Work Bench
A design for holding the work
by Tage Frid
There are many workbenches available on the market
today. Aside from obvious reasons of economics, why make
my bench? I can convince my students and myself easily
enough, but to convince you I should explain the benefits of
this design and how I arrived at these specifics.
When I came to this country in 1948 I was given a tour of
the school where I was to teach. I was guided to a large room
and introduced to the teacher with whom I was to work. We
talked for a while, or rather he did the talking because my vo-
cabulary didn't go much beyond yes and no. By using arms
and legs I finally conveyed to him that I wanted to see the
woodshop. When I was told I was standing in it I just about
passed out. In the room was a huge thickness planer I think
Columbus' father must have brought over, and a few small
power tools. I was really flabbergasted when I saw the student
"workbenches." These were large tables for two persons with
a vise in each end. Most of the time the students were holding
down their work with one hand and working with the other.
Some had taken much time to make special contraptions to
hold their work so they could use both hands, which I'm sure
was the Lord's intention when he designed us with two. (Of
course the Japanese use their feet to secure their work, leaving
both hands free.)
After being in school for a few months I realized that the
bench I wanted did not, to my knowledge, exist in this coun-
try. So I designed my first workbench, which was quite similar
to the one I was taught on. Later we made one for each stu-
dent. Since then we have been making workbenches every
two or three years so that the students have their own when
they graduate. I find it a good exercise in which they learn
Vise closeup shows top spline construction. Dowel jig helps support long boards in other vise.
how to set up the machines for mass production and work to-
gether as a production team. It takes us three days from rough
lumber to have all the parts ready to fit and assemble, and to
have the bench top glued up. This year each bench cost us
about $100, half for wood and half for hardware.
Over the years, having made the bench so many times and
having had numerous people using and criticizing them, I
have arrived at this design and these dimensions as best suited
for a cabinetmaker. With its two vises and accessory side
clamps there are five possibilities for holding the work—two
in the right vise, one in the left vise, one between the bench
dogs and one between the side clamps. Both vises are the type
with only one screw and no guide pins to interfere with the
work. A piece can be clamped all the way to the floor if nec-
essary, and the vise can hold irregularly shaped objects. With
only six bolts, the bench is easy to assemble and disassemble,
and takes minimum storage space. The only glued parts are
the bench top, the right vise and the leg sections. Everything
else bolts together so that any damaged pieces are easy to
replace.
This bench is almost six feet long, but if you wish to
lengthen the bench you can easily do so by extending the
bench top at the center and the two leg crosspieces (#18 on
the plan) the same amount. You can shorten it in the same
way. I would advise keeping all dimensional changes in
five-inch increments so that the distance between the bench
dogs remains the same. The bench is designed as a
right-handed bench but could be converted to a left-handed
one by reversing the plans. If additional storage space is
needed, I suggest attaching a piece of plywood between the
leg crosspieces and inserting two end pieces to form a large it rough, and then final thickness-plane the whole top togeth-
storage compartment. If you wish you can add a piece behind er after it is glued. If a thickness planer isn't available, buy
the bench to hold gouges, chisels, screwdrivers, etc. But I find the lumber planed and align carefully during gluing. I
it more a bother than a help because if you are working on suggest not using pieces wider than four inches in the top
pieces larger than the bench top surface you have to remove because of possible warpage problems. We use 8 / 4 stock for
the tools so that they don't interfere. everything except pieces #18 and #8, which are 5/4 stock. For
If you are working on long boards or panels you can make a the heavier pieces which finish 2-3/4 by 4 inches, we glue-up
simple device to support the weight of the board. Take a good two pieces of 8 / 4 because in this area it is just about im-
heavy piece of wood (a 2x4 or 4x4 will do), and drill holes of possible to find properly dried lumber of that thickness. If
at least 1/2-inch diameter in a straight line down the length necessary, you can bricklay or stack these pieces if you are
of the piece about one inch apart. By clamping this into the short on lumber. We use Titebond yellow glue for all the
right vise and moving a dowel to the hole just under the work glued sections.
you can easily add support to a long piece.
Before beginning, get your hardware. That way, if you
wish to make a substitution or if something isn't readily
available, you can make all your dimensional changes before
any wood is cut. We could not find a 14-inch bolt so we make
our own by brazing a nut to the end of some 3/8-inch
threaded rod which we have cut to the right length. We got
bench screws and dogs at Woodcraft Supply in Woburn,
Mass., but I understand Garrett Wade in New York and
others also may have them.
When choosing the wood, make sure you select a dense
hardwood and be sure the wood is properly dried. We use
maple because it is extremely hard and durable and is the
least expensive in this area (it takes about 60 board feet).
When cutting up the stock be sure to cut the longest pieces
first. Cut them all one inch longer than the final dimension.
It is best to purchase rough lumber, joint and thickness-plane

Base parts are wedged and glued.

BASE
 Many students have found it best to start assembly with the
base, as it goes together very easily. Assembling the base first
eliminates many pieces, making things less confusing when
the vise is to go together. If you wish, you may round over the
edges of the base pieces and radius the ends of the feet. These
details, along with your vise corners and handles, will give
your bench a personal touch. Sand all pieces before gluing.
Be sure to hammer evenly on both wedges and don't over-
hammer or the wood will split. After the wedges are in, check
the sections for squareness. At this point you can remove the
clamps because the wedges will hold everything in place.
Clean off all the excess glue while it is still wet and you will
have little finishing work. After the glue dries, saw off the
excess of the wedges and plane the tops even and flat. Clamp
the base together to drill the hardware holes.
In making the bench top, we use splines between the pieces
to make gluing up easier. It isn't a bad idea for strength
either, because of all the hammering that will take place on
the top surface. A spline should definitely be used between
pieces #1 and #3 to help align the front piece flush with the
rest of the top. We use a dado head to cut the grooves for the
splines but it could be done with a shaper, a hand router or a
plough plane. The bench top is glued and planed before
piece #3 with the bench dog slots is added. We use the dado
head on the radial arm saw to cut the bench dog slots with a
stop set to keep the spacing and the angle consistent. It could
be done instead with a router, a saw and chisel, or a router
plane. The top step of the slot is chiseled out by hand at the
very end. Cap piece #2 is added afterwards and a brad is used
in each end to prevent the piece from sliding over the length
during gluing. Don't use too much glue or it will be necessary
to do a tedious clean-up inside each bench dog slot. After the
front piece is attached, the top is cut in length and width.
The tongues are made at each end with a shaper, circular saw,
hand router or rabbet plane.
The lengthwise cut for the right-hand vise must be parallel
to the front of the bench top, and the crosswise cut precisely
square to it. This can be done on a band saw, or with a circu-
lar saw or hand saw. For making the groove for the right-hand
vise to ride in, you can use a hand router or chisel it out. The
accuracy of this groove is very important because it will deter-
mine how smoothly your vise works.
As mentioned previously, none of the end cap pieces is
glued. For this reason it is essential that the holes for the bolts
are drilled very accurately or the bolts will not go in square.
Therefore I suggest drilling the holes in pieces #4, 5, and 7 on
a drill press or with a doweling jig. At the same time, drill the
hole for the vise in piece #7. After the holes are drilled, the
end cap pieces are clamped in place with filler #6 inserted.
The holes are then continued into the bench top. The best
way to do this is to use an extra-long drill bit, or a bit on an
extension. If you don't wish to invest in the bit, you can cut a
dado and let the bolt ride in that. The same procedure should
be followed on piece #18. If you do use a dado and wish to
close up the groove, you can add a piece to conceal the bolt.
However, this isn't necessary because the nut will nestle in the

At top, radial arm-saw jig helps cut out bench-dog slots of consistent
spacing using dado blades. Student uses chisel to clean saw cuts
made to shape bench-top corner for vise. Below, Piece 3 is planed to
align with Piece 1. Bottom photo shows vise.
 TOP

SEE ERRATA AT END OF ARTICLE


At top, plywood board is used to square three vise parts when gluing
them together. Middle vertical board is bench-top end (Piece 5).
After gluing, other parts of vise are fitted together with the vise in
place on the top. Other photos show bottom and rear views of vise.
shoulder of the right-angled hole, pulling the bolt in tight. In
our benches we insert the vise hardware brackets flush, but
this certainly isn't crucial.
Now comes the most difficult part of assembly—the
right-hand vise. It is advisable to make the tongues on the
pieces all slightly oversized and carefully fit them with their
grooves. It is essential that every part of the vise be complete-
ly square. We use finger joints in the corners but dovetails
would probably be faster if you are only making one bench.
In gluing the vise pieces together it is helpful to cut a piece of
plywood to the exact dimension of the inside rectangle of the
vise. If you clamp the vise pieces around this piece, the vise
will have to end up square. The plywood also provides an
edge to clamp against on the open side.
The vise should be glued and fitted and all the holes drilled
for the hardware before cover piece #14 is added. The hole for
the vise is drilled in piece #11, and from there guided into
piece #5, with #5 bolted in place. It might be necessary to
chisel a little notch into the bench top to make room for the
vise bracket, but such a notch is invisible. The bench is
flipped upside down for the fitting of the guides. The notches
should be scribed off the runner pieces and carefully routed or
chiseled out by hand. Countersink all the screws so that they
don't interfere with the vise travel. Piece #17 should be
screwed down first and then the other guides set in place.
Take the time to make all of these fit right. Fitting the vise
will drive you crazy at times, but be patient and worry about
one section at a time and eventually it will all fit just right.
When the vise is working properly, piece #14 is added. It is
set into pieces #11 and 12 so these pieces must be chiseled
out. If you want to get a little fancy you can undercut the
edges so that the effect is almost like one large dovetail. A
complimentary angle is cut on the edges of #14 and the piece
is glued. You must glue only to the moving pans of the vise
and not to any of the stationary parts of the bench top. Drill
up from the bottom through the bench dog slots to locate the
tops of the slots and finish chiseling them out.
Piece #8 is screwed onto the back of the bench after it
receives a groove to support the plywood for the tool trough.
The plywood is screwed directly to the underside of the bench
top and is further supported by the filler pieces which secure
the top to the legs. The filler pieces #24 stabilize the top and
connect it to the base. The two corner blocks are screwed in
from the bottom. Their only function is to make the trough
easy to sweep out. Piece #23 is used to prevent direct
clamping onto the work you are holding. A piece of plywood
would function equally well here.
After the bench is completed, the top should be hand
planed and belt sanded level. All the edges should be eased
off slightly, or "broken," to minimize chipping out when
something hits against an edge.
All of the places on the underside of the right-hand vise
where wood is running against wood should be coated with
melted paraffin thinned slightly with turpentine—say a
tablespoon or two to a block of paraffin. The paraffin is first
melted in a can or pot, and the turpentine is added with the
container removed from the heat source. The mixture is
liberally painted on in its liquid state to protect the pieces and
help them to function smoothly. No oil is used on any of
these pieces.
At completion, the rest of the bench and especially the
work surface should be completely penetrated with raw
linseed oil. This will take several hearty coats. At least once a
year the bench top should be resurfaced. This is done by
scraping it down, releveling it, and again penetrating it with
oil.
Four small pieces should be added under the legs so that
the bench rests on four points. The thickness of these pieces
can serve as an adjustment for the final bench height.
Now your bench is completely finished and looks so
beautiful you hate to use it. If you take good care of it,
working on it and not into it, it should stay like that for years
and years.
[Author's note: Material for this bench includes 50 board feet
VISE
BOTTOM VIEW
(and sections)
SEE ERRATA AT END OF ARTICLE
of 8/4 maple; 10 board feet of 5 / 4 maple; one piece of
1/2-in. Baltic birch plywood 8 x 60; two 1-1/4-in. diameter
bench screws, one 18-in. overall length, the other 13-3/4 long
with a swivel end; 1 pair 7-in. bench dogs with heavy spring,
1 x 5 / 8 knurled face, 7 / 8 x 5 / 8 shank (we used Ulmias); two
3 / 8 x 8 bolts; four 3 / 8 x 6 bolts; one 3 / 8 x 14 bolt (or
threaded rod); two 3 / 8 x 5 lag screws.
[Editor's note: Blueprints of this bench are available for $6.
The prints do not give any additional information, but some
readers may find the orthographic projections drawn to a scale
of 1-1/2 and 3 inches to the foot convenient to work with.
Send check to The Taunton Press, Box 355, Newtown, CT
06470. Connecticut residents add 7% sales tax.]
TOP VIEW
ADDENDA, ERRATA, ETC.
On the workbench drawings in the fall
issue, in Piece 11 (p. 45) the hole for
the bench screw should be 1-3/4 inches
up from the bottom, not the 2 inches
indicated. And the missing type on
Piece 10 (p. 43) should read 1 - 3 / 4
i n c h e s . . . . The reversing third drum for
the stroke Sander in the summer issue is
no longer available as a stock item.
George Mooradian says he'll make
some up if he gets enough orders.
Otherwise, he recommends his off-the-
shelf Model 1000 special extended shaft
mandrel as a substitute. . . .
More bench business: In Fall '76,
page 43: piece 3 should total 46 in.
long, not 4 6 - 1 / 8 in.; the top of the
bench-dog slot in piece 3 is 1 - 3 / 1 6 in.
wide, not 1 5 / 1 6 in., (the bottom of the
slot is 1 5 / 1 6 in.); on piece 7 the dado is
7-3/8 in. long, not 7 in.; piece 5 is
16-3/8 in. long, not 16-5/8 in.; the
protruding tongue of piece 23 is 2-1/4
in., not 2 - 1 / 2 i n . ; bolts are shown as
hex-head but mislabeled as carriage
bolts. On page 45, piece 12, the dado
slot is 1-1/4 in. wide, not 3/8 in.
wide...
An Easy-to-Build Workbench
Bolted butt joints for rigid construction
by Richard Starr
A
s a school woodshop teacher, I must often solve problems
on the spur of the moment. That's how the design for my
easy-to-build workbench came to me. A couple of kids
wanted to build a bench as a gift for a neighboring preschool. The
bench had to be quick and easy to construct, yet professional look-
ing and, above all, absolutely rigid. When all the elements for a
simple, bolt-together frame came together in my mind, I hit my
palm to my brow. It seemed so obvious. I wondered why I hadn't
thought of it before.
Designing the workbench
The workbench mainly consists of four legs and four stretchers
held together with eight identical joints. The joints are easy to cut
yet forgiving because they are fastened with common hex-head
bolts available at any hardware store. The joint, equally effective in
hardwood or cheap construction-grade lumber, is also perfect for
many types of knockdown furniture. It's even solid enough for
permanent installations, such as a built-in work counter.
The first step in building the frame is to decide the dimensions
of the top. This decision should be based on the bench's intended
use (a carving bench should have a narrower top than a cabinet-
maker's assembly bench) and on the shop space you have avail-
able. The bench I built has a 42-in.-wide by 72-in.-long top, good
for general woodworking tasks. From these dimensions, I calculat-
ed the size of the frame and the length of the stretchers, You can
determine the length of each pair of stretchers by subtracting
twice the thickness of a leg plus the amount the top will overhang
at each end from the length and width of the benchtop. When de-
ciding on the amount of overhang, keep in mind that it's a good
idea to leave plenty of room on all sides, for mounting vises and
for clamping things to the top. For example, I chose a 7-in. over-
hang and used 3-in.-thick by 3-in.-wide legs, so my end stretchers
were 22 in. long and the side stretchers were 52 in. long. I made
my stretchers from 2x6 stock.
I used soft maple for my bench's legs, but you can use glued-up
hardwood or construction-grade 4x4s. Cut the legs to a length that
equals die height of the bench less the thickness of the top. I find
that bench height is largely a matter of personal taste. I'm a six-

footer, and I like a 34-in.-high bench whenever I'm sawing or plan-
ing wood; for small assembly work, though, I'd want the benchtop
an inch or two higher. The workbenches in my school shop are 30
in. high, which is right for most adolescents, although younger
woodworkers might do best with a 26-in.-high bench.
Making the stretcher joints
The function of a stretcher is to prevent the frame from racking
and the bench from rocking, so it's imperative that each stretcher
connection be rock solid. A joint held together with a single bolt
focuses pressure at the center of the joint, which doesn't adequate-
ly prevent the joint from racking. Two bolts are better because
they pull the stretcher against the leg closer to the edges, thus
keeping the joint square. But you need to buy twice as much hard-
ware, plus it takes twice as long to knock down or assemble the
bench. After trying several variations of the bolted stretcher joint, I
finally came up with the version shown in the drawing. A single
bolt is used for each joint, and an arched relief area is cut out on
each end of the stretcher. As the joint is tightened, pressure is fo-
cused at the outer edges (like a two-bolt joint), effectively locking
the stretcher square to the leg and preventing racking.
To begin making the joints, crosscut the stretchers square and to
length, and drill cross holes to provide the space for the nut and
washers that are fitted to the end of each bolt. The center of each
cross hole is located where the bolt end will be when the joint is
assembled. For my bench, I used 3-in.-sq. legs and -in.-long
bolts with the heads countersunk . in. deep. This places the cen-
ter of my cross holes at in. from the end of each stretcher. You
should avoid locating the cross holes any closer to the stretcher
ends than that or you risk the force of the bolt splitting out the
endgrain and ruining the stretcher.
Bore out the cross holes with a -in -dia. bit, which will leave a
hole large enough to allow a box wrench to fit around the nut
during assembly. Next, the portion of the hole facing the end of
the stretcher is squared up for the nut. I used a try square to mark
out the pocket, as shown in the drawing. Then I chopped out the
waste with a chisel. If you like, you can whittle or sand the edges
of the opening to give them an attractive chamfer.
To locate the bolt holes in the ends of the stretchers, I made a
thin-plywood (you could use cardboard) template cut to the same
dimensions as the cross section of a stretcher, in this case about
in. by in. The template is used to mark the center for each
-in.-dia. bolt hole, and then these holes are drilled through until
they intersect with the cross holes. A spade bit in a portable elec-
tric drill works fine in endgrain, although I prefer to use a modi-
fied auger bit in a hand brace. To modify the bit, I just filed the
spurs off, and it chewed right through endgrain. I tried to drill
accurately by checking that the bit was parallel to the face and
edge of the stretcher, and stopping and rechecking frequently. Be-
cause the hole is much larger than the bolt, dead accuracy isn't
necessary; as I've said, this joint is very forgiving.
If you plan to disassemble and assemble the bench often, you
might want to add an alignment dowel on the end of each stretch-
er. This short, -in.-dia. dowel keeps the stretcher aligned during
assembly and mates to a slightly oversized hole in the leg.
Next, mark and cut out the relief area on each stretcher end,
leaving two l-in.-long contact areas. A -in.-deep relief is all you
need, but if you'd like to add a decorative touch, you can cut a
fancy shape; just avoid cutting too near the cross hole or you'll risk
splitting the joint when you tighten the bolt. I cut out the relief
area on a bandsaw, but you could use a sabersaw or chop out the
waste by hand with a chisel.
Use the same template described above to mark the positions of
the bolt holes on the legs. Each pair of legs is laid out differently,
so be sure to mark carefully. If you choose to countersink the bolt
heads, drill the countersunk holes first. A 1-in.-dia. hole matches
the diameter of washers normally used with -in. bolts. Drill the
bolt holes oversized— -in. holes for the -in. bolts-as you did on
the stretcher ends earlier.
Assemble the bench frame by first bolting together the legs and
end stretchers, and then joining them with the side stretchers. The
joints will seem loose and sloppy when first assembled; simply posi-
tion and tighten them using two washers under each nut. You might
need to retighten the joints after they've settled for a few days.
Fitting the benchtop
For my benchtop, I glued up some -in.-thick maple I had lying
around. An easier (although more expensive) alternative is to buy
a length of ready-made butcher-block countertop, available from
many building-supply stores, home centers and lumber dealers.
Bolt the top to the frame through a batten glued to the inside
faces of the end stretchers (see the drawing). Bore three -in.
holes in each batten, and then fasten the top with -in. lag bolts
and washers. While the battens keep the top flat, the oversized
holes allow the solid-wood top to move with changes in humidity.
If you want to add a shelf under your workbench, screw battens to
the underside of some -in.-thick shelf boards; then drop the shelf
in place, as shown.
Richard Starr is a teacher and author. Building this workbench is
the topic of the first show in his television series, Woodworking for
Everyone, on PBS this fall.
 Patternmaker's
Vises
The most versatile work-holding
device ever bolted to a bench
by Benjamin Wild

M
ore than 20 years of woodworking and patternmaking
taught me that the ideal vise is one that I can forget about
while I'm working. I don't want to fight with a vise or
spend much time setting it up. A vise should hold the work firmly,
without marking it, and allow me to work in a comfortable posi-
tion. I started my career as a patternmaker using the special vise
that goes with the trade. Since then, I've tried every other type of
vise on the market. No other vise comes as close to the perfect
work-holding device as a patternmaker's vise.
The patternmaker's vise was developed specifically to meet the
demanding needs of a specialized job. A patternmaker turns out
wooden models (such as plane bodies, gears or tablesaw tops)
Emmerts are clas- that are used, in turn, to create molds for casting parts in metal.
sics. Specialized vis-
es, like this Emmert The models often assume odd shapes and sizes and are difficult to
No. 1, were designed hold—hence the development of a special vise.
for busy pattern- You don't have to be a patternmaker to appreciate this type of
makers during the vise. It's better than other vises at holding the work firmly so that
industrial boom the woodworker and the tool have ready and easy access to virtu-
years at the turn of
the century. Vise ally any part of the piece. I now teach woodworking, and I often
jaws hold irregularly see my students struggling with improperly held work. The result
shaped workpieces usually is inaccurate work or a botched job. The beauty of a pat-
(above) and swivel ternmaker's vise is that it can hold a variety of different sizes and
to improve access to shapes in almost any position.
the work (right).
The vise attaches to the front of the workbench like a conven-
tional bench vise. But from this position, the vise can be rotated
360° or lifted 90°, so the jaws are parallel to the benchtop, all with
the wood clamped firmly in the jaws. The jaws can be angled up
to about 5° from side to side to hold tapered objects. An accesso-
ry tilt plate will pivot up to 30° perpendicular to the vise for more
severely angled work or for gripping pieces angled in two planes.
In addition to this versatility, the vise has two sets of jaws. In the
normal position, the jaws are the same as in any other woodwork-
ing vise. But rotate the vise 180°, and a pair of metalworking jaws,
similar to a machinist's vise, are brought to the top (see the top
photo on p. 80). The vise also has dogs built into both front and
back jaws to hold round, curved or odd shapes (see the top pho-
to on p. 81). Or the front jaw dogs could be used with bench-
mounted dogs to grip objects beyond the capacity of the vise.
For clamping simple square pieces of limited size, any conven-
tional vise will suffice. But a patternmaker's vise is so versatile that
even mundane jobs become easier. You'll soon find yourself ro-
tating and tilting your work for best access rather than twisting and
turning your body to conform to the constraints of your bench and
vise (see the bottom photo on the facing page). Once you've used
a patternmaker's vise, you'll have a hard time going back to a con-
ventional one. Fortunately, these vises are still available, from used
Emmerts to newly manufactured imitators, at prices ranging from
$250 to more than $1,500.

The Emmert vise

The Universal patternmaker's vise was first manufactured by
Joseph F. Emmert in 1891. At that time, American factories were in
full swing, creating a huge demand for the patterns necessary for
casting the parts for all those wonderful cast-iron woodworking
machines, as well as other equipment, that we covet so much to-
day. These patterns assumed almost any shape, often were quite
large and had to be worked to exacting tolerances. Emmert vises
have been in use for more than 100 years, and they are still the
benchmark, even though the company has been out of business
for some time.
The original Emmerts came in two sizes, the No. 1 with jaws
in. by 18 in. that opened 15 in. and weighed in at 87 lb. (see the
photos on the facing page). A smaller No. 2 vise had 5-in. by 14-in.
jaws that opened 12 in. and weighed a mere 56 lb.

What happened to the Emmert Co.?

