Thanks to South African woodworker Ray Deftereos, creator of “The Hand Tool Book Review,” for his kind words about Christopher Schwarz’s “The Anarchist’s Workbench:”
“I think it is safe to say that this is the definitive workbench book. And as a free resource for the electronic version, this is completely out of this world as a deal! Join me on today’s episode as I discuss why this is probably the only workbench book you will ever need.” To listen, click here.
The planing stop in the new workbench was made by Tom Latane.
Ray also made good use of the Creative Commons license for this book, by narrating the first chapter – it’s fun to hear Christopher’s words in someone else’s voice! You can listen to that by clicking here.
And if you’d like to download your own free copy, see the second-to-last paragraph in the book’s description at the Lost Art Press online store.
On the principle of beginning at the bottom, we will in the present chapter take in hand the making of the “ledge” door, and what comes next to it in simplicity – the “framed ledge” door.
The former can be dismissed very shortly, the boards and ledges being prepared according to instructions in Chapter I. The whole of the former must be laid, face downwards, either flat on the bench or on two pieces of timber as wide as the ledges. They are then cramped up fairly tightly, and the ledges laid on them. The top and bottom ones of these must be fixed first, squaring them across at about 5 ins. from the respective ends of the door, and fixing them at each end with two screws in each. The intermediate ledges are then fixed in the same way, keeping them at equal distances between. A single nail can now be driven through two of the ledges into the middle board (to prevent the boards from springing out), and the door turned over. The position of the four ledges must now be squared across on the top side, as the door lies, as a guide for nailing.
Two methods of nailing are shown in Fig. 21. That shown at A is favoured by a good many persons, but the writer prefers the other (B), as not being so liable to split the ledges, and also as acting more as a brace.
When the whole of the nails are driven in, they should be sunk still further by punching ; the door can then be turned over and the nails clinched neatly, also using the punch.
The screws in the ends of the ledges (Fig. 22) are sometimes omitted, but this is a mistake, as they add very much to the strength of the door. Another mistake often made is the use of too long nails – 2 in. nails are long enough for a 1-in. door, 2-1/2-in. nails for 1-1/4″-in. door, and so on. If longer nails are used, instead of the points bending over and adding to the strength, they break off, and nearly all the holding power is gone at once.
We now come to the important matter of bracing, which is necessary for all doors over 2-1/2 ft. wide. The usual method is to brace them as Fig. 23, notching the ledges to form abutments for the ends of the braces; but after testing the matter in various ways, the writer has found that a door braced as · Fig. 24 will keep its position far better than one braced the other way, while it is far easier, more quickly done, takes less material, and presents a better appearance-consequently it is always adopted by him.
As will be seen by Fig. 24, the braces are simply cut between the ledges, and fixed by nails or screws ; the latter should at least be used at the ends.
We now come to the framed ledged door, which was sufficiently described in Chapter I to enable anyone to recognise it without further description. We can therefore presume that the framing is planed up and the boards prepared, and will proceed at once to set out the door. This requires a “setting-out rod,” on which is marked the full size, with every mortise, tenon, bead, rebate, etc., and this rod is shown in Fig. 25 (A). The full height of the door is from C to D. E is the mortise for top rail; F the haunching for same; G the mortises for the ledges; H the space from bottom of door to bottom ledge; and I the spaces between the ledges, which must be all equal.
To set out the stiles, lay them face to face on the bench, and lay the rod on them, so that the lines can be transferred from the one to the other, as shown by dotted lines from A to Y, Fig. 25, which latter show all mortises squared over and wedging marked, also gauging for mortises.
The width of the door is set out on the rod at K, the finished width being shown by L, the length from shoulder to shoulder on the face side of top rail at M, and the length of the back shoulder of top rail, and the shoulders of bare-faced tenons on the ledges at N (see dotted lines).
The three ledges and top rail are shown set out and gauged for cutting at X, Fig. 25. Perhaps it will be as well to state that the ledges are gauged with a marking gauge, set to the correct thickness of the tenon required.
One stile is shown mortised, rebated, and beaded (the haunching is shown by dotted lines) in Fig. 26, while Fig. 27 shows sections of the ledges bevelled in two different ways. O is bevelled quite through, for which the mortises should be bevelled as well, while P is bevelled on only as far as the tenons, thus requiring square mortises only.
