What's On Your Workbench?

[/\/\3phist0]

My benchtop is a sandwich.
2" thick 2' x 8'
CDX base, full length.
One half maple butcher block 1.25 thick.
Other half MDF topped with tempered hardboard.
Vanity edged with flame maple.
All glued and screwed together.
That sucker is heavy, inflexible, square, level.
Yeah I'm good with it.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Thanks, guys. My bench is definitely the most valuable tool that I have, hands down. I built it during the spring/summer of 2013. The bench plans, leg vise and tail vise (which I don't often use) are made by Benchcrafted. Their hardware is made to last multiple lifetimes, that's for sure.

I've since added the pattern vise for holding guitars. Having multiple options to securely hold your work at the correct height makes things so much easier and much less tiring. If anything happened to my workshop, it's the first tool that I'd rebuild/replace.

Here are some pictures of the bench right after I finished building it. It's so unblemished!

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Yeah man, that's basically the exact bench I'd LOVE to build, the Roubo design.
But, with the price of lumber, that thing must be worth about $6,000 today! I just can't afford it. If I could, I'd buy that stupid $25 router bit that has my build on hold.
Love your bench, I can't express how jealous I am.

Dangit, Beej! Stop with the handplaning already!!

View attachment 4334283

Being that I live in Tacoma, literally a 15 minute drive from that site, this makes me laugh.

Soooo.....my workbench is the Harbor Freight bench -

I got it used for $60, so I'm not unhappy. It's not a POS, but it ain't great either. It has a TON of wobble, much like ol' Gallopin' Gertie there. But it does have 4 nice drawers on it, a bottom shelf where I can store all my various finishing things like a can of denatured alcohol, Danish oil, my wood glue, etc. etc. etc. The one other big issue I have with it, aside from the crazy wobble, is that the top drawers fill with dust and shavings from the dog holes in the top. It also has this rather nice end vice -

Seriously, I absolutely love that vice. It looks cheesy, but it's actually really sweet. I've contemplated making major mods to it to strengthen it up and add more functionality to it, but at the end of the day I just can't afford the lumber right now.

I've got tires on my truck that are way past the wear bars, three of them have plugs that I put in them (one has three plugs now) where they got nails in them. The generator on my RV won't start for whatever reason, and the wife wants to go to Idaho in August (it'll be boondocking, the generator runs the AC). My Harley won't start, I think the carb needs either completely rebuilt for the 50th time or replaced. My Buell hasn't run in 7 years. I've got a 1974 AMC javelin AMX sitting in the driveway that I can't afford to file for a title on, and even if I had the title it won't charge the battery so you can't drive it anyways. My free Grizzly lathe I just recently got needs repairs to the tailstock because it won't advance the quill. Literally everything I own has some small issue that needs money and time thrown at it, and I'm just broke.

Oh yeah, and I managed to completely destroy my phone yesterday, so I'm now phoneless (which isn't the worst thing in the world to be honest). Pro tip, don't let your frustration get to the point where you throw whatever is in your hands against a brick wall.

Anyways, enough of me venting. Back to amazing workbenches and wishing I could build basses as good as all of you.

 

[Gary_M]

Yeah man, that's basically the exact bench I'd LOVE to build, the Roubo design.
But, with the price of lumber, that thing must be worth about $6,000 today! I just can't afford it. If I could, I'd buy that stupid $25 router bit that has my build on hold.
Love your bench, I can't express how jealous I am.


Being that I live in Tacoma, literally a 15 minute drive from that site, this makes me laugh.

Soooo.....my workbench is the Harbor Freight bench -
View attachment 4334312
I got it used for $60, so I'm not unhappy. It's not a POS, but it ain't great either. It has a TON of wobble, much like ol' Gallopin' Gertie there. But it does have 4 nice drawers on it, a bottom shelf where I can store all my various finishing things like a can of denatured alcohol, Danish oil, my wood glue, etc. etc. etc. The one other big issue I have with it, aside from the crazy wobble, is that the top drawers fill with dust and shavings from the dog holes in the top. It also has this rather nice end vice -
View attachment 4334313
Seriously, I absolutely love that vice. It looks cheesy, but it's actually really sweet. I've contemplated making major mods to it to strengthen it up and add more functionality to it, but at the end of the day I just can't afford the lumber right now.