"If these things are so good, why doesn't everyone have one, and
why did the Emmert Co. go out of business?" you might ask. For
the same reason that I'm no longer actively making patterns. Most
of the work that used to be done by patternmakers is done by
welding, sent out of the country or done with computers and au-
tomated milling machines. And the materials are now plastics and
ceramics worked to ever finer tolerances. Almost gone are the
days of handworking patterns of clear mahogany, cherry and pine.
The closing of the traditional patternmaker's shops, meant not
only that the market for Emmert vises was dwindling, but also that
Modern version
uses alloy casting.
competition was increasing as thousands of used Emmerts hit the Made by Veritas
market. Some bad management decisions and new competitors Tools, this Tucker
also had a hand in the demise of the Emmert Co. vise uses a zinc-
aluminum alloy
What's available today instead of cast iron,
making it strong and
Ever since the original Emmert Co. closed, woodworkers who light. A quick-release
have wanted the versatility of these fine tools have had limited op- feature can be oper-
tions. But thanks to the rising demand for woodworking tools, ated by a foot pedal
new sources have developed and old sources have come to light (above). The vise's
for patternmaker-style vises. American Machine & Tool Co. (AMT),
cork-lined jaws pro-
tect delicate work-
Veritas Tools Inc. and The Kindt-Collins Co. all offer some version pieces (left).
of a patternmaker's vise.
All of these vises work much like the old Emmert. They all tilt,
angle and spin. They all require about the same effort to install.
They all have metalworking jaws on one side, and they all hold the
work firmly. They all have built-in dogs to hold things between the
jaws or between the front jaw dogs and dogs set into the work-
bench. But there are differences. Choosing the right vise for you
 really depends on the type of woodworking that you do, how
heavy your work is and how much money you're willing to spend.

The AMT vise

The AMT vise (American Machine & Tool Co., Fourth Ave. and
Spring St., Royersford, PA 19468-2519; 800-435-8665) is a copy of
the Emmert No. 2 vise. The specifications are almost identical: 5-in.
by -in. jaws that open 12 in. and an overall weight of 55 lb. for
the cast-iron and steel unit (see the photos at left).
The primary differences between the two are that the machining
is not as good on the AMT as it is on the original, the cast iron is a
little softer and the -in.-dia. handle fits sloppily in its 1-in.-dia.
hole. In spite of the rough casting, though, everything seems to
work well enough. In addition to the standard pivot plate, AMT of-
fers a set of soft jaws as an optional accessory ($20 for the pair).
The soft jaws are 3-in. by 6-in., rubber-faced aluminum plates that
magnetically attach to the face of the jaws to protect your work, as
shown in the bottom photo at left. I found the soft jaws helpful,
particularly for small work.
Although I'm used to working with the bigger No. 1 vise, I liked
this little AMT vise and would be tempted to buy it if I knew I
would never need the size and strength of the larger one. At $250,
it's the most reasonable entry into owning a patternmaker's vise,
unless you find a real bargain on a used Emmert, which usually
sells for $350 and up depending on size and condition.

The Veritas Tool vise

Veritas Tool Inc. (12 East River St., Ogdensburg, NY 13669-1720;
800-667-2986) introduced the Tucker vise in 1991, exactly 100
years after Emmert patented his vise. With jaws that are 4 in. by
13 in., the Tucker is only slightly smaller than the Emmert No. 2,
but the 12-in. jaw capacity is the same (see the photos on p. 79).
The Tucker operates much like an Emmert, but there are some dif-
ferences and a few added features.
The Tucker is much lighter than the Emmert, which gave me
some concerns about its durability. But the zinc-aluminum alloy
Vise handles metal,
too. Rotate this Amer- used to cast the Tucker is not only much lighter than cast iron, it's
ican Machine & Tool stronger and less brittle. The other readily noticeable difference is
Co. vise 180°, and machining. The finish is a highly refined, smooth surface similar to
you'll have a pair of that found on the unmachined surfaces of machinist's tools.
jaws for metalwork- The Tucker vise has some advantages over the Emmert and, in
ing (above). A set of my opinion, some disadvantages. It has a quick-release mecha-
jaw inserts, which are
lined with soft rubber nism, so the front jaw can slide open or closed easily without hav-
(right), prevents dings ing to turn the handle. In addition to a top release button, a foot
in soft material. pedal allows the spring-loaded jaw to be popped open when both
hands are full (see the top photo on p. 79).
The built-in dogs have a flat side and a round side to offer a va-
riety of clamping surfaces. The jaws of the Tucker are cork-lined,
which is great for protecting your work, but could be a pain if the
cork lining gets damaged and needs to be scraped off. This is like-
ly because even the metalworking jaws, which tend to get more
abuse, are cork-lined. The directions are complete, and installation
is easier than it appears. The exploded view of the vise makes it
look as complicated as the control panel of a Boeing 747.
One thing I did discern from the mounting instruction's explod-
ed drawing was that the Tucker has a lot more parts than the Em-
mert. Although I did not have a chance to use the vise for an
extended period, I would be concerned that with so many parts, it
might be easier for the vise to get out of alignment.
The big drawback to the Tucker vise is that the angle feature is
not all that convenient to use. The other vises use a quick-acting
cam lock to hold the vise at an angle. However, the Tucker re-
quires a separate, large Allen wrench (provided) to make this ad-
justment. Because of the smaller size of the Tucker, when it's ro-
tated 90° to the vertical position, the end of the vise is only about
2 in. above the bench.
The end of the next smallest vise, the AMT, when in the same po-
sition, is 4 in. above the benchtop. This extra height raises small
work up to a better working position. Also, the Tucker doesn't
have a pivot plate, which is good for holding odd-shaped pieces.
At $500, the Tucker might seem a little dear, but overall, this is a
quality-machined product that works extremely well.

The Kindt-Collins vise

Although The Kindt-Collins Co. (12651 Elmwood Ave., Cleveland,
OH 44111; 800-321-3170) master universal patternmaker's vise has
been on the market for more than 20 years, it's been a relative se-
cret. That may be because of its price: $1,555. Kindt-Collins con-
tinues to sell vises primarily to corporate patternmaker's shops
and the government.
The Kindt-Collins is an improvement over the old Emmert. The
angle and other adjustments work much more smoothly because
all the working parts are machined and hand-fitted (see the pho-
tos at right). The surfaces of the large woodworking jaws (18 in. by
7 in.) are ground flat, and the metalworking jaws are ground,
hardened and serrated. The tilt plate also is ground flat and fits per-
fectly into its groove in the back vise jaw, as shown in the bottom
photo at right. The front jaw rides smoothly on a double-lead
Acme thread and opens a full 16 in. A nice paint job makes the vise
look as good as it works.
The Kindt-Collins vise has much thicker castings than the Em-
mert, so the Kindt-Collins can hold the heavy castings that pat-
ternmakers sometimes work on, but you'll probably have to bolt
your bench to the floor. In fact, weighing in at about 170 lb., the
vise alone may tip over some workbenches.
Although the extra heft makes the vise stronger, the increased
bulk gets in the way when working near the jaws on smaller
pieces. Because of its heavy-duty construction, the Kindt-Collins
is obviously marketed to industry. The company must assume that
these pros know what to do with this vise because it came without
any mounting directions or hardware. The only other disadvan-
Cadillac of vises.
With a price tag of
tage of this vise is that it is about three times the price of the next more than $1,500,
cheapest model. In spite of the heavy price, the Kindt-Collins vise the Kindt-Collins vise
represents a good value for the user who needs the ultimate in isn't for everyone.
holding power. Machined, hand-fit-
ted parts explain its
ease of operation,
An Emmert in the future? and the vise handles
Along with these vises, I also had a chance to try out a new Em- big, unwieldy objects
mert vise, as shown in the top photo on p. 78. That's right, a new (above). A tilt plate
Emmert. Back in 1984, Bob Kinslow of Hagerstown, Md., acquired that fits between the
the rights to the Emmert name, as well as remaining inventories,
jaws (left) allows the
jaws to hold tapered
patterns and some production machinery. He has been struggling stock firmly.
ever since to combine these ingredients into a going concern and
has managed to put together a few of the vises. But recent health
problems have dealt his efforts a serious blow.
If Kinslow can get things up and running, he speculates the sell-
ing price for a No. 1 (the only size he'll be producing) will be
about $675. Until then, if you want an Emmert, keep your eyes
open at flea markets or used tool shops in your area. One thing is
for sure: Anyone who still calls himself a patternmaker is not like-
ly to be selling his vise.

Benjamin Wild worked as a patternmaker for 16 years. He is cur-

rently teaching construction trades for the City School District,
Rochester, N.Y., and is the coordinator of the apprenticeship pro-
gram for Rochester Carpenters Local 85.
Low
Assembly
Bench
Versatile platform
puts your work
at the right height
by Bill Nyberg
M
y father learned woodworking
in Sweden, and when he came
to this country, he got a job
building reproduction Early American
furniture. The shop had been in operation
since the late 1700s, and like those who
worked before him, my father was
assigned a huge bench with many
drawers. He stored his tools and ate his
lunch at the bench, but much of his actual
work took place nearby on a low table he
called “the platform.”
When I inherited his big bench, I also
found myself doing most of my work at a
low platform improvised from sawhorses
and planks. I have bad shoulders and the
occasional sore back, so using a full-
height bench is difficult and unproductive.
42 Fine Woodworking
I needed a bench that suited the way I lengthwise in the top face of the bottom
really work, so I built a low platform that section to accommodate the pipes.
incorporates some features of a traditional The tops are held to each beam with a
full-sized bench.
A clamping machine
single lag screw, which allows seasonal
movement. To lock the tops into the base,
I cut dadoes on the lower faces of the
My low platform bench is made for
clamping (see the photos on the facing
bottom sections to fit over the beams.
page). The edges overhang enough for
clamps to get a good grip anywhere along
Assembling the double-pipe clamps—
The double-pipe clamps are sold with a
the length of the bench. A 4-in.-wide
space down the middle increases the
clamping options.
This platform bench has four tail vises
A low bench made for clamping
This bench is 24 in. high, a convenient height
made from Pony No. 53 double-pipe for working on many projects. The benchtops
are 421 ⁄2 in. long, which gives more than 4 ft.
clamps, which can be used by themselves between the jaws. At about 70 lbs., the bench
or in combination with a row of dogs on is light enough to move around yet heavy
the centerline between the screws, as the enough for stability.
drawing shows. Unlike most bench
arrangements, with a single row of dogs
along one edge, this one doesn’t twist or
buckle the piece. I can use each vise singly
or with the others because the pipes are 10 in.
pinned into the benchtops at each end
with 1 ⁄4-in. by 2-in. roll pins. Without the
pins, the pipes would slide through the
bench when tightening one end.
Rather than using traditional square Lag screw
bench dogs, I bored 3 ⁄4-in. holes for a
variety of manufactured dog fixtures or
shopmade dowel dogs (see the drawing).
Building the benchtops
The bench is made from eight straight,
clear 8-ft. 2x4s that I had kept in the shop
for a few months to dry. I jointed the
edges and then ran each of the boards
through the planer until the radiused
corners were square. Roll pin
Dowels
Building the legs and base according to align top
the dimensions on the drawing is during
straightforward. The only point to note is glue-up.
the dovetail connecting the beams to the
legs. Because of the orientation of the
beams and legs, the dovetail is only 11 ⁄2 in.
at its widest point, but it’s 31 ⁄2 in. from top
to bottom. I tilted the tablesaw blade to
cut the tails on the beam and cut the pins
on the legs in the bandsaw. Almost any
method would work to join the beam to
the leg; my first version of the bench used
a bolted slip joint.
The pipes run through the tops—The
tops are made in two sections and glued
Leg braces are resawn
up with the pipes and vises in place. The 2x4s, about 11⁄16 in. by 33⁄8 in.
upper sections are made of three boards
and the lower section from two. I edge-
glued them with alternating growth rings
to eliminate cupping. I cut 7 ⁄8-in. grooves
Photos: Aimé Fraser; drawings: Heather Lambert
tail stop and a screw head. I set aside the
tail-stop ends and used only the screw
heads. Threading on the vise at one end
of the pipe will unscrew the vise at the
other end. So I had a plumber cut the
threads twice as long on one end of each
of the four pipes. I threaded the first vise
all the way onto the end with double-long
threads so that it was twice as far on the
pipe as it needed to go. By the time the
second vise was in place, the first one had
unscrewed itself to the correct location.
Keep ends flush when gluing—Before
the pipes are installed in the grooves, I cut
all the bench pieces to length. Once the
tops are glued up, the pipes and vises are
in the way, so it’s hard to trim up ends that
aren’t flush. For flush ends, I aligned the
pieces with dowel pins between top and
bottom. I applied the glue and clamped
the top and bottom sections together with
the dowels in place. After the glue was
dry, I drilled for the roll pins from the
bottom so they wouldn’t show.

Bill Nyberg is director of ophthalmic
photography at the University of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He works
wood in his spare time.

Bench dogs Pipe Bench

are hardwood
dowels, 3⁄4 in. dia.
and about 41⁄2 in.
long, planed flat Cut off one
on one side. side of
handle.
When the
A 1⁄4-in. vise is open,
bullet catch gravity will
Roll pins, Top assembly is dadoed keep the
keeps the 1
⁄4 in. by 2 in., 1
⁄4 in. deep to fit over beam. remaining
Dog holes, 3⁄4 in., dog in
keep pipe portion of
on 4 in. centers place.
from turning. the handle
below the
Lag screws, 3⁄8 in. by 5 in. benchtop.
through beam

Alternating
growth rings

Dado for pipe, 7⁄8 in. MAKE CLAMPING EASY

deep by 7⁄8 in. wide

Four No. 53
Pony clamps

Two vises that can be adjusted

independently hold even irreg-
ular shapes securely.

Roll pin

Black iron or galvanized

pipe, 1⁄2 in. ID by 57 in. long

Drill 11 ⁄8 in. holes in cheeks

for loose fit on pipe.

Glue only bottom of dovetail to

allow seasonal movement.

The open space at the center of

the bench allows clamping pres-
Counterbore for sure to be applied anywhere.
1
⁄4 in. by 2 in. bolts.
Rules of Thumb BY M I C H A E L D U N B A R

Woodworking benches
It is almost impossible to work wood without a workbench. It
ranks as one of the most important fixtures in a shop. In fact, the
more extensive your woodworking experience the more likely
you are to have more than one bench. I have always had at least
three benches in my chair-making school's shop—large and
small joiner's benches and an assembly bench.
Different types of woodworkers traditionally have had different
styles of benches that vary according to the needs of their craft.
For example, a joiner's bench is long and narrow with a vise
along the side (known as a side vise) and a vise at one end
(known as a tail vise). Chair makers frequently work on a low
platform called a framing bench because chair assembly is called
framing. All good benches share features you will want to
include in any bench you are making or acquiring.
A bench must be sturdy. You frequently place a lot of weight on
it. Woodworking, especially with hand tools, creates a lot of
force. A bench that wobbles or racks under these forces is
frustrating to work on because you waste a lot of energy moving
the benchtop rather than working wood. Also,
this type of movement is not good for the
bench's joints. They wear more quickly, and you
may need to replace the bench down the road.
All the benches in my shop have 4x4 legs, and
the stretchers are joined with 2-in.-deep mortise-
and-tenon joints. The top is secured to 2x6 cleats
that are mortised to sit on tenons cut into the top
of the legs. We have reinforced all the multiple-
person benches with cross bracing—both end to
end and side to side.
A bench should also be heavy. The forces
exerted upon a bench can not only rack it but
also make it slide around the shop. Chasing your
bench while trying to work wood is very
frustrating. A heavy bench is more likely to stay
put. A thick top is one way to create weight. The
top of my large joiner's bench (see the photo at
left) is in.-thick beech, and all of our
multiple-person benches (see the photo below)
require four people to lift them safely. Storing
some of your tools under the bench is another
good way to add weight. I store my working

Low bench for handwork. Planing moldings, chopping mortises and jointing boards all re-
quire lots of upper-body strength. A low bench—the one in the photo is 31 in. high—allows
the author to put a lot of muscle into his motions.

High bench for machining. Benchtop machines come with their own horsepower, so the
operator's strength is almost superfluous. Slipping battens under the plywood has raised the
actual working height of the benchtop to almost 36 in. Adding height is easy; lowering it isn't.
Rules of Thumb (continued)

Get the height just right. To determine the proper

workbench height, stand with your arm hanging
by your side. Bend your wrist so that your palm
is facing down.

handplanes, about 20 of them, on a shelf that

spans the side stretchers.
You can also secure the bench to the floor to
keep it from moving. My small joiner's bench is
lagged to the wooden floor. If you have a
concrete floor, you may need to drill holes in it
and use lag shields. In this case, be sure to
locate the bench in the most desirable location.
Chair making requires a lot of shaping. When a An immovable beast. To keep his benches from racking, the author uses dovetailed
student would pull the draw knife, the bench diagonal braces. Cleats screwed to the floor prevent the benches from moving.
would follow. We corrected this by placing
cleats against the legs and screwing them to the
floor. And the cleats have another advantage. Although low—only mostly machined, benches are generally used for assembly.
in. thick—they keep a lot of the shavings produced in the shop These benches tend to have higher working surfaces. However, a
from working their way under the bench, making clean up easier. high bench makes working by hand very difficult. For example,
Your bench should be sized appropriately to your work. A when planing, you use muscles in your legs and back. On a high
benchtop has three important dimensions: length, width and bench, you are more limited to your arm and shoulder muscles. I
height. If you work with long pieces of wood, you want a long do a lot of handwork, and for that reason, I prefer a low bench.
bench. When I built my joiner's bench, I was doing a lot of house My large joiner's bench is only 31 in. high.
restoration. As a result, I was making a lot of doors and interior To determine bench height, stand erect with your arm hanging
and exterior trim. The 8-ft.-long top came in handy for this work. by your side, and bend your wrist so your palm is facing down.
A bench should be wide enough to handle the jobs you This is a good height for your bench. If you do a lot of work with
normally do. My joiner's bench is 32 in. wide. This is sufficient for benchtop machines, such as a router or a biscuit joiner, you may
most of the chairs, tables or carcases I have built. want the bench slightly higher. Remember this: It's easy to add
Bench height is perhaps the most critical dimension. It is one temporary blocks or battens if you want to raise the working
that is also very personal. It varies depending on your methods height of a bench for a particular project, but it's awfully hard to
of work and your height. In a production shop where parts are lower it.
Rules of Thumb
Vises are a woodworker's third hand
I have watched a lot of frustrated beginning woodworkers at-
tempt to saw a piece of wood while holding it against a work-
bench with their free hand or their knee. I even saw one diligent
guy put a board on a workbench, then sit on the board while he
tried to make a cut. Pity that all of them didn't clamp their work
in a vise.
Vises are indispensable woodworking tools. Through the day, a
woodworker has to hold any number of things, such as parts or
tools, so that he can work on them.
Different styles of vises are made for a variety of different pur-
poses. Thus, the longer you work wood, the more likely you are
to own more than one vise. I started with one and now have six.
Vises are commonly built into woodworkers' workbenches. A
typical joiner's bench has two—a side vise and a tail vise. A side
vise is usually mounted along the length of a bench and is gener-
ally used for holding boards or parts on their edges. Holding a
board for jointing with a handplane is a common job for the side
vise. A tail vise—usually mounted on the end of a bench—holds
boards or parts flat on the benchtop (see the left photo below). It
BY M I C H A E L D U N B A R
is generally used in conjunction with benchdogs. Planing or
sanding a board's face and gluing panels are common jobs that
involve the tail vise.
In my chair-making school's shop, we use two other types of
vises on a daily basis. My favorite, the carriage vise, is similar to a
machinist's vise but is made to much more exacting tolerances. It
was manufactured early this century by the Prentise Vise Co. In
the company's catalog, this model is listed as a "woodworker's
vise," but it is intended more specifically for carriage makers.
The jaws are at chest level (see the right photo on p. 108), mak-
ing it easier to work in a standing position, which is especially
helpful for fine work. The jaws' faces are machined flat so that
they do not mar the work, even when it is held very tightly. The
screw has very little backlash, so I can tighten and loosen the
jaws with a half twist. I have had the Prentise carriage-maker's
vise for 27 years. It serves me as a third hand, and without.it, I
would feel handicapped.
The other type of vise used in our shop is the Record 53E. This
model is so well known and so widely used by woodworkers
A tail vise is for working wood flat on the bench.
Chopping mortises, face-planing or sanding is easy
with a tail vise mounted so that the screw is parallel to
the bench's length. The vise clamps the wood against a
benchdog, the movable square peg at the front end of
the new wood.
A side vise is used for working the end or edge of
a board. The author copied the twin-screw vise—great
for gripping long boards while working the ends—from
an antique bench. Side vises are mounted so that their
screws are parallel to the width of a bench.
Rules of Thumb (continued)
everywhere that it is the standard add-on cast-iron bench vise.
A once-popular type, pattern-maker's vises were made in large
numbers and can still be found (though they're expensive). Pat-
tern makers worked with irregular shapes and frequently needed
to revolve the work to place it in an advantageous position. Their
vises were far more flexible and complicated than those used by
other branches of woodworking. Veritas makes a modern ver-
sion of a pattern-maker's vise called the Tucker Vise.
Use a vise to your advantage
When I visit other shops or watch students at work, I observe
two common problems. Many woodworkers use vises that are
inadequate, or they frequently do not use their vises to their best
advantage. Whatever type of vise or vises are required in your
work, they should all be high quality and strong. (Weak vices are
spelled differently.) It is also usually a good bet to buy a brand
you recognize. You will not be well served by a lightweight or
undersized vise. Acquiring a good vise usually means spending
the long dollar. However, the investment will pay dividends for
as long as you work wood.
Using a vise to its best advantage is a regular part of our class-
room instruction. It is easier to work wood if it is securely held
by the vise. But avoid working in a way that allows the part to
flex. It is usually best to lower the wood you are working on as
far into the vise as possible so that it doesn't project a lot. Try to
keep the area you are working as close to the jaws as possible
to keep the workpiece rigid.
Side vises on the end of a bench.
For his Windsor-chair-making class-
es, the author mounted two Record
53E vises on the short end of each
bench (left), which allows him to
work off the corner of the bench.
Working the long edge of a board is
easy with tandem-mounted vises.
Smooth operator. This
antique Prentise vise (right)
has smooth faces that won't
mar wood.
It doesn't matter whether the waste or the piece you are keep-
ing gets clamped into the vise—whatever holds better is best. For
instance, if you are cutting the waste off the end of a turned spin-
dle, which would be hard to clamp securely because of the turn-
ings, it will be easier to clamp the waste piece in the vise and
hold the spindle in your hand as you saw with your other hand.
And if you have to joint pieces too small to run across a jointer,
clamp a #7 jointer plane upside down in a vise and push the
piece over it.
With a little forethought, vises can be adapted to better suit
your needs. In our school, we cannot provide each student with
several types of vises, so we have mounted Record 53E vises in a
versatile way that allows them to perform all the jobs we require,
such as holding chair seats for planing, turned legs for drilling or
spindles for shaping. Many shops mount a bench vise on the
bench's long edge and set it in from the corner. Ours are located
on the bench's short end and right on the corner, This allows us
to use them as a tail vise for planing. A row of dog holes is
aligned with the vise's dog (which is mounted in the outside
jaw). And when jointing very long pieces, we can clamp the
wood using two vises on the end of a bench.
New-Fangled Workbench
With six pipe clamps and
some dressed framing lumber,

you can make

an inexpensive bench
that's as versatile
as a Swiss Army Knife
BY JOHN W H I T E

F
or five years I worked as a cabinetmaker in a shop that used
only hand tools for the simple reason that electricity wasn't
available that far back in the woods. One lesson that I came
away with was the importance of a good workbench—and lots of
windows. I now work in a shop that is, if anything, overelectrified,
but a functional workbench is still important. Just because you're
driving a car instead of a buggy doesn't mean you don't need a
good road to get where you're going.
On a perfect bench, the various vises and stops would hold any
size workpiece in the most convenient position for the job at
hand. Traditional workbenches are adequate for clamping small-
er pieces, a table leg or frame rail for instance, but most benches
can't handle wide boards for edge- and face-planing or frame-
and-panel assemblies.
Recently, I moved my shop and needed to build a new bench. I
began by researching traditional American and European designs.
I found that although our predecessors had many clever solutions
to the problems of holding down a piece of wood, no one bench
D O U G L A S FIR
WORKBENCH
To minimize costs, the author
milled workbench stock from
Douglas fir framing lumber,
sawing clear sections from the
center of 2xlOs and 2xl2s.
The bench is fastened with
drywall screws and lag bolts.
Six pipe clamps in different
configurations are used as vises.

Oak blocks span tail-vise

clamps. The screw ends of the
pipe clamps are screwed to
the end of the bench through
holes drilled in the clamp faces.

Pipes rest on blocks that turn.

Tail-vise pipe clamps are support-
ed by blocks fastened with one
screw. To slide a clamp past, turn
the block.