Fig. 28 shows the back of the complete door, braced as recommended for the ledge door. The brace at the top end should be kept on the top rail; if it goes to the stile, it has a tendency to force it off, as anyone may see, if he will take notice of any doors where the brace is fixed into the angle formed by the stile and the top rail.
It is sometimes necessary to make a door in two parts, to be hinged one above the other. Such a door is shown in Fig. 29, A being a vertical section, where it will be seen that the top door shuts into a bevelled rebate, made in the top rail of the bottom door. B shows a vertical section of a similar pair of doors; but the bottom ledge of the top door is brought down and fits closely on the top rail of the bottom door. C is a section of ordinary ledge doors hung in two parts to answer the same purpose, the top ledge of the bottom door projecting above the boards, so as to form a rebate for the top door.
When hingeing doors such as these, the top one must be hung so as to throw up considerably, or they will bind in opening.
Fig. 30 is a cross-section of folding ledge doors, the strip R being screwed on to one door to cover the joint.
Fig. 31 is a cross-section of folding framed ledge doors, the two meeting stiles being rebated together and beaded as at S.
Fig. 32 shows a cross-section of a rough ledge door, in which square jointed boards are used, the strips being nailed up the joints instead of tongues. This kind of door is often used for sheds and farm buildings, and somewhat rarely in cottages.
One more word as to bracing doors. The brace should always be at the bottom of the door on the hanging side, so that it is in compression, not in tension.
A copy of ‘Life of the Infant,’ 1617. Hieronymus Wierix’s drawing of a bench was copied far and wide in Europe. It might have helped transmit this workbench form across borders.
The following is excerpted from Christopher Schwarz’s “The Anarchist’s Workbench” (which you can download for free on the store site; see the penultimate paragraph there for a link) – it’s Appendix A. I’m posting it because Chris gets dozens of questions about workbenches…even though he has no public email. And I get hundreds of workbench questions…because Chris has no public email. — Fitz
During the last 20 years, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about workbenches. Most of these questions I’ve answered 100 times already. That’s OK. When people first get focused on building a workbench, they usually haven’t read years of blog entries or the five or six books that are available on the topic.
And so they send an email asking what’s the best wood to use. Oh, and could I also compare and contrast all the different forms of benches? You know, like, just real quick?
We get these questions almost every week.
Below is a list of the questions I am asked constantly – plus my answers. A lot of this information is covered elsewhere in this book. But this format – question and answer – seems to help some people work through their own doubts.
This chapter also gives me something to cut and paste when replying to emails and letters. Here we go.
Questions about Workbench Materials 1. What wood should I use? There are only a few woods I wouldn’t use for a workbench: white pine (too lightweight), expensive exotics (too expensive), rotted wood (too rotted). I recommend you use the heaviest, cheapest and most readily available species in your area. In the South and Midwest, that’s yellow pine (the cheapest), followed by poplar and soft maple. Don’t worry about the stiffness and other engineering factors. If you overbuild your workbench, it will be plenty stiff and strong.
2. Should the benchtop be a slab? A lamination? Plywood? LVL? Which material works best and survives the long term? All of these have trade-offs, and all of them work well – both in the short and long term. The choice is less about engineering (all are heavy and stiff enough) and more about aesthetics, economics and the tools you have available. You can make a plywood bench using a table saw and screw gun. A slab bench requires far more (including a forklift). But which looks better? That’s your call.
3. What’s the best glue for building a workbench? All the common glues are strong enough – hot hide, liquid hide, PVA, epoxy. Choose one that suits your wallet and the way you work. PVA is cheap and easy to get, and it sets up fast (this can be good or bad). Hot hide glue sets up very fast (again, good or bad). Liquid hide glue might be difficult to purchase in your area and sets up slowly. Epoxy is very expensive, but it fills gaps and can have a slow or fast curing time depending on its formulation. For most woodworkers, PVA (plain old yellow glue) is an excellent choice.
