What always stays on your bench?

[glenn bradley]

The main thing I keep on my bench is enough open space to work.

[Gerald Schram]

nice benches ken. how do you like working on the nicolson style bench? i made a bench that has a tail vise and twin screw front vise about 25 years ago but it's getting a little short for some things now. i was thinking of making a english bench like yours just a little taller than the bench i have now. thanks for your thoughts jerry

[ken hatch]

nice benches ken. how do you like working on the nicolson style bench? i made a bench that has a tail vise and twin screw front vise about 25 years ago but it's getting a little short for some things now. i was thinking of making a english bench like yours just a little taller than the bench i have now. thanks for your thoughts jerry

Jerry,

Thanks.

Short answer, it is a perfect bench for the way I work.

I call it my French/English or my cross channel bench. The bones are a Roubo but with the added apron. The bench is easy to build and heavy like a Roubo but with the apron it has the work holding options of a English/Nicolson bench. I like to think it is the best of both worlds. BTW, it took a number of bench builds to hit the sweet spot of every thing needed but nothing extra.

ken

P.S. While the bench has vises it really doesn't need 'em because there are so many other ways to hold work which many times are faster and easier.

[lowell holmes]

I can't resist ...
Saw dust stays on my bench a lot.

[ken hatch]

I can't resist ...
Saw dust stays on my bench a lot.

Yep, same here along with a brush or two that never seem to work.

[Jim Koepke]

Besides work in progress and various scraps of wood these are almost always on the bench:

On The Bench.jpg

From left to right are a shim stack used in my vise to prevent racking, an Odd Jobs that is my main marker for rip cuts, a couple of brushes used for cleaning dust out of planes, a marking knife, a pair of small squares, three pencils (one for writing, one with a chisel point for marking thin lines on wood and one with a round point for marking fat lines on wood, a Tite Mark marking gauge, a ruler and a small mallet.

My current project is an accordion gate to go on the front of some shelfs one of our cats likes to climb into.

Here are the end pieces being checked after a ride on the shooting board:

Stand Up Straight.jpg

Of course after the shooting board they should all stand up straight. When one is out of square it is rather obvious.

The dividers usually get put back in their resting place, but lately my use of them has increased. Here they were used to find and mark the center:

The one thing that stays even when the bench is cleared off is the piece across the back. It is loose but held by the dogs behind it. It prevents stuff from being knocked off the bench.

Forgot the Dividers.jpg

The clamps actually live on the shelf under the bench with holdfasts and other bench accessories. Next step is to mark out three mortises on each piece.

jtk