Yes (long)
Michael Recchione
>I built one for my garage last spring, because I wanted to be able to work out there in the nice weather (my main shop is in the basement). I also use handtools pretty much exclusively and the free available space in my garage is VERY limited, so my needs were probably similar to yours. I thought about this bench a lot, because I really wanted the "nice weather shop" to be a pleasant place to work, and of course a well designed and functional bench is key. Here are some of the things I did:
First, I decided that a small bench shouldn't try to be a miniaturized large bench. Many of the traditional fixtures we see on a large joiner's or cabinetmaker's bench evolved from the need to work on long boards. You're not going to do that on a small bench in close quarters. In fact, you have to look at a small bench as a different animal altogether. Think of a little bench as a Winebago - it isn't a 4 bedroom colonial with tons of land around it. Every square inch should do double and triple duty. The keys, at least for me, turned out to be "solidity" and "transformability".
For solidity, the first thing is to make the thing as heavy as practical. I went with a traditional sled foot base made from construction 4x4s from HD for the uprights and the sled feet, and 2x8s for the stretchers. The top is roughly 2'X 4', made from 4 layers of 3/4" oak plywood from the borg, laminated together. I have no easy way to cut or transport full sheets of plywood, so I just bought the 2'x4' panels they sell there. I edged the top in maple, so it comes in at 25.5' X 49.5'. The bench is pretty heavy, but I also mounted a shelf where a bunch of heavy iron is stored. You may find you want to bolt the bench to the wall or floor as well. (I didn't need to with mine - the weight is enough.)
The idea of transformability was to make it easy to hold the run of the mill stuff appropriate to a bench this size, but also and especially to make it easy to hold special purpose fixtures that would in turn hold other stuff. Examples of these special purpose jigs include a twin screw vise for dovetailing, a relief-carving extension including a bird's mouth, a swivel machinist's vise mounted on a 2x6 so that it can be cantilevered out in front of the bench, a sticking board, a bench hook, etc. These things mostly live on the shelf below the bench, and help weigh it down.
I wound up skipping the tail vise altogether. There didn't seem to be whole lot of point to having one on such a short bench, and I felt being able to work off the right end of the bench for crosscutting, etc, outweighed any small benefit a tail vise would have provided. I have not regretted this decision at all.
For the face vise, I went with an iron quick-release vise mounted inboard of the left leg. I mounted the vise about an inch proud of the front face of the bench rather than flush with the front face, to give more clearance for the various jigs and appliances. I considered making an apron and boring holes for holdfasts and pegs, but again, for such a short bench, making special provisions for holding long boards seemed pretty silly. Another decision I don't regret.
I managed to get two of the big Record holdfasts off eBay, and mounted them so that one of them can clamp things close to the right end of the bench and the right front, and the other (closer to the vise), can clamp things near the front face. (I'll try to post a picture if you're interested). This has turned out to be a very versatile arrangement, useful for holding work on the benchtop and particularly for holding the various special-purpose jigs. The only problem with the Record holdfasts is that they're discontinued, and it's really hard to get extra mounting collars. So you're pretty much limited to picking just one spot to mount one of these in and sticking to it. I'm probably going to drill two more holes closer to the back, to mount the new Grammercy Park holdfasts I'm getting as a surprise for Christmas :-).
Again, on such a small bench, a tool tray is way too much of a luxury. Yet it's nice to be able to set stuff down and have your commonly used things close at hand. I solved that problem by mounting the most commonly used tools against the wall and window behind the bench, and keeping a portable tool caddy on the bench to function as a tool tray. When I need the benchtop real estate, I just lift the caddy off.
Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing how you solve your small bench problem. I know it's hard to get excited about a small workbench, glued and bolted together from construction lumber and plywood. But in many ways the constraints imposed by limited space pose challenges that give rise to the most interesting and imaginative solutions.
- Mike
