Really traditional workbench

[Michael Hammers]

I hope it is ok to link to another thread within SC. I saw this bench a few weeks ago and was blown away and found a thread pretaining to it. The handtool section of this exhibit is fantastic. I cannot immagine building a vesel this size with the tools they had.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=658253#poststop

[Ron Dunn]

Is there ANY historical evidence to support this design?

The only serious book I have on workbenches is by Scott Landis, and this style of bench doesn't appear to evolve until very recent times.

The wheels crack me up. Was there any workbench prior to the late 20th century with this feature?

I'm surprised they don't have a Workmate-style folding feature as well.

[josh bjork]

Is there ANY historical evidence to support this design?

The only serious book I have on workbenches is by Scott Landis, and this style of bench doesn't appear to evolve until very recent times.

The wheels crack me up. Was there any workbench prior to the late 20th century with this feature?

I'm surprised they don't have a Workmate-style folding feature as well.

I see ron feels quite strongly about this. I'll have to echo his doubt.

[Matt Chantry]

I asked the same question in the original post this afternoon. I'm interested to see the origins of the design.

[John Goodridge]

Wheels have been used for portability for a long time. The Romans had lots of stuff on wheels. They built roads to help as well. They did cart complex stuff around for battle, catapults and other such stuff. I am sure that there were work benchs and other portable work surfaces. Would they have had small wheels like that to ease movement around a staging area? It would not surprise me. They did understand the concept of the wheel.

They have been making ships for a while now also. They did have work surfaces to aid and abet with this process. Mortise and tenon construction has been around for thousands of years. I would say that it is a bad bet that tables and benches of this general style are a recent invention.

More to the point though, I doubt that the claim of the maker of the bench was that this is just like the bench that dear old Noah used. It's purpose would seem to generate thoughts about what could have possible; not an absolute statement that this is how it was.

[Bruce Page]

More to the point though, I doubt that the claim of the maker of the bench was that this is just like the bench that dear old Noah used. It's purpose would seem to generate thoughts about what could have possible; not an absolute statement that this is how it was.

John, well said.

[Michael Hammers]

I am really not sure how the creator of this particular bench came up with the design. Being my passion is woodworking, and more specifically hand tool working you can imagine my surprise when I walked into the room and saw this bench. Then to see that it was indeed a real working piece. The cam clamp is huge. The joinery is all there and well done.
I am not offering this up to speculate its "truthiness" (there, a plug for you Colbert).
I am sure they used benches of some sort, but I cannot say just what from that era in time? Look to the Orient and the examples of wood working done in the temples and on ships using methods and tools alien to the west, yet who can deny their functionality and beauty?
To me this is one of the intangible attributes of working with wood as a medium. Trying to illuminate through the fog of history by using hand tools, of imagining an artist with such archaic tools creating something, anything to me is the essence of truth and beauty.