I've got tires on my truck that are way past the wear bars, three of them have plugs that I put in them (one has three plugs now) where they got nails in them. The generator on my RV won't start for whatever reason, and the wife wants to go to Idaho in August (it'll be boondocking, the generator runs the AC). My Harley won't start, I think the carb needs either completely rebuilt for the 50th time or replaced. My Buell hasn't run in 7 years. I've got a 1974 AMC javelin AMX sitting in the driveway that I can't afford to file for a title on, and even if I had the title it won't charge the battery so you can't drive it anyways. My free Grizzly lathe I just recently got needs repairs to the tailstock because it won't advance the quill. Literally everything I own has some small issue that needs money and time thrown at it, and I'm just broke.

Oh yeah, and I managed to completely destroy my phone yesterday, so I'm now phoneless (which isn't the worst thing in the world to be honest). Pro tip, don't let your frustration get to the point where you throw whatever is in your hands against a brick wall.

Anyways, enough of me venting. Back to amazing workbenches and wishing I could build basses as good as all of you.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don't get overwhelmed, Tim. Chip away at things and appreciate the progress you've made. You have done great so far, so don't get discouraged.

By the way, Benchcrafted does sell complete Roubo benches for just over $5k which seems expensive, but given the amount of labor that I know it takes... that's pretty good. But yeah, fix the other stuff first.

 

[John_Nicholas]

Thanks, guys. My bench is definitely the most valuable tool that I have, hands down. I built it during the spring/summer of 2013. The bench plans, leg vise and tail vise (which I don't often use) are made by Benchcrafted. Their hardware is made to last multiple lifetimes, that's for sure.

I've since added the pattern vise for holding guitars. Having multiple options to securely hold your work at the correct height makes things so much easier and much less tiring. If anything happened to my workshop, it's the first tool that I'd rebuild/replace.

Here are some pictures of the bench right after I finished building it. It's so unblemished!

View attachment 4334139

View attachment 4334140

View attachment 4334141

View attachment 4334142

View attachment 4334143

Your bench is an amazing work of art! I absolutely love it!

 

[John_Nicholas]

My bench is very similar in design to @TerribleTim68 bench, but made by a company called White Gate. It's not bad for doing assembly or light hand work, but it is far too light and wobbly to do any fine handwork. The only saving grace is that I bought it along with the dust collector, chop saw and planer for $120.00

While doing a quick Google search to see how much these things sold for, I came across these crazy folks... selling one used.... check out the price!!

Vintage White Gate Distressed Woodworking Bench | Chairish

I would love to build one of the benches like @SlingBlader but it's just not in the cards...

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Yeah man, that's basically the exact bench I'd LOVE to build, the Roubo design.
But, with the price of lumber, that thing must be worth about $6,000 today! I just can't afford it. If I could, I'd buy that stupid $25 router bit that has my build on hold.
Love your bench, I can't express how jealous I am.


Being that I live in Tacoma, literally a 15 minute drive from that site, this makes me laugh.

Soooo.....my workbench is the Harbor Freight bench -
View attachment 4334312
I got it used for $60, so I'm not unhappy. It's not a POS, but it ain't great either. It has a TON of wobble, much like ol' Gallopin' Gertie there. But it does have 4 nice drawers on it, a bottom shelf where I can store all my various finishing things like a can of denatured alcohol, Danish oil, my wood glue, etc. etc. etc. The one other big issue I have with it, aside from the crazy wobble, is that the top drawers fill with dust and shavings from the dog holes in the top. It also has this rather nice end vice -
View attachment 4334313
Seriously, I absolutely love that vice. It looks cheesy, but it's actually really sweet. I've contemplated making major mods to it to strengthen it up and add more functionality to it, but at the end of the day I just can't afford the lumber right now.

I've got tires on my truck that are way past the wear bars, three of them have plugs that I put in them (one has three plugs now) where they got nails in them. The generator on my RV won't start for whatever reason, and the wife wants to go to Idaho in August (it'll be boondocking, the generator runs the AC). My Harley won't start, I think the carb needs either completely rebuilt for the 50th time or replaced. My Buell hasn't run in 7 years. I've got a 1974 AMC javelin AMX sitting in the driveway that I can't afford to file for a title on, and even if I had the title it won't charge the battery so you can't drive it anyways. My free Grizzly lathe I just recently got needs repairs to the tailstock because it won't advance the quill. Literally everything I own has some small issue that needs money and time thrown at it, and I'm just broke.