Front clamps are easy to ad-

just. The clamps fit in holes in the
bench front and are secured with
large washers and speed pins.
 planed. Instead, the force of the plane
pushes the workpiece into a tapered plan-
ing wedge attached to the far left end of the
bench. This is an ancient device, and for
handplaning it is far more practical than
any vise. You can flip the board end for
end or turn the other edge up in an instant
with one hand. You don't even have to put
down your plane.
To make a shoulder vise when needed, I
drilled holes 6 in. on-center along the
bench's front rail to mount pipe clamps
horizontally. I pair up two clamps with a
drop-in vise jaw, which is just a length of
-in. square hardwood. The jaw can be
as short as 8 in. or longer than 6 ft. I have
several jaws of different lengths.
The front vise can be used with the plan-
ing beam supporting the workpiece from
below. This is useful because some proce-
Sliding height adjustment. Pipe-clamp tail-
pieces slide on cast-iron pipes held captive in
the top and bottom of the bench. A T-shaped
Douglas fir planing beam rides on the clamps.
dures, such as chopping mortises, drive the
work downward through the jaws of a
conventional vise, scarring the wood.
Traditional tail vise
is replaced with pipe clamps
On the bench's top, two pipe-clamp bars
are recessed into a l0-in.-wide well, re-
placing a conventional tail vise and bench
dogs. The clamp-tightening screws project
from the right end of the bench, and the
movable jaws project in. above the top.
Both the fixed and movable jaws have oak
faces. This clamp setup makes it easy to
hold down boards for surface-planing be-
cause nothing projects above the board's
surface to foul the tool. The top clamp bars
have a clamping capacity of just over 7 ft.
Blocks of wood support the pipes. Each
one is screwed to the frame of the bench

solved all or even most of the problems I

had encountered in 25 years of wood-
working. Frustrated, I finally decided to de-
sign a bench from the ground up.
At first I had no success. A design would
address one problem but not another, or it
would be far too complex. I was about to
give up and build a traditional German
bench when I came up with a design that
incorporates pipe clamps into the bench's
top, the front apron and even the legs.

Planing beam slides on pipes

On the front of the bench is an adjustable,
T-shaped planing beam that runs the full
length of the bench. It is supported on both
ends by the sliding tailpieces of Pony pipe
clamps. The -in. cast-iron pipes on which
the clamps slide are incorporated into the
bench's legs. I used Pony clamps through-
out this project because they are well made
and slide and lock very smoothly.
The planing beam continuously supports
the full length of a board standing on edge.
The stock for the planing beam can be as
narrow as 2 in. and as wide as 30 in. The
planing beam can be set to any position in
seconds. Of all of the bench's features, the
planing beam is the most useful. I use it
dozens of times daily when building a
piece of furniture.
You've probably noticed that there is no
front vise to secure the board being

Lift-out MDF panels. The panels, cut in differ-
ent lengths from MDF scraps, make a durable
yet disposable center surface for the bench.
The panels get removed when the tail-vise
pipe clamps are in use.
with a drywall screw. The single screw al-
lows each block to swing out of the way of
the pipe-clamp tailpieces as they are slid to
accommodate long work.
The top pipe clamps can also be used
to hold panels in place that have other
tools permanently attached, such as a vise
or an electric grinder. I have a tilting drill-
press vise attached to a square of medium-
density fiberboard (MDF) that I clamp to
the bench for metalworking or for holding
a piece of wood to be carved. I plan to de-
sign a drop-in router table for the bench;
there's enough space between the pipe-
clamp bars to fit a small machine.
When the top clamps aren't in use, the
well is covered by several sections of -in.
MDF that simply drop in and lay on top of
the pipes. Because MDF is so inexpensive,
I treat the panels as sacrificial surfaces. I cut
into them, screw jigs to them, whack them
with a hammer, and when they get too
chewed up, I toss them. To save my back, I
buy precut MDF meant for shelving; it
comes either 12 in. or 16 in. wide. This pre-
cut stock is useful for all manner of jigs and
prototypes, and I always have a few
lengths around the shop.
Douglas fir makes a solid bench
The bench, as I built it, is 8 ft. long and was
designed to accommodate fairly large
work, such as doors and other architectur- the joints loosen up, you can retighten
al millwork. The design can be shortened everything in a few minutes with a screw-
or lengthened, and it could be reversed driver. I did this about a month after as-
end for end if you are left-handed. sembling the bench, and it has stayed solid
I built the bench out of Douglas fir in- ever since. Don't overtighten the screws.
stead of hardwood. Douglas fir at its best is Excessively crushing the wood under the
a dense, stable wood that machines clean- screw's head ruins the resilience that al-
ly and holds fasteners well, important at- lows a joint to flex slightly and remain tight.
tributes given the way I wanted to The keyhole slots in the legs and stretch-
assemble the bench. er are functional; as the boards shrink, they
Wide planks—2xl0s and 2xl2s—of Dou- allow the wood to flex without cracking. In
glas fir framing lumber will often be sawn effect, they are preemptive cracks that look
right out of the center of the log, and a half a lot better than the ones that would form
or more of the board will be quartersawn randomly otherwise. When you install the
and knot free, with tight, straight grain. lag bolts, drill clearance and pilot holes
By carefully choosing and ripping these and go easy on the torque when you tight-
planks, you can get some beautiful materi- en them up. The joint will be stronger if
al for a lot less than the price of even you don't overstress the threads in the
mediocre furniture woods. Some of the stretcher's end grain.
trimmed-out wood that isn't good enough
for the bench can still be used for other
projects such as shelves or sawhorses.
If you start with green lumber, sticker it
for a few months to get the moisture con-
tent down. To prevent checking, trim the
ends to get a clean surface and then apply
duct tape over the end grain. Even if you
start with kiln-dried wood, give it a couple
of weeks indoors to stabilize before start-
ing to cut. Use the best wood for the frame,
benchtop and beam, saving lesser quality
stock for the leg assembly.
Screw joinery is fast and strong
My method of assembling the bench with
drywall screws and lag screws (and no
fitted-and-glued joinery) is unconvention-
al, but I've used this style of construction
for years. The finished bench is rock solid,
and the joinery goes quickly.
Most of the screws were counterbored
with a -in. drill, sometimes quite deeply, Horizontal clamps run full length. A pair of
to bring the screw heads in. shy of the pipe clamps, running under the benchtop, hold
edge being joined. On the 3-in.-wide, work in the same way as a traditional tail vise.
edge-jointed benchtop boards, the coun-
terbore is in. deep. The deep bore min- The pipes used with the clamps cut easi-
imizes the amount of wood under the ly with a hacksaw or a small pipe cutter.
screw head, which in turn minimizes the For the smoothest operation of the clamps,
loosening of the joint as the stock shrinks. clean up any burrs along the length of each
After drilling the counterbore, follow up pipe with a file and then smooth it down
with a long bit to drill a clearance hole for with emery paper. This is a messy opera-
the screw shank. Then line up the pieces to tion, creating a staining black dust, so do it
be joined and install the screws a couple of away from your woodworking area. Wipe
turns to mark the centers, drill pilot holes at down each pipe with a rag and paint thin-
the marks in the adjoining piece and as- ner when you are done.
semble the bench.
One of the advantages of this type of John White keeps the Fine Woodworking shop
construction is that if the wood shrinks and running smoothly.
 A Workbench That Works
A small top without a tail vise
has served this master furniture maker
for three decades

BY PHIL LOWE

I
n the early 1970s, having built most of the frame with 8/4
completed my training in fur- birch, and I used 4/4 birch for the
niture making, I found myself drawer dividers, the center parti-
in need of a workbench. I figured tion and the drawer fronts. I fash-
I'd make one that would be large ioned the side panels with
enough to hold all of my hand -in.-thick fir plywood, set into
tools and small enough to move, rabbets that were cut into the
guessing that it would be some back edges of the legs and rails.
time before I settled down. I Drawer runners—joined with
wanted an all-purpose bench for tenons into mortises in the draw-
planing, scraping, cutting joints, er dividers—are held to an inside
carving and finishing. Cost was a frame by a screw in the back. The
concern because there was a slew top is 8/4 maple, ripped to 3-in.
of tools and machinery I wanted widths that I glued together on
to buy, so I decided not to use any edge for strength and stability.
fancy or expensive hardwoods in To make the benchdog holes in
its construction. For the original the top, I cut a series of -in. by
bench, I chose birch (sturdy and -in. dadoes before laminating
cheap) for the top and the frame, the top. I also cut the same sized
and I used construction-grade dadoes on every third board in a
fir plywood for the side panels. position that would line up with
That first version was a little on the dog on the vise, once it was
the low side, so I later corrected fastened to the top. The overhang
the problem by cutting down the of the top is such that the dog
original top and adding a new Small but sturdy. This workbench is almost 30 years old, and it's holes are clear of the base so that
maple slab over it. still used daily for all facets of furniture making. they don't become clogged with
The relatively small size of the sawdust. Also, I needed the over-
bench makes it comfortable to use. Unlike many larger benches, I hang for clamping workpieces to the table. The overhang on the
can easily reach a workpiece resting on the top from all sides of side above the drawers is smaller so that it doesn't restrict access to
the bench. It holds almost all of my hand tools—or at least the ones the tools in the top drawers. The new top is secured to the old
I use the most—keeping them well within reach. Also, this bench original top (that I cut down to serve as a subtop) from underneath
is small enough that it can be moved around the shop when need- with lag screws, and that subtop is secured with lag screws
ed. Loaded up with tools, it's heavy enough to stay in place while through the top rails of the base cabinet.
I'm using it. But I can break it down into manageable pieces, if This bench functions quite nicely. The vise will not only hold
need be, by removing the drawers and the top. I was particularly workpieces between its jaws, but it can also hold them between
glad about this feature when I had to set it up in my first apartment the dog on top of the vise and one placed into the benchtop. I
in a third-floor attic space where I worked for a while. sometimes set up workpieces, such as panels to be planed, so that
In the construction of the case, I used mortise-and-tenon joints they rest against a thinner batten that spans two dogs. With this set-
with pins for all of the frame pieces, through- and blind-dovetails up I need to lift my plane on the return stroke to prevent the pan-
for the drawers and housed dovetails for the drawer dividers. I el from sliding backward. And sometimes, when planing the ends
 The vise is an Securing the Out of harm's
adjustable workpiece with- way. When it's
clamp. A series out clamps. A not needed,
of benchdog hardwood batten this 3-ft. Star-
holes in the top thinner than the rett straight-
line up with the workpiece butts edge lives in a
center of the against two slot under the
vise for clamp- benchdogs in benchtop.
ing workpieces the top to serve
of varying as a stop.
lengths.

Drawers do more than

hold things. In combina-
tion with the vise, they also
support workpieces such
as this large mahogany
carcase piece.

How it's used and what it holds

This benchtop's small size ( in. by in.) belies its versatility. The author's
most-often-used hand tools fit compactly but comfortably in storage under the
Every tool has its place.
top. Layout tools, chisels, planes and spokeshaves, saws, rasps, files, scrapers,
The contents of each drawer
sanding blocks, hammers and carving tools all have specific homes. There's even are custom-fit
a spot for one very essential tool—a clipboard to record billable hours of time
spent on jobs in the shop.

or edges of panels or long boards, I use the vise to hold the work-
piece and one of the drawers underneath to support it.
Looking back at the number of pieces I've built on this bench
and remembering the number of workspaces it has inhabited, I re-
alize how well it has served me all these many years. I'm some-
times asked how I could get by with such a relatively small top and
without a tail vise. I have the additional work surface of a fold-
down table near the bench that I use to lay out and organize parts
of furniture I'm working on. And I honestly haven't felt the need
for a tail vise, because dogs and a few clamps do the same job. I
can proudly say that I have never driven a nail into the top to hold
anything in place. There is one thing I would change if I were to
make this bench again. The kick space between the bottom rail
and the floor is too small, resulting in an occasional pain in my big
toe. Also, someday I'd like to replace the fir plywood side panels
with something a bit more attractive, but I don't imagine that will
happen until my daughters finish school.
Phil Lows builds and restores furniture in Beverly, Mass., where he teaches
classes on building traditional furniture.
w

A Bench Built to Last

This workbench has a wide top and a sturdy base that provides
solid footing and plenty of storage space
B Y D I C K M C D O N O U G H

36 FINE WOODWORKING
 MAY/JUNE 2001

I
f this workbench played football, I’m certain it would be a A variety of vises and ample storage
lineman. Because, like the guards and tackles found on the
gridiron, my bench is big and solid. And I wouldn’t have it
any other way.
Most of my work involves the fabrication of large case goods—
entertainment centers, bookcases and other types of storage furni-
ture. And although much of the machine work gets done using a
tablesaw and router, I still do a good deal of work at the bench. So
when it was time to replace my older, smallish and somewhat rick-
ety workbench, I opted to make a new one with all the bells and
whistles. The bench would provide plenty of size and sturdiness.
Sturdiness is the operative word here. Indeed, no matter how ag-
gressive I get with a saw, a handplane or a mallet and chisel, the
bench doesn’t wobble. The result is a workbench that has just
about everything I need.
The supersized top is another important feature. With about
22 sq. ft. of surface area, the top is great for supporting long boards
and wide sheet goods. Two end vises, a front vise and a shoulder Shoulder vise adds
vise, along with a small army of benchdog holes, make it easy to clamping options.
secure almost any size stock to the bench. The lack of a vise
My bench is considered left-handed, based on the location of screw between the jaw
the shoulder vise. If you prefer a right-handed bench, just build the surfaces makes the
shoulder vise (above)
shoulder vise on the right side.
especially handy when
a board must be
The base creates a sturdy foundation clamped vertically.
The bench owes much of its sturdiness to the design of the base.
Yet its construction is pretty straightforward. It has just five main
parts: three support frames and a pair of boxes. Screwing the
frames and boxes together creates a single, rock-solid unit that can
accept almost any kind of top. And the two boxes provide a ton of
space for adding cabinets or drawers.
The center and right-side support frames are identical. But to Front vise is nice.
provide additional support for the shoulder vise, the left-side sup- Used in conjunction
port frame is longer and has an extra leg. I added seven heavy- with round benchdogs,
duty levelers—one under each leg of the support frame. the front vise (left)
lets the author work
To simplify the construction of the base, I made both plywood
comfortably from the
boxes the same size. They fit snugly between the top rail and the end of the bench.
foot of the frames, which adds rigidity to the base.
If you include drawers in one of the boxes, as I did, cut the da-
does for the drawer-support cleats, then glue the cleats into the
dadoes before the box is assembled.
Once the support frames and boxes were put together, I was
able to assemble the base without much fuss. The boxes butt
against the legs, with the bottom of the boxes simply resting on the
narrow lip along the length of the foot. Attaching the boxes to
the frames was a matter of driving five wood screws through the
inside of the box and into each of the legs.
Once the base was built, I moved it to its final location. Next I
leveled the top surface using winding sticks and the seven levelers.
Then I was ready to build the top right on the base.

The top is flat and durable

The top has three main parts. There’s a center section made from Drawers galore. The shallow top drawer provides a perfect place for
veneered particleboard. Attached to the center section are two the author to store his favorite chisels.

Photos, except where noted: Tom Begnal M AY / J U N E 2 0 01 37

6-in.-wide edgings—one in front, the other in back—and both A massive top on a sturdy modular base
made from glued-up solid maple.
To help keep costs under control, the top is a hybrid, a mix of solid
maple, thick veneer and particleboard. The base construction is
Start with the center section—To help keep costs under con-
surprisingly simple—a pair of plywood boxes sandwiched between
trol, I face-glued three pieces of particleboard together—a 5⁄8-in.-
three frames—yet the single unit that results is as solid as a ’72 Buick.
thick piece sandwiched between two 3⁄4-in.-thick pieces.
First, I joined one of the 3⁄4-in.-thick pieces to the 5⁄8-in.-thick
piece, making sure all of the edges were flush. Then, I used a 5⁄8-in.-
dia. core-box bit to cut three 5⁄8-in.-deep grooves across the under-
side of the 5⁄8-in.-thick particleboard. When the remaining piece of
particleboard was added, the groove produced a 5⁄8-in. semicircu-
lar hole, which accommodated a threaded rod that helps secure
the solid-maple edgings.
A workbench top gets a lot of wear and tear, so I used a 3⁄16-in.-
Slider, 7⁄16 in. thick
thick veneer on top. And to make sure any movement stresses by 2 3⁄8 in. wide by Front vise
would be equal, I also veneered the bottom. 10 in. long
To make the veneer, I resawed maple to about a 5⁄16-in. thickness
on the bandsaw. I used a thickness planer to bring the material to
final thickness. Then I jointed one edge of each piece of veneer Long rail and foot,
and ripped the other edge parallel on the tablesaw. 2 1⁄2 in. square by
At this point, the veneer was ready to be applied to the particle- 41 in. long
board. But faced with having to veneer such a large surface with
thick veneer and without a lot of clamps, I used a somewhat un-
usual gluing-and-clamping technique (see p. 41).
Boxes are flush
Wide edgings accept benchdogs—The wide edgings that run with outside
along the front and back of the bench are made of solid maple. edges of legs.
That way the benchdogs have plenty of support when in use.
Upper jack
I routed the dadoes that create the openings for the rectangular- board, 1 1⁄4 in.
shaped benchdogs before the pieces were glued together. thick by
5 3⁄8 in. wide Frame-and-
I also wanted benchdogs to work with the front vise. But it was
by 18 7⁄8 in. panel doors
going to be a hassle to chop out all of those square mortises with long
a chisel. Plus, the particleboard wouldn’t hold up well when the
dogs got squeezed. So I opted to use round benchdogs. That
way I simply had to bore a hole to accept it. And to reinforce the
particleboard, I glued a short length of 3⁄4-in. copper water pipe
into the hole. Lower jack board
Three lengths of 1⁄2-in.-dia. threaded rod, with a washer and nut is cut from 2-in.-
thick by 5 3⁄8-in.-
on each end, secure the wide, solid-maple edgings to the ve- wide stock.
neered center section. The rods extend through the “holes” in the
particleboard and into through-holes in the edgings.
Runner, 1 3⁄4 in.
To drill the through-holes, I first cut each piece of edging to square by 83 1⁄4 in.
long
46 3⁄8 in.
1
31 ⁄4 in. 98 3⁄4 in.

35 3⁄8 in.
12 3⁄8 in.
31 3⁄4 in. 34 1⁄4 in.
15 in.

25 in. 74 1⁄2 in.

41 in.

38 FINE WOODWORKING Drawings: Vince Babak

 S O U R C E O F S U P P LY
WOODCRAFT (800-225-1153)
Vises, vise hardware and benchdogs
Maple veneer, A complete parts list is available on our
3
⁄16 in. thick, on top Center section is
web site: www.finewoodworking.com
and bottom of particleboard,
center section 2 1⁄8 in. thick by
19 1⁄4 in. wide by
95 3⁄8 in. long.
Solid maple edging,
3 1⁄2 in. thick by 6 in. Right end cap,
wide by 95 3⁄8 in. long 1 1⁄4 in. thick by 3 1⁄2 in.
wide by 31 1⁄4 in. long,
Glue plywood splined and bolted
spline only to to benchtop
end cap.

Groove, 1⁄2 in. deep Rout 5⁄8-in.-deep groove for

by 1⁄2 in. wide, for threaded rod before
board jack gluing up center section.

Groove for drawer

runner, 1⁄2 in. wide 5
⁄16-in. hex bolt
by 3⁄8 in. deep mates with
End vise barrel nut in
center section.

Mounting plate,
1 1⁄8 in. thick by
5 1⁄4 in. wide by
19 in. long

Tenons, 3⁄4 in.

thick by 2 5⁄8 in.
wide by 1 1⁄2 in.
deep

Leg, 1 3⁄4 in.

thick by 3 5⁄8 in.
wide by 29 3⁄4 in.
Boxes rest on long (including
lip created by tenons)
narrow legs.

Boxes are attached

to support frames Boxes, 34 1⁄4 in. wide
with 2-in. #12 flat- Drawer
by 22 1⁄4 in. deep Short rail and
head wood screws. runner
(including edging on foot, 2 1⁄2 in.
front) by 26 3⁄4 in. tall, square by
Edging, 3⁄4 in. are made from 3⁄4-in. 25 in. long
Leveler
by 3⁄4 in. plywood rabbeted at
the corners.

M AY / J U N E 2 0 01 39
Shoulder vise and end cap
Cut notch for
Jaw, 2 3⁄8 in. thick by rectangular
3 1⁄2 in. wide by 13 1⁄4 in. benchdog before
long (including 1-in.- assembling the
long tongue Copper water pipe
wide edging.
epoxied to center
Bench screw section serves as
(see Sources) bushing for round
benchdog.

Notch for
front vise

1
⁄2-in. threaded rod
with washer and
nut on each end
Plywood spline,
5
1
⁄2 in. thick by 1 in. ⁄16-in. hex bolt
wide, is glued to mates with
end cap. barrel nut.
Beam, 2 7⁄8 in. Block, 3 1⁄2 in.
thick by 3 1⁄2 in. thick by 12 7⁄8 in.
End cap, 2 7⁄8 in.
wide by 12 1⁄4 in.
wide by 28 in. thick by 3 1⁄2 in.
long long
wide

final length. Then to mark the location of the holes in the edgings,
I clamped one piece to the center section. I made a center-point
marker by driving a finish nail in the end of a long, 1⁄2-in.-dia. dow-
el. The nail must be centered in the end. I ran the dowel through
the holes in the particleboard and used the nail to mark the center
point of the hole in the edging. Once all of the points were
marked, I drilled all of the holes through each piece of edging.
The threaded rod closest to the left end is longer than the other
two rods because it extends all the way through the shoulder-vise
parts. I used the same technique to mark the center points on the
shoulder-vise parts.
I then face-glued the edgings and glued and clamped them to the
front and back of the bench.
The space under the bench is put to use—Those big boxes in
the base provide plenty of storage space. I placed eight drawers
in the right-hand box. Plus, to take advantage of the space be-
tween the top of the box and the underside of the benchtop, I
added a shallow through-drawer that extends from front to back,
with a face on each end of the drawer, so it can be accessed from
both sides of the workbench.
The left-hand box holds the parts of a project I’m building. The
box includes a hinged shelf that pivots up and out of the way
when it’s not needed. The frame-and-panel doors keep dust from
filling up the box.
Board jacks support long stock—The board jacks (one in front
and one in back) are handy additions to the bench. When a board
is clamped in the front, or shoulder, vise, the jack holds up the un-
supported end. To accommodate boards of varying length, the
jack is able to slide along the full length of the bench.
Power strips bring the juice—Because my bench is several feet
from a wall, I added power strips along the front and back edges,
making it easier to use power tools at the bench.
The bench has been serving me well for several years now. Dur-
ing that time, it has picked up plenty of scratches and dents, but
it’s as solid as ever. And I expect it’s going to stay that way for
many years to come.

Dick McDonough lives in Flint, Mich., where he’s a full-time finish carpenter
and part-time woodworking teacher.

40 FINE WOODWORKING
 G L U I N G T H I C K V E N E E R T O A L A R G E S U R FAC E
Large surfaces, like the top of my bench, are a
challenge to veneer because it’s difficult to get
good clamping pressure over the entire surface.
I have enough clamps for most jobs but
nowhere near the number I’d need for my
jumbo-sized benchtop. And new clamps don’t
come cheap.
The answer proved to be a set of 10 shop-
made clamping cauls. And because I was able
to use mostly scrapwood, the total cost was un-
der $12—less than I’d pay for a single commer-
cial clamp.
It’s easy to make these clamps. The top
“jaw” is a 24-in. length of 43⁄4-in.-wide medium-
density fiberboard (MDF) screwed to a 24-in.-
long 2x3. The bottom jaw is a 24-in.-long 2x4.
To prevent the MDF surfaces from ending up
glued to the veneer, add a healthy coat of paste
wax to each one. The ends of the jaws accept a
9-in.-long, 3⁄8-in.-dia. threaded rod that is fitted Clamp the veneer to the particleboard with clamping cauls. No need to have a small
fortune in clamps to do this glue-up. Shopmade clamping cauls get the job done for pennies.
with a washer and nut on both ends.
To begin veneering, spread a generous coat INLAYS CONCEAL IMPERFECT VENEER JOINTS
of yellow glue on the mating surfaces of the ve-
neer and particleboard. A short painter’s roller
allows you to spread the glue easily and quickly.
When working with a large surface area, it’s im-
portant to have a good assembly game-plan
worked out because yellow glue can start to
tack up in less than 10 minutes. You need to get
the glue down and the clamps tightened up
without delay.
Place the veneer glue-side down on the parti-
cleboard. Butt the pieces together, but don’t Rout the joint. To
add glue to the edges or worry about a perfect clean up any gaps, a
joint quite yet. Let the veneer overhang the par- router and edge guide
are used to cut a shal-
ticleboard all around.
low groove centered on
Then start clamping down the veneer. To the long joint.
help avoid lengthwise buckling, tighten the
clamps at one end and work toward the other.
Both the top and bottom surfaces of the par-
ticleboard must be veneered; if only the top is
veneered, it can create uneven stresses that
can cause the top to cup.
Once both sides have been veneered, true
up the edge joints with a router equipped with
a 3⁄8-in.-dia. straight bit. Use a long piece of
stock as a straightedge and rout a 3⁄16-in.-deep
groove centered along the entire length of Add the inlay. Thin
each joint line. Then use the clamping cauls strips of cherry fill
in the grooves, produc-
to glue 3⁄8-in.-wide by 3⁄16-in.-thick inlays into the
ing tight joint lines
grooves. This technique results in near-perfect along the full length of
edge joints. the bench.