4. Can I use green wood? How green? Yes. But it’s risky. Drier is better. You have no idea how much the components will move as they dry. Benchtops, even thick ones, can twist more than 1″ at the corners. If you do receive a fresh slab and need a bench today, build the bench quickly and use stretchers between the legs. The undercarriage and the joinery can help hold the top in place as it dries, reducing its tendency to warp. Also, it’s a good idea to orient the top so the heart side of the board faces up.
5. Is it OK to include the pith in my bench components? I don’t recommend it. No matter what your local sawyer might say, a board with the pith included (sometimes called a “boxed heart”) will split. The split might be minor, or catastrophic. It depends on the tree. Why risk it?
6. Is air-dried wood better for a bench? Or is kiln-dried OK? Either is fine. And I can’t say that either is better for a bench. Just use the heaviest, cheapest wood that is readily available. For me, the more important question is if the wood is at equilibrium with its environment. If not, let it sit a while. Then build the bench.
7. If I can’t find Southern yellow pine in my area, can I use….? Yes.
8. What’s the best finish for a benchtop? Probably no finish is the best. You don’t want your benchtop to be slick. You want the work to be easily restrained. If you want to make it look nice, some boiled linseed oil will do that (and give you a little protection from water spills). Or an oil/varnish blend. That will give you even more protection, but it might slicken up the benchtop a bit. Avoid waxes and thick film finishes, unless your workbench is a fashion accessory.
Questions about the Form or Structure of a Workbench 9. What style of bench should I build if I use only hand tools? I think the easiest bench to build with hand tools is an English joiner’s bench, sometimes called a Nicholson. If you buy dimensional lumber, there is almost no wood to plane to thickness. It’s just cutting boards to length and fastening them together with simple joints, screws or nails. Mike Siemsen’s video “The Naked Woodworker” is a good place to explore this.
10. Won’t wood movement in the benchtop wreck a Roubo or Nicholson workbench? I have never seen it happen. The top shrinks and expands, and the base contorts a little. It doesn’t affect the working qualities of the bench, and the benches don’t pull themselves to pieces.
11. Is it OK to use mixed species of woods when building a workbench? Sure. There is no issue with strength, longevity or (realistically) differential wood movement. A hardwood top and a white pine base might be an economical way to build a bench. The only real concern is aesthetics. Sometimes a benchtop with strips of walnut and purpleheart through the middle make me throw up in my mouth.
12. What’s the best workbench for… …a beginner? Probably an English joiner’s bench (aka, a paneled bench). It has the fewest joints and is the fastest form to build in my experience. However, any beginner can build a French bench or a fancy German bench. It just takes a little more time. Don’t let your lack of skills snuff out your dreams.
13. …an apartment dweller? I would build a small yellow pine bench like the one in this book with nice vises. It would have mass because of the pine and all the features of a full-size bench. Then, when you get a bigger place, you can build a bigger bench and use the same nice hardware. The small bench could go to a friend or become a kitchen island in a Manhattan loft.
14. …a garage or barn without HVAC? I would use softwoods, such as yellow pine, fir or hemlock. These woods move less in service than hardwoods. So, if there are wild swings in humidity, you’ll see less wood movement.
15. …a person with very little money? A bench made with yellow pine or any heavy construction timber. Pound for pound, construction woods are the cheapest and easiest to get.
16. What do you think of a torsion-box benchtop? Or the New-Fangled Workbench? Shaker workbench? How about this other workbench that you’ve never seen or heard of? At times, I feel like I’m being baited with this kind of question. You can answer the question for yourself if you think about it for a minute. Your bench needs mass. How easy is it to work on the faces, edges and ends of boards with the bench? Can you modify the bench as your woodworking changes by adding different vises or holdfasts? Does the joinery seem impossibly robust or one step above a slumlord’s birdhouse?
17. Should the benchtop be assembled with loose tenons? This is an ancient way to assemble slabs (made popular by Greek and Roman boat builders). It certainly adds long-term strength. Drawboring these loose tenons can help pull boards together without clamps. If you lack clamps or faith in your glue or edge-jointing skills, this is a good technique to fix those shortcomings.
18. Can I glue 8/4 material face-to-face to make a thick benchtop? Yes. You also can laminate a large quantity of toothpicks to make a benchtop. The trade-off is you need the equipment to do a seamless job. Or you need to be OK with a few gaps. There is a lot of surface area that needs to be glued when you laminate boards face-to-face.
