show us your workbench!!!!!!

[Chris in Pickering]

The top of this bench is 8/4 jatoba laminated verticaly for a total thickness of 3 1/2" .
The base is Ash, mortice and tenon construction, with thru bolted stretchers....
Veritas Twin screw vise and large front vise
Total Bench weight, over 300lbs

And yes, I am left handed.....

[Pawistik]

The top of this bench is .... hard to find.
The base is an old cabinet out of a workshop and the whole thing was gleaned from a surplus assets sale at the local university.
Garage sale vise.
Total bench weight, about 250 lbs.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/992/1746/1600/work%20bench.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/992/1746/1600/bryan%20taper2.0.jpg

Cheers,
Bryan

[Chris in Pickering]

Pawistik.....
Thats what my bench usually looks like, but I staged my photos.....
Have you ever seen a shop shot in a woodworking mag that had so much as a spec of dust in the photo?

[Pawistik]

I posted that largely as a joke with such an incredible contrast to your bench which looks fantastic by the way. About the only thing our benches have in common, other than a bit of heft to them, is the presence of a few wood shavings. I'm moving the shop and bench to our new house in a few weeks and I was thinking of replacing the old beaten up laminate countertop on the bench surface with something better, perhaps thick hardboard or plywood.

For those that are aghast, the planes are normally handled with a little better care than that and the bottle of rye is normally underneath and out of the way, mostly forgotten except when I have the occasional visitor.

Cheers,
Bryan in Saskatoon

[gilster]

Here's mine. Nothing fancy.
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/6337/dcp17384kw.th.jpg

[Frank D.]

I've posted these before, but I might as well stick them here now that we have a new section... Mine's really nothing fancy, hemlock and plywood...but it's solid as a rock. I planned on it being a temporary bench but after 5 years I don't see myself making another one any time soon. Not perfect but I like it a lot.

[Kerry in Fort Sask, AB]

Boy Frank, those LV holdfasts you have sure look handy. Might be a nice Fathers day gift... :lol: Do you find they hold well or do they slip at all?

Kerry

[Brent in Montreal]

Hi Kerry,

Just thought I'd throw in my .02 worth. I've been using them for years and never had one slip. You can torque them down as tight as you want or just delicately tighten them and they hold in place.

[Frank D.]

Ditto to what Brent said. I love my holdfasts, they replace an end vise holding stuff against the apron, and they do a whole lot more on top of the bench. I don't have room for a big vise on my bench, so the holdfasts were a godsend. With the screw mechanism they hold stuff a lot tighter than my quick grips. A little expensive when you buy a pair but they are one of my most used tools.

[Gordon Thomas]

Frank is that the 4 1/2 or the #4?

cheers,

Gordon

[Frank D.]

That's the 4 1/2. The #4 is somewhere out of the frame... :wink: Don't think I was using it to edge joint though...I just grabbed a board to take a few pics of my bench system.

[Chris in Pickering]

Bench looks great Frank!

I wanted desperately to buy a couple of those LV hold downs and was trying to figure out what I would use them for..... I already have many ways of holding the workpiece to the bench and dont see where I would benefit from owning a couple. Can you give me a idea of where you use them when nothing else works? If nothing else I want some cause they look cool!!!!!

[Frank D.]

Hi PW,
I used clamps with success to hold stuff down on my bench, but when I got the holdfasts I realized how limited I was, always working close to the edge. Holdfasts opened up the whole top of my bench, not just to hold the work but also to hold stops and jigs. For odd-shaped stuff or boxes and delicate stuff they also work great, with the screws you can really tweak the clamping strength.

[DaveD]

That is a beautiful bench, Mr. Pickering. The top looks absolutely stunning. Looks like a nice shop too.
Anyway, mine is below.

[matt]

That is a beautiful bench, Mr. Pickering. The top looks absolutely stunning. Looks like a nice shop too.
Anyway, mine is below.

Very nice Dave!

[derekcohen]

OK, someone has to lower the tone of this thread. There are too many gorgeous benches. They look far too pretty to use. WE KNOW they are never used - the REAL ones are around the corner. Well, if you keep to the lower levels you will see this beaten up chunk of Karri and Jarrah that I call my workbench.

I built this about 15 years ago, before I was really into handtools. It has morphed a few times in the intervening years. One of these days I will get around to building the one of my dreams.

Let's see. Two face vises since this makes it possible to clamp long boards for jointing.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Workbench%20and%20Workshop/lengthtoplane.jpg

I don't use a tail vise but plane against an adjustable stop. Nevertheless my next bench will have one.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Workbench%20and%20Workshop/Benchstop.jpg

I also used the twin face vises as a long face vise by spanning a board between them. This was great for cutting dovetails. A few years ago I had this great idea to make two simple screws for a dovetail vise.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Workbench%20and%20Workshop/image010.jpg

And a little tool porn to end :D

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Workbench%20and%20Workshop/Workshoptools2.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Dustmaker]

Hi Derek,

Can you elaborate on this dovetail vise of yours? The hold downs from LV seem like a great idea but their cost is prohibitive ( is it $70 a pair or 1 )

Thanks,
dm

[Bill in NL]

Mine's not too fancy, but it is sturdy and I built it myself. The top is laminated 2 X 3's, and I added sandbags to the base for extra weight. I'd say it weighs over 200 lbs. It has Canadain Tire end and side vises. I built a tool trough along one side, as a place to lay chisels and hammers, so they can't be knocked off the bench and onto my foot.
[/img]

[derekcohen]

Hi DM

The vise front is simply a hardwood board that is screwed down onto the apron of the bench. I inserted two metal thread inserts into the apron:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Workbench%20and%20Workshop/dovetailvisedetail1.jpg

The "spinner"-looking thingies are really handles into which bolts were epoxied.

Just clamp the board down and away you go. Remove when finished.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Shaver, Oakville Ont.]

Hi,

I was inspired to build a bench a few years ago. I decided on a Shaker styled work bench, for the storage and the mass and the solid work surface.

http://www.woodcentral.com/shots/images/625js36.jpg

I posted a link here for those who would like to read about it as follows..

http://www.woodcentral.com/shots/shot625.shtml

[Chris in Pickering]

Jim Shaver.......

I am beginning to think there is allot more to you than just pens.....
That is a amazing workbench......Something I will shoot towards if I ever make a 2nd bench......
I pondered building storage under the bench, but then thought "how would I get my bench dogs out if they get pushed in too far"?

Also....... I must say that I love the way a bench looks after years of use. Derek's bench looks like it has more than a few miles and plane reviews to its credit!

[derekcohen]

Jim

That is indeed a gorgeous workbench. It looks like you do your woodworking "el fresco"...?

Regards from Perth

Derek