Photos, this page: Erika Marks M AY / J U N E 2 0 01 41

Mike Dunbar's Workbench
Heavy-duty bench has a wide top,
knockdown base and large vises

BY MIKE D U N B A R
T
his is my workbench. Two friends and I each made one like it in the mid-1970s,
copying a 200-year-old original we found in the basement of an 18th-century man-
sion. I prefer it to any other design, for several reasons. The bench is a heavy, sol-
id structure. No matter how hard the work, there is no need to hold down this one with
sandbags. And its joints don't wobble when I'm handplaning or sawing. If they do loosen
because of seasonal movement, a tweak with a bed-bolt wrench makes them rigid again.
The bench's wood vises are very strong. The twin-screw front vise has ample space be-
tween the screws, which means I can drop a long, wide part between them. And the jaws
are wide enough to hold a 6-ft-long board for edge-jointing without additional support.
The bench does not have a tool tray, leaving its entire wide top available not just for
woodworking but also for assembly. When I worked by myself as a professional furniture
maker, this bench was all I needed. Finally, I am a woodworker, and a bench made en-
tirely of wood has a deep appeal for me.
Making this bench is more heavy work than it is hard, although the tail vise is somewhat
BASE AND BENCHTOP

complicated. Many of the parts are so large that joining them bor-
ders on timber framing. A second pair of hands comes in handy for
some stages on the project.
Some heavy lifting will be required
The bench can be made of just about any type of hardwood. Be-
cause this is a workbench, practicality governed my choices. In my
region, yellow birch is cheaper than maple but isn't available
above 10/4. So I used birch for the 2-in.-thick parts and hard maple
for the thicker ones. If you cannot find 12/4 hardwood, you can
glue up your stock.
Before cutting any wood, determine what bench height is com-
fortable for you. When working with hand tools, it is more efficient
and easier if you can bring into play all of the larger muscle groups
in your body, above all those in your legs and back. Most benches
are too high for me, forcing me to work only with my shoulders
and arms. I am 5 ft. 9 in. and a little short in the leg. My benchtop is
32 in. high.
Besides wood, you will need to order two other items: -in.-dia.
wooden bench screws and threaded blocks, which you can get
from Crystal Creek Mill (P.O. Box 41, DeWitt, NY 13214; 315-446-
1229). Mention this project to get the same components I used. The
three screw-and-block sets will run you $195.
You can cut your own threads if you have a large tap and die suit-
ed for this job (one that's at least in. dia. with 5 tpi or fewer).
Antique tap-and-die sets for wood may be found at a flea market
or tag sale. The tap would be the most useful of the two, because
it would allow you to make the threaded end batten near the tail
vise out of one piece of wood. Without it you'll have to join one of
the threaded blocks to the end of the batten. The Beall Tool Co.
(800-331-4718; bealltool.com) offers wood-threading kits for
making -in.-dia., 5-tpi screws and nuts. It includes a router jig

Timber-frame techniques. Use a circular saw to cut the tenon shoulders on these large beams.
The cheeks are then cut on the bandsaw. Get an assistant, if you can find one, to help you support
the long, heavy timbers. For the mortises in the legs, first drill out the waste, then square with a
chisel. Afterward, the tenons are pared to fit the mortises.
and bit and a -in.-dia. tap, which would solve the aforemen-
tioned joinery problem.
You'll also need 16 bed bolts and a wrench, which you can get
from Ball and Ball Hardware Reproductions (800-257-3711).

A knockdown base is easy to move

The original bench knocks down completely. This leads me to sus-
pect that it belonged to an interior joiner, what we would call to-
day a finish carpenter. These guys were the elite of the building
tradesmen and were responsible for raised-panel walls, wainscot-
ing, staircases, mantels, moldings and doors.
Working on a magnificent Portsmouth, N.H., mansion, a joiner Locate the leg mortises on the plank. First turn everything upside
could be on the job site for months. He would move his bench and down and level the back legs.
toolbox right into the house. When finished, he'd put them in a
wagon and move them onto the next job site. A bench that knocks
down is still a good idea today because it is easier to move to a
new shop.
The legs and stretchers are joined with mortises and tenons held
together with bed bolts. The joints can't be at the same height or
the bed bolts would bump each other, so offset their elevations.
Notice that there are tenons on the tops of the legs, as well, to se-
cure the top to the base. Cut all of the joints at the same time.
Cut the shoulders of these large tenons with a circular saw and
then rip the cheeks on the bandsaw. Bore out the mortises with a
drill bit and square the corners with a chisel. I used a shoulder
plane to fit the tenons.

Bed-bolt basics—Bed bolts are very effective fasteners and, when

tightened, will not allow the slightest wiggle. The bolt has a square
head with a large flange and requires a two-step hole. Drill the
counterbore for the flange first. The long hole for the bolt goes in-
to the bottom of the mortise, through the length of the tenon and
past the location of the nut. End battens support the plywood portion of the benchtop. Each
The nut sits in a hole drilled into the back of the rail. Assembling batten is bolted to the thick plank and also to a cleat that supports the
the joint is easy: Tap the mortise and tenon together, hold the nut plywood and keeps it level with the plank. The plywood is screwed onto
in place and slide a bed bolt into the hole. A couple of quick turns the cleat and into a rabbet at the back edge of the plank.
FRONT VISE
Size and strength. The thick wooden screws are far enough apart to
accommodate a wide workpiece, and the jaw is long enough to support
a 6-ft. board for edge-jointing.
After angling the sides of the threaded
blocks, lay out their recesses. The trape-
zoidal shape gives mechanical strength to this
joint, which is also glued.
catches the nut. When all of the fasteners are hand-tight, grab the
bed-bolt wrench and finish the job.
The plank is the key to the top
The top of the bench is made of two pieces: a 3-in.-thick plank at
the front and a thinner plywood panel behind. The front and back
legs are different heights as a result. The thick front plank anchors
the vises and provides a durable surface for your heaviest and
most forceful work. The rear panel will not take the same punish-
ment as the front and does not have to be as thick. Its role is to pro-
vide a wide, level surface. On the original bench this was a wide
pine board, but I used birch plywood for its stability.
The width of the front plank is a variable and can depend on
whatever you can find or glue up. A piece of wood this thick is sel-
dom flat as it comes from the lumber dealer and will need to be
planed. If your machines are not up to a job this heavy, you may
have to find someone who can do the work for you. I surfaced my
12-in.-wide plank in my planer, because it wouldn't fit on my join-
ter. Luckily it was straight but just cupped a bit. I took a couple of
passes off the domed (heart) side, just to get a flat to work on.
Then, I took light passes off the concave side. Because this surface
is not seen, there is no need to flatten it completely. Finally, I
flipped the plank again and finished dressing the upper surface.
Set the plank aside for several days and let it equalize before flat-
tening it again with a light pass. While you are at it, joint the front
edge so that it is straight and square to the upper surface.
This plank requires a few operations before it's ready to drop in-
to place on the substructure. First, lay out the leg mortises in the
underside and cut and fit them to the tenons on the top of the front
legs. Next, rout the rabbet in the back edge to create a lip that will
support the plywood portion of the top, which will be secured
with wood screws.
Make room for the vises—The front vise is secured to the bench
with wood screws threaded through two dovetail-shaped nuts,
Circular saw comes in handy again. Cut the After chopping out the waste, pare the
shoulders first, then cut some kerfs through the sides. Use one of the threaded blocks to guide
waste section. your chisel.
which are set into the plank. Bevel the sides of two of the three
threaded blocks (the other one is for the tail-vise assembly). Then
use the blocks to lay out their recesses. Lay out these notches so
that the blocks project slightly from the front edge of the bench-
top; plane them flush later. Cut the deep notches with a handsaw
or circular saw, and clean up the walls with a wide chisel.
The top is far too thick for the wood screws to clear it on the bot-
tom side, so you have to cut channels for clearance. Tap the nuts
into place temporarily to see where the threaded holes line up
with the bench. Cut the channel edges first, with a straightedge
clamped on the plank to guide your circular saw. Then make a lot
of kerf cuts through the center and chop out the waste.
Now you can glue in the threaded nuts. Leave the tops slightly
proud and plane them flush after the glue is dry. Plane the front
edges flush, too. Next, cut out the large notch for the tail vise. A cir-
cular saw will cut through most of the stock, but you will need a
handsaw to complete the corner. Clean up the sawcuts with a Cut clearance
channels for the
handplane, keeping everything square (not the easiest task but vise screws. Tap
very important). Rout the long groove along the notch, and finish the threaded
it with a sharp chisel. blocks into place
The last task in preparing the front plank is to cut the dog holes. temporarily to de-
Although you can use any type of dog you prefer, I chose the termine the loca-
clever, low-tech type I found on the original. The dog holes are tion of these chan-
in. square, and each square dog has a slight taper planed onto nels. Remove the
blocks before cut-
one face. There is a dog for each hole in the bench. Each is tapped
ting. Define the
into place from below, narrow-side up, and sits flush with the top edges with a circu-
until it is needed. Tap it with a mallet until it projects slightly above lar saw, kerf out
the surface and tightens in place. The dog holes are roughly in. the middle, then
apart, but some are offset to avoid the screws for the front vise. chop out the waste.

The plywood section—The bench's end battens are bed-bolted

to the thick plank and have support cleats along their inside edges
for securing the plywood. The plywood is also screwed into the
rabbet on the back edge of the thick plank. With the thick plank in
place on the front legs, place the plywood in its rabbet to locate
the mortises for the rear legs. Cut these mortises, then attach the
plywood to the plank and the end battens. A garter keeps
the vise jaw mov-
ing with the
A trick for vise handles screw. This thin
Each wood screw has a thick hub with lines scribed into it. These strip is mortised in-
are both for decoration and for laying out the holes for the han- to the jaw and fits
dles. Drill a 1-in.-dia. hole. You can make the handles out of a piece into a groove near
of dowel with pins in the ends or end caps to keep them from the screw hub.
falling out. However, I prefer the old technology used by the orig-
inal maker. Turn your handles using wood that is still slightly
green. You can split some from a firewood pile. Leave the ends
in. bigger than the hole in the vise-screw hub.
Boil one of the bullet-shaped ends to soften it, and drive it
through the hub with a mallet. The wood will compress as it pass-
es through the hole (some may be sheared away by the hole's
edges), then it will spring back on the other side.

Front vise jaw wears a garter

The jaw is a piece of 8/4 hardwood. Its width is not critical and can
depend on the wood you have on hand. Unlike most period
TAIL VISE
This complex-looking unit is basically
a three-sided box that slides back
and forth on the tip of the bench's
end batten. One wrinkle: The
threaded nut included with the screw
set must be joined to the end batten.

VISE JAW

benches I have examined, in which the user has to pull the vise
END BATTEN jaw backward after loosening the screws, the jaw on this bench
has garters that mate with a groove in the screws and keep the jaw
and screws moving together.
Drill the two holes in the jaw for the wooden screws. Then cut
the slots for the garters. Make the garters out of hardwood. One at
a time, place a screw through the jaw and tap the garter into place.
Turn the screws to test the fit of the garters. Before gluing them in-
to place, be sure they aren't rubbing too tightly against the screw.

Tail vise is the tough part

The tail vise and its associated assembly make for some compli-
cated joinery. A lot is going on at one time as the vise travels. The
VISE END batten that stiffens the end of the benchtop and holds the front
plank and plywood level is threaded for the tail-vise screw. It also
acts as one of the guides for the vise. Without a large tap to cut the
 Think of the vise as a three-sided box with
closed ends. Build up the jaw end (foreground)
from thinner stock. An ogee contour decorates
the opposite end piece. The top, side and bottom
are joined to the ends with large dovetails.
Slide the assembled tail vise into place to
locate the holes for the vise screw. This
measurement determines where the vise
screw will pass through the end of the tail vise
and where it will enter the jaw end (at right).

threads in the batten, I had to find a way to join one of the thread-
ed blocks to it. I settled on a version of a scarf joint that provides
some mechanical support and plenty of glue surface.
The vise itself is a three-sided box with closed ends. The jaw end
is a 4-in.-square piece of hardwood. I glued up mine in a sandwich
from thinner stock, which made it easier to create the tongue that
protrudes from this block. A hole in the inside surface of the jaw
receives the end of the vise screw. The other end piece is 8/4 and
has a clearance hole drilled through it for the screw. The ogee con-
tour on this piece is more decorative than functional.
The top and side pieces of this box are in. thick and joined to
the jaw with large half-blind dovetails. The bottom is in. thick
and joined the same way. There also is a guide strip on the bottom,
which is in. thick and also dovetailed to the jaw and end pieces.
Make all of the parts for the tail vise, then test their fit and action
before glue-up.
Cut the mortise for the garter and tap it into place. You cannot
avoid cutting into the dovetails when you make this mortise. Drill
and square the dog hole in the jaw the same way as those in the
benchtop. This hole should fit between the dovetails.
Use bed bolts to secure the end batten to the thick part of the
benchtop. Make the small retainer bracket through which the nar-
row guide strip passes and screw it into place on the end batten.
The vise may work somewhat stiffly at first but will eventually
wear in so that it moves smoothly and without effort. Waxing the
moving surfaces will help the action.
I completed my bench by finishing it with several coats of boiled
linseed oil thinned with a little turpentine. Let the wood absorb as
much oil as possible before wiping off the excess.
Mike Dunbar is a contributing editor. He and his wife, Sue, run a Windsor
chair-making school in Hampton, N.H.
Installing a Cast-Iron Vise
I
t’s hard to imagine working in a shop
that lacks a good bench-mounted vise.
After all, woodworkers come from the
factory with just two hands, and we need
both of them to use most tools. So it usu-
ally takes some help to keep a workpiece
fixed firmly in place.
The cast-iron style of vise has long been a
staple in woodworkers’ shops, and for
good reason. A cast-iron vise that’s well
maintained can last several generations,
and a workpiece locked in its grip won’t
easily budge.
A cast-iron vise has another plus: It
generally installs without much fuss. But
that doesn’t mean the procedure is fool-
proof. To minimize the fussiness factor,
there are a few worthwhile points to keep
in mind—including a little preinstalla-
tion planning.
Where to put it
At first glance, a workbench seems to offer
a number of places to locate a vise. But a
few spots can be eliminated quickly. Any
vise centered on the front, back or end of a
bench is sure to be in your way, so the vise
almost always ends up installed near a cor-
ner to make it as unobtrusive as possible.
Your options narrow even further when
you consider the bench location, its
design and you—or more specifically,
your handedness.
Bench location and design—When a
bench is positioned well away from the
walls, allowing all-around access, the vise
can be installed adjacent to any of the cor-
ners. But if the bench butts against a wall,
both corners of that side of the bench are
eliminated as options. If the bench has to
go in a corner, the options become fewer.
So it’s best not to finalize the vise location
until you’ve considered where the bench is
going to go.

Determine the best location

Before installing a vise, consider where on the benchtop it’s going to work best for you.
Right-handers generally prefer the front vise on the left end of the benchtop, with the
end vise on the right, near the front corner. Reverse the locations if you’re a southpaw.

Typical vise positions for

left-handed woodworkers

Align the
benchdog
holes with
the end-
vise dog.

Typical vise positions for

right-handed woodworkers

END VISE
Used with a benchdog, an end vise
allows a longer board to be
clamped quickly face-down on
the bench for planing, scraping
or sanding.

FRONT VISE
If you’re going to mount only one vise, a front vise offers the
most useful clamping options. A board clamped horizontally
in a front vise is perfectly positioned for edge-planing.
Clamp it vertically, and the end of the board can be planed
or sawed easily.

56 FINE WOODWORKING Photos: Michael Pekovich

There’s more to it than sinking a few lag screws B Y T O M B E G N A L

Most cast-iron vises have a metal dog

built into the front jaw. When the vise dog
is used with a benchdog, the vise offers ad-
ditional clamping advantages. Keep in
mind, though, that the holes for the bench-
dog must be in line with the vise dog. So
before you settle on a vise location, make
sure the benchdog you use can be placed
into all of the holes without interfering
with the vise, the bench legs or anything
else under the top.

Front or end vise?—A vise can be mount-

ed to the front or end of a bench. Because
each location has its advantages, many

MOUNTING THE VISE

Figure out the filler-block thickness. With

both the vise and benchtop upside down to
make the job easier, measure the distance
from the benchtop to the top edge of the vise
jaws and then add 1⁄2 in. to 3⁄4 in.

Jaws should be 1⁄2 in.

to 3⁄4 in. below the Benchtop
work surface.

Attach the filler block, then the vise, using lag screws. You might think that about does it,
Filler block but to get the most out of the vise, you should cover the metal jaws and edge of the table next.

Drawings: Melanie Powell SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002 57

 ADDING WOOD FACES TO THE VISE

Measure, mark and cut out the mortise. On many vises, the face of the back
jaw isn’t square to the benchtop. To make sure the mortise ends up deep enough,
measure the depth from the thickest part of the jaw. Use a drill bit to remove most
of the waste stock before using a router to clean out the waste that remains.

A long face. A mortise in the back face accepts the back
jaw. The face extends the full length of the benchtop, which
will make it easier to clamp long boards.
benches include both front and end vises. If
a bench is limited to having just one vise,
it’s best to install it as a front vise, because
most of us naturally gravitate toward the
front of the bench.
Think right or left—More than anything
else, your handedness determines the best
vise location. Right-handers usually like a
front vise on the left of the bench. That
way, when crosscutting a board with a
handsaw, the cutoff end can be held by the
left hand.
When the front vise is installed on the
left, you’ll want the end vise added to the
right, near the front corner. Reverse the lo-
cations if you’re a lefty.
How to mount it
There are several ways to install a cast-iron
vise; your best option depends on the
benchtop’s design. The pro-
cedure outlined here covers
the most common installa-
tion, one where the back jaw
of the vise simply butts
against the edge of a top
that’s about 11⁄2 in. thick.
Cast-iron vises, especially
large ones, are heavy and
awkward to hold. So try to
work with the benchtop
turned upside down, as shown here. If
flipping the top isn’t an option, you can
make the vise easier to handle by remov-
ing the front jaw along with the screw and
guide bars.
Include a filler block—Ideally, when the
vise is installed, the top edge of the jaws
should be 1⁄2 in. to 3⁄4 in. below the top of
the bench. The extra space allows room for
the wood face, added later, to cover the top
of the jaw.
Also, on some vises, the dog extends al-
most 1⁄2 in. above the jaws, even when the
dog is fully lowered. Unless the jaws are
well below the benchtop, the dog will al-
ways stick above the work surface.
To get that extra space, you’re likely to
need a wood filler block between the un-
derside of the benchtop and the mounting
bracket portion of the vise. The block
should be wide and long enough to cover
the bracket and thick enough to produce
the intended spacing.
Install the filler block and vise—Before
securing the block to the underside of the
top, drill and counterbore it for four lag
screws. Position the block on the benchtop
and drill the pilot holes. Add glue, then slip
the lag screws into the holes and thread
them home.
Now position the vise on the block, with
the back jaw firmly against the edge of the
bench. Then drill the pilot holes and add
the lag screws. If you’ve been working
with the benchtop upside down, now’s the
time to flip it right-side up.
Make the faces—A workpiece secured in
the vise is less likely to dent if the cast-iron
jaws have wood faces. The faces can be in-
stalled several ways.
A quick method is simply to screw a rec-
tangular piece of hardwood stock to the
jaws of the vise. Most jaws have predrilled
holes, making the job an easy one.
I prefer to mortise the back face to accept
the back jaw. Also, I like to extend the back
face the full length of the bench. Effective-
ly then, the back face becomes part of the
edge of the benchtop. So when a long
board is clamped on edge in the vise, the

58 FINE WOODWORKING
Attach the back face to the edge of the benchtop. To fill in the gap between the back face
and the back jaw of the vise, add a couple of strips of epoxy putty to the mortise just before apply-
ing the face to the bench (left). After coating the jaw with paste wax, attach the face with a few
wood screws driven into counterbored holes (right).
board remains in contact with the back
face the full length of the bench. That
makes it easier to clamp the end of the
board to the benchtop.
To create the mortise, first mark its
length, width and depth on the back of the
back face. When measuring the depth,
keep in mind that most jaws taper in thick-
ness, meaning the back jaw usually isn’t
square to the benchtop. So to make sure
the jaw can fit fully into the mortise, mea-
sure the depth dimension at the bottom of
the jaw at its thickest point.
Once the mortise has been marked, use
a drill press and a Forstner bit to remove
most of the waste. Clean up the rest with
a router.
Mount the faces—At this point, there’s
just one more detail to attend to before
the back face can be attached. Because the
back jaw is tapered, it doesn’t fit fully
against the mortise. As a result, there’s a
gap that widens as it nears the top of the
jaw. Thus, the jaw loses some support pro-
vided by the back face.
To fill in the gap, use a bit of epoxy in
putty form. You can find this stuff at most
hardware or home-improvement stores.
To prevent the epoxy from sticking to the
jaw, add a heavy coat of paste wax to the
area of the jaw that meets the epoxy.
Next, attach the back face, using the vise to
clamp one end. The top edge of the face
should stand proud of the benchtop by
1
⁄16 in. Now add a bar clamp to the other end
of the face. Secure the face with screws dri-
ven into counterbored holes, and add
wood plugs to the holes.
The front face is just rectangular stock
that’s attached by driving screws through
holes in the front jaw. Because the front
jaw has a taper, like the back jaw, the
Plane the top edge of the face. A sharp
handplane is all it takes to get the face flush
with the top of the bench.
front face cants toward the back face. That’s
actually a plus because it helps the vise
grip more tightly along the full width of the
jaws. But if there’s too much cant, it can be
reduced quickly by handplaning a bevel on
the entire inside surface of the front face.
For the final step, add a finish to the two
faces, preferably one that matches the fin-
ish on the original benchtop.

Tom Begnal is an associate editor.
Add the front face. Like
the back jaw of the vise, the
front jaw is tapered. To mini-
mize the effect of the taper,
you can bevel the outside
surface of the front face
slightly. Then attach the
face by driving two screws
through predrilled holes in
the jaw.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002 59
 The Workbench
An illustrated guide to an essential
woodworking tool
B Y G R A H A M B L A C K B U R N

I
n some parts of the world, woodworkers use the floor as their work surface. In Japan, it’s a nar-
row beam. But in the West, woodworkers traditionally have used a substantial workbench. In
fact, before tablesaws and routers became for most woodworkers their right and left hands, the
workbench was the most important tool of the craft. While it may no longer be the first tool a wood-
worker encounters in the shop, the workbench nevertheless remains at the heart of woodworking.
A closer appreciation of its uses and strengths can do much to improve your woodworking expe-
rience, so here’s a look at the development of the workbench, its major variations and the many
practical fixtures associated with its use.

54 FINE WOODWORKING
 Great moments in workbench history
Single-board top ROMAN BENCH
The prime purpose of the workbench is to fa-
cilitate the flattening and smoothing of
stock, typically by planing. So it is no sur-
prise that some of the earliest benches were
used by the Romans 2,000 years ago, be-
cause it was the Romans who first made use
Mortises for planing of the metal-bodied plane. The Roman bench
stops and board supports was little more than a long board supported
Splayed legs
by splayed legs and fitted with stops to pre-
vent a board from being pushed off the bench
Enclosed during planing. This bench remained popular
adjustable for more than four centuries after the demise
tail stop
of the Roman Empire and in some areas per-
sists even today. The drawing is based on a
Benchdog holes
photograph of a bench found in Saalburg,
Germany, 250 B.C.
Planing stops

16TH-CENTURY BENCH
After the Middle Ages, with the development
of more sophisticated forms of furniture,
benches grew larger and began to feature ad-
Movable ditional holding devices. By the 17th century,
benchdog
Wedging notch vises had become common in Northern Eu-
rope. German and Scandinavian benches, in
particular, were fitted with vises very similar
Double-screwed
to the large wooden tail and face vises that
face vise
were common on British benches until the in-
troduction of metal vises. The drawing is
based on one by Loffelholz, 1505.

