My “Knock down, drag out” workbench

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Hello all,

I am doing a lot of on-location presentations, and I needed a bench that I could knock down, and drag out to events. That’s how I named it the “knock down, drag out” bench!!!

I didn’t want a vise, because vises are heavy and would complicate the assembly/disassembly, as well as transporting the bench. I went with an English bench with a skirt. The skirt acts as a stretcher and makes it a simple assembly. Four huge 1/2” carriage bolts hold the skirts on either side. The top has six 1/4x20 bolts, and the top has threaded inserts on bottom. Also, the top has two 3/4” dowels for alignment pins. One pin is mounted on the top on one end, and the other is mounted on the base. This way I know easily which way to orient the top onto the base. I was very pleased when I first put the top on that it worked perfectly well without even being bolted. The alignment pins held it firmly. The bolts are just to lock it down snugly.

I finished the bench last night at 9:00 PM, and today at noon she had her first trial at a presentation I did on using hollows and rounds. It took maybe 5 minutes to set up. I was very pleased.

She’s all maple, and so I get a nice heavy bench, but it is easy to move in pieces. I needed a tool tray because I’m doing presentations on tools and I wanted to have a tray. That worked very well, because the top is two pieces. The larger piece comes off by itself. The narrow piece is screwed and glued to the skirt on that side. That has the added advantage of making the two skirts different so you immediately know which one goes on which side. The tool tray bottom has four 1/4x20 machine screws that screw into inserts in the base. I put two small drill marks in one side of the base and the tray bottom so I can easily know which way it goes on.

Here are some pics.

The base is massive. I love a heavy bench.

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This shows the way the one side has the narrow strip mounted to the skirt. It comes off with the skirt when transporting.
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This shows one of the alignment pegs. The one on the other side is mounted in the top.
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Here she is at the first on-location demonstration on making mouldings with traditional hand planes.
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[Malcolm Schweizer]

…. And I dressed proper for the event with a derby hat!

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[Tom M King]

Looks great! Did you have to clean up?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Looks great! Did you have to clean up?

I had a friend that helped with that, and by the time I had the tools packed up, the place was swept clean!

[Cameron Wood]

That looks great, and will look better after a few trips around the block.

How does the soldering copper fit in?

[Mark Rainey]

Very nice Malcolm. Have you been able to date the older chest with the wooden plane on top?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

That looks great, and will look better after a few trips around the block.

How does the soldering copper fit in?

I also brought a historic tool chest to show tools from the era. See other reply below.

Very nice Malcolm. Have you been able to date the older chest with the wooden plane on top?

That is a prized posession of mine. It was given to me by the great, great, great… not sure how many greats… grandson of the original owner, and it is full of all his original tools. It’s like the tool chest of Benjamin Seaton, but not in as good condition. It is from the mid- 1800’s. The owner had no children and nobody to pass it on to. He was in poor health. I was buying a table saw from him, and noticed a hand plane, and said, “That’s a nice No. 3 there.” He said, “Oh, you like old hand planes? Go up those stairs and look in that old chest.” I immediately knew what it was going to be when he said “old chest.” I explained every tool and what it did, and correctly guessed that this person did window work. He was very impressed, and said he wanted me to have it, and asked me to make an offer for it. I said I could not afford it. He said he didn’t care- he had nobody to pass it on to, and he wanted it to be in good hands. I was very moved. I told him, “look, it’s worth way more than what I’m going to offer, but it is all I can afford, but I will ensure it is taken care of and that it gets shared with others.” I was VERY clear that he could get a lot more for it, and that my intent was not to resell it, but just to appreciate it. I cherish it, and I bring it out to show exactly what would be in a journeyman’s chest of the period.

[Derek Cohen]

Very nice story, Malcolm, and very nice, neatly built bench. I always appreciate your posts. Thanks.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks for posting Malcolm. It may inspire me to get off my backside and get to my bench that has been on the back burner forever.

jtk

[Tom M King]

Malcolm, just posting here because I expect you'll see it. Do you know about the RATS club in Richmond? They meet almost every month. I've been a member, but it's always a little too far for me to get there.

https://www.richmondantiquetools.com/

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Malcolm, just posting here because I expect you'll see it. Do you know about the RATS club in Richmond? They meet almost every month. I've been a member, but it's always a little too far for me to get there.

https://www.richmondantiquetools.com/

Hello Tom, and thanks for reaching out. Yes, I have heard of them, and I have been so busy that I haven’t been able to go, although I think they sponsored the event at Woodcraft that I went to, which was an antique tool sale.

[Stew Denton]

Malcolm,

Super job, a very nice bench, and super practical for what you use it for. Great Job!

The chest is really a neat possession too. Could you give us a tour of the chest and contents, and a bit of explantion for any of the tools we might be less familiar with, as being specific for the original owner's trade?

I think a lot of us here love seeing the ventage tools and tool chests.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Malcolm,

Super job, a very nice bench, and super practical for what you use it for. Great Job!

The chest is really a neat possession too. Could you give us a tour of the chest and contents, and a bit of explantion for any of the tools we might be less familiar with, as being specific for the original owner's trade?

I think a lot of us here love seeing the ventage tools and tool chests.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

Hello Stew,

I need to do that. It would be easiest to do a video. I will commit to it, but I have some huge shop projects to get done, so it may not be right away.