While not as gorgeous as blacksmith-made hardware, the Whipple’s Carpenter Combination Bench Hook is an immensely clever way of creating a temporary workbench.
Patented in 1900 by Rollin P. Whipple, the sheet steel device screws to a surface to create a crochet on the front edge of the bench and an adjustable planing stop on the top surface.
Jeff Burks dug this advertisement up from The American Carpenter and Builder that was published in October 1911. The patent (below) shows the device constructed in a slightly different way, with an angled steel brace that holds boards for “taking off corners.”
I can’t tell you how many times I wish I had one of these in my luggage when working places without a proper (or even improper) bench.
— Christopher Schwarz