19. Why shouldn’t I buy a Lie-Nielsen, Plate 11 or Benchcrafted workbench or a high-end Sjöbergs or Ulmia? I like building my own workbenches in the same way I like building all the furniture in my house and making pizza from scratch. That doesn’t make my furniture or pizza better than store-bought. It’s just what I like to do. In fact, I cannot do things any other way because my head is that stupid. If you would rather buy a workbench and spend more time building jungle gyms for owls, do it. As always, caveat emptor with tools and woodworking equipment. I’ve used Benchcrafted, Plate 11 and Lie-Nielsen benches and find them to be great. Sjöbergs are not my favorite. And I haven’t tried a recent-vintage Ulmia.
20. Could you evaluate all the workbenches you’ve encountered in your career and explain to me the best one for my work? Sure thing. Wait right here.
21. What’s your favorite workbench ever? Probably the one in this book.
22. Which workbenches do you regret building? None, really. Even the ones that were less successful taught me important lessons. The bench I miss the least is the door on sawhorses.
23. Should I tooth my benchtop like veneer? Sure. I’ve tried it. The rough resulting surface seems to help keep your work in place, but that might only be my perception and not an engineering truth. The best reason to do it is that every time someone tooths a benchtop, the internet poops its inter-pants.
24. Is there any case where you would advocate for a tool tray? Yes, when the tool tray is a box with a lid and three sliding tills. And positioned off to the side of your bench where all your tools are at hand.
25. What’s the best way to make my workbench mobile? Push it. Commercial “mobility kits” don’t impress me. I’ve seen engineered solutions that are more complex than a Jarvik-7 artificial heart. Simple is best. Most benches can be slid across a floor easily. If you want to protect the floor, put a moving blanket under the feet. Honestly, I own workbenches that are almost 400 pounds, and I can move them myself with my scrawny bird-like arms.
26. What’s the best height for a workbench? I think it’s somewhere between the historical heights of 28″ and 36″. Plus, remember that you can endure working in a range of about 3″ around your ideal. So, if you can’t decide, make the bench a little taller than the internet tells you. Then saw the legs down bit by bit until you find that your work becomes easier. Second piece of advice: Sit down at your bench to do detail work with carving tools, chisels or a router.
27. What’s the best way to make my workbench height-adjustable? I know this sounds snarky, but it’s not. Sit down at a shop stool if you need to be closer to your work. Stand on the same stool (or a raised platform) if you need to get way above it for some reason. Adjust your height – not the workbench’s.
28. What do you think of these commercial benches that adjust in height? I am impressed by the engineering, but I don’t see a need for them in my workshop.
30. Should my workbench be in the center of the room or against the wall? Either works, as long as you can move the bench for oddball operations. I shift my bench all the time here and there to do different things. I prefer to have my bench in the middle of the room so I can go around to its backside to take photos. But most people don’t need to do that. One caveat: If your bench is lightweight, having it against the wall (or secured to the wall) can make it more stable.
31. If I put my bench near a window, which direction should that window face? The classic shop uses only the beautiful northern light. The real shop will take any window facing any direction.
32. Can I drawbore a bench together without glue to make it knockdown? You can do this once. After you disassemble a drawbored joint, it never goes back together as tightly as it did the first time.
33. How lightweight is too light? If the bench moves across the floor during normal planing operations, you have a problem. Bolt the bench to the floor (or wall), add weights or build a heavier bench. After experimenting with commercial benches that were on the featherweight side, I’ve found the typical 60 lb. bench is too light. At about 150 lbs., things begin to work. Above 250 lbs., I don’t notice the workbench.
Questions About Workholding 34. Won’t the toothed planing stop cut me? It’s unlikely. I’ve never cut myself after 15 years of daily use. Can it happen? Sure. Have I heard of people getting cut? Only once. Is it mentioned in early texts, which detail many of the possible gruesome injuries in the shop? Not that I recall.
