In order to keep my bench clear for working, yet have the tools I need close at hand, I came up with this stowable mounting system. Each of my bench tools is mounted on a board with slotted guide bars that ride on dowels. When the tool is in use, the board locks in position…

Make your bench indispensable. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the February 2004 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Christopher Schwarz has published numerous articles on workbenches since then, and his thoughts have evolved on some of the topics discussed here. Still, this is a good guideline for anyone looking to upgrade the workbench in…

In 2005, I loaned my French workbench to a friend to use in his booth at a woodworking show. As I rolled the 350-pound behemoth onto the show’s floor, I heard a couple wolf whistles (really?), then one of the show’s vendors stopped me. “How much for the bench,” he asked. I didn’t know what…

For a quick and simple bench stop, I mounted a sliding bolt taken from an old door to the end of my workbench. In the locked position, the bolt stays put, and in the unlocked position it’s completely out of the way. -Darryl Thomas

I felt like I won the storage-space lottery when I came up with this bench design for my shop. I wanted a way to store lumber and my benchtop tools. The backbones of this bench are the 2 x 4 frames. For my 8-ft. bench, I made four frames. The rest of the materials were…

Tool: 7 in. Carpenters Vise Shop Now   Manufacturer: Doyle MSRP: $69.99 I recently saved an old workbench from the scrap heap, and the first thing I knew it needed (after a good cleaning and flattening) was a vise. I wondered aloud to Logan if Harbor Freight had anything, then decided to check online. Just…

An 18th-century French workbench is quite possibly the most perfect design ever put to paper. In the 18th century it was common for the workrooms and living areas of a home to share the same space. A workbench, for example, would not be out of place in the front room of the house. This small…

Since I received my Benchcrafted Roubo workbench a year ago, my woodworking life has tremendously improved. My new and heavy bench (I wrote about it here and here) has 1” holdfast holes that can be fitted with the excellent Crucible tools ductile cast iron holdfast that Chris Schwarz makes. The 1” holes and the monumental…

The bench hook is without question one of the most indispensable tools in my wood shop. The force of gravity and the force of using the tool up against a solid fence is all that it takes to keep the work from moving. It’s deceptively sophisticated and exceptionally simple to make. It’s a great choice…

Modern hardware and techniques update this Tage Frid-inspired bench. Scandinavian- or Continental-style workbenches are the vinyl LP records of the woodworking world. These iconic benches have never left the scene. A few are classics and others are the flavor of the month. Some benches in this style are masterworks and some are poor approximations of…

Tool: QuickSet Work Bench TB-WB700 Shop Now   Manufacturer: ToughtBuilt MSRP: $99 Space in my shop is always at a premium, especially work surfaces. Most of the permanent counter space is reserved for the various tools I’m testing, and my assembly table is almost covered with stuff from the latest woodworking project. So if I…

A perfect platform for teaching woodworking to kids. Woodworking safely with children requires a bench vise to hold stock securely. While stools can raise a child to the height of your workbench, there is nothing safer than having your feet firmly planted on the ground for activities that require physical strength. While most woodworking tools…

A proven design that will last a lifetime. I have many fine tools in my shop, but the most important one is my bench. It has a classic design, favored by cabinetmakers for generations.    I’ve spent a long time refining the details of this bench. I’ve built 15 of them over the years, simplifying…

Welcome to my home shop. It’s fairly small — about 14×24 and located in our finished basement. It houses my collection of hand tools, lathe, table saw, router table, drill press, band saw, and various smaller “benchtop” type tools.  While I spend most of my time at my bench with handtools, the first thing you…

After receiving and unwrapping the bench (read part 1 of the story here) I had to decide whether to finish it or leave it smooth and raw. Benchcrafted provides a very good reference sheet filled with info about the bench’s initiation process. In it, they mention that while the user can finish the base with…

Although I did not grow up in the United States (I came here in my 30s), the American holiday of Thanksgiving was not totally foreign to me. The notion that once a year we collectively reflect on the things that we have accomplished, the people who have helped us, the family members who were kind…

Tradition meets technology when we marry an 18th-century workbench design with modern laminated veneer lumber. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the November 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking. A follow-up post from 2014 should address any questions on how the workbench wore with age. When it comes to workbench designs, I think it is…

