# Moravian Workbench



## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Moravian Workbench Build at the Woodwright's School*

I was fortunate to get the opportunity to take a class at Roy Underhill's Woodwright's School to build a portable Moravian workbench. The class instructor is Will Myers along with Roy Underhill. Will is wonderful and patient teacher and demonstrates many hand tool woodworking techniques.










The class is 5 full days of hand tool heaven. There is a material fee which includes all the wood needed to build a complete workbench including a Lake Erie vise screw and hand made vise pin. The wood is custom milled and seasoned. Yellow pine is used for the legs and stretchers. Oak is used for the cross members and thick workbench top. Your material fee will help finance materials for a future class after the wood seasons for a couple years. Will even provides yellow pine boards for the tool tray along with a few slotted screws for the assembly that you do at home.

Will demonstrates each layout and process for cutting the joints required to build the workbench leg assemblies and leg vise. Three joints are required to make the leg assemblies: bridal joint, through mortise and tenon and a lap dovetail. The first couple days are spent preparing these joints. Prior to glueing up the leg assemblies, the through mortise is cut for the stretchers which have the wedged tusk tenon that holds together the workbench frame.










In additional to the hand saws, augers, chisels and mallets, we also used a couple machines to help speed the process. We used a foot powered mortising machine and a rotary auger machine.



















We also used a big T auger to bore the hole for the Lake Erie vise screw. It took some effort but it made quick work of it.










Five days is not enough to finish all the details on the workbench. But you can assemble the main body of the workbench and use it to finish the rest of the details such as the tool tray and vise assembly when you get home. Other accessories and holding fixtures are left up to the builder to decide. This is a later picture but shows what is basically completed at the school. In the picture, I have started work on the planing stop and leather for the vise.










In future posts, I will explain the steps I used to complete the workbench. There is still a lot of work when you get home, but it is a lot of fun!


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## G5Flyr (Aug 27, 2013)

TomHitch said:


> *Moravian Workbench Build at the Woodwright's School*
> 
> I was fortunate to get the opportunity to take a class at Roy Underhill's Woodwright's School to build a portable Moravian workbench. The class instructor is Will Myers along with Roy Underhill. Will is wonderful and patient teacher and demonstrates many hand tool woodworking techniques.
> 
> ...


01/14/2021:

Congratulations Tom! I am envious (in a nice way). This class is on my "wish list." Time and money are the hindrances. I haven't looked at any of of the other entries in this series (yet) but I am planning on studying EVERY ONE!

Thanks for the insights to the realities of the class in this post. In the class description Roy says the class is an intensive five days and a lot of hard work but it's nice to hear it from someone who actually took the class.

I've never met Will Meyers but I have had the honor of meeting Roy every time I've visited Ed's tool store. Is that an amazing room or what!?

Stay safe. Stay healthy.


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Setting up the Vise Part 1: The garter*

The first thing that you probably want to do when you get home is set up the leg vise. A mortise needs to be cut in the side of the vise chop to insert a garter which is a piece of wood that fits into a groove at the vise hub. I laid out the mortise 7/8" from the face of the vice chop. The mortise is 3/8" wide and 1-1/2" long. It needs to be aligned with the center of the vise hole.










Then I chopped out the mortise with a 3/8" mortising chisel all the way through to the vise hole. The air dried oak cut beautifully with virtually no tear out.



















Next I made the garter which is about 4" long and 3/8" x 1-1/2". The radius in the end is 1" to fit against the groove in the vise hub.





































Now the vise screw hub will be held in place when backing out the screw.










Next up will be setting up the parallel guide.


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## G5Flyr (Aug 27, 2013)

TomHitch said:


> *Setting up the Vise Part 1: The garter*
> 
> The first thing that you probably want to do when you get home is set up the leg vise. A mortise needs to be cut in the side of the vise chop to insert a garter which is a piece of wood that fits into a groove at the vise hub. I laid out the mortise 7/8" from the face of the vice chop. The mortise is 3/8" wide and 1-1/2" long. It needs to be aligned with the center of the vise hole.
> 
> ...


01/14/2021:

This is only the second post but already I am seeing that it is going to be the perfect supplement to the video that Will and Josh Farnsworth (Wood and Shop) made.


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

TomHitch said:


> *Setting up the Vise Part 1: The garter*
> 
> The first thing that you probably want to do when you get home is set up the leg vise. A mortise needs to be cut in the side of the vise chop to insert a garter which is a piece of wood that fits into a groove at the vise hub. I laid out the mortise 7/8" from the face of the vice chop. The mortise is 3/8" wide and 1-1/2" long. It needs to be aligned with the center of the vise hole.
> 
> ...


G5Flyr - Glad you are enjoying it. It was one my favorite projects and very useful!


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Setting up the Vise Part 2: The parallel guide*

The parallel guide is the part at the bottom of the vise that has a pin inserted to lever against. The guide is made of oak that is 7/8" x 2" and 16" long. The guide slides in a mortise cut into the vise support board between the stretcher and the workbench top.

The guide is mortise and tenoned into the vise chop at the school, but it is not assembled until you get home to make it easier to transport. The mortise is 1-1/2" x 7/8". This allows 1/4" shoulders on the top and bottom of the parallel guide.

The first step is to bore the 3/8" holes for the vise pin. The holes start 1/2" from the rear face of the vise chop and alternate every 1/2" top and bottom. The pin was a bit snug so I rasped out the holes a bit.



















Next I glued and wedged the guide into the vise chop.



















Now the vise can be mounted effectively onto the workbench and the vise nut can be centered and attached with two wood screws to the back of the vise support board as shown.




























Now just mark and cut off the vise chop even with the top of the workbench. It can be rounded over with a hand plane.




























