Sjoberg Workbenches

[Sean Graflund]

I'd been discussing in the Design area the thought of revamping my current workbench. This is it right here:

http://home.comcast.net/~sgraflund/27.jpg

Well, yesterday I went to Woodcraft and picked up Scott Landis's Workbench book. While there were a lot of great ideas in there, I don't know if I want to spend the time to build the bench, rather have one to use for more projects ...

When I was in woodcraft, I always awe over the Sjoberg benches they have in the store. How sturdy they are with their basic trestle base, the maple tops, vise operations, etc. I dream about having one of these to make my hand work, planing, etc. much more user friendly.

Well, when I was talking to the salesman at woodcraft, they said the Sjoberg tops, these:

http://www.hobbywoods.com/sj1600.jpg

were going on sale in December, about $50 - $60 off. That would mark the 1600 version (66" version), at about $300. This with the face and tail vises. I thought this was a great deal. Solid maple, vises, all pre-built and finished for $300. Then I came to think, my birthday is coming up on the 30th, and I get another 10% off on that day at woodcraft! That would mark the whole bench top down to around $270. What do you guys think? For a solid maple top with two vises pre-built, at $270??? The vises alone would be about $200 I would imagine!

All I'd have to do is build the trestles .. maybe I could even buy the pre-made ones designed for the 1600, I think they're only $50 more as well.

Any thoughts on this bench? Anybody have this bench? I seriously am contemplating the idea .. Although building a bench from rough stock would be satisfying, it's time consuming and I'd like to spend the time on other projects.

Thanks!

Sean

[Jim Becker]

Sean, I own the 1600 and built the trestle from the plans that came with it. I generally like the bench, although the vices are not nearly as nice as some of the excellent ones available from Lee Valley and others. I did sand off the "finish" that was on it out of the box and apply a coat of BLO about twice a year to keep it fresh. (I preferred a renewable finish, rather than a film finish since benches take abuse)

The trestle design is quite sturdy, although someone who does a lot of hand-work might prefer to beef it up a little more. (I don't and the basic 2x material design has worked just fine) Building a cabinet inside would make it stiffer, (I have a small one on one side with two drawers for small tools) but I've not experienced any racking in the almost four years I've owned mine. I did raise the heigh a little to match the height of my table saw for convenience in material handling in the shop.

For the money, these are nice benches, but they are not high-end products. You can probably build a better one yourself if you have time for about the same money, depending on the materials you choose. But if you want something ready to go at a very reasonable price (especially with a sale) the Sjoberg is fine and you can always make it a second or backup bench later on if you build a bigger one.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I agree with Jim Becker that you can do as well or actually far better by making your own. While I dislike making negative comments on products, I feel the Sjobergs are severely overpriced for the level of quality. My particular objections are to the quality of the vises and their fit and finish. The outer jaws are not very sturdy and are prone to racking and movement. I would suggest you look past the cosmetics and go back to Woodcraft and partially open the vises and then do the wiggle test. I think a more careful overall examination would be in order.

As an alternative, take a look at the deifenbacher benches which are in the same price ranges. There is a lot more variety here and you get a lot more for your money since they are sold directly by the US distributer and there is no extra store markup. My examination of the Deifenbachers at a friends shop has convinced me they are an order of magnitude better in quality than the Sjobergs. Their website is readily findable via a web search. I just don't have it handy right now.

[Jim Becker]

My particular objections are to the quality of the vises and their fit and finish. The outer jaws are not very sturdy and are prone to racking and movement.

This is absolutely true...I apologize for forgetting to mention it. I often have to "pad" the jaws when only using one end to hold something with some scrap of the same thickness. Given I'm not much of a neander, I've been able to live with that, but if I were to start using the bench for serious handwork, it would definitely be a "get/make a new bench" issue.

[Andy Parsons]

Hi, long time lurker who at last has found something I feel I can comment on.

I have been hand tool woodworking (except for table saw & bench grinder) for about 12 years. My two benches were cast iron metwork benches salvaged from an old school clear-out many years ago. These had served me fine but were to big, the tops were 1/4" steel plate which even with a wooden top attached made making dog holls etc a real pain!

I have now passed on one of the benches to my brother and bought the 5' long 1530bs from Sjoberg with both trestles and tops made in solid beech. With a small and growing family spending the months that I knew it would take to make my own bench was out of the question. I have also have a small workshop 14'x8' so having a partial assembled bench top of frame in the way for many months is just about impossible.

I went for the solid beech version for the added weight & hence rigidity I have also completed the following modifications.

1) Added two extra fixings through the frame to the bench top. As supplied there were only 2 fittings, one through the left frame the other through the right and both of these were forward of centre. I felt that this was insufficient and may result in the back of the bench top "bouncing" in future years so I added and extra fising on each side.

2) I have added a solid back (3/8"s ply) attached to the frame legs and all along the top to provide still more rigidity

3) I have added 2 shelves one on each of the horizontal stretchers. (the 1530bs has a different frame assembly from the one pictured in Sean's post)

I will make a set of double drawers to fit on the lower shelf.

It's horses for courses, but for my level of woodworking (small furniture, toys, games, puzzles etc) it seems perfectly OK. I have not experianced any of the problems mentioned previously with the vices but it is still only 6 months old.

sorry for the ramble, hope this is of some use

Andy P
London (UK)

[Jim Becker]

I have now passed on one of the benches to my brother and bought the 5' long 1530bs from Sjoberg with both trestles and tops made in solid beech.

Unfortunately, Andy, the product that Sean is asking about isn't the beautiful bench you aquired, but a smaller, lighter "little brother" of the same. The bench in question weighs no more than about 100-150 lbs! Dripping wet. :D

[Andy Parsons]

Jim,
the 1530bs is only 5' long & is speced at only 45kg (thats less than 100lbs). This is why deemed it necessary to add the modifications which have added considerably to the weight (I forgot to mention the 4"x3" runners I added to the bench feet to get it to a reasonable height).

The all birch benches as you say would be even lighter and would require further beefing up to provide a stable working platform.

Andy

[Jim Becker]

Jim,
the 1530bs is only 5' long & is speced at only 45kg (thats less than 100lbs).

Oh my...I read that one wrong in my "morning haze". My eyes saw "1520 lbs" rather than a model number!! Well, my tea just finished steeping, so I'll be fine real soon now. :rolleyes:

[Ed Marks]

Hi,

I'm also in the market for a bench to replace the one I built out of 2x's and MDO many years ago. I've used the bench you're looking at at a woodworking school and was not impressed. My biggest concern is lack of weight. When planing on it I could easily send it sliding across a finished wood floor. In fact, I always took one near a wall so I could avoid this. The same shop has the Deifenbachers that Dave is referring to. They stay put. The comments on the vice quality is dead on as well.

The URL for the Deifenbachers is http://www.workbenches.com . I'm leaning towards one of the larger benches which is making the buy vs. make decision a bit more complicated. It does not seem that they sell just the tops but I haven't called yet to ask. I was at Woodcraft this weekend and the closest thing they had to the Deifenbacher I was lookig at was $999.

Does the woodcraft by you extend the birthday discount to benches? Around here they don't.