What does your workbenches look like?

This is a forum for intermediate to advanced woodworkers. Show off your projects or share your ideas.

Moderators: HopefulSSer, admin

User avatar
rpd
Platinum Member
Posts: 3039
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2011 3:22 am
Location: Victoria, B.C.

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by rpd »

edflorence wrote:RPD...really like that English style bench...would enjoy hearing your comments on how it works for you. Always thought I would like to have one...Until that day, here is what has worked for me for a long time.
The bench works well for me, very solid. If I need to clamp work to the top I use short (24") bar clamps, I also have a couple of hold downs, just need to drill a dog hole or two to try them out.

The spring loaded planing stop was a disappointment, Perhaps my planing technique was faulty, but the end of the work piece would "walk" up and then slide over the stop, and eventually it broke. :(
Ron Dyck
==================================================================
10ER #23430, 10ER #84609, 10ER #94987,two SS A-34 jigsaws for 10ER.
1959 Mark 5 #356595 Greenie, SS Magna Jointer, SS planer, SS bandsaw, SS scroll saw (gray), DC3300,
garys
Platinum Member
Posts: 2075
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:16 am
Location: Bismarck, ND

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by garys »

Here are a couple of pictures of my small fold-down workbench.
workbench1.jpg
workbench1.jpg (163.63 KiB) Viewed 20629 times
Attachments
workbench2.jpg
workbench2.jpg (175.42 KiB) Viewed 20629 times
cooch366
Gold Member
Posts: 246
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:48 pm
Location: North Central Massachusetts

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by cooch366 »

Used a bowling alley section. Also used a smaller piece unde the wall cabinet.

Now making a Jack Bench base for the top.
4E77E59D-59AC-49E5-B9FE-472880F0A0B0.jpeg
4E77E59D-59AC-49E5-B9FE-472880F0A0B0.jpeg (37.17 KiB) Viewed 20628 times
.
User avatar
edflorence
Platinum Member
Posts: 621
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 8:14 pm
Location: Idaho Panhandle

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by edflorence »

rpd wrote:
edflorence wrote:RPD...really like that English style bench...would enjoy hearing your comments on how it works for you. Always thought I would like to have one...Until that day, here is what has worked for me for a long time.
The bench works well for me, very solid. If I need to clamp work to the top I use short (24") bar clamps, I also have a couple of hold downs, just need to drill a dog hole or two to try them out.

The spring loaded planing stop was a disappointment, Perhaps my planing technique was faulty, but the end of the work piece would "walk" up and then slide over the stop, and eventually it broke. :(
Hi Ron;

Thanks for the follow up.

How to hold down work while planing has been a challenge for me as well. I drilled a couple of rows of dog holes in my bench top and have a variety of devices that fit them. Sometimes I will pinch a board between the dog on the face vice and a dog on the bench top, but that will usually also require that the work also be clamped at the front edge of the bench to keep it from lifting. One of the rows of dog holes lines up with a dog in the end vice and is used for longer work. I use the Veritas planing stops and the Veritas Wonder Dogs and also a simple bent metal hold down. All of them require dog holes in the bench top, but usually some combination will work. The simple old fashioned bent metal hold down really is effective...always surprising how much clamping power it has. I have seen a lot of different designs for bench dogs but have found that the plastic dogs that come with the Workmate folding bench work really well. I also have some simple wooden pegs with wide tops that I use. The plastic and wood dogs are nice because you don't have to worry if the plane runs into them.

I also have a row of dog holes drilled into the face of the front edge of the bench to support short lengths of 3/4 inch dowels that serve as board jacks for narrow work.
Ed
Idaho Panhandle
Mark 5 of various vintages, Mini with reversing motor, bs, dc3300, jointer, increaser, decreaser
delong94
Gold Member
Posts: 173
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:37 am
Location: Hampton Roads, VA

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by delong94 »

I am in the process of getting the materials to make this bench.

https://www.canadianwoodworking.com/pla ... -workbench


I may not have time to allocate to it until this summer, but wanted to share.
Attachments
CWHI_JunJly14_workbench.pdf
(1.16 MiB) Downloaded 1871 times
User avatar
moggymatt
Platinum Member
Posts: 638
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:36 pm
Location: Spokane, WA

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by moggymatt »

delong94 wrote:I am in the process of getting the materials to make this bench.

https://www.canadianwoodworking.com/pla ... -workbench


I may not have time to allocate to it until this summer, but wanted to share.
I think the now non published Shop Notes had a similar design many years ago.
Paul B
User avatar
ryanbp01
Platinum Member
Posts: 1505
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:43 pm
Location: Monroeville, IN