35. I don’t want to cut a mortise for the planing stop in my beautiful benchtop. Are there other options? Sure. You can fasten a moving block to the end of your benchtop. But I think that’s lame compared to just chopping a hole in your bench and doing the job right. I totally understand that some people have a mental block about some things: grinding an iron, filing the mouth of a handplane open, doing the Ruler Trick for the first time. The barrier is all in your head. Close your eyes and jump off the tire swing. You’ll be glad you did.
36. Do I have to have a face vise? Can’t I use just a crochet? Or is that a dumb idea? Screw-driven vises didn’t show up until the 14th century. So yes, you can do excellent work without a screw-driven vise. Yet, the screw-driven vise is enormously convenient. (There’s a reason that Record never made a iron crochet – painted blue – for workbenches.) And vises are readily available and inexpensive. (But for the record, I enjoy using a crochet.)
37. What is the best arrangement/placement of holdfast holes? Three rows. The back row is 3″ from the rear edge of the benchtop. The middle row is 10″ from the rear edge. The third row is 17″ from the rear edge. The holes are 16″ away from each other. And the holes are staggered on each row by 8″. You might have to adjust these dimensions if you have a very narrow benchtop, but this is the general idea.
38. … of dog holes? Dog holes should be close to the front edge of your benchtop – usually 2″-3″ or so. This allows you to use handplanes that have fences that drop below the benchtop (such as a plow plane). I like to keep my dog holes close together – about 3″ on center.
39. What’s better: a wooden vise screw or a steel one? Neither. Both can close quickly and ferociously on your work. Both can last several lifetimes if cared for. Both can be trashed by abuse.
40. What’s the best material for lining the jaws of a vise? I like suede and a cork-and-rubber gasket material (Benchcrafted sells this as Crubber). Avoid cork alone as it’s too fragile. Some people like neoprene, but I haven’t tried it.
41. What glue should I use to affix the liner for the jaw? I prefer epoxy. Full stop.
42. Should I install a patternmaker’s vise? In the tail vise position? The face vise position? If you are a patternmaker, yes. And it can go in either position on the bench, according to the historical record. If you are a regular-head furniture maker, this vise has downsides. It’s expensive and a trick to install. Most furniture makers don’t need one. But dammit, I own one.
43. Why won’t my holdfasts cinch down? Your benchtop might be too thin, so the holdfast cannot wedge itself in place. Or the hole is too big for the shaft, so the holdfast can’t wedge in place. Or the hole is not plumb. Or the shaft is too smooth. The least likely reason is the holdfast is poorly made and doesn’t have enough spring.
44. How flat does my workbench have to be? The bench has to be flat enough so your work doesn’t spring in low spots to the point where you cannot flatten boards with your handplanes. If you work with handplanes, you will know when the benchtop is too wonky because your planes won’t do their job. If you don’t work with handplanes, flatness is rarely critical.
45. How often should I flatten my workbench? I flatten a benchtop when I make it. Then I flatten it again when it has become disgusting from glue and abuse. Or when it stops working (as per the previous question). Some people flatten their benchtops yearly. Some do it after every big project. I ain’t got time for that. And I haven’t found it necessary.
46. What’s a vise garter? Do I need one? Garters are a part of a screw-driven vise that links the screw mechanism to the vise’s jaw. With a garter in place, the jaw moves in and out when you move the screw in and out. Without a garter, the jaw moves forward with the screw, but must be pulled back manually when you retract the screw. Do you need one? They’re convenient but not necessary.
47. Will I regret not installing a tail vise? The best path forward is to build a bench that allows you to add a tail vise immediately or in the future. That way you and your work can answer the question (instead of a dumb Kentucky woodworker).
48. Which is better: square dogs or round ones? Neither. Square dogs don’t rotate; round ones do. Your work might need round dogs if it’s odd-shaped. Round dogs are easier to install. Both forms are traditional and go back centuries.
49. …steel dogs or wooden ones? Steel dogs hold better but they will mess up your handplane as soon as you hit one. Wooden dogs don’t hold as well, but they don’t hurt your handplanes. The choice is yours.
50. What sort of woodwork requires a tail vise? If you plane up a lot of boards that are similarly sized, a tail vise can be nice. They can also be nice for disassembling a frame that is tightly dry-fit. They are convenient for traversing wide boards with a jack plane or working diagonally with a jointer plane. We have several benches with tail vises or wagon vises. I use a tail vise once every few months.
