Suggestions Designing Work Bench

Make everything thick and heavy so it doesn’t move around.

A lot of people seem to like those pockets in their tables. I still haven’t heard a good reason for it. I would think that it would just end up being a general storage area for tools and chips.

But that’s just me. :-)

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Welcome to lumber Jocks, hope you enjoy the site.There are hundreds of workbenches, vises and styles, depending the type of work you do. As Gary says, consider something heavy and take your time to research about the type of vises that best fit your needs. You are welcome to visit my Flickr, I have pictures about a workbench I built, they can give you some insight.

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

Then again you can try here for a bench that is different.

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Workshop/WorkshopArticle.aspx?id=28530

I built one like it but heavier.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/14382

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

I forgot, this is mine:

It weight 200+ pounds. It doesn’t even vibrate when you hit it. It was my dream workbench.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I did a blog on workbenches because I did not go with a traditional design. It may give you some information to consider one way or another. There are pictures of my various tables. I guess that I call them work tables or assembly tables as opposed to benches.

You can read the blog here: http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/toddc/blog/2359

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I built my first one from southern yellow pine to figure out what I liked without spending a lot of money. Can’t remember where I found the plan online. Is the “Pit for wood shavings” a tool tray? My tool tray collects dust and shavings very nicely. Next bench wont have a tool tray. Instead I’m planning on the under bench storage cabinet. I’m planning on making the Lon Schleining essential workbench with a tail vise instead of the twin screw. It will look just like GaryK’s.

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2882
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=25191
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2762
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2839
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2820
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2714
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2129
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=1985

-- Brain the size of a planet and they have me parking cars.

I agree with John, I’ve just got to have that broad shelf under the bench just to get stuff off from it when I need to. And when I’m removing a bunch of clamps without the shelf, where do you put them, on the floor? For those who hang each one up as they remove it, that’s great. For me everything pretty much stays out until a job is done. The shelf pretty much catches everything. If I had a side pocket to catch stuff it often would overfill either with tools or shavings pretty quickly.

Another thing I find handy sometimes. My bench (link a couple of posts above) has a 1 1/2” top that is fairly deep. I often need to clamp to the bench. The size of the top, especially the depth really assists with that.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

Mine is simple but functional.
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/14133
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/spanky46/workshop

-- spanky46 -- Never enough clamps...Never enough tools...Never enough time.

I have to agree with Gary about the pit. My current bench has one and it just seems to collect tools and dust. And seems to create problems when I want to work on the bench surface or try to clamp a piece across the top. When I redesign it I will eliminate it.

A good resource to use is Christopher Schwarz’s book Workbenches from Design and Theory to Construction and Use. I found it helpful in deciding how to construct a quality bench. The bottom line is to make it heavy. Schwaz’s benches run 350+. But the big thing is to decide what type of work you want to do on the bench.

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

Gday Eddy. I,m in the same boat as you ,my bench plans change at least once a week. There are as many workbench designs as there are woodworkers. You can spend a lot of time listening to experts who will tell you their bench is best because blah blah blah. In the seventies it was Tage Frids European bench, now everyone wants a Roubo thanks to Chris Swartz . Do you make jewelery boxes or Dining tables, do you use hand tools or power tools and so it goes on. I,m leaning towards something like Daniels bench as the removable clamps give you plenty of options, but i want to make it look like something from colonial times, but thats just me. Best advice I can give is ,just knock something up cheap and see if it works. If not you can change it at your leisure until you find what works for you. Then go crazy and build something special. Remember it,s your bench, you have to work there.

-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand

My bench has done wonders for my shop and it was cheap. You also could add a tool or dust slot.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/10446

The bench is a response of your work, as kiwi1969 says, there are as many workbench designs as there are woodworkers…Scott Landis´s book can be a helpful way to realize what kind of workbench you need. I build for myself the European kind, i really like the open vise.

-- Tempus fugit...better work wood!!!

I like the ones like the Roubo and Holtzapffel designs where the legs are flush with the edge of the top.

Gives you a chance to slap a clamp on something there.

Also Large face vice and smaller tail vice. This allows you to hold large boards on the face for when you need to build larger furniture.