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by ryanbp01 »

My work bench is a...
Mess. It always seems to be the place where everything lands. My bride always seems to place everything on it. Magazines, borrowed tools, especially those which were hung up, plus various other hardware has turned my bench into a catchall. And, to be fair, I'm guilty of the same thing. I am always spending time to pick up and put away before anything else can be worked on. Try as I might, I feel it is a losing battle.
BPR
User avatar
jsburger
Platinum Member
Posts: 6397
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:06 pm
Location: Hooper, UT

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by jsburger »

ryanbp01 wrote:My work bench is a...
Mess. It always seems to be the place where everything lands. My bride always seems to place everything on it. Magazines, borrowed tools, especially those which were hung up, plus various other hardware has turned my bench into a catchall. And, to be fair, I'm guilty of the same thing. I am always spending time to pick up and put away before anything else can be worked on. Try as I might, I feel it is a losing battle.
BPR
Discipline is the answer. I don't know how you get it unless you are taught to put things back where they came from. My parents were pretty disciplined but my real Discipline came from the Air Force. I was an aircraft munitions technician. I loaded bombs on aircraft including nuclear munitions on B-52 aircraft on hard alert back when we had that.

When you worked on the flight line, regardless of your maintenance specialty, everything was inventoried before it was taken out to the flight line and it was inventoried when it was brought back in. You didn't want to loose something out there and cause an aircraft malfunction or worse a crash. That included things like wiping rags. They put 6 rags in a zip lock bag and you had to bring back 6 rags in the bag. You also had to inventory your tools and equipment if you left working on an aircraft and moved to another aircraft.

If something was not there a formal "Lost Tool" report was generated and a search on the flight line was conducted until the item was found.

After 24 years of that you kind of learn to put things away. :)
John & Mary Burger
Eagle's Lair Woodshop
Hooper, UT
masonsailor2
Platinum Member
Posts: 1564
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 11:57 am
Location: Las Vegas NV

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by masonsailor2 »

I finished my bench addition today. It’s something I have been meaning to get done for some time. It’s a combination of a dust collection boom and a lazy Susan for the tools. So far so good. All seems to be working well. It will be nice to have the tools closer and eliminate the walking over to the wall to get everything. The dust collection boom also has allowed me space to put the pneumatics and stereo etc. The lazy Susan swings out of the way to allow for full use of the bench.
Paul
Attachments
E695EB1B-E6AF-4006-9D95-CABCCB15ABC5.jpeg
E695EB1B-E6AF-4006-9D95-CABCCB15ABC5.jpeg (177.93 KiB) Viewed 20300 times
4E2462C1-45F0-4AB3-841D-8862B954B3DF.jpeg
4E2462C1-45F0-4AB3-841D-8862B954B3DF.jpeg (229.2 KiB) Viewed 20300 times
404FC959-FC81-4FD2-918B-B47663C37B9A.jpeg
404FC959-FC81-4FD2-918B-B47663C37B9A.jpeg (218.6 KiB) Viewed 20300 times
CE094C12-90EB-4020-944B-1B5328050586.jpeg
CE094C12-90EB-4020-944B-1B5328050586.jpeg (217.96 KiB) Viewed 20300 times
BCFF9A9A-C26E-4B5B-9166-8C261BF67F2D.jpeg
BCFF9A9A-C26E-4B5B-9166-8C261BF67F2D.jpeg (207.82 KiB) Viewed 20300 times
User avatar
STB
Gold Member
Posts: 270
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 12:26 pm
Location: Boulder City NV/Keno OR

Re: What does your workbenches look like?

Post by STB »

moggymatt wrote:It's still below freezing in my neck of the woods

Anybody here want to share a picture of their bench and what they like and don't like about yours?
I found an old Shopsmith Bench at a Thrift store in Tucson for a $100 no way one could be built for that. I was surprised one of the Arizona boys didn't snap it up.
What I like most is the tail vice it works well an is surprisingly universal. What I don't like about it is the tool tray. I have wasted more epithets on that &%$@###! tool tray than I can count.
008 (800x600).jpg
008 (800x600).jpg (307.12 KiB) Viewed 20286 times
002 (800x600).jpg
002 (800x600).jpg (332.94 KiB) Viewed 20286 times


By the way it cooled down a little hear it was only 70.5 deg.
Glenn
I create problem solving challenges and opportunities for design modification, not mistakes.

SS 520 born 04/16/03, Power Station mounted Band saw , Scroll saw, Jointer, Belt sander, Overarm router, dedicated Mark V drill press, SS Maxi-clamp system, Shopsmith woodworking bench
Post Reply