Workbench Finally Done

[Robert Engel]

If anyone is planning to build one of these I can relate some of my experiences and mistakes that might help you.
I found once the build started I realized it is not as straight forward as it seems especially the tail vise.

Thanks for looking. It was the workbench build of my dreams. I had been studying plans an acquiring wood for almost 3 years.

Base: White Oak milled from a 150 year old barn beam.
Top: Hard Maple from a 5" thick 30" wide slab I found in Tennessee
Accents: Mahogany.
Shoulder Vise Face and Dogs: Lignum
Vise Screws and stretcher bolts purchased from Lee Valley
Finish: BLO/MS 3 coats.


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[Frederick Skelly]

Wow! Just Wow! That's the workbench of my dreams too, after seeing yours. You'll enjoy that every time you use it, for the rest of your life. Just a beautiful piece of work Robert!
Fred

[Jebediah Eckert]

Wow that is sure nice. I have never used a face vise in that style. I notice Cosman uses that type in most of his videos. Incredible bench!

[David Utterback]

Another big wow! Your dream come true. It is superb!!!

[David Linnabary]

What a beautiful bench, you will enjoy using it very much. I built a very similar (Tage Frid) version of that bench 25 years ago. I think you will find that the design is everything you need in a bench.


David

[Jim Becker]

You did a beautiful job on that bench!

[Raymond Fries]

Very nice. Good things come to those with patience.

Enjoy it always.

[Pat Barry]

Very very very very nice! Congratulations

[Jay Jolliffe]

Very nice. It's a work of art...I'd be afraid to mark it up..I guess for me it would be like a new car...After your first scratch or dent then you don't feel so bad.

[Andrew Hughes]

You gotta be kidding me Robert thats the nicest looking bench I've ever seen! If that bench doesn't inspire confidence nothing will. Great job.

[Von Bickley]

Work Bench to some people. Looks like Fine Furniture to me.........

[Anthony Albano]

Man I love that

[Gregory Carles]

WOW that is one nice looking work bench. Almost too nice to use.
I have been looking at these style work benches for a little while now and then I see this one. That is beautiful!

How much time you have in this build?

[Bruce Page]

Massively beautiful! When I looked at the first couple of pics I saw an optical delusion - I thought you had set the dog holes at a lower level. :confused:
The mahogany strip made a perfect shadow line. :cool: :)

[Frederick Skelly]

When I looked at the first couple of pics I saw an optical delusion - I thought you had set the dog holes at a lower level. :confused:
The mahogany strip made a perfect shadow line. :cool: :)

I did too. Took a while to figure it out!

[John TenEyck]

That's a beauty for sure. It looks exactly like the one I made over 20 years ago from Frank Klaus's design. Well, no, that's not exactly true. Yours is much nicer. But the design does look the same and it has served me well. You are right about the tail vise being quite a challenge to build. It's been 20 years and I still remember that tail vise. But it has worked flawlessly and never needed any attention to keep it running smoothly so it was worth the effort to build it.

Well done.

John

[Brian Holcombe]

Robert, nice work!

I would love to see the underside of the bench as well, I'm curious about how the front batten ties into the shoulder vise.

Couple questions;
The bolt on your shoulder vise, is it entirely through the bench or threaded into the side of the slab?
Whats the distance between your vise screw and that bolt? How far does your vise open?

I enjoy my scandi shoulder vise a lot, it's awesome for dovetailed case sides, which I do plenty of. That being said I think mine exerts too much pressure on the pivot point as it pulled the bolt out twice, and I replaced the bolt with a wedged and cogged joint which is holding up, but it still manages to flex the 12/4 x 4" maple arm if I put some pressure on it.

[Robert Engel]

The bolt on your shoulder vise, is it entirely through the bench or threaded into the side of the slab?
Whats the distance between your vise screw and that bolt? How far does your vise open?
The threaded rod goes all the way through (visible in the rear view). It is at 10" and the vise screw is 17 1/2".
Vise opening is about 5".


I think mine exerts too much pressure on the pivot point as it pulled the bolt out twice, and I replaced the bolt with a wedged and cogged joint which is holding up, but it still manages to flex the 12/4 x 4" maple arm if I put some pressure on it.An alternative to a through bolt is a length of threaded rod into a captured nut mortised into the underside.

[Robert Engel]

How much time you have in this build?I built it over the course of 6 months. Difficult to say I would guess in the neighborhood of 100 hours. There was a huge amount of time in stock preparation and milling. I ended up fine tuning the jointing and squareing up of the top and aprons by hand.


