Traditional Workbench

thats a master piece! loved the construction process also, helps to see how it is made.

Thanks for sharing!

question – on the breadboard piece near the face vice – it looks like the breadboard is made of 2 laminated parts – one wide, one narrow – whats the reason behind it?

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

Fantastic piece of woodworking! You wouldn’t actually risk scratching that up by working on it, would you? :-)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Purplev,
I was out of wood to make that block solid, so I took a bunch of pieces of similar wood and made the exterior “skins” in hard maple…take a look on this picture
Charlie, somebody else, somewhere in Santa Rosa CA is scratching it up! I sold the bench last year, I am planning the second one!

-- Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain" Frank Lloyd Wright

[Drooling] What a nice bench [/Drooling]

-- Measure twice, cut once, bang into place

Thanks Doubthead. I thought that might be the reason, but was curious to know if there was maybe a different one. is the next bench similar in design to this one?

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

Doubthead:

It is simply magnificent! Too beautiful to use. I’ve been looking for a bench with this type of tailstock.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I am terribly envious…an absolutely beautiful workbench!!! Great job!

-- When I die I want to go like my grandfather did...peaceful, in his sleep...not screaming like the passengers in his car.

Oh I want one Sooooo bad! Really nice job and great photos.

-- Happy woodworking! http://www.blakeweber.us

Purplev, definitely not. I had the time to try it, to tested. these are the issues I found:
1. It is too big (84” long, 32” deep). New dimensions, 60” x 24
2. This front vise in particular is a hassle, a lot of racking. this one was made in Germany, sold by Lie nielsen. I’ll go for a twin screw vise.
3. The tail vise, as it’s made totally in wood, tends to move when placed trough forces (my dovetails and junctions were VERY tight). After some use, loss alignment with the rest of the bench.
4. The legs are nice looking, solid, but don’t provide any support or way to hold the work. Chris Schwarz has better options in his book.
Thanks all for the comments!

-- Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain" Frank Lloyd Wright

Thanx! , cant wait to see the new beast.

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

SWEEEEET. Thanks for posting the pics I have wanted to build one of these for a long time. Gotta check out the FWW site see if the plans are avaliable there.

-- DocK, WV

man that is one fine bench… would hate to mark it up…great job

-- Todd, Oak Ridge, TN, Hello my name is Todd and I'm a Toolholic, I bought my last tool 10 days, no 4 days, oh heck I bought a tool on the way here! †

HolySchmolies that’s a nice bench! I would reallllllly like to make one of these someday….

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

Thanks for the pro and con on this bench and the vises. With that said the bench is a eye candy gem…thanks for sharing both the bench and review. Blkcherry

It certainly is nice looking… sure hope it works as good as it looks for you! I’m certain it will, looks like a fine bench.

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