As I mentioned before, this bench is inspired by the get-it-done Nicholson bench shown in “The Naked Woodworker” DVD by Mike Siemsen. Also, planemaker and chairmaker Caleb James make a bench similar to Mike’s that uses barrel nuts to knock down. And wait until you see the vise Caleb made for it. It’s powered by holdfasts. Details to come.

There are myriad ways to build a knockdown bench. Here is what I was after with this design:

1. You need only one tool to assemble and disassemble it (a 9/16” ratchet). You can install the hardware with one hand – no reaching inside the bench to hold a nut or other hardware.
2. No faffing. I wanted to be able to assemble or disassemble the bench in about five minutes. Less time messing around means more time woodworking.
3. Flat. I wanted to keep the disassembled components as flat as possible so they could be easily transported.
4. Cheap. I spent $130 on the raw materials for the completed bench. (In truth I spent $250 purchasing bits of hardware to experiment with that did not end up on the bench.)
5. Solid. One of the disadvantages of some Nicholson benches is the top feels springy or bouncy when you work on it. While you can add blocking to the underside to add thickness, I have found a method I prefer: Skip the “bearers” or “ribs” that go below a traditional Nicholson top and simply double up the thickness so the top is 3” thick in all the critical areas.

I could write an entire blog entry on why I prefer this method, but I really haven’t had enough coffee to go to that dark place in my mind that deals with the modulus of elasticity.

Some inevitable questions about this bench, and some answers.

1. How does this bench compare to every other bench you’ve built? Is it your favorite?

As long as a bench makes it easy to work on the faces, edges and ends of a piece of work then that bench is a friend. I enjoy and – have no problems – working on a bench without screw-feed vises. You might have a different preference.

2. Why no vises?

To keep the cost down. Someday I might add a leg vise. Maybe not.

3. Will the plans be available?

Eventually, sure. I have to tune up my SketchUp drawing to make it presentable. Then I’ll post it in the 3D warehouse and put a link on this blog. First, I have some books to finish editing.

4. I don’t have yellow pine in my area, what other woods will work?

Almost any construction lumber will do. Go to a home center or lumber yard and buy the stuff they use for joists in residential construction.

5. Aren’t you just trying to sell product with this post?

Indeed. If you don’t purchase everything in our store right now, then you are a depraved human being. Fat, ugly and unloved. And by the way, this bench build was sponsored by Union Carbide and Brown & Williamson. You don’t need vises – you just need a Viceroy cigarette!

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Apologies for not getting this video up yesterday. I shot it, but it took hours to process the video and post it to Vimeo so it could be shown in HD.

In the coming week we’ll post the free SketchUp drawing for the knockdown Nicholson workbench I built earlier this month. But if you need an inexpensive and portable workbench, this one is for sale for $400, cash and carry. Sorry, sold.

I built the bench to prove the design concept, and also we needed a fourth workbench for my coffin-building event this weekend.

I didn’t expect the knockdown bench to be this good – I thought I’d have to tinker with it before I was happy. But this thing is solid and ready to go. No apologies.

The bench is made from Southern yellow pine and weighs about 250 pounds. The top is 22” x 72” and the benchtop is 33” from the floor. The entire bench can be assembled and disassembled with a 9/16” ratchet in less than 10 minutes.

If you are interested in the bench, let me know at chris@lostartpress.com. The first one to say “I’ll take it” and comes to pick it up gets it. Sorry, I cannot ship this bench.

— Christopher Schwarz

Caleb James, a planemaker and chairmaker in Greenville, S.C., built a very cool knockdown Nicholson workbench earlier this year that inspired me to design a version for myself.

His breaks down into fewer pieces than mine, but what is most interesting about Caleb’s design is his face vise that is powered by holdfasts. While I am sure this has been done before, I can’t recall seeing this on any workbench, old or new.

It’s definitely worth checking out all the details on Caleb’s blog.

— Christopher Schwarz

The Benchcrafted brothers have officially opened registration for the French Oak Roubo Project II, which will be held Nov. 8-14, 2015 (that’s next November).

If that’s all you need to hear, click on over to the Benchcrafted site here and register.

The seven-day event costs $4,800 – that includes the incredible ancient wood, the blacksmith-made hardware, access to the world-class machinery of Bo Childs, lunch each day and all the assistance you need to build the bench. While I know there are those who will scoff at the price, I dare them to offer this sort of class themselves. The Benchcrafted folks (and the assistants) do this because it’s fun – not to make money.