Tool rack
Iron holdfast

18TH-CENTURY FRENCH BENCH

One of the more distinctive varieties, the
commonly used French bench was basically
a heavy table that featured a tool rack, bench
stops, side hooks and holdfasts to secure the
work; vises were a rarity.
Holes for
holdfasts
Bench stop

Side hook (used

with holdfasts)

Drawings: Graham Blackburn TOOLS & SHOPS 2002 55

Workbench history (continued)
Guide rod
18TH-CENTURY
BRITISH BENCH
In contrast to French benches and to
most other European types, British benches
from the 18th century relied heavily on a long
face vise installed at the left end of the bench.
This long vise frequently had a single screw and a Face vise
guide rod to help keep it parallel, but sometimes it
possessed two screws arranged so that the vise Apron
face could be angled for nonparallel stock. A stop Holes for peg
and a holdfast also were common, but support for supports
long boards held in the vise, in the form of apron
pegs or a deadman, was distinctly British. This
Large top
British-style bench emigrated to America with the
early Colonists. Benchdog
holes

SHAKER BENCH
Among the first distinctly American benches
were those built by the Shakers, a religious
sect famous for its simple but well-built furni-
ture. Shaker benches typically were massive and
without tool trays, and because the Shakers val-
ued order and neatness, their benches featured a
base that was fully enclosed for storage. The Shak-
Leg
ers also were fond of leg vises that could be kept vise
parallel, unlike the garterless face vises previously Sliding
deadman Heavy
common on workbenches. Because the cupboards
Enclosed base tail vise
and drawers in the base made the use of a bored
with storage
apron impossible, the Shakers often used a sliding
Tool trough
deadman to provide support for long workpieces.
Bench Benchdog
stop holes
Wooden
tail vise

19TH-CENTURY
SCHOOL BENCH
The workbenches we use today owe much to
the school bench that was common in the 19th
and early 20th centuries. The essential features
of this bench, whether single or double (like the
one illustrated), are a large work surface, usually
Enclosed
with a trough or a tool well, both end and face storage
vises (increasingly of the metal variety) and a
system of benchdog holes in the top used for
clamping workpieces. Metal face vise with
adjustable stop

56 FINE WOODWORKING
CONTEMPORARY BENCHES
Though there are countless variations, today’s workbenches
generally are based on either a cabinetmaker’s bench or a
Benchdog
Scandinavian-style bench. holes Holdfast collar
Ramped tool well

Face vise

CABINETMAKER’S BENCH
Although many woodworkers prefer to build their Tail vise

own benches, the commercially made cabinetmaker’s

bench has become the standard. Consisting of a
heavy-duty, laminated top, usually with a tool well,
the cabinetmaker’s bench is fitted with a benchdog
system and a provision for holdfasts. Although the Balanced
vises may have heavy wooden jaws, their screws are twin-screw
tail vise
invariably metal, thus combining the best of both Two rows of
old and new. benchdog
holes

S CA N D I N AV I A N B E N C H
A bench style popular with many wood-
workers, the Scandinavian bench is fit-
ted with either a standard tail vise or a
balanced vise that can hold work-
pieces between benchdogs on both
edges of the top, as shown. The
Scandinavian bench is characterized Dogleg vise requires
freestanding deadman
by a dogleg face vise, considered by support.
those who use it to be superior to the
standard face vise because there are
no screws to get in the way of the
workpiece.

TOOLS & SHOPS 2002 57

Vises
Most contemporary benches are fitted with vises. While there are many varieties, certain things remain true for all vises. If the work-
piece is to be held securely without being damaged, the jaws should be wooden or wood lined, clean, aligned and parallel.

Benchdog

FACE VISES Workpiece

A face vise is used for holding workpieces during planing.

It works best if the inside faces of the jaws are flush with
the front of the bench and if the tops of both jaws are
flush with the surface of the bench. Although there will be
occasions when you want to secure odd shapes (which can
Metal vise with Metal vise with
be done easily with purpose-made auxiliary jaws), the jaws shopmade
built-in stop
should close perfectly parallel to each other so that they wooden stop jaw
will hold even a thin sheet of paper firmly. Metal vises may Some metal vises have built-in adjustable stops that can be used to clamp
need to be reset on the bench to meet these conditions, work between a benchdog and a stop in the benchtop. Vises that don’t have
adjustable stops can be fitted with a wooden stop jaw that will perform the
and they also may need to have their wood facings re- same function or that can be custom-cut to hold other shapes.
placed. Wooden-jaw vises can be made flush more easily.
Jaws for odd-
But before altering the jaws, examine the way your partic- shaped work
ular vise works and how it is attached to the bench.
Pay special attention to making sure the guide arms
run smoothly with minimal play. Older wooden vises may
need their guide arms resecured to the jaws and their
guide blocks adjusted. Wooden screws depend on well-fit- Carpeted jaws
ting garters and properly positioned threaded blocks. Pro- for finished
work
viding they are properly aligned, newer vises with metal
screws and guide arms have fewer problems and may need You may want to make various auxiliary jaws, such as carpeted jaws
nothing more than occasional cleaning and lubrication. to hold finished work or jaws to hold round and odd-shaped pieces.

Clamp work here. Tail vise

Do not clamp TAIL VISES
work here.
A tail vise holds a workpiece at the
front of the bench. Newer tail vises
that ride on a steel plate fixed to the
bench can be adjusted so that the top
and front of the vise remain flush with
End vise
the top and front of the bench. Older
tail vises ride on rails attached be-
neath the benchtop. Neither kind is
designed to hold anything by the
tail of the vise; doing so might
misalign the vise. However, double-
screwed end vises or end vises with
a single screw and widely spaced guide
arms can hold work against the end of
the bench and, if they are as wide as
the bench, can be fitted with bench-
Adjusting bolts dogs. A tail vise also can be used to
clamp workpieces between a bench-
dog fixed in the benchtop and a dog
Double
fixed in the vise itself.
guide arms

58 FINE WOODWORKING
Bench accessories
A bench with vises, even when everything is in top condition and perfectly adjusted, is still only half the asset it might be—unless it’s fur-
nished with a variety of devices, such as benchdogs, holdfasts and bench hooks

Simplest:
nailed to
Metal dog bench BENCH STOPS
Side dog A bench stop is designed to pre-
vent the workpiece from being
pushed off the bench. In its sim-
Adjustable: plest form, it may be a small
may be wedged
or screwed piece of scrap clamped or
tacked anywhere on the bench.
An integral stop, whether a sim-
ple wooden stop held in place
Wooden dog,
with wooden and at the right height by fric-
spring tion, wedge or a simple screw,
Manufactured: metal, or one of the variously designed
height adjusted by
BENCHDOGS integral screw factory-made metal stops, is
Metal dogs may last longer and fit better, but wooden more convenient and often func-
dogs are easier to make and pose less of a threat to tions as the last stop in a line of
both tools and finished work surfaces. Side dogs also benchdogs.
can be extremely useful for holding stock against the
front apron.

HOLDFAS T S BENCH HOOKS

The most common device for securing small workpieces to the
bench is the bench hook. This can be made in a variety of ways
and may function as a simple sawing support, a sawing guide
when kerfed exactly at 90°, 45° or any other simple or compound
angle, or as a convenient end-grain shooting block.

Cut kerfs for

Flat bar accurate
in sleeve Fully adjustable
Simple angled iron in flush collar mitering.
in bored hole

A holdfast remains one of the most versatile pieces of equipment

you can own. There are various modern forms available, but the
Provide dust
simplest L-shaped iron bar inserted in any conveniently bored hole groove. Use dowels and
in the benchtop is efficient. Simply knock the top of the holdfast glue rather than
Cut larger groove screw or nail
to secure the workpiece, and hit the back of the holdfast to re- for holding round hooks.
lease the workpiece. A holdfast’s two main advantages are its work.

ability to hold odd-shaped, flat and rectangular pieces, and the Use a narrow
pair to support
fact that it can be positioned anywhere on the bench. Don’t ago- long pieces.
nize over where to bore the first hole—you inevitably will need to
bore another hole somewhere else. A particularly useful place is
near a vise so that the vise and holdfast can be used together in a
variety of ways. Older benches typically were bored in various Use as a
shooting block
places along the length. to trim end grain
accurately.

TOOLS & SHOPS 2002 59

 Rock-Solid Workbench
Ready-made hardware simplifies end-vise construction
B Y J O N
I
knew that when I eventually got around to building my dream
workbench, it would have to meet a few basic requirements.
It would have to be sturdy enough to last a few lifetimes. It
would have to have storage underneath. And it would have to
have good front and end vises so that I wouldn’t have to do a lot
to get a workpiece held securely.
In 1998, I finally built my bench. And I’m pleased to say that after
five years of heavy work, it has fulfilled my expectations, and then
some. It’s rock solid and has plenty of useful storage, thanks to 15
drawers and an area of open space between the base and the top.
Building such a large workbench can be an intimidating task, but
it’s actually basic woodworking. The only parts of the bench that
call for anything other than straightforward biscuit and mortise-
and-tenon joinery is the end vise. Whether you decide to build this
bench using the foldout plans or add the end vise to a bench you
already have, this article walks you through the process.
Vises, benchdogs and a board jack help anchor workpieces
The front and end vises, along with benchdogs and a board jack,
offer plenty of clamping options.
50 FINE WOODWORKING
L E P P O
In the front of the bench I had planned to use a typical cast-iron
vise with wood jaws until I ran across an Internet ad for a used pat-
ternmaker’s vise, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to buy. The
vise, built in the 1930s by the Emmert Manufacturing Co., allows
me to clamp a workpiece in almost any position. Patternmakers fa-
vor this type of vise because it adjusts in several planes, making it
possible to hold work of almost any shape. Like me, you’ll occa-
sionally see a used Emmert vise offered for sale on the Internet.
Also, you can sometimes find them at vintage tool dealers or, more
rarely, at flea markets. Expect to pay upwards of $500 for one in
good condition.
My vise is one of the larger ones Emmert produced. Modern re-
productions of the vise are available in mostly smaller sizes, gen-
erally about 15 in. long. Some of these are fairly inexpensive, about
$300, and the quality is decent. Higher-quality ones can cost more
than $1,000.
A sliding board jack helps support long, wide stock, with the
front end of the stock held in the Emmert vise. The board jack is
adapted directly from one I found in The Workbench Book by Scott
Landis (The Taunton Press, 1987), modified only slightly to fit my
Photos: Tom Begnal
 Long end cap, 3 1⁄4 in. Main top, 2 3⁄8 in. thick by 96 1⁄2 in.
long, including 1-in.-long tenons
Anatomy of thick by 4 in. wide by
33 3⁄8 in. long
a sturdy bench 31 3⁄4 in.
6 1⁄2 in.
Back apron, 1 5⁄8 in.
17 5⁄8 in. thick by 4 in. wide by
The base of this bench, modeled after 94 1⁄2 in. long
the one master woodworker Robert
Whitley built for his bench, consists of Short end cap, 3 3⁄8 in.
five frame-and-panel assemblies—two thick by 4 in. wide by
28 1⁄2 in. long
end frames, a back frame and two hor-
izontal frames—bolted together with
All bolts
carriage bolts. And while I wouldn’t ex- Front apron, 1 5⁄8 in. are 3⁄8 in. dia.
actly call this a knockdown bench, it thick by 4 in. wide
by 80 1⁄8 in. long Back rails, 1 3⁄4 in.
can be disassembled. thick by 4 1⁄2 in. wide
I joined the panel frames with a by 51 in. long
Board-jack upper
double row of #20 biscuits, mostly runner, 3⁄8 in. thick Filler block,
1 5⁄8 in. square Clearance for
because of speed and convenience. by 1 11⁄16 in. wide by guide plate
10 1⁄4 in. long
The base carcase sees mostly com- 5 in. Horizontal supports,
pression loads on vertical grain 1 1⁄4 in. thick by
3 1⁄4 in. wide Back dividers, 1 3⁄4 in.
members rather than racking forces, thick by 4 1⁄2 in. wide Cleat, 1 3⁄4 in.
by 15 1⁄2 in. long thick by 2 in.
which would stress the biscuit joints. wide by 16 5⁄8 in.
A purist would have used mortises long
End panel
and tenons here. But I’ve had no mortise, 3⁄4 in.
trouble using biscuits in this kind of wide by 1⁄2 in. deep
Back stiles, 1 3⁄4 in. by 9 1⁄4 in. long
application. Board-jack track, 1 1⁄2 in. thick by 5 1⁄4 in. wide
thick by 2 in. wide by by 31 1⁄2 in. long
The top is made from hard-maple 61 1⁄2 in. long
laminations face-glued together. Each
end of the bench has a long tenon. Back panels, 3⁄4 in.
Later, when a pair of caps is made, thick by 14 7⁄8 in. wide
by 16 3⁄8 in. long
each tenon fits into a mortise in the
corresponding cap pieces.
I used a circular saw to cut the
tenons. With a straightedge clamped Mounting cleats, 1 3⁄4 in.
to the benchtop to guide the saw, I thick by 2 in. wide by
3 in. long
made several crosscut kerfs and chis-
Plywood drawer-case
eled away the waste.
dividers, 1 1⁄2 in. thick
Both the long and short end caps by 21 in. wide by 24 in.
are mortised to accept the tenons on long, including 1⁄2-in.
solid-wood edging Upper end rails, 1 3⁄4 in.
each end of the bench. thick by 4 in. wide by
To allow the top to move, the end Board-jack face, 7⁄8 in. 21 in. long
thick by 7 5⁄8 in. wide
caps aren’t glued in place. Instead, by 22 in. long Horizontal
each one is held in place with a pair of plywood panels,
1
bolts. One of the bolt holes on each Each board-jack elbow is ⁄2 in. thick
made from a block measuring End dividers, 1 3⁄4 in.
end cap is slotted so that it can move 1 3⁄4 in. thick by 2 1⁄4 in. wide thick by 4 1⁄2 in. wide
with the top. Once I had the end caps by 6 in. long. by 21 in. long
Horizontal frames,
mounted, I flattened the entire bench- Board-jack 24 in. wide by 61 1⁄2 in.
top using handplanes and winding lower runner, long, are made from End panels, 3⁄4 in.
1 1⁄4 in. thick by 1 3⁄4-in.-thick by 4 1⁄4-in.- thick by 9 1⁄8 in. wide
sticks. Mounting an Emmert vise is 104 in. 35 in. by 21 7⁄8 in. long
1 5⁄8 in. wide by wide stock.
relatively simple, although they are of- 10 1⁄4 in. long
ten heavy (mine is about 85 lbs.). The Plywood drawer-case Lower end rails, 1 3⁄4 in.
vise itself mounts on a large hinge ends, 3⁄4 in. thick thick by 4 1⁄2 in. wide by
by 21 in. wide by 21 in. long
that’s mortised into the top face of 33 7⁄8 in. 24 in. long, including
the benchtop and also the front face 1
⁄2-in. solid-wood
of the front apron. To allow clearance edging
End stiles, 1 3⁄4 in.
for the vise screw, a channel is cut thick by 4 1⁄2 in. wide
into the underside of the apron and 14 3⁄4 in. 65 in. 24 1⁄4 in. 30 in. by 31 1⁄2 in. long
the benchtop.
 DOVETAILING THE END CAPS AND FRONT OF THE VISE
END-VISE CONSTRUCTION
Upper Groove
Vise Benchtop guide plate
Recess

Core is Main plate Cleat

screwed
to the
vise. Bolt passes
through the core Lower
The main plate is mounted to the edge of the benchtop and threads into guide Cut the dovetails. Use a fine-toothed backsaw to Mark the pin locations on the outside and Cut the pins. Use a Forstner bit to re-
with wood screws and is the only vise part that doesn’t the upper guide plate cut the sides of the dovetails. inside ends. With the end cap clamped in a vise, move most of the waste material from
plate. the front piece is used as a template to mark the the pin ends. A chisel takes care of
move. All of the other wood and steel vise parts simply
pin locations. any waste that remains.
slide back and forth along the main plate.

End, 2 7⁄8 in.

thick by Upper the hardware on hand before making the vise. Some of the di- plate. Add 1⁄64 in. or so for clearance, then rip the core to width.
Top, 1 3⁄16 in. thick by 3 in.
4 13⁄16 in. wide
wide by 18 1⁄8 in. long
guide plate mensions are taken directly off the steel parts. Now clamp the two guide plates to the core and try sliding the
by 6 3⁄8 in. long The main plate is screwed to the edge of the benchtop. All of the core along the main plate. If the fit is too loose, remove the plates,
other parts, effectively working as one component, simply slide then run the core through a thickness planer, but make the cut an
along the main plate. One end of the long screw is attached to the especially thin one. Repeat as needed. If the fit is too tight, add
Core, outside end of the vise, while the other end is threaded into the nut shim stock between the core and a guide plate.
3 in. thick by on the main plate. As the screw is turned, it threads in or out of the Cut the core to length and drill a clearance hole for the vise
3 1⁄8 in. wide by
19 3⁄4 in. long fixed nut, and in the process the vise is carried along for the ride. screw in one end. Then hollow out the center of the core using a
The top and bottom guide plates connect the vise and the main Forstner bit, and clean up what remains with a chisel. Now use the
plate while allowing the vise to slide. The secret here is the single top guide plate to mark the locations of the mounting holes on
lengthwise groove near one edge of each guide plate. The grooves each end of the vise. The end of the plate should be flush with the
in the guide plates simply slide over the main plate, held apart by drilled end of the core. To provide a little clearance between the
the wooden core. core and the main plate, the slot in the guide plate should extend
past the edge of the core by no more than about 1⁄32 in. Once
Core prevents a sloppy fit—The core maintains the correct dis- marked, use a drill press to bore the holes.
Splines, Lower tance between the top and bottom guide plates.
1
⁄4 in. thick guide To make the core, start by measuring between the top and bot- Cut and assemble the end-vise parts—After cutting the front,
Dog-hole block, by 1⁄2 in. plate
1 11⁄16 in. thick by tom guide plates while the two parts are assembled to the main end, top, jaw and dog-hole block to size, it’s time to tackle the
wide
4 13⁄16 in. wide by
19 5⁄8 in. long,
including 3⁄4-in. long
tenons A vise with good moves
Front, 1 11⁄16 in. thick Jaw, 2 7⁄8 in. thick
by 4 13⁄16 in. wide by by 4 13⁄16 in. wide
22 7⁄8 in. long, by 7 3⁄8 in. long
including 2 3⁄8-in.-long
dovetails

bench. The bottom track screws to the bottom frame, capturing
the board jack. An occasional application of paste wax to the
tracks keeps the jack sliding smoothly.
End vise adds versatility
I originally considered a commercially made twin-screw end
vise, but in the end the extra versatility that a traditional vise of-
fers has made the effort worthwhile. Whether you build my
bench from the ground up or not, adding an end vise to a work-
bench will make it much more user-friendly. Building the end
vise is also the trickiest part of the process.
The end-vise hardware consists of four parts (the vise hardware
is available from Woodcraft—800-225-1153): a main plate that in-
cludes a cylindrical nut; a long screw with a flanged bracket and
handle collar; a top guide plate with a lengthwise groove and a
The jaws on an Emmert patternmaker’s vise adjust in
pair of threaded bolt holes; and a bottom guide plate with a cor- three planes, a feature that can prove useful when
responding groove and a pair of countersunk through-holes. A clamping odd-shaped parts. The jaws rotate 360°
pair of bolts is also included. By the way, it’s important to have (left), pivot 90° (center) and taper (right).
ASSEMBLING THE VISE

Begin gluing the vise parts. Glue the end, the jaw, the dog-hole Add the front piece. Apply glue to the tails on the front piece and the
block and the top. You’ll need several clamps to squeeze the four pins on the end and jaw, then use a mallet to tap the front into place.
parts together.

THE CORE CONNECTS THE VISE MAKING THE CORE

TO THE HARDWARE The core pro-
vides a means
Core to secure the
vise hardware.
Cavity for The core is made
vise screw
from a glued-up
block of wood.
14 3⁄16 in. After drilling out
Main
plate the cavity, use a
chisel to clean
up any waste
that remains.
Hole for 2 1⁄2 in.
screw
Mounting the
core. With the
upper guide
The cavity in the plate temporari-
core must be long Fixed ly placed on the
enough to allow the nut core to serve as
vise to be placed a spacer, slip the
over the fixed nut
on the main plate. core and plate
into the vise cav-
ity (top). Then at-
Core tach the core to
the vise by dri-
ving four screws
through the core
Cavity for
vise screw and into the dog-
hole block (bot-
Core Guide plate tom).
3
⁄8 in.

Size the core

to fit precisely
3 1⁄8 in. 2 in. between the
upper and lower
guide plates.

3
2 5⁄8 in. ⁄4 in.

MARCH/APRIL 2003 55
 double dovetails that join the front to the end and the jaw. Double
I N S TA L L I N G T H E E N D V I S E dovetails simply are small dovetails cut between larger ones (see
Secure the the top photos on p. 54). They require a lot of chopping by hand,
main plate. Po- even after hogging out much of the waste with Forstner bits. Plus,
sition the top it takes special care to avoid breaking the pins at the narrow end.
edge of the plate Mark the tails on each end of the front, then use a backsaw to re-
slightly above
move a good part of the waste. Finish the work with a chisel. Now
the bottom edge
of the groove in mark the pin profile. I clamped the jaw on end in the Emmert vise
the top. and used a chisel to mark most of the pin profile, reaching places
my marking knife couldn’t. Remove the pin waste using the drill
press. You can do this with Forstner bits and then finish with a
chisel. Repeat the steps to cut the pins on the end piece.
The dog-hole block has three tenons on each end that fit into
mortises cut into the end and the jaw. Cut the dog holes first, then
Slide the top
plate onto the use a router to expand the top end slightly, creating a small step.
main plate. The top piece has a spline groove on three edges. Cut matching
When properly grooves in the end, the jaw and the dog-hole block.
located, the top After dry-fitting all of the parts to make sure everything goes to-
guide plate gether okay, glue and clamp the end, the jaw, the top and the dog-
should slide hole block. Then glue the front in place.
smoothly along
the main plate
without interfer- Mount the vise—The entire vise hangs on the main plate that
ence. mounts at the notch in the right end of the top. But, before the vise
can be mounted, you need to cut a groove in the edge of the top
to provide clearance for the upper guide plate. A router and an
edge guide, with the router operated horizontally, can be used to
create most of the groove. A chisel is used to extend the groove to
the corner of the notch.
Before the main plate can be mounted, a shallow hole must be
drilled in the edge of the benchtop to provide clearance for the
bolt head on the back of the plate. Finally, glue the cleat in place.
The top edge of the main plate must be parallel to the benchtop,
and the front edge of the plate must be flush with the front of the
end cap. It also must be located a distance from the benchtop
that’s equal to the thickness of the top plus the thickness of the top
guide plate, minus the depth of the groove in the guide plate.
Once everything is lined up, drive a couple of screws to secure
the main plate in place. The remaining screws will be installed af-
ter the vise has been test-fitted. Next, add the core. Temporarily
place the top guide plate on the core and slide the two parts into
the vise. While squeezing the plate between the core and the un-
Mount the vise. With the cylindrical nut on the main plate roughly derside of the top, drive four screws through the back of the core
aligned with the open space at the back end of the core cavity, slip and into the dog-hole block. Once the core has been installed, re-
the vise onto the guide plate. Then thread the screw into the nut. move the plate. Now drill a hole in the jaw and slip the screw
through the hole and into the core. A pair of screws driven through
Bolt the guide
the flange secure the screw to the vise.
plates. After
Next, with the top guide plate resting on the main plate, slip the
slipping the low-
er guide plate vise over the guide plate. Position the vise so that the cylindrical
onto the bottom nut ends up in the opening between the end of the screw and the
edge of the main back of the core.
plate, add the To complete the vise assembly, insert the two bolts supplied with
two bolts that the hardware through holes drilled earlier in the core. Snug up
thread into
each bolt with a few turns of an adjustable wrench. The wood han-
tapped holes in
dles are made from maple dowels, with ends made from hard-
the upper guide
plate. wood balls that are available from a number of woodworking
mail-order outfits.

Jon Leppo is an amateur woodworker in Denver.

56 FINE WOODWORKING
S
T WINTER 2003/2004

The Essential Round dog holes, 3⁄4 in.

dia., are aligned with dog
Square dog holes, made to fit
metal dogs, tilting 3° toward

Workbench
holes in front vise jaw. end vise and 6 in. o.c., are
aligned with dogs in end vise.