Oh yeah, and I managed to completely destroy my phone yesterday, so I'm now phoneless (which isn't the worst thing in the world to be honest). Pro tip, don't let your frustration get to the point where you throw whatever is in your hands against a brick wall.

Anyways, enough of me venting. Back to amazing workbenches and wishing I could build basses as good as all of you.

I bought similar for 100 : Olympia

The picture makes me laugh, that iron vice would flip mine like a teeter totter, or it would turn turtle.
Which was the motivation to build better myself i THINK I succeeded .
This nice little bench now resides in my music room and will function as my setup bench.

 

[TerribleTim68]

My bench is very similar in design to @TerribleTim68 bench, but made by a company called White Gate. It's not bad for doing assembly or light hand work, but it is far too light and wobbly to do any fine handwork. The only saving grace is that I bought it along with the dust collector, chop saw and planer for $120.00

View attachment 4334502

View attachment 4334503

While doing a quick Google search to see how much these things sold for, I came across these crazy folks... selling one used.... check out the price!!

Vintage White Gate Distressed Woodworking Bench | Chairish

I would love to build one of the benches like @SlingBlader but it's just not in the cards...

That's a great setup for that price!
Even my HF bench sells for $160....plus tax.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

My bench is very similar in design to @TerribleTim68 bench, but made by a company called White Gate. It's not bad for doing assembly or light hand work, but it is far too light and wobbly to do any fine handwork. The only saving grace is that I bought it along with the dust collector, chop saw and planer for $120.00

View attachment 4334502

View attachment 4334503

While doing a quick Google search to see how much these things sold for, I came across these crazy folks... selling one used.... check out the price!!

Vintage White Gate Distressed Woodworking Bench | Chairish

I would love to build one of the benches like @SlingBlader but it's just not in the cards...

that markup is in-line with all else on that site.

 

[John_Nicholas]

That's a great setup for that price!
Even my HF bench sells for $160....plus tax.

It was definitely a great deal! The guy was told he had to sell off all his woodworking tools because they were having a baby and the wife didn't want anything dangerous in the house... I just missed out on a really nice Jet Table saw to the guy that got there before me... he walked away with a ton of great stuff for very cheap!

 

[Gary_M]

Your bench is an amazing work of art! I absolutely love it!

Thank you, I feel very fortunate to have it.

 

[John_Nicholas]

that markup is in-line with all else on that site.

I never looked at anything on that site... now I'll have to look! LOL

 

[/\/\3phist0]

I never looked at anything on that site... now I'll have to look! LOL

lots of drool-worthy mid-century modern furniture and decor.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I've been considering ways to mod my bench to give it beefier, more stable legs and add a leg vice to it along with the deadman. I think it might be the best middle ground of achieving what I'd like to have and making this bench "better". The biggest problem with it is that the legs all sit "inboard" and to add a leg vice and deadman I need them to flush out with the top edge. But yeah, all that takes materials/lumber, which takes money.....now I'm back to that.

I'm also struggling to find room. Currently, the garage is so full of stuff that to make it all fit, I have my bench in a position where the end vice isn't accessible because it is up against the wall. So I need to sit down and rethink the whole layout. Right now it's just not functional.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

I've been considering ways to mod my bench to give it beefier, more stable legs and add a leg vice to it along with the deadman. I think it might be the best middle ground of achieving what I'd like to have and making this bench "better". The biggest problem with it is that the legs all sit "inboard" and to add a leg vice and deadman I need them to flush out with the top edge. But yeah, all that takes materials/lumber, which takes money.....now I'm back to that.

I'm also struggling to find room. Currently, the garage is so full of stuff that to make it all fit, I have my bench in a position where the end vice isn't accessible because it is up against the wall. So I need to sit down and rethink the whole layout. Right now it's just not functional.

for what it's worth, lumber prices have been dropping.

 

[John_Nicholas]

I've been considering ways to mod my bench to give it beefier, more stable legs and add a leg vice to it along with the deadman. I think it might be the best middle ground of achieving what I'd like to have and making this bench "better". The biggest problem with it is that the legs all sit "inboard" and to add a leg vice and deadman I need them to flush out with the top edge. But yeah, all that takes materials/lumber, which takes money.....now I'm back to that.

I'm also struggling to find room. Currently, the garage is so full of stuff that to make it all fit, I have my bench in a position where the end vice isn't accessible because it is up against the wall. So I need to sit down and rethink the whole layout. Right now it's just not functional.