51. Do I need a board jack (either integral or freestanding)? These are helpful when you have very long boards (longer than 8′) or a face vise that has a poor grip and cannot handle an 8′-long board by itself. They are also handy for edge-jointing long tabletops and mortising doors. If you do big work, they are a godsend. If you don’t, they are occasionally useful but are mostly a storage facility for holdfasts.
52. Finally, what wood should I use for my bench? Oh, do sod off.
Update: Sold. (I’ll let y’all know when I clean out my own basement…).
I’m clearing some stuff out of the Lost Art Shop cellar to make more storage room for Chris and his family (it’s their house, after all), and came across this poor, abandoned almost-done sugar pine Dutch tool chest from a class I taught two years (possibly more) ago. The bottom is dovetailed; the backboards are three wide tongue-and-groove pine boards (and as you can see, it features Rivierre forged nails). The battens and fall-front catch are red oak; the tool rack and “lock” are walnut.
It has sustained a modicum of water damage – but nothing that can’t be cleaned up with a little planing – and it needs a lid (I gave the lid for this one away to a student).
Given the fixes it needs – and the need for it to be gone – I’d be happy to take $100 (as-is) in exchange, just to cover the materials – the catch is, you must be able to pick it up at Lost Art Press in Covington, Ky., by August 9.
If you’re interested, please send me an email; my signature below is linked.
Cabinetry and remodeling by Denise Gaul. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
Most people who write books (at least, books of non-fiction) give some thought as they write to who their readers will be. For authors, it’s partly a matter of doing our best to convey as clearly as possible the particular kinds of information our readers will likely find useful. It’s also important for marketing.
Even so, few books are intended for just one kind of reader. “Kitchen Think” has much to offer anyone interested in kitchen design, regardless of whether you’re planning to remodel your kitchen. There are hundreds of luscious images to enjoy, rich in practical ideas and inspiration. The book will certainly be of interest to homeowners thinking about remodeling their kitchen, with analysis of areas that typically present problems and suggestions for how to enhance the pleasure of work involved in preparing meals. “Kitchen Think” offers a wealth of information and assistance for those new to remodeling, but it also has a few hard-won gems for those with a career of professional work behind them. And as a book for Lost Art Press, there’s also hands-on guidance, with chapters on how to start thinking about a remodel all the way through to how to build and install cabinets.
One type of reader who stands to gain a lot from the book is the spare-time woodworker who wants to build her or his own cabinets. So we made sure to include among the case studies a woodworker who fits into this category (or did, before she lost her job to downsizing and attended a nine-month intensive training at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship and started her own business, Denise Gaul Design). Denise Gaul and Alice Collins hired me to help with their cabinet design, reworking an impractical and uninviting layout. They chose quartersawn teak for their face species. Once the cabinet drawings were complete, they remodeled the kitchen, doing most of the work themselves. They tore out the cabinets and counters, jackhammered up the tile floor and gutted the room to the studs. Then Denise built the new cabinets over several months, installed them and acted as general contractor for the flooring, electrical and plumbing subs.
Denise (right) with instructor Aled Lewis at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship.
You’ll find the whole story in the book. Here are a few pictures.
Before: Alice in the kitchen, which had a tiled floor (so hard on the joints!) and cabinets with higgledy-piggledy variations in depth and height for no reason other than fashion. The traffic jam of appliances visible in the far corner made that area especially uninviting.
Alice with jackhammer at the start of demolition.
When she was working on the kitchen Denise had a studio in the backyard, but she had to take longer pieces of material outside for cutting, as in this snowy scene.
After: The big view of the kitchen, seen from the den. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
Denise retrofitted the dishwasher with a teak panel and built the kitchen side of the peninsula to house a microwave. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
A built-in pantry wall incorporates storage for small appliances and a phone charging station. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
The peninsula cabinet is especially clever, with open shelves and an electrical receptacle at the end. While she built the kitchen side to house the microwave and storage, Denise finished the back with teak shiplap boards and a door (at the far right here) that utilizes the inside corner between the dishwasher and the peninsula. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