Front vise jaw, 3 in.

thick by 6 in. wide by Front apron,
18 in. long; inside face 1 3⁄4 in. thick by
beveled 1⁄8 in. top to 6 in. wide by
bottom 75 in. long

Workhorse bench combines

the best of the old and the new
B Y L O N S C H L E I N I N G

T
his latest attempt to design a woodworker’s bench is built on
the foundation of the dozens that have graced the pages of
this publication, starting with Tage Frid’s in the fall of 1976
(FWW #4). His includes a built-in tool tray, a shoulder vise on the
left, and a tail vise on the right, with a single row of dog holes
along the front apron—much different from the bench seen here. Dowels, 7⁄16 in. dia.,
Roundover chamfered on tip
Frid’s bench is a classic northern-European design that traces its on trestle
roots back centuries before the introduction of electricity. Frid’s members
and vise jaws,
bench and Frank Klausz’s very similar design a few years later 2 1⁄8-in. radius
(FWW #53) have influenced modern bench builders for decades. Stretchers, 1 3⁄4 in. thick by 4 in.
Several Fine Woodworking editors and I recently collaborated wide by 50 5⁄8 in. long overall
(includes an extra 1⁄16 in. on each
on designing an essential workbench for today’s woodworker, one ANATOMY tenon for trimming after wedging)
that is straightforward to build without compromising perfor- OF A WORKBENCH
mance. This bench was designed to be a tool—more workhorse
This bench consists of (and
than showpiece. We did not include traditional components simply construction proceeds in this order): Tenons, 1 in. thick
for history’s sake, and we took advantage of modern innovations. by 3 1⁄4 in. wide by
a trestle base joined with mortise- 3 1⁄16 in. long
We also wanted this bench to be a project that most woodworkers and-tenons; a thick top laminated
could build using tools found in an average small shop: tablesaw, from boards set on edge; and front
portable planer, crosscut saw, router, drill press, and hand tools. The and end vises, both with wood jaws.

38 FINE WOODWORKING Drawings: Bob La Pointe

 78 1⁄2 in. 27 3⁄4 in.
2 1⁄2 in.

34 1⁄2 in. 32 in.

1
Top slab, 2 ⁄2 in.
thick by 26 in.
wide by 73 3⁄8 in.
long overall

51 in. 28 in.

Tongue, 3⁄4 in. thick
by 11⁄16 in. long
Slot End caps, 1 3⁄4 in. thick by
6 in. wide by 27 3⁄4 in. long,
are glued to the top at the
front and barrel-bolted at
the center and rear.

Wedges, 5°
1
⁄2 in.

Top dovetail is
centered on slot.

End vise jaw, 3 in.

Trestle top member, thick by 6 5⁄8 in. wide
3 in. thick by 3 in. by 27 3⁄4 in. long, are
wide by 25 3⁄4 in. long beveled 1⁄8 in. top to
bottom on the inside
face.

Upper tenons, 1 1⁄2 in. thick by

2 1⁄4 in. wide by 3 1⁄16 in. long
(includes an extra 1⁄16 in. for
trimming after wedging) SOURCES OF SUPPLY
PREMADE BENCHTOP SLABS
Grizzly Industrial
800-523-4777; www.grizzly.com
Trestle legs, 3 in. thick Lee Valley Tools
by 3 in. wide by 31 1⁄16 in. 800-871-8158; www.leevalley.com
long, including tenons Woodcraft
800-225-1153; www.woodcraft.com

QUICK-RELEASE FRONT VISE

Woodcraft
Lower tenons, 1 1⁄2 in.
thick by 2 1⁄4 in. wide VERITAS TWIN-SCREW VISE
by 2 1⁄2 in. long Lee Valley Tools

STEEL BENCHDOGS (SQUARE)

Highland Hardware
800-241-6748; www.tools-for-woodworking.com
Trestle feet, 3 1⁄2 in. thick by
3 1⁄2 in. wide by 28 in. long ROUND BENCHDOGS
Lee Valley Tools

TOOLS & SHOPS 2004 39

 BASE
A S S E M B LY
BLIND MORTISE-AND-TENONS ARE PINNED FOR STRENGTH
The deep mortise-
and-tenon joints are
either draw-pinned
or wedged to ensure
decades of rigidity.
First, assemble the
trestles, then add
the long stretchers
to complete the
base.

The feet are pinned to the legs. Start by drilling the dowel holes in the feet, dry-fitting the joints, and transferring (left)
the dowel-hole locations to the tenons. Then use a center punch (center) to offset those locations slightly on the tenons,
creating the draw effect. Last, apply glue to all surfaces, assemble the joint, and drive home the dowels (right).

only heavy-duty tool I used was a 3-hp tablesaw. Ripping lots of 8/4
maple puts a strain on even a large saw, so use a clean, sharp blade.
A durable workbench requires beefy parts
Avid woodworkers themselves, FWW editors regularly visit shops
across the country, and they see a wide array of workbench con-
figurations. Like all woodworkers, they know what they like and
don’t like. In the end we all compromised a bit, but we reached a
solid consensus. My own involvement arose from having spent the
last year researching and writing a book on workbenches (look for
it in the fall of 2004 from The Taunton Press). I was commissioned
to finalize this design, write the article, and build the bench.
A thick, solid top—We decided on an overall size of 28 in. wide
by 6 ft. long. Add a few inches for vise jaws, and it’s a nice, big top.
The editors thought 2 in. in top thickness would be plenty, with ex-
tra thickness at the edges, but I made this top 21⁄2 in. thick because
it wasn’t much more difficult to mill and laminate thicker pieces.
However, if you start with a premade bench slab, the standard
13⁄4-in. thickness offers plenty of mass and solidity for serious hand-
tool use, especially after adding the thicker apron and end caps.
Gluing up the slab allowed me to machine the square dog holes
before the pieces were assembled. Round dog holes might be a
better option for a premade slab because square ones are best cut
while the top slab is in pieces.
Heavy, rigid base—I wanted the benchtop and base to be nicely
proportioned. Many benches I’ve seen look like top-heavy slabs
on spindly legs. Also, it was important that the bench not rack or
skid across the floor under heavy handplaning. A thick trestle base,

A jig makes
easy work
of mortises
There are 16 mortises
(and tenons) in the base
but only two different
sizes. Make two mortis-
ing jigs to speed up lay-
out and guide the chisels.
The jig is made from three
blocks glued and screwed
together, with a fence Locate and lay out the mortises. Drill out most of the waste. The Chop out the rest with chisels. Re-
attached on each side to With the jig, this job should go quickly. layout lines will guide you. For the move most of the material with a 1⁄2-in.
hug the workpiece. blind mortises, set the drill chisel before switching to a wider one.
press’s depth stop. The jig will guide the chisels precisely.

40 FINE WOODWORKING

THROUGH-TENONS ARE WEDGED
Wedge the top members and stretchers. The slots in the tenons are
angled 5° to match the wedge angle. A hole is drilled at the base of
each slot to prevent splitting. Apply glue to all surfaces, including the
wedges and slots; assemble the joint; and drive home the wedges
(above), using a block of wood to protect them from direct blows. Last,
connect the two trestles with the upper and lower stretchers (below),
wedging their tenons in place.
Photos: Asa Christiana
joined with pinned or wedged mortise-and-tenons, guarantees sta-
bility. I laminated 8/4 lumber to make these thick members (and
the top slab) because 8/4 is readily available in most regions.
Splitting the stretchers, two high and two low, leaves a perfect
opening for a future cabinet with drawers. The traditional single,
wide stretcher would have saved some time, but it also would
have blocked this natural storage area.
Innovative vises—Hundreds of woodworkers probably would
say they could not get through a day without a conventional tail
vise, which is designed primarily for clamping things flat on the
benchtop between dogs. Others would say the same for a shoul-
der vise, which offers the capability of clamping workpieces be-
tween its jaws without interference from guide bars or screws. The
Veritas Twin-Screw Vise incorporates some of the capabilities of
both types, allowing long boards or large panels to be clamped
with benchdogs as well as clamping an upright board up to 15 in.
wide for operations such as dovetailing. The two screws are con-
nected with a chain, preventing the jaws from racking no matter
where a workpiece is located or which row of dog holes is used.
I’ve always loved the look and performance of thick wooden jaws
on a front vise but found it tedious to crank the long screw in and
out constantly. I was tempted to install a cast-iron, quick-action
Record-style vise, until I found a German-made quick-action vise
screw and guide bars at Woodcraft. That allowed me to design a
wooden front jaw to match the one I made for the Veritas end vise
TOOLS & SHOPS 2004 41
 BENCHTOP
GLUE-UP
MAKE UP THE TOP SLAB IN SECTIONS
The benchtop is
made of 8/4 maple,
set on edge. Make
the top in sections
narrow enough to fit
through the
thickness planer.

Joint and plane the pieces. Glue up the top. The base makes a level Use cauls to keep the slab flat. Wrap
Run them through the planer glue-up platform, but protect it from them with clear tape for easy cleanup. Snug
on edge to ensure uniformity. drips. Use a notched card to spread glue. them down first, then clamp across the width.

and still have quick action. However, a cast-iron vise also would
Milling benchdog holes have been fine (see FWW #158, pp. 56-59, for proper installation),
Notch for and a patternmaker’s vise is an interesting option.
Cut the holes for the Square dog face
square benchdogs benchdog
Both square and round benchdogs—The debates over round vs.
with a dado blade square and wood vs. metal will go on as long as folks work wood.
before glue-up. The
All dogs have advantages, but I prefer square, steel ones. How-
notches for the dog
ever, lots of accessories are designed to fit into 3⁄4-in. round holes,
faces can be routed
or chopped out with a
so I incorporated both types into the bench. For the end vise, I
chisel. milled square dog holes to fit specific steel dogs. But I can make
Dog hole is angled wood ones if I choose, fitting them to the holes for the metal dogs.
3° toward the end vise.
I ran two rows of 3⁄4-in. round dog holes for the front vise. This
Dado the dog gives me the option of using round dogs as well as hold-downs
holes. Use a and holdfasts, which use 3⁄4-in. holes. The round dog holes also pro-
crosscut sled vide the option of locating and securing jigs with 3⁄4-in. dowel pins.
with a wedge
against the fence No tool tray—I like tool trays, but many woodworkers think they
to cut the slots at are only good for collecting debris. Although this design lacks one,
a 3° angle. A
a tool tray could be attached easily to the back of the benchtop.
square pin sets
the distance be- Keep in mind that the large space between the stretchers will
tween dog slots. house a small chest of drawers for protected storage close at hand.

Build the base first

It’s more glamorous to build the top than the base. But if you build
Workpiece Wedge between fence and
workpiece is angled 3°.
the base first, you can use it for gluing up the top slab. Then, when
the top is ready, you can set it on the base to finish installing the
vises. Wedged mortise-and-tenons join the legs and stretchers, cre-
ating strong resistance to racking; pegged mortise-and-tenons join
legs to feet. Laminating two layers of 8/4 material (each 13⁄4 in. thick
after surfacing) creates the right thickness for the base members.
Square
pin Mill the legs and top crossmembers down to 3 in. square but leave
the feet at 31⁄2 in. square.
Tablesaw Leave the stretchers the full 13⁄4 in. in thickness and rip them 3⁄8 in.
sled oversize in width to allow them to move. When a wide plank is
ripped into narrower pieces, tension in it is released, resulting in
TOP VIEW OF SLED boards that bow one way or the other. Let the stretcher stock sit for
two days, straighten and rip it to rough width, then run it through a

42 FINE WOODWORKING
Flatten the slab. A five-board section of the top slab is narrow enough
to fit through a benchtop planer.
portable planer on edge to clean each edge and bring the pieces to
final width. If there’s any fitting to be done, it’s easier to do it on the
tenons, so cut the mortises first, using a four-sided guide block to
help with the chisel work. Then cut the tenons on the tablesaw,
using a dado set.
Cutting the thumbnail profile—For the next task, cutting a
large thumbnail profile on the feet, it will be worth your time to in-
stall a sharp new blade on the bandsaw. Before cutting the curve,
I used a tablesaw and a crosscut sled to cut the small step at the top
of the profile. After the bandsaw cut, the smoothing went quickly
using a rasp and some files, followed by sandpaper.
Assembling the base—Start with the two trestle assemblies; it’s
critical that they be flat and square. After the dowels have been dri-
ven home and the glue has set, dry-fit and then glue and wedge
TRIM THE ENDS OF THE TOP IN T WO STEPS
Use the simple two-fence jig shown. Rout deep slots in both
sides of the slab, then use a jigsaw to cut off the waste, leaving
square shoulders and a tongue that will fit into the end caps.
Now glue three sections into one big slab. Place a try square across
the dog holes and use a long bar clamp diagonally to correct any mis-
alignment. Again, use lots of clamps and cauls to keep the sections level.
the stretchers in place. Put glue in the mortises and on the tenons as
well as on the wedges and in the wedge slots. At every step of the
way, measure diagonally to make sure everything stays square,
and sight across the trestle tops to be sure the assembly doesn’t
twist as you clamp it. Your eye will pick up minute variations.
Build the top
The boards for the top are plainsawn 8/4 stock set on edge and
laminated face to face. The top’s finished thickness is 21⁄2 in., but
you should expect some bowing when you rip the boards from
wider stock, so rip the boards for the slab just under 3 in. wide. Once
the strips have stabilized for a day or two, joint them straight on
one edge, rip them on the tablesaw to about 23⁄4 in., and then plane
them on edge to about 25⁄8 in. This leaves the pieces 1⁄8 in. oversize
to allow for finish planing after each section is glued up. Cut the
slots for the square dogs now, while the pieces are separate.
TOOLS & SHOPS 2004 43
 I N S TA L L
THE VISES,
APRON,
AND END
CAPS
Because of the half-
blind dovetails, the
end caps and front
apron must be fitted
and attached to the
bench one at a
time, from right to
left, as are the
vises.
Cut the right-hand set of half-blind dovetails. First, cut the tails in the
front apron, and then clamp the front apron in place with the right-hand end
cap behind it to transfer the layout of the dovetails.
Most woodworkers have a portable surface planer capable of
planing a 12-in.-wide board. So glue up and mill the 26-in. top slab
in three sections of five boards, each able to fit through the planer
and easier to handle than the full slab.
Clamping with cauls is a two-step process. First, align the boards
by applying clamp pressure to the cauls. After the boards are in
line, clamp them together horizontally. Aside from straight cauls,
the other key to success is a flat gluing surface. The top cross-
members on the base form the perfect platform to prevent the top
from twisting during glue-up.
A damp (not wet) toothbrush makes short work of cleaning the
glue out of the dog holes as long as this is done immediately after
the slab is clamped up. Once the glue has set for an hour or so, re-
move the cauls and scrape off the excess glue. Let each slab cure
overnight before moving on to the next one.
Plane the sections before gluing up the entire slab—If the
cauls have been placed correctly, the glued slab sections should be
flat with no twist. Remove any leftover glue from the top surfaces.
Then, with the top surface of the slabs down on the planer bed,
run them through, taking light cuts until the bottom surface is
clean. Turn the slabs top-surface-up and run them through again,
taking light cuts until the top surface is clean. Turn them over once
more and plane the underside until you reach the 21⁄2-in. thickness.
Gluing together the slabs is a lot like gluing up the individual sec-
tions. Again, use the top crossmembers on the base and lots of cauls
to keep the pieces aligned. Then it’s simple to close the last of the
glue joints. However, check the dog-hole locations with a square
to be sure they all will be the same distance from the end vise.
A neat trick for trimming the slab to length—Not many of us
own a saw capable of accurately crosscutting a very heavy slab al-
most 21⁄2 ft. wide and more than 6 ft. long. For this project, a simple
44 FINE WOODWORKING
Attach the large vise nuts to the
back of the end cap. Also, finish cut-
ting and fitting the dovetails.
router jig will allow you, in one operation, both to trim each end
accurately and to create some necessary joinery (see the bottom
photos on p. 43). By cutting deep dadoes on the top and bottom of
the slab, a tongue is formed, which fits into a slot milled into the
end cap. Cut the remaining 3⁄4-in. tongue to length with a jigsaw
(not an important glue surface so not a critical cut). Cut the mating
slots in the end caps using a dado set on the tablesaw.
Install the end caps and front apron—The end caps cover the
end grain of the top slab and help keep the slab flat. The right-
hand end cap also serves as the rear jaw for the end vise. The front
apron beefs up the thickness at this critical work area and serves
as the rear jaw for the front vise. I not only needed a strong me-
chanical joint holding the front apron to the end caps, but I also
wanted the areas that act as vise jaws to remain flat, with no end
grain protruding as it would if I used through-dovetails or finger
joints at the corners. Half-blind dovetails seemed to be the perfect
solution, oriented as shown in the drawing on p. 39.
After cutting the joinery but before gluing the end caps and front
rail in place, use a drill press to bore the holes for the vise hard-
ware. Mount the end caps with cross-barrel bolts. The Veritas vise
includes four of these; use two for each end cap. Apply glue only
along the front 3 in. or 4 in. of the tongue and the groove. This lim-
its wood movement of the slab toward the back of the bench.
The front apron is attached to the slab with glue only (and help
from the half-blind dovetails).
Mount the vises and attach the top
Both vises come with thorough instructions, making the hardware
straightforward to mount. The twin-screw vise attaches to the
bench rather simply, with its two large screws passing through
large nuts attached to the inner face of the end cap. It’s critical that
holes in the front and rear jaws align perfectly, so drill them at the
Now for the front vise. Start by attaching Locate the clearance holes in the front apron. Clamp the front apron accurately in place and tap a
the mounting bracket under the benchtop. brad-point drill bit through the holes in the hardware to transfer their locations. Drill the holes in the
The blocking under the bracket will in- front apron and front vise jaw at the same time.
crease the clamping capacity.

same time. The length of the chain determines the distance between
holes, so careful layout is in order. The vertical location of the holes
is determined by adding 11⁄2 in. to the thickness of the top slab to
allow the large vise nuts to clear the underside of the benchtop.
Mounting the front-vise hardware and the large wood jaw is
even more straightforward. First, the mounting bracket must be
bolted to the underside of the benchtop. I used 5⁄16-in. lag screws.
Next, the vise screw and guide bars are run through the bracket to
locate their clearance holes in the front rail. Last, make the large
wood jaw and bolt it to the vise hardware. Somewhere along the
way, the front jaws for both vises must receive their large thumb-
nail profile, identical to the one on the trestle feet.
Once you have all of the hardware and vises in place, mill a 1⁄8-in.
bevel on each of the outside jaws to accommodate flex in the Attach the front-vise hardware to the front jaw. Use the vise hard-
ware to clamp the front jaw in its proper position before drilling for the
hardware as the jaws tighten, which helps them maintain good
attachment screws. Last, cut the half-blind dovetails on the left-hand
clamping pressure at the top. Now you can attach the top to the end cap and attach it.
base. Two lag bolts along the centerline of the bench are plenty for
attaching the benchtop to the trestle base.

Flatten the top and finish the bench

Do the final flattening after the top has been mounted to the base
and all of the vises are in place. If your glue-ups went well, all you
will have to do is some scraping and sanding.
I didn’t want a slick finish, as beautiful as it might be. Clamps,
hold-downs, and vises depend on friction to hold parts securely.
The traditional finish for a benchtop is linseed oil thinned with
turpentine, which seals the wood enough to make glue removal
pretty easy but doesn’t make the surface more slippery than it is
naturally. However, I wiped on a thinned varnish for greater pro-
tection. To make sure moisture absorption is even on all sides, it’s
important to coat the top and underside of the bench equally.
Assemble the hardware for the twin-screw end vise. Clips join the
chain at the proper length. Again, use the vise hardware to clamp the
Lon Schleining is a contributing editor. jaw in position before drilling for the attachment screws.

TOOLS & SHOPS 2004 45

 A Benchtop Bench
For routing and
handwork, this
minibench raises 43 ⁄4 in.

the action to a
comfortable height Dog holes,
⁄ in. dia.,
34

spaced 21 ⁄ 2 in.
on center

33 ⁄4 in.

13 ⁄4 in.
13 ⁄4 in. TOP VIEW

121 ⁄ 2 in. 24 in.

11 ⁄ 2 in.
33 ⁄4 in.
2 in.

17⁄ 8 in.
51 ⁄ 2 in.

41 ⁄4 in.

Stretcher, 1 1 ⁄ 8 in. thick by 31 ⁄4 in.

2 in. Leg, 11 ⁄ 8 in. thick by 3 in. wide by 18 3 ⁄4 in. long,
25 ⁄ 8 in. wide by 8 in. including 1 ⁄4-in.-long tenons
long, including 11 ⁄4-in.-
SIDE VIEW long tenons FRONT VIEW
11 ⁄ 2 in.

E L E VAT E D
B E N C H S AV E S
YO U R B AC K
This benchtop bench elevates
a workpiece several inches
above a regular workbench,
so it is more comfortable
to do such tasks as cutting,
carving, and routing.

38 FINE WOODWORKING Photos: Tom Begnal; drawings: Stephen Hutchings

 B Y J E F F M I L L E R

W oodworking benches are designed to place

a workpiece at a height that’s ideal for hand-
planing. But the perfect height for planing
often is too low for other common bench tasks. For
example, when routing, carving, cutting dovetails, or
doing layout, I frequently have found myself bent over
at an uncomfortable angle so that I could see clearly
and work effectively. When performing these tasks,
I like to have a workpiece positioned 6 in. to 10 in.
above my waist level.
To bring a workpiece to my
ideal height range, I made a small finewoodworking.com
workbench that mounts quickly Visit our Web site to see the author
to my regular bench. When extra demonstrate the benchtop bench.
height is needed, the minibench
effectively raises the worksurface to my comfort zone.
The bench is easy to move, stores nicely under my
bigger bench, and includes a vise that provides plenty
of holding force. I made the bench out of maple, but
any hard, dense wood will work.
stock for the trestle base. I chose a mortise-and-tenon
joint to connect the legs to the aprons and feet, but
half-lap joints would work well, too. Cut mortises in the
aprons and feet for the legs, then cut shallow mortises
centered on the inside faces of the legs to locate
and solidify the bolted joints with the stretch-
ers. Cut and fit the tenons on the legs and the
stretchers. The stretcher tenons will not be
glued, so it’s especially important that they fit
without any slop. Now is a good time to drill
the 3⁄ 8-in.-dia. bolt holes
centered on the legs.
The trestle base is
screwed to the top through
three countersunk holes
in the bottom of each apron. Elongate the
center and rear holes to allow for the ex-
pansion and contraction of the top (see
the left drawing on the facing page). To

Trestle design is simple yet strong

I wanted the benchtop bench to be as sturdy as my
regular bench. I settled on a trestle-table design, which
ensured a solid bench and simplified construction.
Begin by making the top. It can be sized to suit
individual needs, but as a general rule, keep the top
small enough to be moved without back strain. Joint
and edge-glue the stock, then use a handplane and
scraper to level and smooth the surfaces. Cut
the piece to width and length.
Next, mill the

MARCH/APRIL 2005 39
TRESTLE DESIGN MAKES
F O R A S T U R DY B E N C H
BAS E A S S E M B LY
The trestles and stretchers are assembled using mortise-and-
tenon construction, giving the benchtop bench solid footing.

Apron

Stretcher

Hex
nut

Leg

Access hole
drilled from
the inside face
houses the
hex nut.

Tenon, 1 ⁄ 2 in.
Foot thick by 2 in.
wide by 1 1 ⁄4 in.
Bolt, 3 ⁄4 in. dia. Glue up the trestles, then attach the stretchers. A long bolt connects the
long
by 4 in. long end of each stretcher to the trestles. Note the access hole in the stretcher.

glue up the trestles, spread glue in the mortises and
very lightly on the tenons, push the parts together, then
clamp up. Check for square and adjust, if necessary.
The stretchers need to be drilled for the bolts that
will hold the base together. Use the bolt holes in the
trestle legs as drill guides. Dry-assemble the base and
Hardware clamp it together, but leave access to the bolt holes.
Sources Be sure to drill to depth straight; use a self-centering
dowel jig, if you need to.
VENEER-PRESS Mark the locations for the hex-nut access holes on the
SCREW inside faces of the stretchers. Drill with a 114⁄ -in.-dia. Forst-
ner bit to within 3⁄16 in. of the outside face of each stretch-
BENCH PUP er. The hex nuts and washers go into these holes.
Lee Valley Tools
800-871-8158 Vise adds versatility
www.leevalley.com The front vise makes it easy to clamp a workpiece
either to the front of the bench or on top of it. While
Woodcraft I wanted the vise to be simple and easy to make, I
800-225-1153 also needed it to accept wide boards for dovetailing
www.woodcraft.com carcases. As it turned out, a couple of veneer-press
screws satisfied both requirements.
Mill the vise jaw and the bench face to their desig-
nated thicknesses, then cut them to the same width and
length. Mark the locations for the veneer-press-screw
holes on the inside of the bench face. Clamp the vise jaw
and bench face together and drill through the bench
face into the jaw with a 1⁄8-in.-dia. drill bit. This hole helps
align the hole for the veneer-press nut with the one
for the screw. Check the dimensions of the veneer-press
screws. I used a (roughly) 5⁄ 8-in.-dia. screw, with the
outside of the veneer-press nut measuring about 1 in.
dia., although it tapered slightly. Drill the hole for the
screw in the vise jaw, and the hole for the nut in the
bench face. The end plate that comes with each screw
will not be used. You can remove the plate simply by
loosening the mounting screw.
Enlarge the hole for the veneer-press nut, concentrat-
ing on the end of the hole nearest the benchtop. Tap
the nut into place to check your progress. (The paint
on the nut will rub off when it is tapped in place,
leaving a clear picture of the areas that need relief.)
You can remove the nut by threading the veneer-press
screw into place and then tapping the end of the screw
(not the handle) with a mallet.
Once the nut fits, trace the outline of the flange onto
the inside of the bench face. Rout away enough wood
to allow the nut, and the screws that will attach it to
the face, to sit flush with or slightly below the surface.
Screw the nuts into place.
Clamp the bench face into position so that the top
edge is flush with the benchtop, and screw the two
outermost screws into place (drill and countersink
pilot holes first). Turn over the benchtop and check
where the veneer-press screw will come through the
face. Depending on the size of your bench, you may
have to rout a channel on the underside of the bench-
top for the veneer-press screw. Mark exactly where the
channel will be, then remove the bench face to rout

40 FINE WOODWORKING
VISE A S S E M B LY
Before attaching the bench face to the benchtop, drill the holes for the veneer-press
screws and install the hardware. The screws will close the vise jaw, but you’ll have to
pull it open manually.

