A thread to share 'workbench principles' from experience.

[William Fretwell]

I think the throat opening has a small effect on the leverage. You want the full use of the vise! Mine is 7" plus 1/8" fully open.
I sized your dog holes at 1x 1.5" so put your mid line at 1.5" from the edge.

[William Fretwell]

I wish organising my shop was as easy as not having a tool tray! In my case the tool tray is just to catch stuff before it hits the concrete floor and I have to crawl around and pick up the blunted chisel or cracked plane. It is amazing how many tools are saved from a horrible fate!

[Izzy Camire]

2. Softwood benches hold up perfectly fine. A year on I do have a few surface cuts from chopping, but the bench is holding up just fine without too many dents.

I was glad to see the above. I will probably build my bench next winter as I am completing my shop. I have lots of hemlock on my property and have run a decent amount through my sawmill. So I have a lot of 2 by hemlock. I figure I would use it for the base of the bench but now I am thinking I may try it for the top too. I suppose if it didn't work out I could always use a hard wood.

[Chris Hachet]

2. Softwood benches hold up perfectly fine. A year on I do have a few surface cuts from chopping, but the bench is holding up just fine without too many dents.

I was glad to see the above. I will probably build my bench next winter as I am completing my shop. I have lots of hemlock on my property and have run a decent amount through my sawmill. So I have a lot of 2 by hemlock. I figure I would use it for the base of the bench but now I am thinking I may try it for the top too. I suppose if it didn't work out I could always use a hard wood.

idea
It really is not that difficult to laminate a top, you could always change it out alter. Also, you would ahve a better about changes you might want to make at that time.

[Jim Koepke]

Hasin, This is a great thread that will surely be of help to someone thinking about building a work bench.

As Malcolm stated:

EVERYONE'S IDEAL WORKBENCH WILL DIFFER FROM THE NEXT GUY'S. IDEAL FOR ONE PERSON IS NOT IDEAL FOR THE NEXT PERSON.

One should never chose a bench design based on what someone else thinks.

As an example, many folks prefer the Scandinavian bench. Surely they must work to produce beautiful work or they wouldn't be the choice of many workers.

Though they are beautiful, my senses fail to see the advantage of a Scandinavian style bench. Can someone explain why it is better than a much simpler vise arrangement?

Over time my very simple vises have proven to be rather effective in catering to my needs. They do rack, but that isn't hard to control.

3:4 Inch Stack In Use.jpg

The Scandi/shoulder vise doesn't allow for wood to be held past the face of the bench. My 5' bench allows me to have some of an 8' board past both ends to plane an edge.

My face vise is flush to the face. Some prefer to have a space to fit their hand behind the piece being worked. For me, it is better to be able to use a holdfast on a long piece to support the end away from the vise.

My vises are also easily removed for work where they get in the way.

Having my face vise to the left of the front leg makes for an extra support for clamping a wide piece in the vise.

Here is a shot of some cabinet pieces being held to the end of the bench with the tail vise removed:

Five Minute Dovetails?.jpg

The Scandinavian end vise also seems to create some limitations for holding a piece all the way across the end for sawing. Often my tail vise is used to hold a piece of lumber with a saw vise, a metal vise or some other item attached.

Of course some folks will never have a need or desire to work with an 8' piece of lumber or hold other appliances on their benches.

This is why there isn't a one kind or size fits all when it comes to our work benches.

To me an apron is useful, just not a deep apron as on a Nicholson bench. If my local common lumber supply had boards wider than 12", then maybe a deeper apron would be more useful.

The weight of a bench is another factor to consider. As much as we think our planing is applying force aimed at moving the plane horizontal, it will be quite obvious there is down ward pressure once the planing moves beyond the end of the bench if the bench doesn't have enough weight to keep its back end on the ground. Mine has a 5 gallon bucket full of concrete attached to the left end keeping it on the ground during a planing session.

Bench dogs are another personal choice. My preference is for round dogs and dog holes. There are some advantages to square dogs.

If one wants a tool tray or under bench storage, one might want to consider ways of cleaning these out as they will gather shavings and sawdust.

Because we each have our own projects, styles and methods of work, we each need to determine what will work best for our own needs.

If one wants to build chairs, then it would be a good idea to have a bench deep enough to accommodate the splay of the chair's legs. If one is building small jewelry and keepsake boxes, there is no need for an 8' bench.

jtk