I’ll be there (building a bench for a customer) and helping out all week. I can’t wait.

— Christopher Schwarz

Thanks to woodworker Donna R. Hill, you can download a free SketchUp drawing – or a pdf version – of the knockdown workbench I built a couple of weeks ago. Here’s the video in case you missed it.

Donna (some of you might know her as the “Wood Wench” through the Society of American Period Furniture Makers), produced a SketchUp file that she uploaded to the 3D Warehouse. You can download that file by going here. She also produced an excellent three-page pdf with complete measured drawings of the bench. Even if you have SketchUp, I recommend you snag these plans as well.

KD Nicholson Bench Lost Art Press

Donna teaches SketchUp classes locally here in Cincinnati; so if you need some instruction in this program look her up. She’s also a frequent demonstrator at the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event when it comes to Cincinnati. She’s a talented woodworker – and expect to see more of her illustration work in upcoming Lost Art Press books.

Thanks Donna!

— Christopher Schwarz

There are many ways to get around not having a dedicated workbench. Here are a few:

1. Some Victorian-era books recommend using a chest of drawers as a bench. Work on the top, store your tools in the top drawers and use the lower drawer to collect shavings.
2. Last year I built the “Milkman’s Workbench,” a copy of a European commercial bench for the benchless woodworker.
3. Build a knockdown bench, like the Nicholson-style bench I built this summer using framing lumber.

In 20th-century magazines, one common project was a workbench that was designed to affix to your kitchen table, and here is one from The Woodworker magazine. This version is secured to the table with two clamps that are embedded in the tool tray. Plus it offers an adjustable planing stop.

You can download the article with the link below:

Bench_top for the Kitchen

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. If someone sees a cute glue pot like the one shown in the drawing above, you can sell it to Megan Fitzpatrick, who has a thing for petite glue pots.

I’m teaching two classes in building the Knockdown Nicholson Workbench in 2015 (details on the locations to come) and needed to prepare a list of materials and tools for the students. Because I received an S+ in “Sharing” in kindergarten, I am also posting it here.

Hardware

1. Ductile mounting plates for 3/8” x 16 threaded rod. You need 16. Available from McMaster-Carr.
2. High-strength steel cap screws, 3/8” x 16 thread. You need 16. Available from McMaster-Carr.
3. Plain steel 3/8” flat washers. You need at least 16. Buy a pack of 100 from McMaster-Carr.
4. Plain steel split lock washers, 3/8”. You need at least 16. Buy a pack of 100 from McMaster-Carr.
5. No. 10 x 1” slot-head screws (for attaching the mounting plates). You need at least 32. Buy a pack of 100 from McMaster-Carr.
6. No. 8 x 2-1/2” wood screws to assemble the ends. A box of 50 should be fine. Here’s a link to the square-drive ones from McMaster-Carr.
7. No. 8 x 1-1/4” wood screws for attaching the interior apron bracing. You’ll need about 20. You can also buy these from McMaster-Carr.
8. Gramercy Holdfasts. One pair. Available from Tools for Working Wood.

Wood
For a 6’ or 8’ bench, I recommend you buy four 2x12s that are 16’ long. Buy yellow pine or douglas fir, whatever is available in your area. Buy the clearest, straightest stock in the pile. (And if there’s another 2×12 there that looks good, grab it too.) This will allow you some waste and to cut around knots, shakes, pitch and ugly. Note that this does not include the shelf – add a 2×12 x 16’ if you want a shelf. Yes, you will have leftover wood.

You will also need 1×10 material for the interior apron bracing. For a 6’ bench you can get one 1×10 x 8’. For an 8’-long bench, get two.

Tools
You’ll need basic marking and measuring tools, plus screwdrivers, a handsaw, a cordless drill, chisels and a block plane. Here are some of the specialty tools that will make your life easier. Plus:

1. 9/16” socket set to assemble and disassemble the bench.
2. 3/4” WoodOwl Nailchipper bit. Get yours at Traditional Woodworker.
3. Forstner bit. You’ll need 1-1/8” for the counterbores.
4. Brad points. Bring your set. Bench building is a lot about drilling holes.
5. Tapered countersink bits. The Snappy set from Woodcraft is good.
6. A pair of sawbenches or sawhorses to work on. (Barring that, a couple of 5-gallon buckets).