Screws mount Top

the bench face
to the top.

Inset the veneer-press nuts into the back

of the bench face. Trace the flange profile
(above) and rout a recess to set the nut flush
with the stock. Secure with screws (below).

Flange on the
nut is flush with
the surface (see
the photos at
right).

Bench face

Veneer-press nut
Vise
Wood spacer, 3 ⁄ 8 in. mounts from the back
jaw
thick by 1 3 ⁄4 in. square side of the face.
Veneer-press screw

the channel. Reattach the face, and try to thread the vise
screw into place. Remove more wood as necessary.
The veneer-press-screw handles will need more clear-
ance to operate easily. Glue wooden spacers, roughly
3⁄ 8 in. thick by 13⁄4 in. square, over the veneer-press-

screw holes. Run the bit you used to drill these holes
through the spacers from inside the jaw. The vise jaw will
not open automatically when you loosen the veneer-
press screws. You can pull it open manually, or refine the
vise with two modified 5⁄ 8-in. drill-bit stop collars or
shaft collars. The bore of the collars might have to be
enlarged to fit on the veneer-press screw. A machine
shop can do this for you, or you can file it by hand.

Benchdogs boost performance

The addition of Veritas Bench Pups allows me to hold
a workpiece on top of the bench. Lay out the positions
for holes in the benchtop and the vise jaw, being care-
ful to avoid the area over the veneer-press screws and
the apron of the base. Bore 3⁄4-in.-dia. holes and insert
the Bench Pups. The benchtop holes are best drilled
on the drill press, with the bench face removed.
Reattach the face when everything is positioned proper-
ly and works smoothly. Apply glue to the mating surfaces,
then add the screws. Finally, mount the base to the top
by driving screws through the holes in the aprons. ▫

Jeff Miller runs a custom furniture shop in Chicago, where he Attach the base. Mount the top to the base by driving three screws through holes
also offers woodworking classes (www.furnituremaking.com). (two slotted, one round) in each apron.

MARCH/APRIL 2005 41
 Rock-Solid
Plywood
Bench
Build this versatile workbench
in a weekend for under $250
B Y C E C I L B R A E D E N

54 FINE WOODWORKING
 72 in. 33 in.

Overhang
determined 19 1 ⁄2 in.
by vise size. 321 ⁄2 in.
10 in.

91 ⁄2 in.

54 7⁄8 in. 231 ⁄2 in.

Pocket hole for

BENCHTOP DETAIL
Center apron slat, attaching top
MDF, ⁄ in. thick
34

31 ⁄2 in. wide by
54 7⁄8 in. long
Solid edging,
⁄ in. thick
34

Plywood,
3⁄ 4 in. thick
Outer apron slat,
31 ⁄2 in. wide by

I had wanted to build a sturdy workbench for some 47 7⁄8 in. long
time but was put off by the cost and complexity
of a traditional hardwood bench. I knew that such Upper center leg slat,
31 ⁄2 in. wide by
benches derive much of their strength and rigidity 19 1 ⁄2 in. long
from the mortises and tenons that join the framework,
and I wondered if there was a way to combine this
joinery with the inherent strength, rigidity, and dimen-
sional accuracy of plywood. The design I created has Outer leg slat,
a base of laminated sections of plywood and a top of 31 ⁄2 in. wide by
321 ⁄2 in. long
plywood and medium-density fiberboard (MDF).
An advantage of this design is that the piece can be
built without a planer or jointer, perfect for someone
just getting started in woodworking. For under $250
including a vise, I have a bench with the rigidity I de-
sired without breaking the bank.

Design the bench, create a cut plan, and begin Stretcher, same
This method of construction can be adapted to almost dimensions as
apron
any size and type of bench: You could even construct
just the base and purchase a ready-made hardwood Deck screw,
top. My bench is 33 in. wide by 72 in. long by 34 in. 3 in. long
tall, a comfortable height for me to work at. It is also
1⁄ 8 in. lower than my tablesaw, allowing me to use the
BUILT-IN JOINERY
bench as an auxiliary outfeed table. The cut plan I
used (see p. 56) allows you to create a bench with legs The aprons and legs are
made from laminated
up to 36 in. long, giving a bench height of 371⁄ 2 in. strips of 3⁄4-in. birch
All base components—legs, aprons, and stretch- plywood. The tenons and
ers—are laminations made from 39⁄16-in.-wide slats of mortises are created
3⁄4-in.-thick plywood. Set the tablesaw’s fence and rip Lower center leg during the lamination
slat, 31 ⁄2 in. wide process, eliminating the
all the strips without changing the setting. You always by 6 in. long need to cut joinery later.

Photos: Mark Schofield; drawings: Chuck Lockhart TOOLS & SHOPS 2006 55
MAKE
THE MOST OUTER LEG SLATS UPPER CENTER
LEG SLATS
O F YO U R
P LY WO O D First
cut OUTER APRON/STRETCHER SLATS
If you decide to build a
bench that is the same
size as mine, or one Waste used for assembly jigs.
that is slightly taller, use
these cut plans. I used
21 ⁄2 sheets of 4x8 birch OUTER APRON/STRETCHER SLATS
plywood and a sheet
of MDF from my local
home center. Have your
plywood seller make the 221 ⁄2 in.
first and second cuts as CENTER APRON/STRETCHER SLATS OUTER LEG SLATS
shown to ease handling
the material.
Other materials
needed are 2-, 21 ⁄2-,
and 3-in.-long deck
screws, and a quart of
fresh PVA woodworking First cut 231 ⁄2 in.
glue. I’ve used both
Titebond II and III, but
particularly in hot, dry
conditions, glues with
extended open times
make alignment of the
laminations easier. BENCHTOP
END
The top consists of a layer of 3⁄4-in. plywood
topped with 3⁄4-in. MDF.

Second cut

OUTER LEG SLATS OUTER LEG SLATS END

15 in.
SPARE SLAT SPARE SLAT

LOWER CENTER SPACERS FOR LEG GLUE-UPS

LEG SLATS
will get some tearout when you cut plywood: This
can be minimized with a zero-clearance insert on the
tablesaw, but in any case rip with the show side of the
plywood up. If you do get some tearout, lightly sand
away any splinters and keep the tearout side inward
The two optional when assembling the components.
shelves come out UPPER SHELF
of a half sheet The last step before laminating the components is to
of 3⁄4-in.-thick drill pocket holes every 6 in. on one side of the two
plywood. outer apron pieces to attach the top with pocket screws.
Or you can use the battens described on p. 58.

Glue-up requires quick work, attention to detail

LOWER SHELF Even with glue that has a moderate amount of open
time, you must work quickly, so do a dry run first and
have all components in order. I apply the glue to all
mating surfaces with a disposable brush that has the
bristles trimmed, but a roller would work. Glue the
laminates on a flat surface protected by waxed paper.

56 FINE WOODWORKING

Construct the aprons and stretchers. These parts consist of a center strip of plywood that
includes the two tenons, and two shorter outer strips that form the shoulders of the tenon.
Have multiple clamps ready for use.
Assemble and glue stretchers and aprons—Make
sure all like pieces are trimmed to exactly the same
length. Draw a line 31⁄ 2 in. from both ends of the
longer center-slat pieces, and mark the ends of both
sides with an “X” to indicate non-glue areas. If you
are using pocket holes on the aprons, make sure the
holes are facing outward and upward.
Glue the three pieces of each component together,
being careful not to get any glue on the tenon ends.
Turn the assembly on edge so that the plies are facing
up and insert one end in the apron jig (see drawing,
top right). As you apply clamping pressure, keep the
slats aligned and pushed against the jig to maintain
the 31⁄ 2-in. tenon and even cheeks. When the glue is
dry, run both exposed-ply sides of each component
through the tablesaw to clean them up.
Next, make the legs—Prior to assembly, make the
spacer blocks (see photos, p. 58) and wrap about 5
in. of each with clear tape. Used to create the lower
mortise on each leg, the spacer is driven out after the
leg has dried. Tape prevents glue from sticking to the
spacer. The leg stack consists of two outside slats, the
lower center piece, the spacer, the upper center piece,
and two more outside slats. Locate the upper and
lower mortise areas and mark both mating surfaces so
that you will remember not to apply glue there.
A simple L-shaped jig helps to lay up the legs ac-
curately. Glue the slats together, remembering to in-
A SIMPLE JIG AIDS
A P RO N A S S E M B LY
When gluing the stretchers and aprons,
use a jig to align the center slat at the
proper offset to create the tenon.
31 ⁄2 in.
⁄ in.
34
sert the spacer. After assembly, turn the stack so that
the spacer is sticking up. Using both sides of the jig,
keep the ends and edges of each slat in perfect align-
ment and the center slats pressed tightly against the
spacer as you apply clamping pressure. Apply two
small clamps to both outside pairs of slats that form
the upper mortise.
After the glue has set, make cleanup cuts on the
Tip:
tablesaw. Use sandpaper to slightly chamfer the bottom Once you
edges of the finished legs to prevent splintering of the spread the
outer veneer if the bench is dragged across the floor.
glue you’ll
Assemble the frame sides, have to work
then join them with plywood panels
Start by dry-fitting the tenon on each end of a stretcher
q u i c k l y, s o
into its respective mortise. If a tenon extends beyond do a dr y run
the leg, trim it flush or slightly recessed. Lay a leg on a
first and
flat surface protected with waxed paper. Apply glue to
the mortise-and-tenon, then insert the tenon and clamp have all the
lightly. Use a carpenter’s square to bring the stretcher components
and leg to exactly 90°, and tighten the clamp. Remove
the excess glue with a damp cloth, put the joint aside i n o r d e r.
to set, and assemble the second leg and stretcher.
Once the glue has set, remove the clamps and lay
the leg/stretcher down with the inside facing up. Drill
four countersunk pilot holes at least 21⁄ 2 in. deep in-
to each joint and drive in waxed 3-in. deck screws.
Reinforcing the joints in this manner may not be
TOOLS & SHOPS 2006 57
 GLUING THE LEGS

Clamping the
leg. When the sec-
tions have been
glued together,
turn the assembly
upward and apply
the clamps. Waxed
paper protects
the work surface.
When the glue has
dried, knock out
the taped spacer
block with a mallet
and a thin piece of
wood to reveal the
mortise.

Leg assembly. Insert a taped spacer block to hold open the lower mortise. An
L-shaped jig keeps the sections aligned. Use a generous amount of glue, but don’t
apply glue to those areas that face the spacer block.

necessary, but it is very cheap insurance that the joints

will hold forever.
Stand the assembly on the floor with the stretcher
pointing up. Place waxed paper under the apron mor-
tise; apply glue to the mortise and insert an apron
tenon, being sure the pocket holes are oriented prop-
erly. Check for 90º and clamp the apron with a bar
clamp. When the joint is dry, reinforce it with screws
and then attach the other leg in the same manner.
The benchtop should rest on the aprons, not the
legs, so if the top of a leg is higher than the apron
tenon, trim it flush. Sand the exposed joints on the
legs to remove glue residue.
If you are not using pocket screws to attach the top,
prepare a couple of 2-in.-square battens with counter-
sunk holes in two directions. Clamp the battens flush
with the top inside edge of the aprons and attach them
with 3-in. deck screws.
Stand the front and rear assemblies on their legs
on a level floor, and cut two pieces of plywood to fit
between the stretchers and aprons and to the desired
width of the frame. These sides will serve as the end
stretchers. There will be space to install an end vise
above the side of the bench if desired. Chamfer the
edges of the sides. Drill countersunk holes every 3 in.,
13⁄4 in. in from both edges to locate the screws in the
center ply of the legs. Clamp the sides in place with
the edges flush with the outside edges of the legs. Be Clean up the edges. After the legs, aprons, and stretchers have been assembled, run
sure to check that the frame is square by measuring both edges past a sawblade to clean up glue residue and leave them at the final 31⁄2-in.
the diagonal between opposite corners; adjust until the width. Cut the first edges with the fence at 39⁄16 in., and the opposite edges at 31⁄2 in.

58 FINE WOODWORKING
distances are even, then tighten the clamps. Now drill
pilot holes 11⁄ 2 in. deep through the previously drilled
countersunk holes, and drive 21⁄ 2-in. deck screws.
Next, add two plywood shelves, the lower one at-
tached to the front and rear stretchers with 2-in. screws,
and the upper one screwed to battens attached with
3-in. screws through the end stretchers into the legs.
Because the shelves, sides, and top are screwed on, the
whole bench can be disassembled for moving.

Make and attach the top

If you are making your own top, lay the layers upside
down, making sure one end of the assembly is flush, and
screw them together using countersunk screws that will
not go through the top layer. Cut the other sides flush
using a circular saw and straightedge or the tablesaw.
Ask a friend to help place the top on the frame and
position as desired. Mark the corners of the legs on
the underside of the top. Then turn the top over and
mark the holes for the vise(s) on the bottom side so
that you can drill small holes through. You may have
to add a spacer block to bring the vise jaws level with
the top. Turn the top back over and use a spade bit
to drill recesses for the bolt heads at each of the small
holes. Then drill for the bolts and attach the vise. At
this point you can attach the top: Place it on the bench
frame and secure it with the pocket holes or battens.
To protect the soft edge of the MDF top, I screwed
a solid wood edging around the entire benchtop,
leaving a gap for the vise. Drill holes for bench-dogs
(if desired), and you are done. If you plan to use
this bench primarily for glue-ups or finishing, a good
choice would be to laminate the top; otherwise, apply
a clear finish or just leave it natural. 

Cecil Braeden is a woodworker near Anacortes, Wash.

ASSEMBLING THE BASE

1
Begin with the frame
sides. Insert the stretch-
er and apron into the leg,
making sure they meet at
exactly 90° (1). Reinforce
the joints with four 3-in.
deck screws. With the
side frame resting on
the floor, add the second
leg (2). Finally, add the
plywood end stretch-
ers (3). Clamp them in
place, check the base for
squareness, then attach
with screws.

2 3

TOOLS & SHOPS 2006 59

Tool Cabinet
for a Workbench
I t’s exasperating when I can’t find a
tool. Usually I know it’s in a pile some-
where, or on a shelf, or over there
where I think I saw it last…
Well, all that frustration is behind me
now. After 27 years as a professional wood-
worker, I finally have a real tool chest.
When the editors and I designed “The
Essential Workbench” featured in Tools
& Shops, Winter 2003/2004 (FWW #167,
pp. 38-45), we deliberately positioned the
stretchers to accommodate a tool cabinet
as large as 24 in. deep by 44 in. wide by
16 in. tall. The idea was to follow up the
bench article with this article on how to
build a complementary tool cabinet.
80 FINE WOODWORKING
Keep hand tools close at hand
but out of harm’s way
B Y L O N S C H L E I N I N G
As with all of my projects, I first drew the
cabinet full scale in three views, including
all the construction details I could think of.
Two boxes are easier to build and move
I like the look of mitered corners and made
that basic decision early on. Then I real-
ized I wasn’t very comfortable mitering an
edge on a plywood panel nearly 4 ft. wide
by only about 2 ft. long, so I decided to
break the cabinet into two separate boxes.
This makes the parts smaller and easier
to handle, especially on the tablesaw. I
also like the idea that if you have to break
down your bench to move your shop, the
two boxes will be manageable.
The workbench is maple, with walnut
wedges in the trestle joinery. I like the
visual contrast between these two woods,
so I chose maple plywood for the carcases,
and solid walnut for the drawer fronts.
To make sure the carcases would stand
up to heavy use, I splined the miter joints
and glued a full 3⁄4-in.-thick panel into a
rabbet in the back of each carcase. On the
front and back edges of each box, I glued
solid edge-banding to cover the plywood
edges and splines.
I measured the heights of the tools I
wanted to keep in the cabinet and dis-
covered I needed more small drawers
than large ones. I standardized the drawer
Photos: Asa Christiana
 BUILD T WO OF THESE
Back panel, 3⁄4-in. plywood,
The fact that this is a shop cabinet influenced many
21 1 ⁄4 in. wide by 151 ⁄4 in. tall of the construction choices. Two separate boxes are
easier to make than one big one. Plywood cabinets
are joined with miters and splines and dressed up
with solid-wood edge-banding and drawer fronts.
⁄ -in. plywood
34
Plywood drawer boxes get quick box joints, applied
fronts, and commercial slides.

Mitered corner joint

Edge-banding,
⁄ in. thick by
14

⁄ in. wide
34

Rabbet, 3⁄8 in. deep

by 3⁄4 in. wide
Screws attach
drawer front.

Box joint

Groove,
1 ⁄4 in. deep

by 1 ⁄4 in.
wide, 1 ⁄4 in.
from bottom
edge

Drawer bottom,
⁄ -in. plywood,
14
Groove, 21 1 ⁄2 in. deep Screw temporarily
1 ⁄8 in. thick by
by 19 in. wide holds drawer
3⁄8 in. deep
front.
Heavy-duty,
full-extension Drawer front, Inset brass
drawer slide ⁄ -in. plywood,
12
ring pull
Drawer side, Applied drawer front,
1 ⁄ 2-in. plywood, 19 1/2 in. long 3⁄4-in.-thick hardwood
Spline, 22 in. long
1 ⁄8-in. plywood,
5⁄8 in. wide

Gap for drawer slides, 1 ⁄2 in.

Drawer depth, 22 in.

23⁄8 in. 17⁄8 in.

23⁄8 in. 17⁄8 in. Rabbet for

back panel,
3⁄8 in. deep by
31 ⁄4 in. 23⁄4 in. 3⁄4 in. wide
16 in.

61 ⁄2 in. 57⁄8 in.

22 in. 241 ⁄4 in.

F RO N T V I E W SIDE VIEW

Drawings: Bob La Pointe TOOLS & SHOPS 2006 81

Cabinet boxes
M I T E R E D P LY WO O D
MAKES FOR QUICK
C O N S T RU C T I O N
The joinery is cut on the tablesaw, and
packing tape draws the joints together
tightly. For a utility cabinet like this, it
is quicker to apply edge-banding after
assembly.
Miter the edges of the
panels. Angle the saw-
blade just beyond 45° to
ensure tight corners. Sneak
up on the final width, and
then cut the rest of the
parts to size.
sizes as much as I could so that I could
make several parts of the same size. Your
tools differ from mine, so size the drawers
accordingly.
One sheet of 3⁄4-in. maple plywood is
plenty for the carcases. I used three 5x5
sheets of Baltic-birch plywood for the
drawers, one 1⁄ 2 in. thick for the drawer
sides and two 1⁄4 in. thick for the bottoms.
Heavy-duty, ball-bearing drawer slides
offer smooth action and full extension, so
they were an easy choice. I used Accuride
3832 slides rated at 100 lb., which should be
plenty strong, even when I pull out a drawer
slightly to help support a wide board or
panel held on edge in the front vise.
For drawer pulls, I chose inset brass ring
pulls, which match the brass benchdogs
and won’t catch on cords.
Miter and spline the cabinet parts
Some folks might prefer to edge-band the
plywood before cutting the miters and as-
sembling the boxes, but I chose to do the
82 FINE WOODWORKING
CABINET JOINERY
Spline,
1 ⁄8-in. plywood
(less than
1 ⁄4 in. from 1 ⁄8 in. thick),
5⁄8 in. wide
inside corner
Grooves,
⁄ in. thick by
18
⁄ in. deep
38
⁄ -in. plywood
34
edging afterward. This let me cut rabbets
and spline slots all the way through on
the tablesaw, because the front and back
edges would be covered later. Also, the
long miters had to be perfect only at their
outermost edges.
The first step is to cut all the carcase
pieces about 1 in. oversize, making sure
the pieces are perfectly square. Next, mark
the edges that get the miter cuts and rab-
bets: It is awfully easy to miter or rabbet
the wrong edges. Slot the edges for splines. Angle the saw-
Angle the tablesaw blade just a bit be- blade at exactly 45° and locate the grooves
toward the fat corner of the edge.
yond 45° to ensure that the outside, vis-
ible edges will be tight. If you cut four
small sample pieces, you can use tape to it fits loosely into a single blade kerf. A
wrap them into a box to check your miter loose fit, with glue, is enough to provide
angles. Use very flat plywood for all of some insurance for the miter joints. If the
the cabinet parts; if it is bowed it might fit is too tight, the splines will bind when
lift off the saw’s table near the blade and inserted in the already-assembled box (see
the miters won’t be accurate. Last, cut the photo, facing page). Angle the tablesaw
rabbets for the backs. blade at exactly 45° for the spline cuts.
Splines reinforce the miters—I used When ripping the spline material to width,
1⁄ 8-in. plywood for the spline material, as leave plenty of clearance in the slots.
Packing tape will be your clamps. For these
large boxes, it is easiest to tape up pairs of
panels at a time. To close the joints, pull on the
tape as you apply it.

Tape is a great clamp for mitered boxes Two pairs of panels

You will insert the splines from the front make a box. After spread-
and back after the boxes have been taped ing glue on the miters,
up, so cut the spline stock into halves stand up the panel assem-
lengthwise. A benefit of inserting the blies and draw the last two
joints together with more
splines this way is that they force the ex-
tape (above). Apply glue to
cess glue into the center of the joint in- the spline stock and insert
stead of out the front and back. pieces roughly halfway
I assemble mitered boxes with stranded into the joint (left), working
packing tape. Normally, I lay down the from both ends. Nail and
pieces in a line, outside face up, and run glue the back panel into
continuous strips of tape across all four its rabbet, and trim the
splines flush.
sides, leaving a 4-in. or 5-in. tab at the end.
When glue is applied and the pieces are
wrapped up into a box, the tape puts firm,
equalized pressure at the joints. In this case,
however, I found the pieces too large to
handle all at once, so I taped two panels at
a time and assembled the box from there.
While the glue is wet, insert the splines
and the back panels, which will square up
the assemblies.

Edge-band the cases

Because you will apply the banding after
these utility cabinets have been assembled,
the easiest method is to make the edge-
banding exactly as wide as the plywood
is thick. It’s not hard to apply it perfectly Apply thin banding cut to
exact width, using your
aligned with the edges.
fingers to align it. Dry-fit
Use the surface planer to bring the band- each piece first to fit the
ing down to a final thickness of 1⁄4 in. mitered ends. A 23-ga.
Take some pressure off yourself by mak- micro-pinner leaves almost
ing extra pieces. I used a nail gun to apply invisible holes.

TOOLS & SHOPS 2006 83

Drawer boxes
A L E S S O N I N BOX J O I N T S
Made quickly on the tablesaw using a dado blade and crosscut
jig, these finger joints create quick and sturdy drawer boxes. The
drawer slides require an exact 1 ⁄2-in. gap on each side, so build a
test drawer to dial in the final dimensions.

Start the 1 ⁄2-in.-wide fingers at the

top edge and let them fall randomly
at the bottom.

