Time for a Bench, questions

[Joe Jensen]

I don't have a proper work bench. After 30 years, it's about time. I can't really decide what to build. I know it will be 24" deep, and 72-80" long. I will have a full cabinent under neath for storage, possibly on wheels so I can move it out from under the bench in the case that I want to sit at the bench to work.

I don't see myself using hand tools extensively, but I do want to try some hand planes.

Can some who use their benches talk about the utility of the various vises. The all wood ones are obviously traditional, but the seem much less practical than the Lee Valley end vise with dual handles for example. If one is willing to forego tradition, is there any reason to use the traditional style vises?

As to the material for the top, I'm torn. On one hand I think about beech or hard maple as traditional, but it will obviously not stay perfectly flat. Plus, the cost is pretty high. Then I think if I'm going to spend that much, why not use IPE? I think I can get Ipe for within 10% of what I would pay for hard maple here. Then I was thinking, why not just cut 3" wide strips of baltic birch, and glue up a top out of that? Should be more stable. Thoughts.

Thanks...joe

[Steven DeMars]

Before you buy the first piece of wood get a copy of "Workbenches from Design to Theory to Construction" by Christopher Schwarz. Be sure to purchase it from a stocking woodworking supply place so that you can buy it with the accompanying CD that has the whole book and more on the CD.

If you get it at a bookstore like Barnes & Noble they don't have the CFD offer with it . . . .

I have over a 1/2 dozen workbench books, and this is the only one that will help you build what you need and want, not what has been rebuilt 1000's of times because that's what everyone "thinks" a workbench should look like . . . .and how it should function. . . .

After reading it, you will approach building a workbench a little differently.

Steve

[Doug Shepard]

Ipe will be a nightmare to periodically flatten and gluing/finishing for the initial construction can have problems with Ipe too. I'm getting close to having one done from the plywood strips you mentioned following Sam Blasco's idea here http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=22081
I PM'ed him about maybe going completely vertical and he reminded me that I'd need to put screws into it for mounting hardware. The horizontal layers underneath make for better screw holding..

[Ray Schafer]

I am building a workbench using two plans as guides -- both by Chris Schwarz. I suggest you look at these for a great low-cost workbench.

The first: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/projectplans_display/?planid=11098

The Second: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/projectplans_display/?planid=11121

I am using the top from the 24 hour workbench, and the bottom from the $175 Workbench. I am also going to add the upgrades from the Popular woodworking article by Chris that described a bunch of add-ons. If I find it online I will include that later.

[Ken Pywell]

Chris' book is a very good start. I would also take a look at the Landis and the Schleining book. All have good info and each has a little different feel. I think once you start flipping through the pages, you'll find yourself returning to that "one" bench that stood out from the rest, the one that will fit your needs the most.
As for wood, just about any will work. Southern yellow pine, birch, maple, oak...all will work. My current bench, I guess, would be a loosely based shaker. The top is maple, but the base is birch. More than strong enough. Try not to over think it. Find a nice design that you think will work, then build!
Ken

[Rob Will]

I use a sturdy 4' x 10' table as a workbench. It sits in the center of the room.

In a sense, it is like having two workbenches back to back.

My new version is going to have two vises and an electric outlet at all four corners of the base cabinet.

Personally, I think a lot of workbenches are "traditional art". They are very nice to look at - but traditional thinking has changed as we have moved toward power tools. Everybody has a different view of what a workbench is.

Most of the pros around here have something like an assembly table with a vise. I rarely see a traditional bench.

Rob

[Wayne Cannon]

Amen, amen, and amen! I, too, have the books and they are full of lots of ideas. However, Chris' book is the only one that really gets into why some features make sense, and why some features popular on current workbenches are not really as useful as they could be.

Since vises were specifically mentioned, after reading Chris' book, I'm starting to see significant benefits to a leg vise.

[Roger Lance]

Joe...I would recommend the Landis book...The Workbench Book...it is a great reference on the subject of workbenches and is very well written and illustrated (I've not read the Chris Schwartz book)...in that book, one of the most inventive benches was made of plywood scraps glued together on edge to form the top which you could do as well and you don't have to use something as expensive as bb ply...a workbench is a very indivdualized thing...what works for me may not work for you...and the reason that a bench is built a certain way may not work for you either...for example, a traditional or shaker style bench may be more fitting to a particular woodworker's psychological makeup or disposition...a maker of shaker furniture might want a shaker bench as opposed to a more modern functional bench which might make sense to you and the way you work and the way you view woodworking...as to traditional wood vises, one reason that they persist is that they work...I built a nice bench after digesting the Landis book and used a Frank Klausz type shoulder vise and a Record 53E tail vise...the 53E is a great general purpose vise, but the company is out of business...as long as there is wood, I'll have all the parts I'll ever need to repair my shoulder vise.

[Peter Quinn]

Another vote for reading the Swartz book. Good info in their. I remember reading the chapter on workbenches in Modern Practical Joinery by George Elliot (circa 1900), he was suggesting using materials that are cheap , repairable and readily available. You don't need to use a material as hard as maple or Ipe unless you are planning to hammer metal on it, and if you use a wood that hard reflattening it periodically will become a nightmare.

Steamed European beech is traditional in Europe where it is (was) cheap, soft enough to be repaired and readily available. Here it is pricey and hard to get, and american beech moves quicker than some wild animals and more often than gypsies, so it may be a poor choice too.

Ever consider yellow pine or fir? White Oak #1 common? MDF?

[Bob Rufener]

My workbench is made out of a 7' section of bowling alley. Solid maple. Heavier than I care to lift again. Cost me $70 for the wood. I built a frame of 2 x 6 s with 4 x 4 legs. Solid as a brick SH. Works well and not a lot of money tied up in it.

[Joe Jensen]

My workbench is made out of a 7' section of bowling alley. Solid maple. Heavier than I care to lift again. Cost me $70 for the wood. I built a frame of 2 x 6 s with 4 x 4 legs. Solid as a brick SH. Works well and not a lot of money tied up in it.

Great idea if only I had access to a chunk of bowling alley :o

[Dan Barr]

dont go getting any late night ideas :D

dan

[Brad Shipton]

I have a LV end vise, but honestly I really do not use it that much maybe if i did a lot of hand planing or didnt care about glue getting all over the surface I might use it more. I have a front vise too and that I use quite a lot. My skirt is 7" tall and I found that the front vise boards deform a little too much because of the height. More often than anything I find myself clamping things to the skirt. I used a 3"x28" glulam (it was free) for the surface, but it is a little soft. The skirt is made of birch and walnut. Not sure if you are limited in space, but if you are think about the bench height. I am and my stock must pass over the benches when I first start working with full sheets. After building the bench I started changing over to machines that were 1.5" shorter than my 36" tall bench and it was a nuisance to set the machines up on blocks. I couldnt simply cut down my bench legs because they were shaped.

Brad

[Chris Friesen]

My workbench is made out of a 7' section of bowling alley. Solid maple. Heavier than I care to lift again. Cost me $70 for the wood.

I'm using 7' bowling alley sections as well. However, mine were only nailed so I pried the laminations apart, took the nails out, planed off the tongue/groove, and I'm now in the middle of gluing it up. Due to nail cracks and thickness loss to planing it took 2 sections, so I spent twice as much as you.