Opinions on antique bench restoration

[Andrew Howerton]

Hi all,

First post - forgive the length.

My wife got me a vintage carpenter's workbench (she's a great woman). My best guess is early 1900's based on design and weathering, but who really knows - I could be way off. It was pulled out of a barn where its been sitting for the last few decades. At some point in its life the right 30 inches were sawed off.. The stretchers and bench top were all severed. Later in its life it was reassembled with support wood, so the right side - especially right front, right of the leg, sags a bit. Haven't been able to figure out the purpose behind the decision to cut it. It has a small left front vise and a right front tail vise. The entire right side of the bench sags about an inch starting at the cut and makes the tail vise less than useful. 1" bench dog holes line up with the tail vise but are basically useless since the tail vise sits so much lower than the bench top.

Stability is also an issue as I think decades of shrinkage have loosened up just about every joint. On a scale of 1-10 lets call it a 2.5. The whole thing weighs about 400 pounds and the majority of the bench is in great shape after conditioning the wood, but planing on it - especially trying to do any surfacing or thicknessing - is an exercise in patience. A couple pairs of pipe clamps are holding things together but the thing still sways like a hula girl.

Until this point in my life my workshop has been my driveway and a card table in the living room. My wife (a great woman) has now given me a dedicated workshop that used to be our mother-in-law suite. I essentially have my own studio building in our backyard to transform.

So I'm looking at a few options. Should I:

Option A: Tighten up the joints and do what subtle restorations I can to reinforce structure, and then build/buy/acquire a sturdy bench with a leg vise and tail vise. Use the vintage one for layout, glue up, etc. I do have room for two benches in my new room, though it wouldn't be very roomy. Also, the Navy would probably be less than thrilled come moving day.

Option B: Same as option A except build a low bench dedicated to planing and sawing. Use the high bench with a moxon vise for joinery.

Option C: Complete disassembly on the vintage bench. Remove the mid-life support wood. Go total restore on all the joints, cut out the front vise to install new leg vise, cut out the tail vise in order to build a new structure to support the bench top in one level plane. Restore and level the bench top. Use a new wagon vise as the centerpiece to make this bench really live again. Drill new holdfast holes, install a planing stop, the whole 9 yards. Total retrofit.

Is option C sacrilege? Should I honor the old bench by giving her a nice cozy corner to relax with some light work or would she rather have a major overhaul so she can really get some work done, again?

Looking forward to your opinions. Thanks!


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[brian zawatsky]

Shame that someone hacked that bench up! I'd probably just try to tighten it up as best as I could without a total rebuild, and use it for an assembly table until you build/acquire a fully functional bench. There's not much to be done about shoring up the butt joint on the right hand side, short of laminating another layer to the underside...

[Jim Koepke]

My choice would be option A.

All the work this one needs to become a mediocre bench is more than it would take to build a wonderful bench. This one has seen its day of being the best in the shop. Now it is time for it to become the back up player in the stable.

Maybe the Navy deserves a bit of slack. If they are going to move you half way around the world for a while, they should at least arrange for you to have some comforts of home.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I would go with option C. By the time you finish, your skills will be vastly improved. Also, if you decide to build a new bench t sometime, you will know what to do.

I built a couple of benches before I came up with a keeper.

[Stew Denton]

Andrew,

For me, it would come down to an issue of personality and viewpoint, as there is no "one answer" for everyone. If it were me, I would go for a modified version C. I would use the original hardware, if still good, and heavy duty enough, to rebuild the two vises.
I would also rebuild the top by milling out some of the bench top lumber on something like 8" on each side of the cut off and re-added section, that is milling off from the top and bottom. I would then use some of the same type of lumber to scab in the new lumber to make the top strong and straight again.

Thus, if the bench top is 3" thick, I would leave a 1&1/2" "tongue" on each of the old bench top jointed sections and put replacement 3/4" stock in the milled out areas to make kind of a glued up double "tongue and groove" type joint, the new 3/4" stock greatly strengthening the two halves of the bench. I would want the growth rings to run the same way on the "scabs" as the original lumber. Glue and clamp the tar out of it. If you can't find the same type lumber, I would volunteer some stretcher lumber, If it matched to original.