I have a shelf under mine that I use to store heavy things to help add to the mass even more.

You could also make a solid top bench and have a removable chip tray that can be stored elsewhere when not needed.

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

Another thought about the ‘new fangled’ bench I built. It’s built of fir so it’s not that expensive. The center is plywood so it’s replaceable. The rest of the top is basically three pieces of 2×4 fir that was cut and planed from 2×12’s. The thing is held together with long drywall screws. If I ever wanted to replace the top after it gets banged up that won’t be an issue either cost or time wise.

Also, I wanted more weight than the original plans entailed so instead of the 2×6 leg structure I opted for 4×4’s for the entire legs and base. Still fir. It’s nice wood to work with.

You might consider the size also. I built my bench a little wider than standard. I don’t have a lot of space for another setup table so making it even 6 inches wider than might be standard allows the bench to comfortably hold clamps for gluing doors and such. When planing, you only use one side or an edge anyway so making it wider does not hinder anything.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

There are two other very good books on workbenches. Scott Landis’ book “The Workbench Book, A Craftsman’s Guide to Workbenches for Every Type of Woodworking” and Lon Schleining’s book “The Workbench, A Complete Guide to Creating Your Perfect Bench”. I have both of them in addition to Chris Schwarz’s book. I am in the planning stages of my bench as well and have spent many enjoyable hours in all three books. Schwarz book delves more into theory and practical application of benches and the other two are more pictorials of many bench styles and applications. I found all three books to be very helpful in determining what I wanted and more importantly, needed in a bench.

I just cut the trees last week that will make up my bench. They are off to the sawmill this week.

Good luck with yours.

Mart

I agree with the above posters when they suggest “Work Bench Books”. I have about all of them and if I could have only one it would be Chris Shwarz’s book, I’ve included the a couple links below.

http://www.lostartpress.com/product/3513e08a-2f07-4616-8f2f-74017f296377.aspx

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ihc9Ma0i6rQC&dq=schwarz+workbench&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=PQxMOqi7hT&sig=vU9ZAGPU9fiW7iAwl09Vd4jPJ3M&hl=en&ei=L-q8SbupH5XFtgf7scn4Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPP1,M1

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

Not sure about others…I have more than one. One even has a hydrolic lift so I can lower some items to get to the top, or raise it to get to the bottom. Just depends on what you want, how much room you have and how creative you want to be.

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas

just my 2 cents but I think a lot of people put more thought into what goes into their bench in terms of design then what comes off it, in terms of product.

I’ve come to think that the “pit”, if thats the correct term, is not so much for collecting shavings but rather it is exactly for what some complain about in that I think the pit “is” there to “collect” tools and that is often a blessing. When building cabinets and furniture and during final assembly the pre-rehearsed method of assembly can become quite “panic modeish” and having to remove tools quickly, place them elsewhere all takes time and when glue is wet, time isnt always your friend so I love a space where I can quickly and quite simply push the crap away and carry on.

I love “dogs” and two vises. One vice works the length and the other works the width and the dogs secure almost everything and anything in place quickly. By adjusting the length of exposed dogs….......you become limited by one thing and thats imagination.

lastly I like a strong bench done with shouldered mortise and tenons where all can be tightened up with bed bolts because if you ever have to move it, they seem like they weigh a tonne and knock down just makes that easy on the back.

Hydraulics….....anything that makes life easier is a good thing and a good way.

Cheers

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

Thank you all for the advice and information. Its a lot to digest. but the comments have shaped my vision for my bench.
”The Pit”- when I first saw it recently I thought that it would make cleaning up easier. Less sweeping the floor. I am still undecided whether this “pit” will benefit me or be a waste of space.

Storage below bench- I have now decided this is essential to my work shop since storage is very scarce.

Material- Framing lumber and pocket hole screws are what I am imagining. Speed and cost.

Function- I am too early in the game to know what I will be building on this bench but I know I will build some cabinets.

Vices- This is where I am a complete noob. Width vice? Length vice? Dogs? I am unfamiliar with these.

Additional advice and information would be appreciated.

-- Edward