Presenting: “Bänk”

The workbench is the best tool I have in my tiny wood shop. Primarily intended for working with hand tools. It’s possible to buy a workbench (for example Sjöbergs) but quality work benches are expensive. Such a bench would also not fit in my shop so is not an option. I scoured YouTube for designs I deemed myself capable of building. I knew one thing: I needed a bench with legs flush with the bench top to make it possible to clamp large work pieces vertically. Also for sideway stability since it’s so narrow (only 45 cm). Finally I found this bench design which seemed to meet my requirements, there is also this similar one.

The bench is built using construction quality fir lumber for the legs and laminated oak for the top. The laminated (4 cm thick) oak is not optimal but fir is just too soft for the top. Ideally something thicker should have been used. I tried to strengthen it by putting rails underneath. There are also rails flush with the edges to make it possible to clamp work pieces vertically.

There are two vices, a leg vice and an end vice. The leg vice is just fantastic. The end vice is not used much at all, it also tend to rack. I really recommend adding a leg vice if you build your own bench. Because of the stop at the bottom it will pinch the work piece effectively without racking. It was also surprisingly easy to build compared to the rest of the bench. If you are from Sweden, the vices were bought from hyvlar.se.

A common theme in YouTube builds is that they have a full arsenal of woodworking machines available; planer, jointer, mitre saw, table saw etc. Although it took some time the bench was built using the following tools.

That is quite some investment but nothing compared to what youtubers usually use. Any cheap second hand hand plane can be used but you need to be able to tune and sharpen it. Stay away from the modern Stanley planes in hardware stores as QC on them is terrible. My skill would not have allowed me to get the leg cut outs right without the circular saw. It was also used to rip the bench top.

As closing words. The bench is stable enough for hand planing in the length direction, it has never moved in 2 years of use. It is quite heavy and additionally weighted down by scrap wood and a small anvil☺. The dimensions are 120 by 45 cm and 95 cm high.

Moar Photos

Published: 2019-12-11
Revised: 2019-12-13