— Christopher Schwarz

I’ll never know the pain of childbearing, but I think I know the next-closest thing: bench building. That why I include a full bottle of ibuprofen on the list of tools needed for my bench-building classes.

Students think I’m kidding about the pills, but by mid-week they are hitting my personal bottle of painkillers like a candy bowl at the front desk of a Mars bar factory.

For 2015, I am offering four bench-building classes on three continents: Australia, North America and England. I don’t know how many more of bench classes I have in me, so take that as fair warning. Here are details:

Build a Roubo Workbench at the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking, Feb. 23-27, 2015

The owner of the Melbourne, Australia, school scored a load of sweet yellow pine benchtops that are already glued up. We’re going to transform these into some fantastic French-style workbenches with the traditional joint: a sliding dovetail and through-tenon at each corner.

As always, you can add your own vises to build the bench of your dreams. That’s one of the huge advantages of the open architecture of the French format.

For this Australia class I’ll also bring a stomach pump in addition to my painkillers. Aussies drink like Germans.

Knockdown Nicholson at The Woodworker’s Club in Rockville, Md., May 4-8, 2015

Knockdown Nicholson at The New English Workshop, July 20-24, 2015

The knockdown Nicholson workbench is a new design this year (check out details here). I’ve made many Nicholson-style workbenches, but this one is by far the best, easiest to build and knocks down in less than five minutes.

This bench is suited for anyone who doesn’t have a dedicated shop space, or who might need to move their bench on occasion. However, even if you don’t fit in those categories, this bench offers no downsides. Unlike other knockdown benches I’ve worked on, this one has no compromises. It is as solid as a French bench.

The version we’re building has no screw-feed vises, but you can bring whatever you like and we’ll add them to your bench. A leg vises would be ideal for the face vise position. I personally wouldn’t add a tail vise to this bench – I work just fine without one – but this bench can accept several tail vises as well.

While I am very much looking forward to returning to Royal Leamington Spa and Warwickshire College for this course, I am not sure how the local pubs feel about our triumphant return.

Build a French Bench at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, Aug. 10-14, 2015
Using sweet, sweet ash from Horizon Wood Products, we’ll be building full-on Roubo-style workbenches in the well-equipped shop at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. And we will most certainly have a pizza-eating contest that week, courtesy of Frank Pepe’s.

As mentioned above, you can add whatever vises you like to this bench.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. There is one more workbench class scheduled for 2015: The French Oak Roubo Project. While that class is full, get on the waiting list if you want to do it. Spots may yet open up.

When Richard Maguire posted his fantastic entry on using a notched batten to hold work in place on the bench, he was eviscerated by a certain segment of the woodworking populace because Richard said it was an old technique and yet he did not offer up footnotes and cites.

Today I’m going to set the record straight on that.

But first, a little begging. If you haven’t tried using a notched batten, stop reading. Close your laptop and go down to the shop. Make a notched batten and try it out. The notched batten is the difference between needing an end vise and not needing an end vise.

And now back to our regularly scheduled exoneration. Today while editing one of the translated sections for “Roubo on Furniture” (due in early 2015), I came across this passage:

To trim [set right] the planks on their edges, you hold them along the length of the bench with holdfasts, or even when they are too short, you hold them at one end with a holdfast, and the other with a planing stop [figure 17], which is itself held on the workbench with a holdfast, and which you close against the end of the plank with strikes of the mallet. The planing stop is a piece of hard wood, at the end of which is made a triangular notch, in which enters the end of the planks, see figure 19.

Yup. It is the notched batten, albeit a little shorter than the one currently on my bench. Curious, I went back to the original French to take apart some of the words. Roubo calls the device a le pied de biche, which in modern French comes out as “crowbar.” But more literally is “doe’s foot,” which is much more evocative. Fig. 19, by the way, shows a board being planed on its face, not just its edge.

So now we have a name for it. We have a solid 18th-century account of its use and a drawing.

And so I say to Richard’s critics: Shut it.

— Christopher Schwarz

After writing last month about the “doe’s foot” appliance in A.-J. Roubo’s plate 14, I decided to make a couple of these devices that resembled the ones shown in the plate.

For the last couple years, I’ve been using a doe’s foot that is about 1/4” x 2” x 24”. Roubo’s looks shorter and wider. So today I made two doe’s feet that were 3/8” x 5” x 14” and tried them out on the bench.

