Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use...everything it's cracked up to be

When I first looked at this book, it was being touted at the end-all, be-all book of workbenches. Now, in all honesty, I don’t know about that. However, I do know that it is one of the most essential books out there for designing a workbench.

Schwarz details what he feels are the essential requirements for a workbench based on the type of work one does. For example, a power tool only woodworker can get away with an old door on a couple of saw horses. But for those of us who use hand tools, it’s a whole different ball game. We need a bench that will do certain things, and a door just won’t do the trick.

To that end, Chris Schwarz takes you step by step to figure out what kind of wood to use, what kind of vises to use, and is pretty straight forward about the pros and cons of each type. He finishes by giving two types of workbenches one can build that meet the criteria he’s laid out and very detailed plans one can follow to the letter and step by step instruction. However, by that point, one has a better grasp on workbenches and may not actually need the plans.

This book is a must have for anyone who wants to use hand tools and wants a workbench that will meet those specific needs.

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!