21st Century Workbench

Nice workbench.
Thanks for sharing with us and welcome to Lumberjocks community.

-- My woodwork blog : http://www.isetehtud.pri.ee/blog/

Very nice workbench that suits the space available. Great job Rob!

-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.

Rob, this is a really nice bench. A good bench is an essential tool for most shops. This one should give you years of service.

Thanks for the post.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Thanks for the post, this looks like a fantastic workbench, I def. made some notes on some of it’s features for when the time comes for me to build my bench.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

Nice workbench!

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Well done, you did an excellent job on this bench, congratulations, I am sure you will get years of use and enjoyment from using it.

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"

Great looking bench. Is the hole in the center and the recess on the end for clamping?

-- Father of two sons. Both Eagle Scouts.

I’m surprised it took this long to get a question about the hole in the middle. I need to take an updated picture, but these photos were taken during the final planing and finishing steps of the bench. Basically, there are three removable tool trays that sit on cleats down the middle of the bench. There are about 100 great benefits to this (including the ability to get by with a 12” planer during construction). The tool trays can be placed normally for keeping tools below the bench surface, or inverted to have a completely flat top. Or removed for more clamping options. I also recently found if I shim one of the trays underneath, it also serves as a nice built-in bench hook. Ironically, I had initially planned to design the trays out of the project, but am so glad I kept them. The best part is that when they get full of dust and shavings (a common complaint of tool trays), I can just pick them up and dump the rubbish in the trash in about 5 seconds.

-- blog.newtonwoodworking.com

Great bench. It should serve you for decades.

Might I suggest some type of shelf below the center opening that doesn’t interfere with your ability to clamp here. It is truly a stomach wrenching sound when you hear your favorite bench chisel being rudely introduced to the concrete floor because it was inadvertently shoved off the work surface and into the hole representing the great abyss. And it usually hits cutting edge first. I won’t go through the gory details of personal experience.

But I’m jealous – it’s a great bench!

Yeah, that pretty much also gets addressed when that tool tray is in its place. The trays slide left and right, so even if I need to move a tray to clamp, I can still slide trays right up on either side of the clamp to close up any gap. I have heard that concrete floors and expensive hand planes don’t get along very well.

-- blog.newtonwoodworking.com

Rob, real nice and efficient bench, your idea for the tool tray is great and the clamping concept makes the idea that much better. I’d like to incorporate it into my bench somehow

-- Frank

Rob,
That’s a nice,nice bench.
The wood choise was wise for several reasons, I like the “beffy” look, and all the funcionality that was carefully planned for every part of the bench. I hope you hours and hours of happy woodworking and I believe a second review is due for this wonderful bench after a year or two of use.

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

I’ve been planning for the last couple months to build this bench. I am getting more and more excited about tackling this project. I have a fully outfitted shop, except my only workbench is a Workmate. I need a bench like this very badly! I can’t wait! I have hardly heard a negative comment about this design.

-- Paul, Shelbyville, KY; (Ps 145: 1-2)

I’m lovin’ it… I need one bad. Nice job…

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) †

Nice work!

I’m contemplating building from the same PW plan, and shortening the bench as you have done.

My shop is not only small, but also doubles as the garage, so whatever I build needs to be mobile. I have some reservations about putting such a bench on wheels, and have been looking at the heavy duty (650 lb) poly casters from Grizzly. I’m just not sure it would be stable enough.

-- The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. -- Vincent T. Lombardi

i really have alot of questions about this bench.
do you hook the vice handles as you plane long boards?
is there a way to put a planing stop for width to help with planing wide boards?
do you mind losing the space for your tools under your bench to those stretchers?
what makes this bench special for using power tools?
with the high stretcher bolted dovetail, is the lower stretcher necessary?

I really appreciate the workmanship that went into this. and the trials of working big pieces of ash.
great project

-- Junior -Quality is never an accident-it is the reward for the effort involved.

Some very good questions there. I’m not sure putting casters or wheels on a bench, even if they lock, will leave it sturdy enough for planing. The best option I can think of is wheels that somehow retract, like in a mobile tool stand. The bench in its shortened version even weighs about 300 lbs. But is is designed such that it can be completely knocked down in about 5 minutes, which might not be too bad if you left it set up for an entire weekend for example, and knocked it down during the week.

As for the second set of questions, I have hooked my hip on the front vise handles which is partly due to my small shop, but also the length of the front vise (and why I suggested I may shorten it, which is easy to do with the Veritas). I have not yet found a need to put a planing stop in, as even wider boards when clamped between a bench dog and the end vise are well secured. I haven’t had to plane anything much longer that 5 feet or so (nor can I see that I will likely need to). As for storage space, I firmly subscribe to Chris Schwarz’s axiom that a bench is not a storage device, it is a tool. I have ample tool storage elsewhere in my shop, so I don’t personally have the need. But I also built my bench a bit shorter than average, and if you were inclined to make it taller there would be more room between stretchers to access a shelf. The bottom stretcher is not absolutely necessary I don’t think, but does ensure that it would be impossible for any wracking at all.