The big advantage of the ones shown in Roubo is that their increased size makes it easier for them to be positioned anywhere on the bench. Because they are wider, a holdfast is much more likely to find them.

Its shorter length makes it easier to secure the doe’s foot without hitting the shop wall – assuming your bench is up against a wall.

Because I am a woodworker, I couldn’t help trying to improve the doe’s foot a bit. While it works fine as-is, I added stick-on sandpaper (#150-grit) to the underside of one of the appliances and tried the two side-by-side to compare, naked vs. grippy.

The one with the sandpaper was almost impossible to slide laterally. The one without sandpaper was secure enough, but I could rotate it with the pad of the holdfast serving as the centerpoint. So I like the addition of the sandpaper.

— Christopher Schwarz

Plate 14 and 384 more plates are all shown in our forthcoming “l’Art du Menuisier: The Book of Plates.” You can still order this book with free domestic shipping until Nov. 19, 2014. The book ships on Nov. 19.

Editor’s note: Mike Siemsen, the host of “The Naked Woodworker” DVD has built a cool little knockdown bench designed for traveling and apartments. Check it out – and we promise that more copies of “The Naked Woodworker” are on the way to our warehouse! Thanks for your patience.

I decided to try my hand at a knockdown bench for transport to shows and demonstrations. Such a bench could also be used by people with limited space.

It is 5’ long so it fits in the trunk of my Honda Civic with its back seats folded down. With the bench’s aprons folded down, it is 6-3/4” thick. If you pull the hinge pins and remove the aprons it is only 4-1/2” thick. It is 22-3/4” wide and stands 32” tall when assembled. The leg sections do not break down. If you leave the aprons attached there is no loose hardware. As to workholding, the crochet is removable for easier transport; there are no vises, only holdfasts and planing stops.

Above is the bench when it is knocked up.

Here it is knocked down. The aprons are hinged to fold flat, or you can knock out the pins and remove the aprons. The leg sections do not disassemble. The legs slide into the large dados in the aprons and pins lock the aprons to the legs.

This is the hardware I made for the leg-to-apron joint. A bolt through the apron and into the leg would work just as well, but I was going for a tool-less knockdown.

The mortise for the crochet before the top goes on.

I made the crochet just a 1″-square stick that slides in a mortise so it can be removed for easier packing and hauling. Chris thinks this is an emasculator, but it is too late for that!

I made a simple planing stop. A 3/4” dowel with a 1/4” x 1” x 1” square of steel screwed to the top. I sharpened the leading edge and cut in some notches. I still need to recess it into the top. I also made a “doe’s foot” and there is a stick that goes in the slot in the center of the bench for use as a planing stop as well for traversing.

Just another shot with one set of legs removed. It is very solid and a bit heavy. I can move it by myself, though.

Here is the hardware for the pins. It is just 1-1/2” x 1/4” steel bar cut to the width of the leg and drilled for a 1/4” x 4 steel pin. Drill them in pairs so the 1/4” holes match up so the pins slide in after assembly. I drilled the apron plate that receives the pin 1/64” bigger in diameter (that’s 9/64”) for clearance and I ground a chamfer on the ends of the pins. The pin is offset because I wanted the holdfast holes in the legs to be in the center.

I used 4” x 4” hinges for the aprons, three on each apron. When you mortise for the hinges make sure there is no gap between the apron and the benchtop.

I used bigger screws than the ones that came with the hinges.

I clamped the legs to the aprons when I bored the holdfast holes through the apron and into the top of the leg. I drew the location of all the hardware and screws on the face of the apron and top of the bench so I wouldn’t hit them when boring holes. You can see that the holes at the bottom of the leg are offset to avoid the screws that attach the stretcher to the leg.

I used the drill press to bore a 3/4” hole through a thick block of wood for a guide for the brace and 3/4” bit. I clamped it for the first hole and then used a holdfast in that hole to clamp it for the next one.

This is a very solid little bench that I plan to bring to Handworks in May 2015.

— Mike Siemsen, Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking

When designing a French workbench (or any other style, really), one of the most common hang-ups for new woodworkers is determining how much the benchtop should overhang the base at the ends of the bench.

When I design a workbench that doesn’t have an end vise, I usually use an overhang of 12” to 15”, and I make the overhang equal at both ends of the bench. Simple. And it looks good.