Now it is a working vise!


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## BlueNo2 (Mar 20, 2014)

TomHitch said:


> *Setting up the Vise Part 2: The parallel guide*
> 
> The parallel guide is the part at the bottom of the vise that has a pin inserted to lever against. The guide is made of oak that is 7/8" x 2" and 16" long. The guide slides in a mortise cut into the vise support board between the stretcher and the workbench top.
> 
> ...


Thanks for great documentation and photos. In middle of my own build -A more Protracted affair!


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Turning the vise screw*

Now that the vise is operational, I wanted to turn a more pleasing shape on the vise hub. The challenge is locating the turning centers for the lathe. On the screw end, there were marks that appeared to be centered, so I could use that for the drive center.


















However, on the hub side, it was just a smooth flat surface. I used a simple method to locate a good center. I set the hub end on a piece of plywood and nailed four brackets around the hub to restrain it from moving laterally. Then I measured to find a center location between the brackets and drove a nail through the board. I removed the nail and drove it back in from underneath the board until the point just poked through the topside.



















Then I set the hub between the brackets and gave it a spin. This scratched a very small circle which was enough to locate a good center. with an awl.



















Then it set it in the lathe and turned the hub to my desired shape. I am still fairly new to turning so I took a fairly conservative approach. I may go back on the lathe at a later time to embellish it a bit more.





































I like that way the ends look with the lathe center marks and I left a small area so you can still see the Lake Erie makers mark.

The tommy bar is a piece of hickory prepared by Roy Underhill as a sort of parting gift from the Woodwright's school. Roy used a drawknife and rounding plane to shape the handle. I whittled a couple pieces of maple for the ends and pressed them into a 3/8" hole. That's is a real special piece for me.


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## MagicalMichael (Dec 26, 2016)

TomHitch said:


> *Turning the vise screw*
> 
> Now that the vise is operational, I wanted to turn a more pleasing shape on the vise hub. The challenge is locating the turning centers for the lathe. On the screw end, there were marks that appeared to be centered, so I could use that for the drive center.
> 
> ...


Very nicely done. I have just discovered and have been reading this blog series. It looks like you had great fun building this. I hope you felt a sense of oneness with the tools and personal satisfaction with the process… you should.

BTW, your blog lead me to do a little research on how the word garter got applied to the constraint around the screw. The Oxford English Dictionary of Etymology merely identifies it as a band that goes around the leg, either above or below the knee. It is probably Celtic in origin and connected to "gar" the Celtic for leg. I suppose the big wooden screws bear a resemblance to a leg, but its still a bit of a stretch.

Michael


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

TomHitch said:


> *Turning the vise screw*
> 
> Now that the vise is operational, I wanted to turn a more pleasing shape on the vise hub. The challenge is locating the turning centers for the lathe. On the screw end, there were marks that appeared to be centered, so I could use that for the drive center.
> 
> ...


Hi Michael. Well, this type of vise is often attached directly to the leg of the workbench and is sometimes called a leg vise. So I think your research is spot on. The garter is on the leg… Tom


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Vise leather*

It is helpful to add leather to the vise jaws. It greatly improves holding the work when using hand tools.

The side of the workbench top is one of the vise jaws. I held off adding finish to the top and vice until I got the leather installed. I didn't want the finish to interfere with adhering the leather. I bought a couple pieces of leather from the craft store. It's a little pricey, but it was readily available and appropriately sized.










To clamp the leather in the vice, I wanted to have even pressure. In my setup, I found that 1/2" plywood clamped in the vice with the first hole in the guide gave nice even clamping pressure against the top. I used a scrap of plywood and waxed and polished it on both sides to avoid it sticking to any glue that might come into contact.










You want the rough side of the leather against your work, so I glue the smooth side to the top and vice chop. First I roughed up the smooth side of the leather with a card scraper and sandpaper. I painted Titebond 3 on the leather and on the surface of the top and let it soak in a bit for a few minutes. Then I applied just the one piece for the top and clamped it for 5 minutes. It may want to float a little bit and you have better control just glueing one piece at a time.










Once it was set in place and the excess glue squeezed out, I did the same for the chop side.










Then I cleaned off the squeezed out glue and let it set up over night under modest clamp pressure. I left the leather on the top so that it extended beyond the vice sides. I cut the chop leather so that it was flush with the sides of the chop while it was still wet and clamped in final position. Also, I opened up the vice occasionally during the first half hour to make sure the plywood was not getting glued to the any of the leather surfaces.



















That is really the final step on the vise. Now I can start adding finish to the top and vise parts which will be Danish oil and Danish oil/Poly mix. The working vise parts will also get a coat of wax to facilitate smooth operation.

Next I will build the tool tray…


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Building the Tool Tray*

I have seen that some people are not too fond of workbench tool trays or tool wells. Most of the complaints are that it is hard to keep organized and it collects a lot of shavings and debris from the work. I can certainly understand those concerns. For a power tool woodworker, it may be more useful to have a bigger work holding surface to clamp down the work. But I am pretty much a hand tool woodworker, and the tool tray is a help to keep a variety of tools at hand, but out of the way, below the work surface and protected from falling on the floor.

On the Moravian workbench, I think it is a very nice detail. Since the workbench top is quite thick on Will Myers' design, the tool tray is actually fairly deep, almost 3 inches. One of the really nice features is that the tool tray is removable. So if it gets too dirty, you can just pull out the tools, remove the tray and dump out the debris occasionally. The back of the tray is set at the same height as the workbench top, so it helps to support the work across the bench.

The design is straightforward with a bottom board that is bracketed on three sides. There are many ways to join these boards like rabbets and nails or dowels. On Will Myers' design, the corners are dovetailed and the bottom board is rabbeted and set into a groove in the sides. Will provided #1 yellow pine boards for the construction at home.