Build a modern workbench using digital woodworking tools The Maker Workstation Overview • Building The Top • Building The Base •  Furniture & Accessories • CNC Instructions If you’re a CNC user who would like to build a Maker Workstation, this article is for you. Since CNCs come in a wide range of sizes, capabilities,…

Transform your workbench with custom-fit workholding – without any fuss. For many woodworkers, especially those of the Galoot persuasion, a workbench with a tail vise of some sort is a fundamental necessity. These vises are integral to most European-style benches, and there are now extraordinary aftermarket options, some of which I own. But what are…

Accessories = Versatility The Maker Workstation Overview • Building The Top • Building The Base • Furniture & Accessories • CNC Instructions A key feature of the Maker Workstation is versatility. What makes it work is the precision grid system that’s the foundation for all that happens on the surface, sides, and base of the…

One Workstation. Two Bases to Choose From The Maker Workstation Overview • Building The Top • Building The Base • Furniture & Accessories • CNC Instructions When designing the maker workstation, a goal was to make sure the top would work on different kinds of bases, sawhorses, or other stable platforms.  The workstation top is a…

A Hybrid Construction Method that Imitates a CNC The Maker Workstation Overview • Building The Top • Building The Base • Furniture & Accessories • CNC Instructions This the first of five online articles on building the Maker Workstation featured in the June 2021 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine.  This is an extended version of the…

A modern workbench system Project #2109 • Skill Level: Beginner • Time: 1 Week • Cost: $400 The Maker Workstation Overview • Building The Top • Building The Base • Furniture & Accessories • CNC Instructions Most workbenches come with a little history. This history is personal. My very first woodworking project was Tom Casper’s clever…

Is it necessary? And if so, what are the best techniques? Like any tool or machine, a workbench requires accessories (jigs, fixtures, appliances) and occasional maintenance to actually do anything of great value. A bench without a bench hook is a dining table. A bench with a cupped work surface is an exercise in bewilderment…

Tool: Festool MFT/3 Multifunction Table Buy Now Manufacturer: Festool MSRP: $735 If you work in a small space, on a jobsite, or must stow all your tools when you’re done, check out the Festool MFT/3 Multifunction Table. It’s designed to work hand-in-glove with the Festool guide rail system, which accommodates their plunge-cutting circular saw and router….

This hybrid design holds work any which way you want it to. Good design is little more than selective thievery. This workbench is a good example of that. A combination of features from several historic forms, ranging from the Roubo to the Workmate, becomes a new form, suited to being the center of a modern…

You can hold anything on your workbench with just pegs, wedges & notches – no fancy vises required. It’s difficult for most woodworkers to imagine a workbench without screw-driven vises. But for most of human history, that’s how you worked. No matter what you were building – furniture, wagons, barrels or houses – the workbench…

Build a small workbench with full-sized features for a budding woodworker. “The bench is probably the most important item in the workshop.” Those are Charles H. Hayward’s first words in his article “Fitting up the workshop: the bench.” As a woodworking vise manufacturer and bench maker, I couldn’t agree more. Tons of ink has been…

This workbench form is uncommon today, but it is still a sound bench because it allows you to perform all of the critical workbench operations with relative ease. Benches are a triumph of function over form. When it comes to building or buying a bench, most woodworkers get wrapped up in what form it should…

With $100 in lumber and two days, you can build this sturdy stowaway bench. Many knockdown workbenches suffer from unfortunate compromises. Inexpensive commercial benches that can be knocked down for shipping use skimpy hardware and thin components to reduce shipping weight. The result is that the bench never feels sturdy. Plus, assembly usually takes a…

Tool: Universal Bench Manufacturer: Kreg MSRP: $145+ Every shop needs a bench. In fact, two or three is even better, as you’ll want an assembly table that’s a little lower than your workbench. Then what about all those benchtop power tools? Where do they go? The folks at Kreg and their Universal Bench cover pretty much any…

This sawhorse/workbench combo is made using dimensional pine construction lumber from a home center. It’s rugged and inexpensive, with no complicated joinery – just butt joints, glue and screws. While my sawhorse bench is perfect for taking along to a job site, its versatility makes it equally handy in the shop. Sawhorses and workbenches are…

