Workbenches: From Design and Theory to Construction and Use (Popular Woodworking) by Christopher Schwarz

Author:Christopher Schwarz [Schwarz, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: epub, ebook
ISBN: 9781558708402
Amazon: 1558708405
Publisher: Popular Woodworking Books
Published: 2007-11-07T05:00:00+00:00

HOLTZAPFFEL’S BENCH: This is one of my favorite bench designs and is from Charles Holtzapffel’s Construction, Action and Application of Cutting Tools. It has demerits (of course), but is a fair design.

I screwed the door to the sawhorses and bolted the vise to the door. I built it before lunch and was working on it that afternoon. Years after building that bench, I was struck by how much it resembled early Roman workbenches shown in frescos. The only differences between my bench and the Roman version were that I screwed the base and top together and the Romans tenoned the legs into the top. Also, they didn’t have a quick-release Wilton vise. Of that, I am sure.

So let’s take this workbench and see how it would do in a workshop that required little handwork.

First, the good points. This bench was fantastic as a clamping surface. Its wide open area under the benchtop allowed me to clamp anything anywhere. I clamped a lot of router templates to that bench, plus stuff that needed biscuiting and drilling. I could assemble things directly on the benchtop because I could clamp pieces and assemblies to the benchtop, giving me extra support.

The quick-release vise (in the end-vise position) was good for a little bit of handwork. I could hold things for block planing and sawing. And because the bench was up against the shop wall, all the forces involved kept the bench stable during these operations.

The benchtop was long (more than 6′) and wide enough (about 24″) for woodworking. With a moving blanket spread out on the benchtop, it was an excellent place to sand. The top was a laminated structure and never went much out of true. I would flatten it up mostly to remove the glue and stain that had absorbed into the thick walnut veneer. And it was inexpensive, an excellent bonus for a young journalist with a family. All-in-all, I had no complaints until I started incorporating more handwork into my projects and couldn’t always use the benches of the other editors.

That was the beginning of the end for that bench.

For planing faces of boards, I bored some holes in the benchtop in line with the dog on the vise that was in the tail vise position. This allowed me to clamp long boards between dogs, but the bench was too lightweight for heavy planing forces. While planing along the length of a board, the bench would creep left toward the drill press table. So working on faces by hand was difficult with that bench.

Because of the open nature of the top, I had no problems clamping stuff for chiseling and sawing. My real problems came when trying to work on edges of boards.

Except for the narrow stock I could clamp between dogs or in the vise, the bench was worthless for working on edges. When I had to mortise a door stile for a hinge or a mortise lock, I was out of luck. I had to move to someone else’s bench.

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