When you add an end vise into the equation, some bench designers become a bit uncertain. Is that cantilever too much? And when you are building a smaller workbench – say 6’ long – then real worry begins to set in. Will the bench be stable?

Here’s how I go about proportioning things.

With An End Vise on a Big Bench
If your bench is 8’ or longer things are pretty simple when adding an end vise. Determine how much overhang you need to accommodate the end vise, usually somewhere between 13” and 20”. Use the same overhang on both ends of the bench and you are pretty much done.

Because of the thick top of the French bench, the cantilever isn’t a problem. A 4”- to 6”-thick top is plenty thick enough to resist gravity and the weight of the vise.

If, however, you are making a short bench, things get complicated.

With An End Vise on a Short Bench
Here’s a typical problem: You want to put a Benchcrafted tail vise on a 6’-long bench. You need about 19” overhang on one end. If you made the overhangs symmetrical – 19” at both ends – then your workbench’s base is only 34” long. That’s ridiculous and unstable.

What do you do?

One solution is to use a small overhang on the end opposite the end vise. This is the solution used by the modern European-style workbench with its massive tail vise. This solution works just fine, though the bench loses its symmetry. But hey, it’s a bench, not fine furniture.

The other downside is that the bench – like European workbenches – becomes less stable. If you or your fat friend plops down on the cantilever, then you might get an unexpected thrill ride. I have seen this happen dozens of times, especially at Woodworking in America when people are setting up benches in the Marketplace.

Or Use No End Vise
If you are willing to eschew an end vise, your bench will be less expensive and easier to design. Plus, you can easily use A.-J. Roubo’s dimensions and proportions to draw a bench that is – to my eye – beautiful.

At the top of this blog entry is a detail from Plate 11 from “l’Art du menuisier” on which I have overlaid the known dimensions from Roubo’s text. I do not think that everything in his drawing is perfectly to scale. However, I do think that Roubo is showing a 9’-long bench, which he says is the standard size. If the bench is indeed 9’ long, then the planing stop, the legs and the stretchers are all correctly scaled and match his text. (The mallet is a different matter).

If you want to follow Roubo’s drawing, then make the overhang 12” or a little longer.

One side note: What if you are making a 12’-long bench? Do you need a third set of legs in the middle? I think you can avoid this complication by making the top thicker – 6” or a bit more – and by using an 18” to 24” overhang on the ends.

— Christopher Schwarz

Workbench disclaimer: A traditional workbench makes many tasks easier. Please read that sentence again with the emphasis on the last word. Easier. While you can build anything with nothing, things are easier with a traditional bench.

Today I dressed the carcase of a tool chest, which was quick and easy with the help of my legs.

Use a Sawbench. Here I’m leveling the end grain of the tails. The traditional sawbench, when paired with a heavy bench, makes many carcases an easy job. Add a moving blanket to protect your work. Note in the photo above how I am using one leg to push the work firmly against the bench. For bigger cases, I put the moving blanket on the floor – no sawbenches – and push the case against the leg of the bench.

Use the End of the Bench. I like narrow workbenches because they allow me to sleeve the carcase over the benchtop. The benchtop prevents the case from deflecting while you plane it. Again, my leg keeps the case in place against the benchtop.

On Tippy Toes. Leveling the ends of a carcase can be difficult because they can rarely be sleeved over the bench. Even over this short span – about 18” – the board will deflect when you plane it, making it difficult to make it true. When possible, I put my leg into the carcase (note the rag protecting the work) and push up with my knee to support the panel while planing it.

This honestly and truly works. Try it before mocking.

When I cannot wedge my leg into the carcase I use a “goberge,” also called a “gobar.” Essentially I wedge a heavy stick inside the carcase to support and push against the panel I’m planing. Big cases sometimes need two goberges.

Last trick and I’ll let you go: Grab some shavings. Usually I am trying to plane a carcase square and flat so I can add mouldings, skirtings, whatever. But sometimes the panel doesn’t have to be dead flat, it just has to look flat.

When that’s the case with a case, You can use a few shavings to help plane that last little hollow in the board that is giving you fits. While the carcase is sleeved over the bench, put a couple shavings between the carcase and the benchtop right under the hollow spot. The shavings will deflect the board right into your plane’s mouth. Thank you Robert Wearing for that trick.

— Christopher Schwarz

Because holdfasts are the primary workholding device on my French oak workbench, I am quick to investigate things when the holdfasts stop working well.

