woodworking without a woodworkers bench

maybe you could use one of those Black and Decker workmate type dealios? They don’t take up much room and they fold up out of the way.

-- I do not have attention deficit dis,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hey look ,it's a bunny

Yes there are… Self included.

I’ve used quite a few different things, from hand to power tools. I’ve got a work mate, and a folding table that are my primary means of a “work bench” for now. I’ve also used a sitting bench with a clamp as a planing stop as well. There are ways, you just have to get creative, and sometimes think outside of the “normal” approach…

Get creative, but most importantly, if it doesn’t feel right or safe, it probably isn’t.

One of my favorite things to do is clamp parallel bar clamps to the folding table, and clamp the table to the porch beam

Used this with my router

Sometimes I use two tables, if I have to make a cut in the middle of a piece (jigsaw)

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

Thanks Mos those are quite a few nice ideas, I’m really going to need to play around with a few ideas to find something that works for me and I think I might have to try out one of those workmates, I think that may work good for me. But the best piece of advice is “if it doesn’t feel right or safe, it probably isn’t.” I feel this all the time and I’m sure there are plenty of times I should have stopped and I didn’t, I really need to be more careful

-- Ben - Dallas, GA

How about a woodworking bench from Harbor Freight?

-- Alex

A pair of sturdy saw horses, some plywood, and a few sand bags for weight would be my solution. I’ve also used a pair of trash cans with plywood on top, but I don’t recommend it.

-- Perilous to all of us are the devices of an art deeper than we ourselves possess. --Gandalf the Grey http://davidwahl.org/category/woodworking/

I’ve gotten by so far with just a workmate, certainly not ideal, but you can make it work if you want. The biggest problem with the workmate that I’ve found is the lack of weight to it, it’s hard to keep it stable. But it will hold your work, and you just need to get creative to hold the workmate! That said, using that as my workbench has driven me to build a real wood working bench.

ok so here’s the question for those of you using the workmate. Do you use two of them or is just one? If you only use one do you wish you had two to lay large pieces across two tables? Or would having one be all you need along with a saw horse until you can eventually upgrade to a real workbench?

-- Ben - Dallas, GA

I’ve just got one. I could see how two might make some things easier, but when I’m working with larger stock, I’m typically hand planing it, in which case, I usually need to hold the workmate down with a foot, leg, or something. The other issue I have from time to time is it likes to wobble, a lot, when hand planing.

For cutting, I would recommend building a saw bench… It makes things a lot easier.

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

I’ve had the same problem, making do with with a small saw horse can be tricky. Paul Sellers has an awesome video series where he makes a tool bench in his back yard with a couple saw horses, with the purpose being you don’t actually have a workbench yet. Hoping for this to be my spring project.

You can also just screw into you benchtop surface, what ever that happens to be. A portable screw gun and a handful of screws, along with some pieces of scrap makes for some pretty versatile clamping.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

If you happen to have an opening along a wall in you shop, you might want to make a fold down workbench that is permanently mounted to the wall by means of a couple of hinges and a couple of folding legs so that you can pull the work bench up parallel to the floor, unfold the legs and you have a stable work bench.

-- Raymond, Charlotte, NC -------- Demonstrate the difference!

I took a class at the local JC and used their shop, tools and benches to build my bench. Lot of folks took classes to build projects. Local colleges or craft centers or woodworking clubs my help you. Ask around. Us old guys enjoy helping younguns get started.

-- The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools. Confucius, 经过艰苦的努力的梦想可以成真

@Ben – maybe this little guy would help you. I made this after seeing it in ShopNotes. LJ’s very own Serge made the original. It is a very handy work table and very portable. Bench dogs, clamps, whatever you need you can use on this thing.

My project is here.

bench cookies work great for me. just put them under a cutting board or anything else to sand or plane and its not going anywhere.

An old door on a couple of saw horses is what I had used for years.

-- My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist....medic20447@gmail.com