I decided to use dovetails, grooves and rabbets. The first step was to cut and trim the boards to the appropriate size to fit on the workbench frame. I immediately found a complication in that the board for my back piece had bowed significantly in the time since I brought it home. In this picture, the back board is sitting on the frame and you can see the board arcing above the workbench top.










Since the top is so thick, there really isn't much extra to trim off of the back piece to fix this. Under normal circumstances, I would use another board, but I didn't have that option if I wanted to use yellow pine in keeping with the rest of the bench. I live in NJ and I don't really have yellow pine available here. I marked off the waste using the top as the reference and I planed off the top of the board with a jack plane to match the bench top.

The next complication was to cut the groove in the back piece for the bottom board. The bottom of the back piece was also bowed, so I did not have a straight edge to fence against for the plow plan. My big joinery bench has a fairly straight front so I used that. I had to add an extension to the plow plane fence to reach down to the bench top. I could have also pinned a straight board to the underside to fence against. Anyway, it worked and I cut a straight groove on a bowed board.



















The dovetailing went fine, but I have no experience doing this in yellow pine. You need a razor sharp chisel edge to get clean cuts. I guess that goes without saying. Make sure you get all your pieces square and true else the assembly will be twisted. I cut the tails first on the back piece. I removed the waste with a coping saw and chisel. You have to remember to leave a little fillet for the groove, or you will need to plug it later.





































Next I prepare the bottom board, cutting it to length and accounting for the side thickness and groove depth. I cut it roughly to width, leaving a bit extra for scribing against the workbench top after assembly. I rabbeted the bottom board to fit into the groove on the sides. My grooves are 3/8" wide and 3/8" deep, so a cut a corresponding rabbet in the bottom board to fit that. You have to remember to cut the rabbet from the underside of the bottom board. For some reason, that can be hard to remember.



















The bottom is glued into the long groove on the back piece and then a wood screw holds the front of the sides in place. Then it is just a matter of scribing and trimming against the back of the workbench top.










The last step is to add the dowels to hold the tool tray in place. This is fairly simple. I marked off the location of the dowel locations so that they were above the cross members and spaced equally front and back. I clamped the tool tray across the top and bore the holes through the bottom and into the crossmember with a brace and bit. The dowels are 1/2" oak and about 2" long. The rear hole in the cross member is elongated with a chisel to allow for expansion and contraction of the bottom board. The dowel is only glued to the tool tray bottom board. You may need to chamfer and ease the dowels with some sandpaper so that they slide in and out of the holes without binding too much. I left the dowels proud of the bottom board so they could be planed off flush.


















That's it for the tool tray. I will work on some storage and work holding devices over the next couple weeks.


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## siggykc (Jul 22, 2019)

TomHitch said:


> *Building the Tool Tray*
> 
> I have seen that some people are not too fond of workbench tool trays or tool wells. Most of the complaints are that it is hard to keep organized and it collects a lot of shavings and debris from the work. I can certainly understand those concerns. For a power tool woodworker, it may be more useful to have a bigger work holding surface to clamp down the work. But I am pretty much a hand tool woodworker, and the tool tray is a help to keep a variety of tools at hand, but out of the way, below the work surface and protected from falling on the floor.
> 
> ...


Tom,

This is really a wonderful build. I have been reading it all so intently. I'm so stunned with how beautiful the Yellow Pine has come up (we dont have it here in Australia). The dovetails and the little fillet are such wonderful details - you must be glad that you opted not to take any shortcuts here. It really looks to have paid off!

I cant wait for further posts…..and will stay tuned for them.
Best of luck with the rest of the build, and keep that camera going!

Cheers,
Siggy


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

TomHitch said:


> *Building the Tool Tray*
> 
> I have seen that some people are not too fond of workbench tool trays or tool wells. Most of the complaints are that it is hard to keep organized and it collects a lot of shavings and debris from the work. I can certainly understand those concerns. For a power tool woodworker, it may be more useful to have a bigger work holding surface to clamp down the work. But I am pretty much a hand tool woodworker, and the tool tray is a help to keep a variety of tools at hand, but out of the way, below the work surface and protected from falling on the floor.
> 
> ...


Thanks Siggy. It's a fun project. The yellow pine is new to me, but it does look nice with the dovetailed tool tray. More to come…


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## Sylvain (Jul 23, 2011)

TomHitch said:


> *Building the Tool Tray*
> 
> I have seen that some people are not too fond of workbench tool trays or tool wells. Most of the complaints are that it is hard to keep organized and it collects a lot of shavings and debris from the work. I can certainly understand those concerns. For a power tool woodworker, it may be more useful to have a bigger work holding surface to clamp down the work. But I am pretty much a hand tool woodworker, and the tool tray is a help to keep a variety of tools at hand, but out of the way, below the work surface and protected from falling on the floor.
> 
> ...


Nice way to avoid the gap due to the groove.
Your present workbench looks like a Paul Sellers one.


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

TomHitch said:


> *Building the Tool Tray*
> 
> I have seen that some people are not too fond of workbench tool trays or tool wells. Most of the complaints are that it is hard to keep organized and it collects a lot of shavings and debris from the work. I can certainly understand those concerns. For a power tool woodworker, it may be more useful to have a bigger work holding surface to clamp down the work. But I am pretty much a hand tool woodworker, and the tool tray is a help to keep a variety of tools at hand, but out of the way, below the work surface and protected from falling on the floor.
> 
> ...


Yes, my joinery bench is a Paul Sellers style. It's pretty good for joinery, but mine is not as good for bigger builds and heavier planing. Sits a little bit high and it's built against a wall which limits work holding. My shop is really small. The Moravian bench will be in a detached garage, but no heat or cooling there. At least for the time.being….


