Shaker-Style Workbench Owners - Any Regrets

[Joe A Faulkner]

I currently have a 5' x 3' bench that serves as the outfeed table for my table saw. I have an old quick release Wilton 7" face vise.
I hope to start soon on a new, dedicated workbench and am seriously considering building a "Shaker" style bench - 22-24" wide top, 7' long, 3.25-3.75" thick. I'll probably allow clearance from the bench to the top of storage cabinet to allow for hold fast clearance.

Those of you who have gone with Shaker Style benches, any regrets or things you would do differently next time around? I'm thinking that if I go with a 3.25" thick top, I should leave 6" of clearance between the top of the storage cabinet and the bottom of the bench top. Does this sound about right?

[roger m lance]

Joe.....I built a Shaker style workbench a number of years ago which is close to the dimensions you've listed. I followed a lot of the information in The Workbench Book by Scott Landis on Shaker benches. My bench has a Record 53E for a shoulder vise and an old school wood tail vise patterned after Frank Klauz's tail vise. The base is comprised of two banks of 4 drawers for a total of 8 hand tool holding compartments and I use a bench slave as opposed to a sliding deadman and there is a tool tray at the rear of the top. I didn't make provision for holdfasts....if you like them and use them then, by all means, do so. I've no regrets what so ever....peoples biggest knock on Shaker benches is that you might be doing some procedure on the bench which prevents opening a drawer and accessing some needed tool. I've found the cure for this is simply planning ahead....take out the needed tools prior to starting to work....place them in the tool tray....then get busy....no problem. I built the entire bench from hard maple....and went a little fancy.....I'll not be replacing this bench. One thing, I designed and built my bench before I had acquired my hand tools and the dimensions of my drawers were "best guess" estimates which luckily have worked out fairly well....but if you already have a hand tool collection, then size and number your drawers accordingly.

[Jim Ritter]

I like the Shaker style bench and plan to build one soon, I have everything but time at the moment. I'll be watching this thread for insight.
Jim

[roger m lance]

Jim.....Since you have an involvement with leg vises, you might also want to look at The Workbench Book for a Shaker style bench built by Norm Vandal. Its a beautiful bench with an elevated leg vise that gets work higher. Norm is a very accomplished maker of Queen Ann reproductions. I liked your removable deadman....that makes a lot of sense to me.

[Don Dorn]

I built my first Shaker style with a shelf instead of cabinets under - then a style with cabinets that rolled out. Over time, I didn't care for either - not because there is any innate problem with the design, but simply wasn't right for me. The reason is that I'm one who uses two rows of dog holes and I want them to be through holes for easy maintenance. It was too troublesome to have shavings and dust go through the holes on to the cabinets. Since I've jettisoned the cabinets (using other options) and shelf, I can easily sweep under the bench. I also swapped out the leg vise for a Record style front vise. So far (about two years), I can't think of anything I'd change in a new bench. It doesn't look as appealing, but works well for my situation.

If you can make a Shaker bench work, they are both very aesthetic and useful. Not sure who said it, but one of the writers said - "Don't argue with the dead guys", and when it comes to the Shakers, I would certainly think there is merit there.

[Jim Ritter]

Hi Roger, yes I've had that book since it first came out and instead of inspiring me to build it paralyzed my with options. I like a lot of the features of the "Rock Solid Workbench" by Jon Leppo in FWW. I don't know if I will be using a leg vise on this bench as my smaller bench has two and a third is on a long planking bench on the wall. I've got a monster metal vise I will most likely use in the face vise location. It's a beaut but haven't been able to find out anything about it. I've been blessed with being able to acquire a selection of nice vises, it's a hard choice to figure out which to use. Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but as I said, I'm interested in the style.

[Jim Matthews]

I have a Shaker style bench with a leg vise (front left), permanently mounted Moxxon where the tail vise conventionally fits and a Patternmaker's vise mounted rear right.

There's a sliding deadman to go along with the leg vise. While I think a benchtop larger than your 5x3' size might be attractive,
I don't work on anything so large... empty space on my bench ends up cluttered.

I think the best part about the Shaker style bench is the easy access to commonly used tools in the cabinet underneath.
I also have a clearance space beneath my benchtop that is open, to allow for the holdfast shaft to clear.

I keep large flat things there, but it's impossible to see anything without a flashlight.

