There are many ways to get around not having a dedicated workbench. Here are a few:
- 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.
- Last year I built the “Milkman’s Workbench,” a copy of a European commercial bench for the benchless woodworker.
- 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:
— 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.
When I built a Klondike sled for my son’s Scout troop it was so cold in my shop the glue wouldn’t cure, so My wife suggested bringing it into the kitchen to finish. Here’s the whole story if anyone’s interested.
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13979&highlight=klondike
While not for sale, here is a story about a rather infamous glue pot.
http://www.travelchannel.com/video/glue-pot-transforms-seattle-12546
This reminds me of the days that I made makeshift “workbenches” in hotel rooms. I traveled with work throughout VA and stayed in hotels often. I’d devise all sorts to ways to make my windsor chairs in hotel rooms. Getting the shaving horse from truck to room, especially if it was on the third floor, would elicit curious stares. The real trick was getting all the evidence (shavings and saw dust) out of the room before check-out.
Alternate Title: “How to be savagely murdered by your wife while you sleep.”
Our Dinning table has been passed down in my wife’s family for years. While it is not “Fine Furniture” it’s still an antique with historical and family value. I’m about the third person to rebuild the chairs and I need to redo the top. But I’d be dead if I tried to do a woodworking project on it. However, I can appreciate the ingenuity, such would have served me well in my college days.
I have a #O pot, complete with inner boiler, but it’s going to keep me company in my casket. Sorry, Megan. If anyone comes across a cast iron lid for a #O pot, they can sell it to me.
Ooooo. Glue pots!! Yes!
This is fabulous. Thank you for sharing.
It is to laugh. I just did a video where I used a similar bench for those new, and wanting to try out, the trade.