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Building the Drawer*

I enjoy having a workbench drawer to store various hand tools such as marking gauges, knife, try square, dovetail saw, chisel, etc. Storing tools in a wood box of some sort helps protect the them from effects of moisture and moderates temperature changes to avoid the effects of condensation. My workbench is not currently in a climate controlled shop, so I think this is important so that I may keep a small kit of tools with the bench.

The original Moravian workbench did not have a drawer and neither did the version from Will Myers. But many old style workbenches (including other Moravian workbenches) include a drawer, so it is in keeping with the tradition. The concern for this drawer is that it needs to be easily removable so as not to interfere with the portability of the workbench. Also, it needs to be appropriately sized and positioned to avoid interfering with work holding such as holdfasts and clamps.

The drawer is made from 3/4" stock. The front is red oak and the rest is white pine. The overall outside dimensions are 4" high, 12" wide and 18" long. It is a pretty basic drawer with half blind dovetails at the front and through dovetails at the back. The bottom is pine boards that are beveled in the old tradition. I made the drawer completely with hand tools.

The first step is to groove the sides. I plowed a 1/4" groove to 5/16" deep. The groove is positioned so that the top of the groove is 3/4" from the bottom edge so as to accommodate the 3/4" pine bottom. I groove the pine sides and back as one long piece. I prefer doing it this way and cutting it into pieces so that I may trim off any imperfections in the groove. This can happen sometimes if you end up cutting against the grain. I had good luck with this piece.




























I make sure that I plane all my pieces to be very square and true. The bottom of the back piece gets cut off at the top of the groove to allow sliding the bottom boards into place and providing for wood expansion. I mark the pieces with a cutting gauge and I cut a shallow rabbet to help with positioning the pieces when transferring the dovetail marks. This is particularly helpful when marking the half blinds. The rabbet is only about 1/32" deep. I deepen the cutting gauge line with a knife and trim and level the rabbet with a chisel and router plane.





































Once this is done, it is a straightforward process to cut the dovetails. I cut the tails first and then transfer to the front and back pieces to cut the pins. I often cut drawer dovetails quite quickly because they are not typically seen and a couple gaps don't really bother me. In fact, I think it looks more authentic that way. But this drawer will be hanging out in the open, so I take a bit more time to have a nice fit. Cutting out the tail recesses for the half blind in the front can be a bit of a pain in the corners. A skew chisel can really help with that. You don't need to buy a fancy chisel though. I have an old square side 1/4" Butcher chisel that I ground a skew bevel and honed. It works fantastically for this.























































The bottom is made from two wide pieces of pine. I bevel down the front and sides to fit into the 1/4" grooves. I remove a lot of material with a wide chisel and clean it up with a bench plane.




























Finally, I glue it up. The bottom only gets glued at the front so that it can expand to the back as needed. I also glued the joint between the bottom boards. Once it is dry, I plane off the dovetails and sides and I check the drawer for twist with winding sticks. I need the top of the drawer to be level and true because it will hang from the top. I level off the top with a bench plane as needed. It only required minor adjustment and cleanup in this case.










Next I will hang the drawer on the workbench


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Installing the drawer*

The drawer will hang from the underside of the oak workbench top and it will extend out under the tool tray. I set the drawer back about 1" from the front of the bench so as to have some clamping surface available without removing the drawer. Since the top is 14" deep, that allows for about 13" of drawer runner mounted to the under side of the top. The drawer is 18" long, so it will extend under the tool tray by about 5-6 inches without support. I don't think this will be a problem. I could have extended the drawer runners beyond the back of the bench top, but I am concerned that this could get in the way when transporting the workbench. The top is big and heavy, so having sticks of wood sticking out is probably not a good idea. I think it will have plenty of support with the runners just under the bench top.

The drawer runners (slides) are made from oak. I glued and screwed oak runners on the drawer sides. The runners are 3/4" x 3/4".










I added about 1-1/2" extension off the back of the drawer as extra support for when the drawer is pulled out and gives a little extra to access the back of the drawer without dropping the drawer on my toe. You may notice that my screws were a bit too long and poked through the sides. I purchased 1-1/2" wood screws instead of 1-1/4". Stuff happens on a big project and I used them anyway. I filed the points off flush to the wood. You can't even feel them. That will remind be to be more careful in the future.

Next I made the oak runners for under the bench top. I glued and screwed a 3/4" x 1-1/2" piece to a 3/4" x 3/4" piece into an L shape. This gets screwed to the underside of the workbench top. This is cross grain so I enlarged the holes toward the back end of the runners to give the top some room to move. I don't know if that is enough, but time will tell. It's just a workbench anyway.










Now the drawer can slide in and I refine the fit with a hand plane so that it slides smooth and easy. I added a stop to the underside of the tool tray.




























On that last picture, there is a plant stand behind the bench, but it kind of looks like there is hook under the drawer.

I think the drawer is nice addition on this workbench. It is easily removed and does not impact the portability of the workbench. I do not intend to add a knob to the drawer. I don't think it is necessary. You can easily pull from under the bottom edge of the drawer. But if you wanted one, an iron ring pull is a nice addition. Brass would look out of place on this workbench. Hmm, maybe I will add one…

Next I will add a lower shelf across the stretchers.