This week I noticed my holdfasts were getting stuck in their holes. They were difficult to get in and out. After a little investigating I found two things had gone wrong.

As the thick slab continued to dry, the holdfast holes had distorted enough to create an interference fit with the shaft of the holdfast. The distortion isn’t something you could see, but you could definitely feel it when you pushed the holdfast into its hole.

Second, the end of one of my holdfasts was a few thou too big for the holes. How did this happen? Easy. When the holdfast holes started to distort and the holdfast began to stick, the only way to release the holdfast was to strike it from below the benchtop with a metal hammer.

Surprisingly, this hammering upset the end of the holdfast and caused it to swell at the end of the shaft. And it was enough to make the holdfast even more difficult to insert and remove.

At this point in the blog entry I should insert a few proctology jokes. And something about a swollen shaft. But I’m feeling too classy this morning to go to that dark place.

To remedy my distorted holes and swollen shaft, I turned to two electric tools: A corded drill and a grinder. I put a 1”-diameter Wood Owl Nailchipper bit into the drill and reamed the holes. One of the holes – the most distorted one – gave up a spider web and two mummified houseflies.

Then I dressed the end of the holdfast on the grinder until everything worked well. The shaft dropped smoothly into every hole and the holdfast returned to its normal grabby self.

— Christopher Schwarz

Note: The shaft of my vintage holdfast was made so its shaft is the same diameter along its entire length. Not all vintage (or new) holdfasts are like this. Some taper along their shaft. This makes them immune to the above problems, but I don’t find they are as easy to set.

For the last month, I’ve been revising and expanding my first book “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use” for F+W Media. The revised book is scheduled to be out by the end of 2015 and printed in the United States.

I started writing that book in 2005, and a lot has changed in the last 10 years – not in workbench design, but in workholding. Plus, after teaching 15 or so classes on building workbenches (and building another dozen benches myself), I have learned a few things about bench building that have made my life easier.

Oh, and there are a few small errors in the original edition, including one line that people give me inordinate amounts of crap for. I wrote that I added a coat of wax to a benchtop, and then in a later photo caption discuss how that’s stupid for handwork. So I gave bad advice and then I contradicted myself. Sigh.

So I’ve been nipping and tucking the text throughout the entire book. Most of my edits are to reflect changes in what’s available. When I wrote that book, there weren’t any commercial benches that I would buy, there weren’t any manufactured holdfasts that I’d buy and wood vise screws were extremely difficult to find. Today we have an almost-embarrassing array of benches and accessories to choose from.

It’s weird revising your own work. It’s like having a conversation with a younger version of yourself. As I make small changes I mutter to myself: “Yeah, you’re right. But you could have said it in a nicer way.” Good thing I work alone.

I also decided to add two benches to the book.

In the original edition I show how to build an English bench and a French bench, both from construction lumber. They are great benches, and are still in daily service today. But after much thought, I decided to add plans for a knockdown English bench and a no-compromises French bench with all the crazy sliding-dovetail joinery.

As I sat down to write these chapters, I didn’t think I had anything more to say about workbenches. About 10,000 words later, I proved myself wrong.

I’ll have more details on the revised edition as they are available. Because this book will be printed in the United States, Lost Art Press will carry it. We will have 500 copies, and all will be personally signed by me before going to our warehouse.

— Christopher Schwarz

Combining a workbench with tool storage is always a balancing act. Here’s a solution I have not seen in the wild (though some have proposed it).

It’s a workbench where the back half of the benchtop (15” x 102”) lifts up to reveal a shallow tool well. Though I’ve not worked on a bench like this, I suspect it has these plusses and minuses:

1. When the lid is down, you have a full workbench surface that will support carcase sides etc. This is superior to an always-open tool well in my opinion.
2. The downside is you have to work in a manner that is particular to this bench. I suspect the best way to work on this bench would be to leave the top open as much as possible, giving you access to the tools in the well. Then, when you had to plane a wide panel, you would temporarily lower the lid to create a wide work surface. One other possible downside: Assembly on this benchtop could be tricky. You would have to ensure you had all the tools you needed before you closed the top to make an assembly surface.

So I think it’s clearly workable. If I were to build a bench like this, I would consider making the lid in two or three hinged sections. That, however, could create some problems with flattening the top and keeping all the bits in line.

