workbench - make or buy?

Work bench

Jerome Laux

>I also debated about buying or building. Lee Valley has some nice sets of plans, which you can modify. I found that when I sized the "for sale" ready made benches, they weren't quite long enough or deep enough. If you want a deep (30") bench, you will probably have to make it. The costs are about the same for a "small" premade bench (24" x 72") and a larger bench that you make. I made the bench legs, rails and stretchers out of ash and the top out of maple. I added an end vise on one end and a tray on the other.

There was a recent discussion

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>of this subject. Search over the last two weeks on "workbench," and I think you'll find it. Workbenches being more important for hand tool workers than for electron-busters, this comes up fairly often, so if you search over the last six months, you'll find LOTS of information. Benches are very personal, and people have lots of opinions, many of which conflict; but, with luck, the discussion will help you in developing your own ideas so that you can build a bench and grow your own firm, nay curmudgeonly, opinions.

Depends

Neal (San Jose)

>Do you want to make furniture or a workbench? In my case, I built a workbench that IS furniture. The plans (which I modified somewhat) came from the April 1998 American Woodworker and includes 9 dovetailed drawers, 7 raised panels, M&T joints, 2" thick oak construction, and a top that measures 76 by 34. I added a hand-made tail vise. It was a great project, and I'd do it again in a minute.

Re: Depends

joel

>" I built a workbench that IS furniture....

I'd do it again in a minute. "

You could do it over again in a minute? - it took me over a year - and I learned a lot but you are much faster than I am and could ever hope to be.

I wish I could be that productive.

I've pondered this at length

Garrett in Victoria BC CA

>After seeing the photos of Ellis' bench, I decided it was finally time I had a proper one. I, too, will build rather than buy, but only because I've decided on a unique combination of requirements.

A bench is essentially a humongous multi-purpose clamp. A classic joiners bench such as Ellis built is a beautiful thing. But, it's very much intended for those who haunt this forum rather than power-tool users.

A bench is also a very personal thing.

My present 6 year-old 84 x 24 bench was literally thrown together in a few hours when we moved into the house, and is based on some recycled kitchen base cabinets, i.e. a unit of drawers and a double shelf unit that stores a lot of my tools. The top is 2 layers of 3/4 MDF faced with maple and drilled for Lee Valley's round bench dogs, hold-down, and Wonder Dog. (Altogether, a great system that could eliminate the tail vise.) I have 2 quick release Record clone vises on it, one for face and one for tail.

I mention all this because I'm trying to draw on my experience with this bench to build a better one.

My needs:

1) A little bit of every kind of work. Although I use power tools more than hand tools, I find myself reaching for the non-powered alternatives more and more often. (A consequence of more time and less hurry, I think.)

2) I desperately need under bench storage, but shelves are an unruly solution, especially for corded tools, and it's often awkward to get to the back of the bottom shelf.

3) At present, the bench, deliberately made at the same height as the Unisaw, sits behind the infeed end, and can serve as a prop for large panels. I now use a circular saw to cut panels to within 1/4" of final dimension and finish on the Unisaw, so rarely need this facility.

I have a similar series of cabinets on the outfeed end of the Unisaw with a single sheet of melamine particle board covering it and serving as the right hand extension table as well. (A vast space that quickly becomes the place where everything gets dropped.) However, I could really use more floor space and since those cabinets contain mostly non-woodworking stuff - plumbing, electrical, welding, etc., - I'm coming to the conclusion, however, regretfully, that they have to go and space found for this other stuff elsewhere.

Which, finally, brings me to my new bench.

It will have an Emmert pattern-maker's vise. The Emmert is the basis of Lee Valley's excellent Tucker vise, but is much less expensive. The one I've purchased from Woodcraft is an excellent clone. I might use one or both of the Record-style vises as tail vises - see more on this below - and will continue to use the Lee Valley round bench dog system. (Useful Tip: wine bottle corks are great dog hole stoppers to prevent small objects and dust from going down them.) A bench assistant - a vertical board that slides along the front of the bench and uses pegs to support the ends of long workpieces held in the face vise - is an absolute must.

The top will be a solid maple glue-up 24 x 78 - I'd like longer and wider, but the shop dimensions rule and it's enough - the thickness to depend on the Emmert's requirements. While MDF is stable and heavy, it can't stand moisture and is relatively fragile. No tool tray, because I've never felt the need and the ones I've seen just fill up with junk.

While I appreciate the merits of the classic heavy, open trestle base, I can't afford the space they require. My base unit will be the largest heavy-duty plywood cabinet I can squeeze between the vises. Since the Record clones require 12" free under the bench, if absolutely necessary, I'll eliminate them and use only Wonder Dogs instead even though they're much less convenient. The cabinet will consist of 4 drawers with full extension slides. The deeper bottom drawers to hold as many of my corded power tools as possible, the shallower uppers for planes and other hand tools not already hung on the walls. Under the Emmert, I'll attach a drawer unit to the side of the base cabinet using Lee Valley's sheet metal drawers with carpet underlay liners since they provide the largest amount of usable storage in the space available.