The mahogany strip made a perfect shadow line.
I was hoping someone would ask about that.
It was actually a fix to a mistake. When jointing the front 1/2 of the dog hole strip, for some reason I ended up tapering the whole piece.
I was out of lumber so the fix was glue on a strip of wood and start over.
That's when the thought came to me about using a contrasting wood.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Very nice and is keeping me motivated with my bench build. Thanks for sharing.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Robert!

[Guy Dotan]

Stunning work!

[Cody Colston]

That's a beautiful bench and it should serve you well. I'm planning a traditional bench similar to yours. I can only hope mine turns out half as nice.

[Paul Kinneberg]

Awesome bench!! I love the accents throughout.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Great bench, and from the background, it looks like your shop is an ideal work environment. Is that a wooden floor?

[Vince Shriver]

Outstanding work. You certainly deserve all the pride that must have come with the completion of that beautiful bench. Thanks for sharing.

[Robert Engel]

Thanks for all the compliments, guys. Great feelings of validation. Can't wait to start on some projects seems like all I've been doing is building a shop for 2 years.

The room is a 14 X 16 air conditioned studio I built when I remodelled my shop a couple years ago.
In the steamy south, it will make ww'ing comfortable and will also keep my project wood stabilized.
I do my drafting and design work in there too. Need to bolster my lighting a bit.

The floor is just a cheap laminate floor I put in at the last minute. In retrospect I shouldn't have chinced out like that but I ran out of money.

[Christopher Charles]

Robert,

Beautiful bench and great workspace. Will look forward to seeing the projects that are sure to come!

C

[Allan Speers]

Oh my! That's one pf those projects I'll dream of doing forever, but never find the time for. Love the large DT's and the contrasting woods.

I think this traditional design can't be beat, all things considered. The only thing I'd change is to add a sliding deadman, (and maybe a perforated grate in the bottom of the tool tray) otherwise, that's workbench nirvana for me.

[bob cohen]

Fantastic job. Arguably, the most important tool in your shop!

[Robert Engel]

The only thing I'd change is to add a sliding deadman, (and maybe a perforated grate in the bottom of the tool tray) otherwise, that's workbench nirvana for me.I debated this which would have meant an re-design of the base, but two things convinced me to keep with the traditional design: 1) It would have meant buying more lumber which is a bit of a pain for me where I'm located and 2) the adjustable bench slave (I have yet to build) is quite useful for supporting not only long boards, but also drawers or anything you want to clamp in the tail vise.

I actually went through several other iterations and re-designs relating to the vises, but in the end stuck with the original.
Glad I did. The more I use this bench, the more I like it.

For anyone considering the build, I might rethink the tool tray, or at least some type of cover for it. Also, a little trap door clean out.

[James Pallas]

Robert that bench is very well done. As time goes by and you work on it I'm sure you will be very pleased. Many years ago I had the pleasure of working on a bench of similar design. It was old when I worked on it and wanted one for myself. Life and power tools got in the way. In my opinion it is the best design ever for furniture making. In the rare case that you need something a little different for some task you will adapt.
Jim

[lowell holmes]

It looks like furniture. You will cry the first time it gets dinged, but then I'm probably the only one that does that.

[julian abram]

Beautiful bench. I would consider moving it in the living room.:D

[Joe Beaulieu]

Wow! Wow! Wow! Just Wow! Ummm wanna build another one? Well - that is stunning Robert. What we all aspire tro. Just gorgeous work, design, wood contrast, everything is first rate. Be proud - be very proud.

Joe

[Robert Engel]

Somebody asked about the bench slave, I think:

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[Mark Rice]

Nice bench. That looks like time well spent.

[Jon Grider]

Amazing! That will last for many decades.

[Bill McNiel]

Absolutely gorgeous!

Are you aware that you will put dings and scars in it when you start to make your next project or do you plan on a "Tommy Mac" and cover it with plywood every time you are going to work on it?

[Mark Hopkins]

I have started (just barely) building a workbench and you said you might relate some of your experience and mistakes...I'm interested. Since I am new to this I would love to hear more...specifically the steps. I am trying to decide if I should try to hand cut dovetails in the apron - I can't quite work out how to cut the dovetails in the side aprons as they are long and I don't have a work bench to stand on.:)

[bob cohen]

That's a beautiful piece of furniture. It's a pity you may have to ding it up a bit.

[Jerry Olexa]

A truly beautiful bench!!! Good job...