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Thread: If You Haven't Noticed

  1. #1

    If You Haven't Noticed

    I'm a fanboy of the Moravian style workbench with a Lake Erie Toolworks vise screw.


    Several years ago I started searching for a useable portable workbench. With true retirement, none of this silly semi-retirement of the last twelve years where it has been short on the retirement and long on the semi. Over this period I've worked more than I ever did before but that is another story.

    I knew I needed something to keep me from boredom while driving MsBubba around the country. I figured a portable workbench would be the real deal. Sounds easy, just make or buy something that is light, will fit into or break down easily to fit into the bins of the motorhome. Done deal, not so fast diesel breath.


    Every design I came up with to build or buy all had a "yes but" factor. It seems with every workbench you could have some of the needed small footprint for transportation, light components, ease of assembly and disassembly, and a strong solid workbench. You could have two or three of the needed factors but never all four.


    I toyed with the idea for several years and always ran into yes but until I stumbled across "Building the Portable Moravian Workbench" with Will Myers. I could see at first viewing that the Moravian bench would satisfy the first three criteria with no problem and should do an ok job with the fourth. What I didn't realize was just how good a job it would do with the fourth factor of being a strong, solid workbench.


    After viewing Will's video I build my first Moravian bench out of Home Depot DF and took it on our annual PNW trip. It worked a treat so much so I decided to build another this time with a Poplar base and a Beech slab and to replace my sharpening bench with the proof of concept Moravian bench.


    Pretty much the same story, the second bench worked even better than the first. It was such a nice to work on bench I moved an older Roubo bench out of the secondary bench position and replaced it with the Moravian. The little bench worked so well and was such a pleasure to use I found myself doing at least 70% of my work on it instead of my massive French/English primary bench.


    Nothing left to do but build a third Moravian. This time forgetting portably but building a bench with the mass and size needed for a shop bench. I completed that bench yesterday and in the little I've worked on it it does not disappoint.


    After working on and building several Moravian style benches as well as working on and building several Roubo style benches I can say with confidence the Moravian has every benefit of the French bench with non of the drawbacks. It uses less wood for the same sized bench, while lighter the finished bench is just as solid, the joinery is easier and more tolerant, and most important it can be broken down to move and/or modify as needed. The French bench once build is almost impossible to move and can be very difficult to modify.


    As I said at the beginning I'm a fanboy. If you are thinking about building a bench, not just a portable bench but any bench, you should check out Will's video.


    ken

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Fargo North Dakota
    Posts
    352
    Would you be willing to share a link?
    My woodworking theory: Measure with a micrometer, Mark with chalk, Cut with an ax.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Bryan Cramer View Post
    Would you be willing to share a link?
    Bryan,

    I wasn't sure if a link was in the terms of service but if you google "Building the Portable Moravian Workbench" with Will Myers. It will take you to the video.

    ken

  4. Big fan of Will Myer's work, particularity his blog posts that lived on WK Fine Tools and his increasing amount of articles on other resources. Some of this work has been moved to his new blog at https://eclecticmechanicals.com/ that also has more detail and a step by step build of the Moravian bench and a shout out to Ken's recent build. That said I did buy a copy of the video and have been working through it before I start my build.

    I'll likely also add a drawer unit similar to the one seen here:
    july2018-picture1-web.jpg

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Sebastopol, California
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    2,319
    I'm a touch surprised that someone went to the trouble of building a bench with slanted legs and then mounted the leg vise dead vertical. A slanted leg vise will grip vertical boards much better than a dead vertical one, because you can put the board where the line of pressure, running from the fulcrum at the bottom through the screw, will press directly on it.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Houghton View Post
    I'm a touch surprised that someone went to the trouble of building a bench with slanted legs and then mounted the leg vise dead vertical. A slanted leg vise will grip vertical boards much better than a dead vertical one, because you can put the board where the line of pressure, running from the fulcrum at the bottom through the screw, will press directly on it.

    Bill,

    Take a look at how many holes there are in the leg. BTW, the wood screw holds as well as any vise I’ve used. After three benches and the same story I see no reason to change.

    ken

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    N. Idaho
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    1,621
    Ken,

    Very glad you've a new love in your life

    I'm definitely intrigued by the design and agree about the quantity of wood--Roubos are a bit Monster Truck that way and purely suited to permanent or semi permanent set ups. That said, the BC split top design does break down into parts that are manageable by one person. Regardless, I'd also agree that a Moravian design would be an excellent first bench or portable bench.

    Looking forward to seeing the next set of projects fly off the new bench in your full real retirement.

