The Drama of Workbenches

When discussing first projects for a beginner, many books, articles, and discussion pages will tell you that a workbench is a good first project. There seem to be several reasons for this. One reason is there is a lot of work that goes into a workbench. You’ll get plenty of practice in sawing, making different style of joints, and finish a project that you should be able to use for years to come. You'll also now have a nice flat surface on which to perform all future work. Always useful, right? Sure, but I still have some doubts, having done this myself.

What I’m not sure about, however, is whether or not this is actually a good first major project. Sure, it’s in your shop and it’s for you alone, so that eases some of the pressure, but similar to my post on tools, how can you know what you really want if you've never really used one before? How can you know what features and work holding types will benefit you the most? Will you use clamps or holdfasts? Both? What are the usual ways you like to clamp? What type of end vise or face vise do you like better? Do you want a planing stop? Is it going to be moved around in your shop? What type of woodworking projects do you like to do? All hand tools? Power tools? A mix? Do you want a work of art in your shop that you'll wail about if you gouge it with a chisel or are you willing/wanting to beat the snot out of it and just say "oops..."?

It was definitely an enjoyable project for me and you will never hear me deny that one bit. It took a lot of time and my offshoot design didn’t use any bolts or screws, but tusked tenons instead, so that I could take it apart and move it more easily when I moved to a new home. It was a great build, and I truly learned a lot and enjoyed the time.

It was great practice and I have gotten a lot of use out of it, but after a year I realized it wasn't right for me. It’s not beefy enough--t didn’t necessarily slide around the shop, but it also didn’t have the mass I wanted. In my almost exclusive hand tool woodworking, I personally just like a rock solid bench. Most people it may not bother, but it wasn't for me.

The vises I chose I stripped off and have since been testing different styles of face vises for the last several months. I don’t like the bars in the way on a traditional English face vise. I love the twin screw vises, but at times I was limited by size or the number of hands I had available, making it a slow process. I like using holdfasts. I don’t need or want my top to look like swiss cheese. I like the top around 16-20” deep. I like a tool well, but not for tool storage. It’s a good place to put my rags, sanding blocks, and little pieces of scrap wood for my holdfasts and vises out of my way (I like making my mice comfortable). Height was good at 32". Thickness of the top was good. I don't like a crud collector (shelf) under the bench.

I still love my original bench and it can still do everything that I need it to do. There were just too many things that I just wanted to change about it after working on it for a year. In most respects, I don't believe the problem was as much the design of my bench, but the skills available to me at the time. My laminated top could have gone a whole lot better. It was twisted and had a few gaps. The grain didn't all run in the same direction which makes flattening a pain. The slight movement of the bench during planing is from my choice of joints, but I'll actually be fixing that in the near future. It's also just a tad light, but it's darn close to being just right. I chose vises that didn't meet my personal preferences for work holding, but that isn't the benches fault--I didn't know what was out there.

The tusked tenons actually worked really well. I've taken the bench apart a couple times in the past year or so and it sets up really easy. The holdfast holes and round dog holes were excellent. I could have laid them out better from the beginning, but what did I know?

That was the big problem. I didn't know. I did a lot of research, a couple months actually, but didn't know what to look for or what I needed. I wanted a cool bench that I designed, and that's exactly what I did, and with what I thought was good, and I still think it was, (for me at the time)....but that was about 30 projects ago and a whole lot of practice between.

So, either way, I've built a new bench with a completely different design. It's not a great work of art, but it does incorporate my own work holding style. It's definitely not a Ruobo, though that could be in my future as the Ruobo does seem to match my simple style for the most part. The new one fit my budget and is a tool that meets my needs. Who knows, knowing me I'll start modifying the design even further as I evolve as a woodworker, or just because I want to try something out, but oh well, that's just another part of who I am.

Well that's way too much for one evening, so I'll have to show the new bench in the near future ;)

Josh