I would again go with rebuilding the existing vices, if heavy duty enough, using original hardware. If I couldn't get the joints tight I would consider rebuilding the frame, but you can probably get the joints tightened up.

I short, I would rebuild it, maintain the character as much as possible, and make it a strong, wiggle free, workbench. At 400 lbs, moving it might be a problem, as you mentioned. Thus, I think, assuming you can really shore it up, it should make a superb lifetime bench, If rebuilt properly.

In my case, and I can't speak for anyone else, It looks like the old bench has potential to once again be a great sturdy workbench. It would be my goal to make it that again.

In my view, totally restoring the old bench to make it an excellent woodworking bench again, is honoring it, not dishonoring it.

Not sure how understandable my thoughts are. Will look at it tomorrow and see if the above makes sence.

Stew

[Andrew Howerton]

In short, I would rebuild it, maintain the character as much as possible, and make it a strong, wiggle free, workbench. ... It looks like the old bench has potential to once again be a great sturdy workbench. It would be my goal to make it that again....In my view, totally restoring the old bench to make it an excellent woodworking bench again, is honoring it, not dishonoring it.

Thank you for all the suggestions so far. I'm leaning toward Stew's description above as that's how I've been feeling about it while I mull it over for the last week. I like the suggestion of trying to use the original hardware. It is in good enough shape. I've been quietly coveting everyone else's big beautiful leg vises but I could probably go without for the sake of originality, though I may need to fashion some sort of vertical work holding so that I can use the small front vise to work long edges.

Andrew

[Lee Schierer]

Maybe the Navy deserves a bit of slack. If they are going to move you half way around the world for a while, they should at least arrange for you to have some comforts of home.

jtk

Unless it has changed, the Navy pays commercial movers to move household goods from station to station. They allow a certain weight for each rank. The higher the rank, the higher the weight limit. I don't think I ever came close to the weight limit when we moved. Moving companies won't move lumber, but they will move "shelving" so you have to get a little creative. They also won't move any finishes or other liquids. I'm not sure how they would handle a cabinet saw or a jointer.

[Robert Engel]

This is hard to answer seeing how it was your wife who bought it for you, but truthfully and objectively, I don't think it will be worth my time for what it will take to get this bench back. This may not apply to you.

That being said, I would try to address the warped top first. Since those boards are face grain, If the boards themselves are warped this might be a difficult task to say the least. If it is due to the undercarriage being out of whack its probably fixable.

Don't be too quick to eliminate that shoulder vise they are quite handy.

[Karl Andersson]

Hi Andrew,
I would at least try to rebuild this bench if my wife gave it to me as a special treat, but I'm a glutton for punishment. Here are some thoughts along those lines:
- This is a scandinavian-style bench with a shoulder vise up front. You probably have noticed the reason the vice throat looks so small is that someone added a fascia board to the front edge to hold the sawn part together at the dog holes - they also added a block of wood in the vise face to make it coplanar with the edge.
- Traditional scandi benches do rely on a "bench slave" or freestanding board jack for edge work on long boards - not hard to make.
- Many of these Scandinavian-style benches have thick tops only at the dog strip, then the rest of the top is 1 1/2-2" thick boards laid on their wide faces and they are held together with long threaded rods front to back. If you can release these boards and switch them end-for-end (so the cut is on the left/ middle) it would probably be easier to keep the cut stable (in between the trestles) from underneath.
- you should remove the fascia board from the front edge and rather inset a hardwood patch board into the front of the bench that bridges the cut and goes far enough along the front to provide strength - probably 12-18 inches past the cut. If the flat-sawn bench boards can be released, then you could do the same from the backside of the dog strip as well- otherwise patch with a floating tenon or top-and-bottom patch, just to counter the forces of the vise.
- if releasing the top planks won't work, you could raise and level the vise end with a jack brace (angled from the legs), then stabilize the cut area with either a stitching of glued-in tenon pieces or sections of 3/4 think boards lapping the joint.

just some thoughts - good luck
Karl

[Brandon Speaks]

I would do something along the lines of what Stew and Karl suggest.

[Andrew Howerton]

Stew and Karl,

These are great suggestions. Thank you. I think I'll carve out an hour or two over the next few days to to pull the bench top off and give it a close inspection.

Andrew

[Malcolm McLeod]

I wondered where the world's entire supply of patina went...