    Best,
    Chris

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Missouri
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    2,151
    Ken, I like your new bigger bench, even withe the straight vise. However you may want to look up the albatross is there, I can see a slanted leg vise in your future. You will have to follow thru with the whole experiment, won’t you.
    Jim

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Fargo North Dakota
    Posts
    352
    Thank you! I'm in the planning processes for a new bench and appreciate all the info you are sharing.
    My woodworking theory: Measure with a micrometer, Mark with chalk, Cut with an ax.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Matthew Hartlin View Post
    Big fan of Will Myer's work, particularity his blog posts that lived on WK Fine Tools and his increasing amount of articles on other resources. Some of this work has been moved to his new blog at https://eclecticmechanicals.com/ that also has more detail and a step by step build of the Moravian bench and a shout out to Ken's recent build. That said I did buy a copy of the video and have been working through it before I start my build.

    I'll likely also add a drawer unit similar to the one seen here:
    july2018-picture1-web.jpg
    Matthew,

    Buying the video is a smart move. Something to think about with the drawer unit is to keep it low enough to not interfere with using holdfasts in the area of the drawers.

    ken

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Charles View Post
    Ken,

    Very glad you've a new love in your life

    I'm definitely intrigued by the design and agree about the quantity of wood--Roubos are a bit Monster Truck that way and purely suited to permanent or semi permanent set ups. That said, the BC split top design does break down into parts that are manageable by one person. Regardless, I'd also agree that a Moravian design would be an excellent first bench or portable bench.

    Looking forward to seeing the next set of projects fly off the new bench in your full real retirement.

    Best,
    Chris
    Chris,

    At my age it is hard to find lust objects, it might as well be a workbench.

    Today was an example of the design's advantage over a Roubo. I can tell you with the two of 'em setting side by side the lighter Moravian gives up nothing in stability when compared to the Roubo but the advantage of being able to break the Moravian down is priceless. I needed to do some clean up, pencil marks, trim some joints and so on and I wanted to add ledgers to the long stretchers to hold a lower shelf. With the Moravian it was very easy to do all that, I just broke the bench down, put the parts I wanted to work on on one of the other benches and did the job. With the Roubo either job would be misery.

    I'm not sure what will be next, I expect a couple of chairs and maybe a school desk for the grandpeanut.

    ken
    Last edited by ken hatch; 12-06-2018 at 1:52 AM.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Bryan Cramer View Post
    Thank you! I'm in the planning processes for a new bench and appreciate all the info you are sharing.
    Bryan,

    You are welcome, I hope it helps.

    ken

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by James Pallas View Post
    Ken, I like your new bigger bench, even withe the straight vise. However you may want to look up the albatross is there, I can see a slanted leg vise in your future. You will have to follow thru with the whole experiment, won’t you.
    Jim
    Jim,

    LOL, question, is it a albatross or a buzzard?

    I'm going to let Will Myers handle that part . He has build a bench with an angled leg vise.

    Here is the problem, with a leg vise that has the screw and parallel guide going through the leg, you end up with too much of the meat of the leg missing. It can be rectified by making a wider leg which is what Will did. Not only that I'm not convinced an angled chop brings all that much to the table. I know in theory center of effort and all that rot but you also lose some of the ability to use the screw as a stop. Theory is nice but sometimes you give up a lot for little or no gain.

    ken

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Coffee City, Texas
    Posts
    169
    Scan 1.jpg
    Hey Ken,

    I have always been excited about the possibilities when I look at this book I have. This one's mounted on a straight leg, but I don't think you really need to mortise for the parallel guide to get it to work well? If you have this angle going on, the parallel guide is excused from stresses due to clamping to the side of the screw. I'm rooting for you to do an experiment at some point.
    Dojo Kun, 1: Be humble and polite.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Kory Cassel View Post
    Scan 1.jpg
    Hey Ken,

    I have always been excited about the possibilities when I look at this book I have. This one's mounted on a straight leg, but I don't think you really need to mortise for the parallel guide to get it to work well? If you have this angle going on, the parallel guide is excused from stresses due to clamping to the side of the screw. I'm rooting for you to do an experiment at some point.
    Kory,

    The vise needs a pivot point to apply maximum pressure. That pivot point can be a parallel guide and pin, some kind of ratcheting system like the one Will Myers built, or a crisscross, and I'm sure there are others. You are correct that is doesn't have to be in the leg but it does need to be in line with the center of effort. The claim from some quarters is an angled chop will provide stronger clamping force than a vertical chop and I'm sure that is the case because you can place the object directly in line with the center of effort. Here comes the yes but moment. If Patrick were still posting he would jump in now and post what the difference is and that I'm full of it but he's not so here goes. The parallel guide has two functions, the first is to give that needed pivot point and the second is (what is its name) keep the chop parallel so there is little force lost when clamping off the center of effort. A well made parallel guide will do that, a too lose parallel guide will not. I have no test or data to back me up but I do have experience with chops, screws, and parallel guides and I believe the clamping force difference between a well made vertical chop and an angled one is small and it only applies to one clamping situation, clamping a long vertical piece and in doing so takes away an important feature, using the screw as a "stop". Bottom line I see little advantage in an angled chop and some disadvantages including a more difficult installation and maybe a weaker base.

    ken

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