Built for hard usage, this traditional-style bench won’t vibrate like a kettledrum when you chop a mortise or skitter across the floor then you plane a board. It features a spacious 1-1/2″ thick solid-wood top and an extra-large double-screw face vise that can securely hold work of almost any size. Heavy timbers form the trestle-style…

Even though you can carry this bench in one hand, it has the same desirable features as a full-size bench: A thick top, solid construction, a quick-release vise and dog holes that make it easy to securely hold work. Suitable for small-to-medium projects, it’s perfect for an apartment dweller like me: I simply clamp it…

“Have chisel, will travel.” As an itinerant carver, teaching classes here and there, I’ve always wanted a bench that I could store in a small space, carry around by hand and set up without any fuss. And, of course, be sturdy enough to carve on. This bench fits the bill in every way. It breaks…

Designed to work closely with your bench, this toolbox keeps your tools organized and close at hand, but out of the way of your project. By making it the same height as your bench, it also works as an outrigger for breaking down plywood and supporting large work. The cabinet features full-extension drawers without the…

Tool: Keter Folding Work Table Manufacturer: Keter Price: $89 Here’s a really fresh take on an old idea. The Keter Folding Work Table is a real boon for guys with limited work space. At 29-3/4″ high, it also turns out to be the perfect height for lots of benchtop tools which, if you used them on…

Store and use key benchtop tools on a single mobile unit. Innovative features such as a lever-operated mobile base and dual-height pullout tool platforms give this bench a five-star rating, especially if you have to share space with cars and other vehicles in a garage shop. The mobile base works just like a floor jack,…

As a professional woodworker, leaving the comfort of my shop to work on a jobsite is part of the routine. I had a portable bench, but without vises, it was only marginally useful. Having all the classic woodworking vises on a jobsite would be really sweet; and expensive. What I needed were simple, durable vises…

A welded base provides tons of strength for a versatile platform. Project #2003 • Skill Level:Intermediate • Time: 2 days • Cost: $250 My shop is a 12×24, one-car garage. I’ve fought (myself mostly) to optimize every square foot of that space to create a shop I enjoy spending time in and doesn’t leave me…

This is an excerpt from The New Traditional Woodworker by Jim Tolpin. In traditional Western-style woodworking, the workbench was central to nearly all the woodworking processes. This is where the artisan planed surfaces and trued edges; ripped and crosscut short lengths of stock to size (with smaller-sized panel saws or bow saws); made precision cuts…

The The BT&C Planing Stop is a small toothed plate, intended to serve as a buffer stop when planing a board on the bench.

For the many-hundredth time last week, I explained the virtues of simple workbenches to a skeptical audience of 10 workbench builders. They weren’t having it. Their benches were sketched out with complex tail vises, multiple rows of dogs, twin-screw vises, quick-release vises and other assorted bench appliances. As always, I shrugged my shoulders and smiled…

I’ve built a few benches in my time, benches for show and benches in a hurry. I’ve also seen, written about and filmed other benches being made. Each bench and each maker has a process and something unique that they want to add to their bench – and they darn well should! There’s nothing quite…

My last several posts have been about how the BARN workbench vise chops were designed. In this post, I’ll show you how the CNC was programmed for machining with CAM software. I use RhinoCAM software from MecSoft, but most CAM software programs that can handle basic 3D milling will have similar machining operations. This post…

In my last few posts, I showed how two different vise chops designs were created for the BARN workbenches. One technique was based on an easy to use 3D CAD tool: extrusion. Armed with a squiggly line, that gave me a 3D ripple in a hurry. The second chop was created using rule-based clone copies…

In my last post, I used Rhino3D CAD software to create a 3D ripple for one of the BARN Workbench vise chops. 3D drawing tools were used to take a simple squiggly line and revolve it around a point to make a surface. For the design in this post, I’ll demonstrate the power of simple…

In my previous post about making the BARN workbench vise chop, I shared the basic CAD design work for the project. In Rhino3D, I created the curved 2D design – the chop and a simple box representing the blank stock it’s milled from. The chop profile is a simple curved shape. But, when it comes to design, don’t…

3D Design and 3D Carving using Digital Tools I’ve been writing about Digital Woodworking and CNCs for a while now and when it comes to techniques, for the most part, I’ve kept the topics focused on introducing basic processes and concepts that are useful to woodworkers who are new to this world. There’s a lot…