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## EddardFisher (May 15, 2019)

TomHitch said:


> *Installing the drawer*
> 
> The drawer will hang from the underside of the oak workbench top and it will extend out under the tool tray. I set the drawer back about 1" from the front of the bench so as to have some clamping surface available without removing the drawer. Since the top is 14" deep, that allows for about 13" of drawer runner mounted to the under side of the top. The drawer is 18" long, so it will extend under the tool tray by about 5-6 inches without support. I don't think this will be a problem. I could have extended the drawer runners beyond the back of the bench top, but I am concerned that this could get in the way when transporting the workbench. The top is big and heavy, so having sticks of wood sticking out is probably not a good idea. I think it will have plenty of support with the runners just under the bench top.
> 
> ...


A good idea to install a box, you need to remember this.


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## Vuddha29 (Apr 3, 2021)

TomHitch said:


> *Installing the drawer*
> 
> The drawer will hang from the underside of the oak workbench top and it will extend out under the tool tray. I set the drawer back about 1" from the front of the bench so as to have some clamping surface available without removing the drawer. Since the top is 14" deep, that allows for about 13" of drawer runner mounted to the under side of the top. The drawer is 18" long, so it will extend under the tool tray by about 5-6 inches without support. I don't think this will be a problem. I could have extended the drawer runners beyond the back of the bench top, but I am concerned that this could get in the way when transporting the workbench. The top is big and heavy, so having sticks of wood sticking out is probably not a good idea. I think it will have plenty of support with the runners just under the bench top.
> 
> ...


Love the idea of the drawer! How's it working out for you?


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

TomHitch said:


> *Installing the drawer*
> 
> The drawer will hang from the underside of the oak workbench top and it will extend out under the tool tray. I set the drawer back about 1" from the front of the bench so as to have some clamping surface available without removing the drawer. Since the top is 14" deep, that allows for about 13" of drawer runner mounted to the under side of the top. The drawer is 18" long, so it will extend under the tool tray by about 5-6 inches without support. I don't think this will be a problem. I could have extended the drawer runners beyond the back of the bench top, but I am concerned that this could get in the way when transporting the workbench. The top is big and heavy, so having sticks of wood sticking out is probably not a good idea. I think it will have plenty of support with the runners just under the bench top.
> 
> ...


The drawer is great. I use it to hold loose tools. I did not add dividers, but you could if you like that. Thanks for reading.


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*A Shelf*

The Moravian workbench is really designed for use with hand tools. Having a shelf below the bench is helpful to set some tools and keep larger items out of the way. The original example at Old Salem had a simple shelf which was a board set on the stretchers.










I also want a shelf on my workbench but it needs to be removable to maintain the portability of the workbench. I designed my own shelf so that it can be easily removed and carried by one person. It is bracketed on three sides to help keep items from falling off when banging on the workbench. It has two battens on the bottom to help keep it flat and center it across the stretchers. The size is roughly 24" deep by 26" wide. The width was mostly determined by the bottom boards. I used 3/4" by 9" white pine boards for the bottom. I decided to tongue and groove the boards because I have a vintage Stanley swing arm T&G plane which is fun to use and it is a traditional glue joint for shelving. It's a good idea to straighten and joint the boards before the tongue and grooving. I did that with a jack plane.



















For the sides, I used a single dovetail on the corners to join the boards. The sides on mine are 2-1/2" tall.




























I considered grooving the sides and rabbeting the bottom like I did on the tool tray, but that just seemed overkill. Also, the grain for the bottom boards runs front to back across the stretchers which creates a pretty wide area for wood movement. It seemed like a lot of expansion and contraction to accommodate in the sides. So I decided to just nail the sides on from under the bottom without any glue. I predrilled the nail holes for the back piece with some oversized to help accommodate wood movement in the bottom. For fun, I used traditional cut box nails. I think they hold better than wire nails also. Once it was nailed together, I planed off the extra on the sides and back of the bottom.



















The last step was to add the battens to the bottom. I used an off cut of yellow pine from the tool tray. It is screwed to the underside of the bottom. The center screw is tight and the two end screws are in oversized (elongated) holes and they are not cinched down too tight so as to allow for some expansion in the bottom. I am told the pine does not move as much as other woods, but we'll see. Really no big deal anyway considering it is a workbench shelf and it will get pretty beat up over time. It just needs to stay together.





































That pretty much concludes the "storage" areas for my workbench. Now I have the tool tray, a drawer and a shelf to keep my tools organized and off the work surface.

Next up is a traditional planing stop for holding the work.


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## siggykc (Jul 22, 2019)

TomHitch said:


> *A Shelf*
> 
> The Moravian workbench is really designed for use with hand tools. Having a shelf below the bench is helpful to set some tools and keep larger items out of the way. The original example at Old Salem had a simple shelf which was a board set on the stretchers.
> 
> ...


Hey Tom,
Yet again, another wonderful post. I am thoroughly enjoying this fabulous build. Such a striking bench and great display of thought and skill!

Best regards from Australia,
Siggy


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*The Iron Planing Stop*

The original Moravian workbench has a couple of square holes where planing stops were installed during its lifetime. On Will Myers design, he installed a custom tail vise setup with dog holes along the front of the bench. I like this setup very much and I may install something similar someday, but for now I just want a traditional iron planing stop in keeping with the historical workbench. I think that will work fine as I plan to use the workbench for breaking down and planing bigger stock for a project. And also for larger carpentry projects. As you can see in my profile, I have a joinery bench and it already has an end vise and dogging system. So I am not in great need for that right now. If I ever move, the Moravian workbench is the one that will move with me and then I may want to add the dogging system to further increase the usability of the workbench.