I also want to be clear that I didn’t design this bench, I just build it based on the PWW design, so there are likely some questions about the design that I don’t quite have the answers to (at least not yet). The designer, Bob Lang, also has a DVD out where Chris Schwarz grills him on some of the design details, and although I haven’t seen the video yet, it did get the Schwarz seal of approval (and considering he wrote one of the best workbench books out there, that carries some weight). But I liked the idea posted earlier about doing a review a year or so down the line, after I’ve discovered all the hidden secretes or limitations to the design.

-- blog.newtonwoodworking.com

Awesome piece of woodworking!! That’s what my bench tabel wants to be when it grows up!!! What’s the purpose of the hole in the centre?? Are you using brass rods for your dogs? What size…? Just finished building a table for myself and may incorporate some of your ideas into mine…

-- George..." I love the smell of a workshop in the morning!"

Great work, awesome, AAA+. Thanks for posting the link to PWW.

To those thinking of casters, I would mount them on heavy duty hinges so they swing up off the floor leaving the leg on the floor. When you are ready to move, lift the corner and kick the cast back under the leg.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

I just added a few more pictures that show the bench in final completed state (and after a few coats of BLO). These pics show the full spectrum of the placement of the tools trays, which should give a better idea of how this works.

-- blog.newtonwoodworking.com

That’s a great looking bench, I would love to have on like that one day. Great job!

-- People who say it cannot be done should not interup those who are doing it

Very nice work bench. I wish I had it!!!!

-- Davesfunwoodworking

She sure is a beaut! Nice job.

-- Adventure? Heh! Excitement? Heh! A Woodworker craves not these things!

WoW that is great after watching your vid and pww in siked that is a great bench I think you should be able to rip down the middle with a skillsaw If some one not to be named still does that stuff with tools like that.lol

-- projects dont pay,pieces are profitable,production is painfull

Excellent workbench Rob!! I just watched all your videos and I’m pumped about trying one for myself. I like the tool trays in the center now after you went through your decision making logic about whether or not to include them. I’m wanting to add some under bench storage for some of my bigger power tools as my shop shares the garage and space is limited. Plus, I want the bench to be mobile so am also cogitating retractable caster systems so I can move the bench to the wall to get the cars in. You really deserve an award for taking the time to document your progress throughout the project so wood butchers like me can take note of some of the challenges you had. Many thanks and good luck with it as you move on to your other projects.

-- Allen, Wasilla Alaska

Thanks for all the great comments, I really appreciate them.

-- blog.newtonwoodworking.com

Just like Akallen, i started with one video and couldnt stop till I had watched them all! What a great design! I am looking forward to when I can get things together an build myself a bench! I have been researching bench design and have found the same “designed mainly for hand tool use” type benches. I have favorited your project to refer back to and i just might have to go out and buy the PWW edition that has the plans!

Great work! I look forward to seeing your future furniture projects!

Spencer

PS, Do you think if the bench were positioned in the shop with the “non vice” side against the wall it would dramatically affect its versatility?

-- -Spencer, Gilbert Az (http://www.azwoodshop.com)

Rob, Would you (or anyone else reading this) know if there’s a reason why the front vise should be on the left side? Am considering putting it on the right side and then putting the end vise on the left end. It would work better for my tight garage space. I got the plans from PWW and am making plans for drawers under the top as I need additional storage space for my tools. Your work is a great inspiration for me to get going on it.
-Allen

-- Allen, Wasilla Alaska

Allen, while there is no true “right and wrong” for your vise placement, putting the end vise on the right hand side of the bench is fairly typical for a right-handed woodworker. You typically will be planing from right to left, and operating the vise with your right hand. I honestly spend about 80% of my time on the right half of my bench (I would say I use the end vise 10 times for every 1 time I use the front vise). However, this is all configurable based on personal preference and the type of woodworking you do. If you will be using the bench mostly to plane end and side grain, or smoothing out door panes for example, then it might actually make more sense to have the front vise on the right. A few words of caution though, if you do go with the Veritas twin screw, the handles do stick out a few inches, and if you would be spending time on the right side of your bench with that vise, you might catch a hip fairly often (I do even with mine on the left). Also, I would be cautious about changing a fairly tried and true bench configuration due to the work space. In fact, I’d consider reorganizing the workshop to accommodate the most comfortable bench configuration, rather than the other way around. Especially if you plan on using a lot of hand tools, consider the bench to be a central part of the shop configuration. Just my 2 cents.

-- blog.newtonwoodworking.com

Thanks Rob. Your points are well taken. I’m right handed and can see myself using the end vise way more than the front vise. Maybe I’ll keep the front vise on the left and put the workbench on the opposite end of my shop. Incidentally, I’m going to put it on a retractable roller system so I can move it around when I do my big projects. My wife’s car comes first when it comes to garage space in the winter up here. My truck sitting outside is the neighborhood clue that Allen’s making sawdust again….-Allen

-- Allen, Wasilla Alaska