[roger m lance]

Joe....regrettably, I had hoped for a greater response to your question....but I will add some comments if I were to build another bench....it would still be Shaker style.....the convenience of having my hand tools stored at the bench is just too handy and I'd miss that....I'd favor drawers over shelves (I guess this depends on what you have to store).....I'd be looking at full depth metal drawer supports which are also convenient and offer the chance to change the size of your drawers if you want/need to....since Record no longer exists, I'd be looking at hardware from BenchCrafted (expensive) or wood screws from Lake Erie (less expensive) and ways of improving the ease of adjusting the leg vise including Jim's chain....I'd still make the bench in hard maple and make it as attractive as I could as I've not regretted that but find it inspiring to do good work on the bench....good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Prashun Patel]

Joe,
I really like the Shaker style benches. Some things I considered when making my own personal style bench:

1) A leg vise is phenomenal for holding. It holds things so well and securely. However, it does not allow easy sawing off the end of the bench unless you make the legs flush to the end of the bench though. I just don't think leg vises are well suited for that anyway for other reasons; so consider how you'll do your sawing if you go with the leg vise. Because it holds so well, my leg vise has made a better 'carving' vise than other face vises I've used. I use mine fairly like a shave horse.

2) If you do a lot of planing off the front of the bench, then in lieu of a wide end vise, consider a tail vise (although an end vise solves the sawing issue I have from 1) above...;) A tail vise implies that the legs have to be inset from the top or the end, though.

3) Make sure you have enough clearance to sweep or vaccuum the top of the cabinet...

What kind of work will you be doing most on this bench? IMHO that dictates the vises, which then implies how the legs should be designed. The top and cabinet can be made to fit any of this stuff.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Thanks guys. I just returned from Southern Indiana where in addition to getting together with family to celebrate my Mom's 80th birthday, I picked up 150 bf of hard 8/4 maple for my bench. Guilty of of throwing on one or two more boards on the truck than needed. Prashun, my main interests are in furniture (beds, dressers, dining room pieces, chests, bookshelves) and wall cabinets. I'm leaning towards a twin screw face vise. I tend to build pieces that incorporate mission, arts & craft, and shaker elements. I am relatively inexperienced in using handtools, but plan to get more experience and hopefully skill in using them.

[Eric Hartunian]

I've had mine for about 12 years or so. I never really finished it, but it does have drawers underneath. No sliding deadman, and no tool tray. Here are my thoughts:
First, the drawers under the bench limit the holes you can have for hold fasts, which is a problem for me. Second, I have found that I never use the tail vise- I always plane against a stop at the left end of the bench. Third, inevitably, when you have something clamped to the leg vise, you will need something in one of the drawers, which you can't open because of the piece in the leg vise! For me, and the way I work (and I am almost a pure hand tool guy), my next bench will be something like a Nicholson bench with hold fast holes along the front apron and the top. Here is a pic. Mine is about 22" wide, by about 6' long. THe top is ash, bottom is fir and pine.
Eric

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[Joe Leigh]

Those of you who have gone with Shaker Style benches, any regrets or things you would do differently next time around? I'm thinking that if I go with a 3.25" thick top, I should leave 6" of clearance between the top of the storage cabinet and the bottom of the bench top. Does this sound about right?

Joe, no regrets so far. My bench has been completed for about a year now and except for the initial trepidation of getting that first scratch, it's proved it self to be a great addition. My benchtop is 35" from the floor which seems very comfortable for hand planning (I am 6ft tall). The tail vise and leg vise hold great. The leg vise is a bit low for dovetailing unless you use a stool to sit on, but a Moxon type vise should solve that. I keep my measuring tools in one drawer and my hand planes in another, so that makes things very convenient. The bottom cabinets hold hand held power tools.
All in all I'm very satisfied and I really like the look, like having a piece of furniture in my shop...


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[roger m lance]

Joe....look over at the bench of the month at Lake Erie Toolworks for a beautiful Shaker style bench with wood screws....a great example of that type of bench. Also, to Joe Leigh above....that's a beautiful bench as well....I like that red base.....must be great looking at it every time you're in the shop!

[Joe A Faulkner]

That is some bench. I wish I had enough space to build one that large. I think I've settled on a 7' bench with a twin screw Hovater face vice. 3.25" thick top, ~24" wide. Legs flush to the bench top edge, similar to the Schwartz Holtzapffel, with a storage cabinet underneath. I'm planning to leave clearance between the bottom of the bench top and the top of the cabinet to allow for hold fasts. Round dog holes. No tail vise to start with. If I find myself longing for some clamping ability from the end of the bench that bench pups won't cover, then either add a quick release face vise on the tail or perhaps another twin screw. I've been wrestling with vice options for months and just last night decided to invest in the Hovatar. Right now the bench consists of 150' of locally sawyered rough 8/4 hard maple, and a few shavings on the shop floor.