I decided to use an iron planing stop from a blacksmith. During the visit to the Woodwright's school, the class made a visit to Peter Ross's workshop and he demonstrated making the iron planing stop. It was really awesome. Peter is a historian and I am not sure that he really wants to be in the tool business at this stage of his career. I would have loved to get a planing stop from Peter, but I guess I wasn't comfortable to pester him about it. So I found another blacksmith on Etsy and he made a custom planing stop for me to my specs. He now offers it on his Etsy site as a standard item. It was made by Eric Dennis at Roundhouse Blacksmith. Here is a link to the listing if you want to buy one. Eric is quite a craftsman and he is quite friendly. He will also customize if needed. This is just a friendly recommendation, I am not on Eric's payroll.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/738230731/workbench-planing-stop-traditional










These iron stops are usually installed into a block of wood that is tightly fit into the square hole in the bench top. The block of wood can be knocked up and down with a mallet to adjust the height of the planing stop. I split out a billet from a piece of oak firewood.










Then I planed the piece as square and true as possible, checking it for any twist with the winding sticks.



















Then I cut the ends to length which is about 12" and chamfered the corners.




























Next I mortised out the hole in the top of the workbench. It was a bit nerve racking to cut into that beautiful thick oak top, but it had to be done. I laid out the location and marked off the size from the block of wood which is about 2-1/4" square. The block is located about 3" left of the vise and 3" from the front of the top. I bored out the waste with an auger but only from the top. I was not confident that the top was square enough to locate the hole on the bottom of the bench. I angled the corner holes ever so slightly toward the center and figured I would need to do significantly more chisel work from the bottom to clear out the waste. It worked out fine. It was a lot of chiseling and testing to get a tight fit that was reasonably plumb to the workbench top. You can actually use the block of wood as a planing stop if you are so inclined. It works pretty well.














































Now came the hard part, creating the tapered mortise for the stem of the planing stop in the block of oak. The stem on the stop has a modest taper from about 5/8" square at the top down to about 1/2" square at the bottom. I laid out the location of the mortise and I very carefully bored a 1/2" hole to the depth of the stem, about 4" deep. Then I pared out the mortise with a long bevel edged chisel. The one I used was an old Stanley socket chisel, which was sturdy enough for the mallet but thin enough for paring down inside the deep mortise. I simply worked it down with a lot of testing until the stem was fitting snugly, but not enough to split the oak block. It was a bit tedious and took about 45 minutes.














































Then I chiseled out to recess the blade into the block somewhat. The iron stop is hand made and there is some variance to the dimensions, so it is a matter of again working down the recess and testing with the iron stop. I left the top of the iron a little bit proud of the block surface. Then I set the block and iron into the work bench and chiseled out a corresponding recess into the bench top for the blade so that it can be set completely flush to bench when not in use.














































I have noticed a little bit of shrinkage in my wood block, it doesn't fit as tightly as before. If it loosens too much, I can add a thin veneer to tighten it up, or create a new block. Time will tell. It's fine for now.

Next I will finish up with some work holding details and examples.


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## lightweightladylefty (Mar 27, 2008)

TomHitch said:


> *The Iron Planing Stop*
> 
> The original Moravian workbench has a couple of square holes where planing stops were installed during its lifetime. On Will Myers design, he installed a custom tail vise setup with dog holes along the front of the bench. I like this setup very much and I may install something similar someday, but for now I just want a traditional iron planing stop in keeping with the historical workbench. I think that will work fine as I plan to use the workbench for breaking down and planing bigger stock for a project. And also for larger carpentry projects. As you can see in my profile, I have a joinery bench and it already has an end vise and dogging system. So I am not in great need for that right now. If I ever move, the Moravian workbench is the one that will move with me and then I may want to add the dogging system to further increase the usability of the workbench.
> 
> ...


Tom,

Nice addition to the workbench and a terrific explanation of the steps to complete it. Thanks for sharing.

L/W


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Simple Work Holding*

I have been using the Moravian workbench for several months now. At first, I was not all that comfortable with the work holding methods, mainly because I have never used a leg vise. This was compounded by the leg vise needing to "break in" for a while. At first, it tended to be finicky moving it into position and would require nudging it with both hands. Also, I could not seem to find the best pin location for the size of the work piece and I would have to readjust. I have been using a quick release steel vise for several years which is easy to manipulate with one hand and it is very quick to move into position. By comparison, the leg vise requires a bit more manipulation and there is more stooping down to adjust. After while, the leg vise loosened up and stopped binding so that I can just wind it out to position with one hand and I got the hang of picking the right hole in the guide to align with the workpiece. Basically, I wind out the vise until the workpiece will just fit in the jaw and then wind it out a little more until the next hole in the guide opens up and insert the pin in that hole. Works every time.










The leg vise has some nice advantages. It can accommodate very large workpieces. It opens to at least 12 " and it can handle wide boards since the screw is down low in the vise. It is good at handling awkward shaped and large pieces since it is big and accommodates some racking. Also, it has tremendous clamping pressure and with the leather, the workpiece does not move. I can hold long boards without supports and they stay in place.



















On the original Moravian workbench, it appears that they only used planing stops and the vise for work holding. When Will Myers did his version, he added a custom made tail vise with dog holes along the front of the workbench. It is a real nice setup. He also added one or two holes for a holdfast which is very useful.

I decided to keep the work holding fairly simplistic on my Moravian workbench. For now, I am going to skip the tail vise option on this workbench. I have one on my other workbench and it is helpful at times, but I don't use it all that often. For years I made due with a wood screw for a stop and a holdfast or clamp. Also, I am right handed and I want to be able to saw off the end of the workbench on the right side without a vise getting in the way. I really wanted the Moravian workbench for larger scale wood preparation and carpentry, but also for the occasional joinery project. For hand tool woodworking, the main tasks that I need to accommodate are:

1. Breaking down stock with the saw.
2. Cleaning up face and edge surfaces with the plane.
3. Joinery cuts with hand planes (rabbit, groove, etc.)
4. Basic work holding for joinery tasks (dovetails, dados, etc.) and wood shaping

The main work holding devices that I have on my Moravian workbench are the leg vise, the planing stop and the holdfast. Additionally, I can use a couple appliances such as the bench hook, sticking board and clamps where needed. The holdfast comes into play quite a bit. My holdfast has an 8" reach and I laid out my holes along the back of the workbench 3" from the edge. The main holes are spaced 16" apart and I have a hole 6" from each end to help with holding work for sawing off the end. Here is the layout that I established which also accommodates the drawer which I was careful to place.










