Another Work Bench Blog

  Since hurting my back a few years ago I have been on a seemly endless quest for a comfortable work shop environment.  I have  raised my work bench/table on blocks, and then taken it down.  I have made a small version of a bench top bench that clamped into my bench vise and still I continued on my quest.

  

  This version was solid but the work surface was only 8 1/2 by 29.  It was just not quite large enough for most needs.  The height was good and I did like the  available dog holes, but it had no vise or real clamping ability.

  In 2013 I tried a version I called "the box":

  I don't remember what was lacking in this design but clearly it didn't last for very long.  I suspect that it was not large enough either. So, the current effort at the perfect work station for me is: The Pew Bench, so named because it is made from 3/4 laminated oak from a church pew.  

  It has a work top that is 40 x 19 x 3/4 inches that adds  5 1/2 inches of height to my solid work table. The working height for my new work station is 39 inches, which is high but I am 6 feet 1 and have real trouble working bent over.  This bench top bench is pretty solid but can be lifted off if  the other  work station is needed.  Also I have a second smaller work bench in the corner at which I can work while sitting on a stool, its a good spot for carving/wood burning etc. 

  The underside of the Pew Bench: 

  The ultimate type of legs remains to be decided but the trestles that were used with the small bench are solid and the right height so, for the time being I screwed them to the  the pew bench.  I put sand paper on the bottom on the feet too. I may need to make a couple of trestle supports that will match this bench height for projects that are just little too long

   The board with the holes enables me to use the pipe clamps as a vise, an idea that I saw somewhere else, I didn't invent it.

  I can hold material for edge planing while moving the clamps from as close as 4 inches to as wide as 14 inches.  

  On the one end of the bench top is room for my Home Made Moxon style vise for end grain work. 

   The other end features my bench vise.  If I were building from scratch I would buy this vise

  

  However I already had a heavy duty vise on the work station and though it is overkill, I moved it to the pew.

   So far the Pew bench is heavy enough and stable enough that it doesn't need to be clamped down except when I do heavy work on the vise end.    To give the acme screw and runners room I had to move the leg closer toward the middle than is optimal.  I may replace that side leg or drill some holes in it so that I can move it closer to the edge.

  The next stage is to do a few jobs on the bench and see how it feels.  It is not designed for heavy hammering and big jobs,  so I am hopeful that I will have a work station what will  enable me to work longer in my shop.  Who knows this maybe the holy grail of work benches.

cheers, ianw

P.S - Happy Thanksgiving, we've got lots to be thankful for.

and our friends around the world.