Drawer
side

SIZING THE FINGERS

Jig

⁄ in.
12

Key
Blade height equals
SUB-FENCE/JIG thickness of drawer
sides + 1 ⁄16 in.
The ends of each piece are identical. For the first cut, butt the top
edge of the workpiece against the key.

the edge-banding, using my fingertips to
align it flush with the sides as I glued each
piece. A 23-ga. micro-pinner leaves almost
invisible holes. Clamps or strips of mask-
ing tape can replace the nails, but you will
need lots of them. Work your way around
the edges of the cabinets, fitting and miter-
ing each piece as you attach it.
Size the drawers carefully
In keeping with the practical nature of this
project, I chose box-jointed (also called
finger-jointed) drawer boxes with applied
fronts. Box joints are strong, attractive, and
easy to cut using a sled on the tablesaw.
slides to work properly, it’s important to
have exactly 1⁄ 2 in. of space on either side of
the drawer box. That’s one reason to build
the cabinet boxes first. Then, when cutting
the drawer box joints, you must realize that
raising or lowering the dado blade on the
tablesaw will affect the size of the finished
drawer box. Once you have set the blade
height correctly, don’t move it.
I run the box-joint fingers 1⁄16 in. extralong
so that I can sand them flush after the draw-
er box is glued up. This means cutting the
box parts 1⁄ 8 in. longer than I need them
and carefully adjusting the blade height
1⁄16 in. above the thickness of the parts.
erence. After attaching the drawer slides
to the drawer boxes, align and mount the
other half of the slides inside the cases.
To align the slides front to back, use a
scrap of material equal to the thickness of
the drawer fronts plus the recommended
offset. To align the slides top to bottom,
use a spacer panel placed under the slides,
inside the cases, to be sure they are in-
stalled uniformly.
Initially, I installed the slides with only
two screws. I got all the drawers installed
and adjusted so that they worked properly,
and then I inserted the rest of the screws.

(For more information on cutting these
joints, see photos, above, and FWW #148
pp. 60-63).
The applied drawer fronts go on after the
boxes are in place, making the fitting pro-
cess much easier. In order for the drawer
Install the drawer slides
Because these heavy-duty slides can be
mounted anywhere on the drawer side, I
was able to place them at the center and
work from centerlines, which is my pref-
Applied drawer fronts are easier to fit
Now comes the fun part: installing the
solid-wood drawer fronts. The challenge is
to have as fine and even a gap as possible
around each drawer front, while allow-
ing for some shrinking and swelling with

84 FINE WOODWORKING
Make the second cut. To cut the second
notch, just place the first notch on the key. The
final notch on this drawer will be partial.
Locating the mating side. Flip the first side,
put its first notch on the key, and clamp it. Butt
the mating side against the first side (above).
Cut the first notch on the mating side (right).
The dado blade should just clear the first side.

changes in humidity. First, cut the drawer
fronts to length and width so that they all
fit together into the opening, with no gaps.
With all of them in place, mark a centerline
for the finger pulls, remove the fronts, and
mortise for the pulls. All of the mortising
is done easily on the drill press, with just
a bit of chisel work afterward.
The mortises for these pulls allow a neat
trick for attaching the fronts. Drill a clear-
ance hole in the recess, through which you
can loosely insert a pan-head screw. Now
you can fit the drawer fronts one at a time,
with the pan-head screws allowing some
adjustment in all directions as you take
light trimming cuts from the edges.
Once the fronts are in position, drive
some screws into them from inside the
drawer boxes to lock them in place. Then
remove the pan-head screws and install
the finger pulls.
Finishing up
For these cabinets I applied the same fin-
ish I used on the bench: a few coats of
varnish thinned about 50% with turpen-
tine, applied with a rag and rubbed off
before it dried. Last, I added a few thin
cleats to the bottoms of the boxes, to keep
them in place on the lower stretchers of
the workbench.
Now everything is in its place. Sure, I
can’t remember which drawer my mortis-
ing chisel is in, but I know it’s in there
somewhere. 
Lon Schleining makes furniture and stairs in
Long Beach, Calif., and teaches woodworking
throughout the United States.

I N S TA L L T H E D R AW E R S
The drawer fronts are fit and applied after the slides and boxes are in place,
making it easier to achieve fine, uniform gaps and a neat appearance.

H A R D WA R E
SOURCES
ACCURIDE FULL EXTENSION
BOX DRAWER SLIDE
Series 3832
www.rockler.com

LEE VALLEY 11⁄2-IN. ROUND

RING PULL
Product #00L01.01
www.leevalley.com
A trick for installing slides. Working off the
centerlines of the drawers and slides, Schleining
uses a spacer panel to set the distance between
the slides and the cabinet bottom. A small block
sets the distance from the front edge.
Fit and attach the drawer fronts. Drill a slightly oversize
hole in the round mortise for a pan-head screw. Use credit
cards to set the gaps, and use the screw to lock the drawer
front in place. Then screw the front permanently from the
inside, remove the temporary screw, and install the pull.

TOOLS & SHOPS 2006 85

 Editors get a feel for each bench
Fine Woodworking’s editors evaluated a bench’s appearance and how well the vises
worked. They also brought in their tools and gave each bench a good workout. As they
planed, sawed, and chopped, they noted the sturdiness and rigidity of each bench, and
how comfortable they found the working height.

58 FINE WOODWORKING Photos, except where noted: Mark Schofield; this page (top): Michael Pekovich

COPYRIGHT 2006 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
 TOOL TEST
Ready-Made
Workbenches
The best are rock solid, dead flat, and a joy to use
B Y M A R K
A t the heart of any woodworking shop is a
solid workbench, but there has long been a
debate over whether it’s better to build your
bench or buy it. Then there is the conundrum that
you need a bench in order to build a bench. And
if you think you can make a bench for a fraction of
the cost of buying one, you may want to rerun the
numbers: Remember that you can’t buy 12/4 maple in
bulk like a manufacturer can, and even if you hand-
pick your boards, you’ll have to cut away some knots,
swirly grain, or checking. Add in the cost of some
high-quality hardware and you’ll find the savings
melting away fast.
However, buying a workbench is rather like shop-
ping for shoes: A single brand can have numerous
models; the pros and cons of different features are
not obvious without trying them out; and one size
definitely doesn’t fit all.
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COPYRIGHT 2006 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
S C H O F I E L D
To help simplify the process of buying a bench, Fine
Woodworking decided to test some models head-to-
head. Because personal preference plays such a large
role when selecting a workbench, rather than use a
single author, we decided to let all the editors have
their say. Sure enough, opinions varied widely on
some benches, but overall there was a consensus on
the winners. If you are in the market for a workbench,
this survey should help you pick one that suits you.
How the benches were selected and tested
We chose benches approximately 6 ft. long by 2 ft.
wide, with both a front and a tail vise, that were robust
enough to stand up to the rigors of planing, chopping,
and sawing by hand.
Eight manufacturers or retailers supplied benches
that met these criteria. Nearly all of them make or sell
benches of different sizes and with other features than
the ones we tested, so if you like the brand but not the
bench, check their Web sites for alternatives.
For the more subjective part of the test, the editors
recorded how stable the bench felt, how well the vises
worked, and how easy the dogs were to use. They
also noted the general appearance of each bench;
the quality of the finish; and the utility of any storage
shelves, cabinets, or tool trays.
When we were done, John White, our shop man-
ager, moved in with his straightedge, feeler gauges,
combination square, and scales to objectively measure
each bench.
Workbenches vary enormously. You really do have a
wide choice when it comes to price, quality, and con-
figuration. More than any other tool in your shop, a
good workbench should last you a lifetime, so choose
wisely. 
Mark Schofield is the managing editor.
TOOLS & SHOPS 2007 59
 CHOICE

Lie-Nielsen Hoffman & Hammer

CUSTOM MADE 11410 2
www.lie-nielsen.com www.highlandwoodworking.com

Price: $1,800
Length: 84 in.
O rder one of these benches and
you’re unlikely to see its identi-
cal twin: Like a bespoke suit from
Price: $800
Length: 71 in.
T he smallest, lightest, and cheap-
est of the benches we looked at,
Hoffman & Hammer’s medium bench
Width: 24 in. Savile Row, each product is custom Width: 22 in. could have been overshadowed by
Height: 38 in. built to fit the owner’s needs and Height: 34 in. the heavyweight competition, but
Weight: 281 lb. desires. The owner can specify a Weight: 162 lb. it stood its ground and earned the
top up to 8 ft. 4 in. long and 24 in. best-value award. The front vise in
Wood: Maple Wood: European beech
wide, with or without a tool tray, particular had very little racking.
Editors’ score: 8.5 and any height. The tail vise can be Editors’ score: 5.6 The main criticism was the lightness
positioned at either end, or you can of the bench, particularly the base,
specify a twin-screw tail vise at one or both ends with a double row which made the bench unstable when pushed from front to back
of dog holes. (end-to-end planing pressure was no problem). A solution would be
We ordered a traditional style of bench that was higher than to install a tool cabinet in the base, although the elevated stretch-
most. Not surprisingly, 6-ft. 3-in. Rodney Diaz, an associate art di- ers don’t leave much
rector, loved the height, but a surprising number of sub-6-ft. editors room. The dogs and
also found this height more relaxing to work at. Both vises earned vises were small but
high marks for their German hardware and their beautiful handles, worked smoothly,
which come complete with rubber O-rings to stop the turned cherry although the tail vise
knobs from banging against the metal. The 50/50 boiled linseed gradually increased
oil and turpentine satin finish achieved the right balance of pro- in height as it was
tecting the wood and being renewable. extended. This would
This bench felt like it had been designed and built by a wood- be an ideal choice
worker, and I think we’d all love to be able to boast that we’d made for someone looking
it ourselves. I suspect that this reason as well as the quality and for an economical,
the features made it our choice as best overall. well-made workbench
but without the
physical mass.

One nice vise.

The tail vise’s Solid vise. The front vise
stiffness can be displayed almost no rack-
adjusted using a ing when the workpiece
pair of bolts. The was clamped at one end.
vise handles, with
their black rubber
O-rings to protect
the turned cherry Dog vs. drawer. When
knobs from hit- a dog is deployed in
ting the metal, the central holes of the
earned unani- bench, it prevents the
mous praise. drawer from opening.

60 FINE WOODWORKING Photo, facing page (bottom left): Rodney Diaz

COPYRIGHT 2006 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
 Diefenbach Garrett Wade
GB 16-43 V/3S/4R 8 8 A 0 2 . 01
www.workbenches.com www.garrettwade.com

Price: $1,600
Length: 63 in.
L ike Mercedes-Benz cars, Diefen-
bach benches have long been
symbols of German engineering
Price: $1,100
Length: 741 ⁄2 in.
Editor Matt Berger’s comment,
“When I think of a workbench
this is it,” was typical of the initial
Width: 243 ⁄8 in. prowess. A few years ago, however, Width: 24 in. favorable views of this workbench.
Height: 351 ⁄2 in. Mercedes cars began being recalled Height: 333 ⁄4 in. The shelves and lockable cupboard
Weight: 271.5 lb. for design faults and the marque Weight: 242 lb. under the bench were welcome, as
slipped down the rankings in custom- was the nonmarring felt on the jaws
Wood: European beech Wood: European beech
er satisfaction. Based on the bench of the tail vise. When planing and
Editors’ score: 7.6 we looked at, Diefenbach’s halo may Editors’ score: 6.1 sawing, the bench was rigid and
also have slipped. There were several stable, but extended use exposed
examples of poor quality control: Only two of the four screw holes some problems. Most editors found the low 333⁄4 in. height back-
for attaching the top to the base were aligned properly, and the breaking, and the dog holes were too close to the front of the
threaded rod on the front vise had to be bent slightly to fit it into bench to grip wide boards securely. When combined with the loose
its hole in the bench. The spring clips on all four metal dogs were dogs and the poorly aligned top of the front vise, this bench left
so poorly riveted that they wouldn’t fit into the holes, although editors disappointed, a reaction
after being pounded on an anvil and then filed, they worked fine. reflected in its sixth-place ranking.
Examples of poor design include the protrusion of the finger-
jointed end into the front vise area. Because the dog holes were
spaced wider than the end vise’s travel, there was a 3 ⁄4-in. dead
zone when clamping certain length workpieces (the Laguna bench Dog gone. Because the dogs
also had this problem; see p. 62). were too loose, they slipped down
In other respects, this was a great workbench with stout legs when positioned about
1 ⁄ 2 in. or less above the surface.
and a thick top, giving a
very solid feel. The vises
were, as associate art
director Kelly Dunton put
it, “nicely massive,” and
the anti-racking wheels
on both vises were a
standout feature.

Vise stays parallel. By

spinning the metal wheel
until the distance between
it and the vise jaw is slightly
smaller than the thickness
of the workpiece, the piece
can be clamped securely Front vise too low. The top of the front vise is about 1 ⁄8 in. below the
without racking or twisting. benchtop.

www.F i neWoodwor k i n g.com TOOLS & SHOPS 2007 61

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 Grizzly Laguna
H 77 2 5 7 - F T. WO R K B E N C H
www.grizzly.com www.lagunatools.com

Price: $850
Length: 84 in.
T his bench certainly looked differ-
ent from all the rest. Instead of
being made from large chunks
Price: $1,365
Length: 891 ⁄2 in.
T he largest of the benches we
tested, the Laguna also was the
shortest. The overall appearance was
Width: 243 ⁄4 in. of beech or maple, Grizzly’s bench Width: 261 ⁄2 in. pleasing and the bench had good
Height: 341 ⁄4 in. is made from thousands of strips Height: 33 in. stability, but on closer inspection
Weight: 299.5 lb. of birch, most no larger than 3 ⁄4 in. Weight: 242.5 lb. the construction and the vises left
sq., laminated together. The top was something to be desired. The top was
Wood: Birch Wood: European beech
relatively flat, and this method of visibly wavy and dished 0.030 in.
Editors’ score: 4.4 construction should, in theory, make Editors’ score: 6.5 in several places including the
it the most stable of all the benches. critical right-front corner near the
That’s where the good news ends: Despite being the heaviest tail vise, suggesting the top had been poorly wide-belt sanded.
bench, when given a jolt it wobbled several times from end to end, Also, the top of the trestle base protrudes beyond the front of the
probably due to the small stretchers and the undersize nuts and top, interfering when edge-planing a long board.
bolts that attach them to the legs. The front vise racked alarm- The dogs and dog holes got mixed reviews. Some editors
ingly, while the tail vise climbed 1 ⁄8 in. when tightened. When described the fit as just right, while others found the dogs’ flat
combined with the fact that the dogs leaned backward under spot too small to locate without a second glance. With some
pressure in their oversize holes, the effect was to raise the modest redesign and better quality control, this could become a
workpiece into the air. much better bench.
The other trouble spot is the massive drawer in the base. Heavy
even when empty, it is difficult to open when storing anything but
bulky, light objects.

Unsteady workpieces. A combination of slop in the tail vise and dogs Good and bad dogs. The Laguna dogs slid in and out of the holes with
that angle backward under pressure causes the workpiece to rise off the right amount of resistance, but editors disliked the small flat spot.
the bench when clamped.

62 FINE WOODWORKING

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 Sjoberg
ELITE 2000
www.woodcraft.com
Price: $1,500
Length: 761 ⁄2 in.
T he Sjoberg only just missed the
best-overall award. Initial com-
ments were “handsome,” “beautiful,”
Width: 235 ⁄8 in. “massive,” and “well made,” and
Height: 351 ⁄2 in. closer inspection revealed a number
Weight: 279 lb. of unique and useful features: The
front vise can be switched to the
Wood: European beech
opposite side of the bench and the
Editors’ score: 8.3 bench rotated 180° for left-handed
use; square vise runners almost
eliminated racking despite the nearly 2-ft. width of each vise; the
legs are flush with the top and fitted with dog holes to allow wide
boards to be supported when edge-planing. A heavy bench, the top
is 3 in. thick with a 4-in.-thick apron, giving it a very sturdy feel.
Uniquely, the front vise was also fitted with a pair of dog holes,
which, combined with the holes running the length of the front and
back sides, gives great clamping flexibility.
The dogs were round with a large, flat clamping spot, but a
little stiff and hard
to remove when low
in the hole. The only
other complaint was
the slightly rough and
low-luster oil-finished
surface, a minor blem-
ish on an otherwise
excellent bench.
Edge-plane wide
pieces. The legs are
flush with the sides of
the benchtop and con-
tain dog holes so they
can support long boards.
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Veritas
0 5 A 01. 01
www.leevalley.com
Price: $995
Length: 723 ⁄4 in.
O pinions differed sharply on this
bench, with nearly half the edi-
tors picking it as best value while
Width: 26 in. others considered it overpriced. The
Height: 35 in. most debated feature was the twin-
Weight: 187 lb. screw tail vise—a Veritas exclusive.
Proponents cited its lack of racking
Wood: Maple
and ability to clamp a 151 ⁄2-in.-wide
Editors’ score: 6.8 board between the guides, and pro-
claimed it the best end vise on any
bench. Skeptics called it weird, stiff, and jerky. The vise arrived
unable to turn using one handle. Shop manager John White spent a
few hours trying to tune it up and eventually reached a compromise
between operating and not being too slack. The troubleshooting de-
tails in the manual suggest that our experience is not unique.
The center tool tray impressed some editors, but the design
may be responsible for the bench being dished by 0.016 in. around
the center. The dogs come with slip-on plastic tool protectors,
but these prevented the dogs from being lowered less than an
inch above the bench and must be removed when planing thinner
stock. Finally, the shiny
wipe-clean finish at-
tracted some editors,
but others wondered
how it would look after
a few years of use with
no easy way to renew
it. More than any other
bench, this is probably
one to try before you
buy; you’ll love it or
leave it.
Wide clamping ability.
The large distance be-
tween the guides in the
tail vise allow wide boards
to be clamped securely.
TOOLS & SHOPS 2007 63
 Making Sense of Vises
A user’s guide to the heart of the workbench
B y G a r r e t t H a c k

A good bench vise is nearly as useful as a shop apprentice.

On my bench I have a front vise and a large tail vise—I
call them my right- and left-hand men. It’s hard to imagine
woodworking without them; they hold my work firmly so that
I can concentrate fully on powering and controlling the tool
The first, known variously as a side vise or front vise, matches
the mental picture that most people have of a vise, with a movable
jaw capturing work between it and the edge of the bench.
The second, called an end vise or tail vise, can clamp work like a
front vise, but is more often used to hold boards flat on the bench,
I’m using. pinched between a pin or dog in the vise and another in one of
In general, you’ll find vises at two locations on a woodworker’s the many holes along the benchtop. Together, these two vises can
bench: one on the long side of the bench, typically at the left-hand
corner for right-handed woodworkers, and another on the short
side at the opposite end.

Front vise

End vise

It typically occupies the left-front corner

of the bench and is used to hold stock
upright for sawing or for working edges.

Usually found at the end of the bench,

opposite the front vise, it is used with
benchdogs to hold work flat for tasks like
surface planing or chopping mortises.

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 Front vises
meet all of a woodworker’s basic needs when it comes
to holding work firmly and within reach.

Up front: a vise to clamp work vertically or on edge

A front vise, typically found on the bench’s left-front
corner, is ideal when you need to clamp a board to
plane an edge, hold a chair leg while shaping it, or
hold a board upright for sawing dovetails. The most
common design is quite simple: a jaw of wood, or cast
iron lined with wood, that moves with a single screw
and a T-handle. The rest of the vise is mortised into
the front edge of the bench. Mine opens about 10 in.
and has about 4 in. of depth.
Many of the front vises on the market are fairly easy
to fit to a benchtop. Look for one that has a large screw
with well-cut Acme threads. These are the same square
threads found on good clamps; they can smoothly
deliver lots of force over a long life.
To hold long boards, wide panels, or doors securely
on edge in a front vise, you need the added support of
the deep front apron of the bench. Properly installed, the
fixed half of the vise should be mortised into the bench
so that the movable jaw clamps against the apron. This
creates a great deal of stability, making it possible to

Hold work vertically for sawing dovetails or

planing end grain. A scrap piece of similar thickness,
clamped in the opposite side of the vise, prevents the
vise from racking.

Hold wide workpieces on edge. The vise screw prevents a

wide piece from going all the way through the vise (right). A
clamp seated in a dog hole provides extra support (above).

50 F I NE w oo d w o r k i n g Credit Here

COPYRIGHT 2007 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
clamp most boards on edge with no other support. For
TYP ES OF
very long boards, just put one end in the front vise and FRONT VISE
rest the other on a short board clamped in the tail or end
vise, much like a board jack on traditional benches. you CAst iron
can clamp a large tabletop vertically against the front The most popular front vise is
cast iron. A steel rod or two
edge of a bench, one end held in the front vise and the keep the jaw aligned. Some also
other held by a bar clamp across the bench. have a quick-action release for
A problem can arise, though, when clamping on just faster jaw adjustments.
one side of the vise, such as when holding just the
end of a much larger piece, clamping pieces vertically
for laying out or sawing dovetails, or holding tapered
or oddly shaped pieces. when one side of the jaw is WoodEn-JAWEd
A wooden-jawed vise operates like
applying all the pressure—or trying to—it is very hard its cast-iron cousin. The movable
on the screw and any alignment rods, and can even jaw is typically made from the
distort them. One solution is to slip a block as thick same material as the bench. Some
models offer quick-release.
as the workpiece into the other side

ArM visE
An arm vise works well on wide boards.
There are no screws or rods in the way.
But the right-angled arm limits clamping
force, which reduces the ability to
clamp long boards horizontally.

Build it yourself. Many compa-

Secure long boards on edge. A block clamped in the tail nies sell the hardware for these
vise supports the opposite end. vises. Look for a large screw
with square-cut threads.

PAttErnMAKEr’s visE
A patternmaker’s vise can hold oddly shaped work at any angle. The vise body can
Steady a wide panel. A sawhorse provides support under- pivot up and over the bench until the jaws are parallel to the benchtop. The jaws also
neath, with the opposite end clamped to the bench apron. can rotate 360º and angle toward one another for holding tapered work.

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 End vises

An end vise holds work flat. Aligned with a row of dog holes, this vise has a wide
capacity. It can hold smaller work and pieces nearly as large as the benchtop. It’s ideal
for smoothing a tabletop.

A secure grip for cross-grain work.
The end vise allows you to clamp a panel
across its width for tasks such as planing
a bevel on the end.
For chopping, a spacer keeps the
work off the vise jaw. The pounding
could damage the vise. The best support
is on the benchtop itself, right over a leg. An end vise also handles awkward shapes. Pieces like
this curved table apron can be held securely for scraping or
other tasks.

52 F I NE w oo d w o r k i n g Photos: Steve Scott; drawings: John Hartman

COPYRIGHT 2007 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
 TYPES OF
of the jaw (use a wedge for odd shapes). This keeps
the jaws parallel so you can apply all the pressure you
END VISE
need. Some bench manufacturers equip their front
vises with a threaded stop that does the same job. CAst iron
Same vise, different location.
At the end: a vise to hold work flat The cast-iron front vise also
works well as an end vise
At the other end of the bench, you typically will find —a smart solution if you
one of two distinct types of vises, known as end vises have room or money for
or tail vises. Their main purpose is to hold work flat only one vise.
on the surface of the bench.
A traditional tail vise, with one row of dog holes
along the front edge of the bench and several more
in the movable jaw, allows you to hold work flat over
nearly the entire length of the bench. This is ideal tAiL visE
for holding long boards to smooth a face, bead one The traditional end vise. The movable
edge, or hold a leg while chopping a mortise. you can jaw is a thick section of the bench’s
front edge, about 18 in. long. Dog holes
also clamp across the grain to bevel a hold work flat on the surface. The jaws
panel end or shape the skirt of a chest also can hold work at an angle.
side. Be careful to apply only modest
pressure to hold the work, or you will
bow it up.
The tail vise is also great for holding
long or odd pieces at any angle—there are no
screws in the way and the hefty construction tends
to prevent racking on odd shapes. Also, it can hold The guts.
a workpiece at right angles to the bench edge, ideal Tail-vise hardware
for planing an end-grain edge, shooting a miter on a comes with instructions for making
molding, or paring a tenon shoulder. the wood components.
One drawback with this vise is that the large mov-
able jaw can sag. A misaligned jaw makes it difficult
to hold work flat on the benchtop. Avoid chopping or
pounding over the movable jaw; it isn’t as solid as the
benchtop itself. Support the work as much as possible
over the bench, with the least amount of jaw open. I FULL WidtH
keep small, square blocks handy to shim my work to- A modern variation
spans the width of the
ward the bench or protect it from the dogs. I shouldn’t bench. With two rows of
have to say this, but never sit on your tail vise. dog holes, the wide jaw
Another type of end vise—The other popular type of this vise is ideal for
holding wider panels.
of end vise looks and works like a front vise, except that
the movable jaw is mounted to, and set parallel with,
the end of the bench. If I had to outfit a bench with just
one vise, it would be this type (see drawing, top right).
My small traveling bench has an old front vise mounted
on one end in line with a row of dog holes.
Some end vises of this type have a jaw that spans
the entire width of the bench. equipped with a dog
on each end of the jaw, and paired with a double row tWin-sCrEW
of dog holes down the front and back of the bench, A twin-screw model
this is a great system for holding wide parts flat on the can clamp wide
stock vertically.
benchtop. Several ready-made benches are built this A chain connects
way. Lee Valley also sells the necessary hardware for the two screws to
making the vise yourself. • prevent racking.

Garrett Hack, a professional furniture maker and woodworking

instructor, is a contributing editor.

www.finewoodworking.com M Ay / J u n e 2 0 0 7 53
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