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This is my first major wood project aside from a few small hardwood boxes and some picture frames. I’ve spent about 150 hours over a period of 5 weeks making this piece. My budget was about $200 on wood (I had the oak), $150 on the vises, the rail and hardware, and about $100 on bench dogs, bench hooks/holdfasts, inline clamps. The coolest part was the glue up where I was able to use the vises to help glue up the legs, vise cheeks and some of the other parts. I’ve already used it many times since I finished it in January.
It is NOT traditional and I’m not a master woodworker. Its hybrid because I picked and chose what elements I wanted to incorporate in it.


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There were many lessons along the way, many which were how NOT to do certain things. I used a very affordable and effective face vise and end vise instead of wagon vises, leg vices, shoulder vises, moxon vises or even the quick release face vises that are available. I’ve learned a lot while making this bench and used many techniques I’ve learned about on this site and youtube. I built it out of yellow pine with cedar, mesquite, poplar and some oak that I had on hand. The cabinet, drawers and sliding deadman were afterthoughts that I really enjoyed making. The bench looked kind of naked without those elements... and of course, I really needed the storage space.

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Yeah… I know that the finish may get scratched or dinged but I have a 24 inch by 60 inch piece of black rubber mat that fits the top and some smaller pieces fitted to match the vise jaws to cut down on the inevitable scratches. I already know that some day I will refinish the top… an hour to remove the finish and a half day or so to refinish it. I welcome the battle scars and badges of honor that come with use.
Everything I did on this piece was the first attempt (and sometimes the second or third too after the first) at techniques I had not tried before. There has been lots of happy accidents along the way and I am very pleased with the end result.

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I have found that power tools are great for some operations/steps but I am shifting towards hand tools now in a very big way. They are so much quieter, no need to wear ear protection/earmuffs all day, no sawdust so no goggles or a respirator and shavings are so much easier to clean. They often are as fast or faster and offer more control and are a real joy to use. Its nice to be able to listen to music or an audio book while working rather than the roar of power tools.
I am also very excited about building my own tools, jigs and shop furniture.

One bad point though is I have a new Ebay addiction for hand planes >=(

Anyway… I’m looking forward to some feedback aside from the criticisms that I’ve already acknowledged.
It is finished except for some inlay I will put on one dovetail joint to cover some chipping that happened during assembly… it was a bit too tight. I've learned what I am good at and what I really need to work on.


There are more photos of the bench at my photobucket page and my pinterest page if you would like to see more details.
Feel free to ask any questions about this piece.
Thanks for looking.
Jon Wolfe