Some other thoughts to get lumber/materials for your bench build... in many cases hardwood prices are steady and you can find reasonable prices. Possibly using Poplar or Oak for your bench.

The other option is to search Craigslist regularly, I've found some stuff in the Free section and by doing searches for lumber... maybe you will not find exactly what you want/need, but people sometimes just want to clean out the house and you can get lumber really cheap... this method requires a great deal of patience and if your in a hurry, not worth the time.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I've posted this before, but as long as we are talking benches..... My Mother -In Law GAVE me this thing. Advancing arthritis has made her carving hobby too painful, so she is either selling or giving away her carving tool collection. I never "got" the whole work bench thing, always just built hacky 2x4 and plywood benches as needed, and they were good enough for garage work, but now That I have this thing, It's all I work on. Now I get it! The height as I got it was only about 1/2" taller than my tablesaw outfeed table, so I cut the legs down a hair and Bam! almost 8 feet of outfeed including the bench, so I can wrangle a sheet of 4x8 plywood if necessary. It's an Ulmia, don't know what it's worth, as this particular model is discontinued.
@SlingBlader my hat is officially doffed, Sir. Very nice indeed. Your Great Grandchildren may be working on that someday.

 

[RichterScale]

bench, dust collector, chop saw and planer for $120.00

Why do I never come across these deals?! Why?! Why never me?!!

 

[TerribleTim68]

Why do I never come across these deals?! Why?! Why never me?!!

Don't worry. I had a deal here locally (literally a 15 minute drive from my house) yesterday for a Craftsman 18/36 drum sander, a dust collector and a pile of sanding belts for it....for $300.

You wanna take a guess who doesn't have $300?
You also wanna take a guess what already sold?

 

[John_Nicholas]

Why do I never come across these deals?! Why?! Why never me?!!

Believe me, they are out there, but you have to stalk Craigslist, because as soon as these deals go up you have to be the first to reply... I can list at least a dozen stories of stuff being sold out from under me.

One example, someone was selling a metal workbench with wheels, it would have been perfect for my sanders, with plenty of storage below. I contacted the guy and said I would come over right that very moment, he was tired and put me off, I told him I would come directly after work the next day, when I called at the end of the day he sold it thinking I didn't want it!! Some sellers are very frustrating...

I just found another very good deal this past week, I just happened to log into Craigslist 2 hours after this was posted. And I told the guy I really wanted it. Please do not sell it, at least without telling me before I drove 35 minutes to his house. He gave me directions, but the footer of his message had a different address, so I drove there! I called him and he gave me the correct address another 30 minute drive over the Hudson River, and he still had it!!

This is something that's been on my wish list for years, a quiet California Air Tools compressor. It was absolutely filthy and disgusting, but after draining the water in the tank and cleaning it all up, I now have a nice quiet compressor for only $60.00 it runs great but needs a few things, like a water separator and a better connector for a hose. But this was a great find.

Honestly, you have to jump on these deals immediately, maybe keep a bit of cash at the ready and fly as soon as the seller will let you get to their place. The ad for this was taken down before I got back to my house! These good deals get snatched up very quickly, if you really want a great deal, you need to be ready. No planning to look later in the week, and sometimes not even later in the day!

@Gilmourisgod that is a beautiful workbench! Fabulous idea to cut the legs so it performs double duty as an out feed table.

 

[Gary_M]

I've posted this before, but as long as we are talking benches..... My Mother -In Law GAVE me this thing. Advancing arthritis has made her carving hobby too painful, so she is either selling or giving away her carving tool collection. I never "got" the whole work bench thing, always just built hacky 2x4 and plywood benches as needed, and they were good enough for garage work, but now That I have this thing, It's all I work on. Now I get it! The height as I got it was only about 1/2" taller than my tablesaw outfeed table, so I cut the legs down a hair and Bam! almost 8 feet of outfeed including the bench, so I can wrangle a sheet of 4x8 plywood if necessary. It's an Ulmia, don't know what it's worth, as this particular model is discontinued.
@SlingBlader my hat is officially doffed, Sir. Very nice indeed. Your Great Grandchildren may be working on that someday.

View attachment 4334629

Thanks man. One of my greatest fears is that after I’m gone, my wife will sell that bench for $75 at a garage sale.