Finally, the whole works will be on lockable casters so the bench can do double duty as an outfeed table for both the Unisaw and the 20" bandsaw - fortunately both have the same table height.

And that's where I am to date. I collected a lot of information on benches from the internet, and recommend you do the same. There are lots of good - and not so good - suggestions and ideas, and they stimulate one's own thought processes. My bench will in the end be none of the ones I saw, but will incorporate bits & pieces from most, and reflect my own specific needs and priorities. I will start on it in a couple of weeks (as soon as I finish building and installing the Bill Pentz cyclone which I know I wouldn't need if I were to switch entirely to hand tools.)

Cheers, Garrett

Lemme restate that

Neal (San Jose)

>I'd make the DECISION to do it again in a minute. The bench construction itself would take a little longer.

Re: sacriledge

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>I built a workbench, and find it is extremely useful for power tools as well. I have a very simple router table that I clamp into my shoulder vise, and the bench makes it extremely sturdy. Other power tool uses with a good bench to hold parts are also much easier to do than with some wobbly sagging piece of scrap for a workbench.

Buying or building depends on your schedule I guess. If you are a good builder and have the time, you can make a better bench than you can afford otherwise. If you don't have much time, just order a bench from Frank Klausz.

Bench-building myths

Patrick Gibbons, Houston, TX

>After building my own bench and now having used it for about two years, I have changed my mind on several views that are generally held by many. They are as follows;

1) Build the bench the same height as your table saw and other shop fixtures so it can be used in tandem. This is pretty lame. I don't use my bench that way and I'm glad I built it with a suitable height for my body to use comfortably. I have a knock-down setup for an assembly table.

2) The top must be made of maple or another hardwood to take the punishment. Mine's made of maple but I now think pine or fir would have been just as good. It's a bench, not a piece of furniture.

3) The bench should be away from a wall so one can walk all around it. That's how I have mine but I find I never work from the back for anything. I think it just needs to be far enough away from the wall to allow the use of clamps across its width.

4) I will learn from building this bench techniques and skills that will help me build other things. Adam or Lyn has stated here before correctly, that the techniques used for building a bench are more similar to timber framing.

5) This will be my masterpiece. My masterpiece looks less masterly every day as my personal skills improve.

6) I'll build a better one later when I know more. I have a lot of complaints about my bench but I have other more important things to build. I'll probably work around the shortcomings of this one and then one day die. I'll let my two boys fight over who gets it and the loser can build a much better one.

7) It needs to be the craftiest, smartest most up to date with all the latest hoo haws I can build. I put a patternmaker's vise on mine. It's nice but I use it as a regular vise 99.9% of the time. Another small myth that goes along with this is that a front vise is a pain without a quick release. Obviously my patternmaker's vise doesn't have a quick release and I never really miss it.

To conclude; Simpler is better. Make a bench that will aid you in the way you work wood. Put only what you will need on it. Make it cheap, make it stable, make it fit your space.

Yup, what Patrick said

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Build your own. I built mine from 100% salvaged lumber! my top is made of 2x4's on edge that a glued together with 3 lengths of threaded rod equally spaced holding it all together. Actually I don't think you need the threaded rod, but I used it to tighten everything up while the glue was drying. I have since removed one of them due to it being right where I wanted to bore a dog-hole and have seen no signs of things going bad since it's removal.

I even designed and built the tail and face vise using threaded rod, nuts wahers, etc.

my top is 3'W and 5'long, no tool tray, up against the wall. Works fine for me.

Beaneath the top is 3 rows of drawers that holds a TON of stuff, such as planes, chisels, and related parapanilia of a woodworker/Neanderthal.

Never have I seen a ready made bench and wished that I had that one instead of my homebuilt one. Never.

Besides, why would a woodworker want to buy a workbench when he/she can make one?

Total cost of my bench was about $20. :~)

Todd O.

A Rite of Passage?

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>I have long considered that a workbench was "a rite of passage" into woodworking.

Now this statement is to be tempered by several factors, principally

(1) whether one is planning a future in woodwork (either as a hobbiest or profession). I wouldn't expect that someone intending to only do a few pieces put much time into designing and building a workbench.

(2) that this is probably more of a concern for someone using handtools, since the bench is the biggest hand tool of them all. Still, power users also require a bench. Function will dictate Form.

(3) form is also dependent on one's level of experience, and no doubt (as in my case) a basic bench is built early on and gradually modified over the years (see below - made about 10 years ago from Karri). Finally it gets to the point where you decide to build that one bench that embodies all your skills, experience and dreams. Most of us (myself included) spend years planning this stage (reading books, magazines, posts like this, dreaming ..).

(4) time is a killer. In my case there is something more important to build than another bench. Not enough hours in a week, or weekend. Got to balance time in my space with time with the family. Spare time goes to projects for the home. I really envy those who have time for building units in their shop. Mine are so utilitarian. One day ...

Regards from Perth

Derek