So far, this arrangement with the holes along the back has worked out pretty well. They are back far enough that they do not interfere with the workpiece in the bench hook. So I can use the holdfast to help clamp the work for cutting or chiseling on the bench hook. Not a huge deal, but a nice thing sometimes. Also, the holdfast can reach to about 3" from the front edge, so I have pretty good coverage for holding work to the bench top. I like to avoid too many holes in my workbench and this arrangement seems pretty reasonable without turning the top into Swiss cheese.



















*Sawing*

As I noted earlier, sawing off the end of the bench was a priority for me. The 6" hole from the end is a great help to hold the wood for cross cutting and breaking down stock.










Ripping boards can be done along the front of the work bench and held with the holdfast. A couple holdfasts would be helpful for longer boards.










Shorter pieces can be ripped in the vise as well which opens up to 12".










Smaller boards can be crosscut on the bench hook as shown earlier or in the vise as well.

*Planing Stock*

This workbench works great for planing boards. Face planing should really be done on the bench top, although I have seen it done in the vice as well for more modest sized pieces. For the most part I will face plane against the planing stop, moving the board as needed to keep it in place. If I need to go cross grain to flatten a wide board, I will use the holdfast to help keep it in place. The only issue is that you may need to move the holdfast around to different spots during the flattening process. Once it is flat, the holdfast can be removed and plane with the grain against the bench stop to clean it up. I will be honest and say that I don't like this kind of work all that much and I try to avoid it by obtaining good stock to begin. Then I can just clean up the surfaces to smooth them instead of working them down to dimension.

*NOTE*: I tried using a doe's foot or notched batten to hold the board for flattening across the grain. It really did not work very well for me because the top is only 14" wide and it left only a little room to clamp the batten at an angle with a holdfast. I think it could work if you are willing to add a bunch more holes in the top so as to find a suitable position for the holdfast, but I couldn't go there. I abandoned the idea.



















Planing the edge of boards works fine in the vise for smaller pieces.










Planing a long, wide board works well if you rest the far end on the holdfast in the leg.










Planing a long narrow board works well using the holdfast in the leg to clamp it to the top. The 8" reach on the holdfast is helpful here.










*Joinery*

Planing grooves and rebates are a basic need for making boxes, drawers and doors. Planing a groove in a wide board is easy against the planing stop with a holdfast. The same setup can be done for a rebate.










Cutting a groove for a narrow board is a little less straight forward. It works pretty well to use a board across the planing stop to create a stop near the front of the bench. Clamping a long 2×4 with a couple holdfasts gives a fence to set the set the work against. With the work constrained, the groove can be cut without much trouble, but you can only push against the stop and then lift off to restart the cut, else the board will move back. I do not find this to be a problem at all.










Cutting a groove or rabbet in the edge of a narrow board for a cabinet door frame works pretty well in the vise if the piece is at least 2" wide to allow for the fence on the plane.










And of course, the vise is best used for holding the work when cutting dovetails.










I think that covers most of the basic workholding that I need. Every project seems to have some sort of work holding challenge if you are using hand tools, so a certain amount of ingenuity is required. I actually find that interesting. Maybe some day I will add the tail vise or add more dog holes. Time will tell…


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## xhaleaj (Mar 28, 2019)

TomHitch said:


> *Simple Work Holding*
> 
> I have been using the Moravian workbench for several months now. At first, I was not all that comfortable with the work holding methods, mainly because I have never used a leg vise. This was compounded by the leg vise needing to "break in" for a while. At first, it tended to be finicky moving it into position and would require nudging it with both hands. Also, I could not seem to find the best pin location for the size of the work piece and I would have to readjust. I have been using a quick release steel vise for several years which is easy to manipulate with one hand and it is very quick to move into position. By comparison, the leg vise requires a bit more manipulation and there is more stooping down to adjust. After while, the leg vise loosened up and stopped binding so that I can just wind it out to position with one hand and I got the hang of picking the right hole in the guide to align with the workpiece. Basically, I wind out the vise until the workpiece will just fit in the jaw and then wind it out a little more until the next hole in the guide opens up and insert the pin in that hole. Works every time.
> 
> ...


This is an awesome write-up. Thanks for taking the time and being so detailed. I just started the top for my moravian bench a couple of days ago. I am really excited about the utility of this style of bench.


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

TomHitch said:


> *Simple Work Holding*
> 
> I have been using the Moravian workbench for several months now. At first, I was not all that comfortable with the work holding methods, mainly because I have never used a leg vise. This was compounded by the leg vise needing to "break in" for a while. At first, it tended to be finicky moving it into position and would require nudging it with both hands. Also, I could not seem to find the best pin location for the size of the work piece and I would have to readjust. I have been using a quick release steel vise for several years which is easy to manipulate with one hand and it is very quick to move into position. By comparison, the leg vise requires a bit more manipulation and there is more stooping down to adjust. After while, the leg vise loosened up and stopped binding so that I can just wind it out to position with one hand and I got the hang of picking the right hole in the guide to align with the workpiece. Basically, I wind out the vise until the workpiece will just fit in the jaw and then wind it out a little more until the next hole in the guide opens up and insert the pin in that hole. Works every time.
> 
> ...