[Stew Denton]

Andrew,

After rereading your OP again for the 3rd or 4th time, and the comments Karl and others have made, as well as your own, I just realized that your one vise may be pretty small, you had mentioned it, but I did not pick up on it very well, and was very tired when I wrote my response. I would look that one over to see if it is heavy duty enough for your needs. If it is not heavy duty enough, I would probably keep it for some other use and consider a stouter front vise. I would definitely not pitch it. It might be useful for a portable bench, but then again it might be just fine for use in the current service.

I have much the same choice to make, as I have a new old stock Craftsman 7" woodworking vise that I would rate as medium duty. I would never put it on my main bench, but might put it on a portable bench for moving around for carpentry work, or something similar. I don't know when he got it, or how, but it was my fathers vise, which makes it of great sentimental value, but he never installed it, and for all intents and purposes it is brand new, and everything about it looks new, no corrosion at all essentially. It set on his bench for several years and was never installed.

That tail vise looks like it has great hardware, from what I could tell from the photo, and I would want to restore it in a heartbeat if the hardware is good. For me probably the best bet would involve replacing any questionable or worn lumber, etc.

It is hard to evaluate the front vise, as the photo is not detailed enough. In my view and experience, small is OK if it is stoutly built, but bigger is better if stoutly built. Karl's comment on a "bench slave" is also something that I will consider when I finally build a good heavy duty bench, and can quit using substitutes for a high quality bench. For now, I will have to continue using less than ideal substitutes for a bench slave and a really stout vise.

I use a very heavy duty vise at work, not a woodworking vise but I have used it for woodworking there, but primarily for somewhat small (mostly metal) work, and had also used a somewhat light duty vise at home for the same type work, finally buying a much larger vise for my garage many years ago. It was not a high dollar vise, but is big and fairly stout, and I have never regretted a single penny that I paid for it. All things being equal, bigger is usually better for most jobs.

Based on the work I have done over the years, a vise, or both vises on a bench are absolutely critical, and they are not items where you want to make major compromises. I don't need the best and handiest, so don't need a high dollar quick release vise, no matter how much handier than the non-quick variety, but I do need a good heavy duty vise. You can save some money by going the non-quick release way, and still get a very good vise.

To repeat I am NOT saying replace your front vise, just look it over to decide if it is large and strong enough for you intended use. If, as Karl mentioned, it is a shoulder vise, those don't need to be great big to be highly functional and plenty strong. His thought on trying to rebuild it because your wife bought it for you would also be a strong incentive for me if I were in your shoes.

Good luck with your project. Keep us in the loop.

Stew

[John Schtrumpf]

I'm with Brian and Jim et al, option A or...

Option D: Salvage a much smaller bench.

Before doing anything, inspect and measure the bench carefully, to make sure making the smaller bench is doable, and that the wood is still good. Also, verify that you will be able to add or build in any vises you want. Otherwise, go back to option A.

- Remove all the scabbed on boards, legs, and tool tray back board and bottom. This will leave you with the original cut up pieces, more or less.

- Drawers, remove the drawers, if desired salvage one of them to be put on the smaller bench.

- Shoulder vise, the original structure is gone, salvage the hardware for use on another bench or sale.

- Tail vise, either salvage for use on another bench or sale. Or possibly reuse the hardware for a leg vise, or single screw font|end vise (you will have to research these, so you take them into account when building the smaller bench).

The basic smaller bench construction:

- At the cut off ends of the longer stretcher pieces, make a new tusk tennon. Then assemble the legs and your now shorter stretchers, for a shorter base.

- Attach the longest section of the original benchtop, to your shorter base. This is basically your new smaller bench. This is also the step where you might attach a front vise or leg vise.

- Salvage the right hand end cap, and attach to the right hand side of your smaller bench top. If needed, glue a filler piece where the tool tray ramp is, to square things up. This is also the step where you might attach an end vise. Note, you might want to do this step before attaching the top to the base.

- Saw off any protruding pieces where the tool tray used to be. Or piece together and attach a tool tray as best you can.

- Saw off any protruding pieces where the shoulder vise used to be. You may need a filler piece to square up the face where the shoulder vise used to be.

- The basic smaller bench is now complete. Reinstall one of the original drawers if desired, and if not done already, attach a vise.