From studying the photos, the person who built the bench clearly was skilled. Check out the mitered dovetail on the shoulder vise and the filleted ovolo on the end of the vise. I suspect the painted boards that fill the base were a later addition – they don’t seem in character with the remainder of the workmanship.

My favorite detail is they are using a marking gauge as one of the dogs for the tail vise.

According to the Craigslist ad, the top is 113″ long x 44″ wide. The top is 34” from the floor. The base is 77″ long. Thanks to Gerald Yungling for pointing this one out.

— Christopher Schwarz

Alex Primmer and Deneb Puchalski during one of the many panel glue-ups last week.

The Nicholson-style workbench is a great choice for a woodworker who is short on time or materials – I can usually build one of these benches in half the time of a French bench and this English form requires half the materials.

Unless you have narrow wood.

This last week a group of us at the New English Workshop birthed 10 new Nicholson-style workbenches during a class held at Warwickshire College. After five days of work, we got all the benches assembled and ready for final clean-up and vises.

That’s exactly how long it takes to get a French-style workbench assembled in a classroom. What happened? Why weren’t we sipping sloe gin and eating meat pies on Wednesday evening while sitting upon 10 finished benches?

The Nicholson benches I have built used 2x12s. The top is two 2x12s glued on edge – that is the only panel glue-up. For this class, we couldn’t get our hands on any primo dimensional stock for the benches, so we used ash that was ripped down to about 6-1/8”.

One of the benches knocked down flat for travel.

So we had to glue up the top from four boards. The aprons were two boards. Some internal bits also had to be glued into panels. As a result, we spent two entire days gluing up panels and truing them up. And that’s why we barely squeaked by late on Friday afternoon.

The lesson here is to use dimensional 2x12s for a Nicholson bench. Otherwise, you negate the time-saving advantage of this classic English form.

— Christopher Schwarz

A stack of a few benches. Note that the legs are still over-long. Many of the students wanted high workbenches. Who am I to argue.

There are times that I want to think I have become a better teacher during the last 20 years I’ve been a woodworking and writing instructor. But then I always discover the real reason for that feeling.

Today we started a new workbench-building class at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, and I was surprised how much progress we made during only six hours of work. We will be done with the workbench tops tomorrow – definitely ahead of schedule (but don’t tell the students that; I’m telling them we are already two days behind).

For a fleeting moment I thought I had finally figured out a way to organize every task and explain it so it was efficient and inevitable.

Then I looked at the notes I had written down when I’d interviewed the students at the beginning of class.

These guys were not newbs. We have a former instructor at North Bennet Street School, former model makers, people with art degrees involving shop, and amateurs who had been at it for 20 years.

Really, these 12 guys don’t need me. I’m just there to make sure it all gets done in a week and to fix any minor missteps. And if we fall behind, I get to start yelling in a German accent.

I’m OK with that. It should be a fun week. And I also get to eat at Frank Pepe’s Pizza about 10 times.

Here’s a tip if you are building a bench using a laminated top: Borrow a friend’s old biscuit joiner – there are millions of them out there that aren’t being used. If you are gluing up your top alone, the biscuits will help align the boards and save you hours (maybe days) of work.

— Christopher Schwarz

When I plan a new woodworking class, I have to resist all optimism when it comes to how long a certain task will take.

It takes me a day and a half to glue up a top for a Roubo workbench by myself. For a class, I have to double that time (at least). It’s silly to expect the students to be as fast as I am, or be accustomed to being whipped like dogs, or even willing to work with fellow students.

So when I teach a workbench class I cross my fingers that we will get all the tops glued up (with their mortises and planing stops complete) by late Wednesday evening. With that one special student finishing up Thursday before lunch.

This class at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking absolutely blew the doors off the previous record time for building workbench tops by 24 hours. At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, all the tops were glued up and done.

At the moment they cruised to victory I was trying to process 500 pounds of leg material. So I did the only sensible thing. I bought them all beers and let them hang out all afternoon fiddling with their vise hardware.

Why were they so fast? It wasn’t special machines or a super-abundance of clamps – we ran out of clamps several times. The material was the same as always. As was the bench’s design.

The only answer: hard-working students.

My hat is off to you, dudes.

— Christopher Schwarz

Visit my blog at Popular Woodworking Magazine here for a full-resolution version of the full plate from the above detail. And it’s not a discussion on man-boobs. Promise. (Look at those! Wow.) Maybe that’s not a man?

— Christopher Schwarz