Happy to help. There are more options as well. I should do an update one of these days.


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## Vuddha29 (Apr 3, 2021)

TomHitch said:


> *Simple Work Holding*
> 
> I have been using the Moravian workbench for several months now. At first, I was not all that comfortable with the work holding methods, mainly because I have never used a leg vise. This was compounded by the leg vise needing to "break in" for a while. At first, it tended to be finicky moving it into position and would require nudging it with both hands. Also, I could not seem to find the best pin location for the size of the work piece and I would have to readjust. I have been using a quick release steel vise for several years which is easy to manipulate with one hand and it is very quick to move into position. By comparison, the leg vise requires a bit more manipulation and there is more stooping down to adjust. After while, the leg vise loosened up and stopped binding so that I can just wind it out to position with one hand and I got the hang of picking the right hole in the guide to align with the workpiece. Basically, I wind out the vise until the workpiece will just fit in the jaw and then wind it out a little more until the next hole in the guide opens up and insert the pin in that hole. Works every time.
> 
> ...


Thanks for these inspiring posts! I'd love to see updated photos and thoughts!


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Tool Storage*

Although this Moravian workbench is meant to be portable so it can go to a job site, it also can serve as a dedicated workbench in your shop. It is incredibly sturdy and the splayed out legs really resist racking. I plan to use mine as a dedicated shop workbench, although, I may take it to a job site if I am helping friends and family with a special carpentry project. So I made the drawer and shelf so as to be removable to maintain the portability.

I am partial to keeping a set of tools at the workbench or in a tool cabinet above the bench. I am not really interested in storing tools in a chest and dragging them out every time I am working a project. On the Moravian workbench, I added the shelf and drawer for extra tool storage along with the tool well.

The saws can be hung on pegs or just a nail or screw. On my bench, I used a screw with some clear tubing to protect the handle. I hang the big saws on the back of the tool well. It is really a convenient location. They are out of the way and they are easily reached from the front of the workbench. I quickly memorized the location of each saw. There is precedent for this in old books as you can see in the picture with the saw horns shown behind the tool well marked n.


















Note the tool well can store miscellaneous items like the mallet, hammer, try squares, etc.

I can also hang miscellaneous tools off the back of the tool well such as a framing square and dust brush.










The hand planes are stored below the workbench on the shelf and this is fairly convenient. Usually they hang out on the workbench top or in the well during the project and then get stashed below at the end of the day.










Marking tools and various small items like the auger bits and files go in the drawer. Again, they come out during the project and end up in the well, but they can be put away when the work is complete.










The far end of the tool well is a nice place to store the bench chisels, amongst other things. A chisel tray can help corral the tools similar to what Paul Sellers advocates.










And you can hang various things such as clamps and holdfast off of the leg assemblies.










There is still plenty of room for more tools, but this covers most of my needs. A plow plane and fillister plane can be stored on the shelf if needed. It is a comfortable setup for me.

And yes, I cleaned up the debris before I took the photos. Usually there is a lot of saw dust and shavings hanging around.


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## TomHitch (Sep 12, 2018)

*Finishing Touches and a Close Call*

This will be the final installment, Lucky 13. I added a few finishing touches including a dust ramp, an iron ring pull for the drawer and a custom holdfast.

I made the dust ramp from a piece of straight grained oak firewood. This is more of a nice to have, especially if you worry about debris in your tool well. I find it to be a nice convenience.














































Next I had a custom iron ring pull and holdfast made for the workbench by Eric Dennis at Roundhouse Blacksmith. He does really nice work.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Roundhouseblacksmith

Eric also made the custom iron planing stop. The iron ring pull is attached with a sort of snipe bill pin and clinched on the inside of the drawer.














































The holdfast has an 8" reach to match up with my dog hole layout that was mentioned in my previous blog on workholding. It is made from 11/16" diameter stock and it works perfectly in 3/4" holes in the thick bench top. It also has a long shaft so I can hold big workpieces. The design is really more toward the French style and shape. I particularly like that it releases with just a quick tap. I find that some other holdfasts need 2 or 3 taps with the mallet to release.



















That completes my work on a traditional Moravian workbench. I have been using it for several months now and it is really a nice solid workbench that can serve your needs for hand tools or power tools. And if you have to change homes or move apartments, it breaks down in just a minute or two and you can take to your new abode in the back of your car or truck.

The last interesting tidbit is that we had an incident at my home. Our neighbors house burned down recently. We were lucky that our home had only minor damage. I currently keep my workbench in a sort of garage / storage shed with my wood until I build a dedicated shop someday. The garage was much closer to the burning house. During the fire, I was quite sure that the garage would burn down and I would lose my workbench. It was more of a passing thought at the time because I was more worried about my house. Fortunately, the wind was in our favor and the garage and my workbench survive. In the end, I feel lucky with the outcome, but it was quite an experience!










Thanks for following along and take care!


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## JCamp (Nov 22, 2016)

TomHitch said:


> *Finishing Touches and a Close Call*
> 
> This will be the final installment, Lucky 13. I added a few finishing touches including a dust ramp, an iron ring pull for the drawer and a custom holdfast.
> 
> ...


Sexy looking bench. Glad ur building survived too. I hate that for your neighbors tho. You loose so much that you'll never get back in a fire


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## robscastle (May 13, 2012)

TomHitch said:


> *Finishing Touches and a Close Call*
> 
> This will be the final installment, Lucky 13. I added a few finishing touches including a dust ramp, an iron ring pull for the drawer and a custom holdfast.
> 
> ...


Are you sure you actually built anything?
Looks like the invisible man hard at work and did it all for you. ...tee hee.

Next tool run add to the list:-
buy a longer garden hose.


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