUp, it got me worried. I was planning on a 4" thick top with a 16" overhang at the left end where the vise would be centered with a little elbow room on either side. When I got through plowing the trench in the underside of the model to accommodate the shaft, the extreme left of the bench ends up being a nice thick 4" block connected to the rest by a relatively slim 1 5/8" span.

So, am I over-thinking this? Does removal of that much material jeopardize the integrity of the bench top? Or is that much wood still plenty to support those last ~8"? Even if it is an issue, as long as I don't stack my anvil collection on the very edge of my bench, would I be fine for any typical and reasonable task? My fall-back would be a leg vise, which I have nothing against, but the flexibility of the Emmert is very appealing.

[Matt Radtke]

You're likely overthinking it. Yeah, 1 5/8 isn't as much as 4", but try to remember what that 4" if for: weight and a lack of deflection when malleting (is that even a word?)

99% of your bench will still be 4" thick, right? Plenty of heavy. Unless you plan on doing some heavy mortising on the bench right inline with the thin part, you're probably a-okay.