A workbench designed for hand tool woodworkers but made (partially) with a CNC. Each bench features a unique 3D carved leg vise. Here’s a video introduction into how they were made. The BARN workbench was designed for the Bainbridge Island Artisan Resource Network. BARN is a Seattle area community group that built a wonderful community…

A workbench designed for hand tool woodworkers but made (partially) with a CNC. It features a 3D carved leg vise and a workbench top designed to improve ergonomics. I designed the BARN workbench for the Bainbridge Island Artisan Resource Network. It’s a Seattle area community group that has built a wonderful community facility for artisans…

The BARN Workbench is named for a community group of woodworkers and other artisans. BARN is the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network located on Bainbridge Island. The island is directly across and a 35 minute ferry ride away from Seattle. Started by a group of enthusiastic woodworkers, the group has grown to include artisans with a…

  I have a confession. I love workbenches. My first project as a hobbyist was a workbench and ever since, I’ve been in love with all the things a good bench can do to help you be a better woodworker.   Workbench 1.0 My first bench was Tom Caspar’s Build a Workbench in a Weekend…

CNC Skills: Part One: All about Origin Points The Origin Point is your prime reference position No matter what kind of woodworking you do, reference points and accurate measurements are critically important for woodworkers. This is particularly true when using any kind of woodworking machinery. For example, if you’re using a table saw to rip…

At least a couple of times each month, I get a query about Richard Tendick’s “Power Tool-Friendly Bench,” which was featured on the March/April 2014 cover of American Woodworker. So to cut down on those emails (and because I’m generally a nice person, evidence to the contrary notwithstanding), here’s that article, free. The intro is…

In the third part of this workbench build I get around to gluing up the leg frames. I thought I’d take a moment to mention a couple of details about this phase of the project. Throughout this build I’ve been using bog standard PVA (polyvinyl acetate) wood glue. I’ve always gotten along really well with PVA…

As I worked through my recent workbench project, I got a comment on one of the build videos about how the build might not be suitable for the inexperienced woodworker. I reflected on that for a moment and I actually think they had a point. I’d wanted my workbench project to seem accessible, from both…

To test how effective your chosen workbench is, you’ll need to make something. Doubtless we all complete very similar tasks, but we also all have our own preferences which leads to tweaking designs. We might take a little off the leg or add an extra dog whole, whatever makes things easier. The first test for my completed…

I am really pleased to have this workbench project done. As I’m not a avid SketchUp user and my drawing skills are not like Yoav’s, I felt the only sensible way to share a project was to get it done and then discuss the process. It’s the first time I’ve done a longer video series. I had…

Apart from a lack of time, the shop the workbench project is progressing well. The leg frames are glued up and I’m working on the aprons at the moment. On the last bench I made I used some heavy gauge screws and the aprons were made flush with the legs. This time I’m creating a…

As always I’m very grateful to anyone who makes the time to comment on my postings here, and I do my best to respond in a helpful manner. On the back of my last write up on the wooden try squares, Shawn was kind enough to ask a question about my workbench and in particular…

Though I find it darn-near impossible to believe, it has been more than five years since we published plans for a full-sized workbench. That was Christopher Schwarz’s “Return of Roubo,” the cherry-topped bench he built using mostly hand tools (you’ll find it in the August 2010 issue as well as on a  download, “Build an…

Reclaimed Lumber Back at the beginning of April I wrote about some household items I made using leftovers from a commissioned project. Well, I thought I'd show you the original project. It's actually two pieces – two ridiculously heavy conference tables. One of them is roughly 4' x 8' and the other is 4' x…

Let the Boxes Begin A couple weeks ago I wrote about some teak that I salvaged from an old Adirondack chair. I started a project with it today; a long, slender dovetailed box with a sliding lid. I'm a big fan of boxes; particularly boxes with sliding lids because I love the sound that they…

You Want Me To Help You Make a What? If you have kids in school, you’re well aware of the fact that you’ll be pressed into service to help make art projects countless times. For me, it’s always fun because it’s a chance to hang around with my kids and problem-solve in the tangible world;…

A Little Bit of Buried Treasure   A friend of mine had an old two-seater Adirondack chair that she figured was rotting and ready for the landfill. But she liked it so much, that she asked me to copy it for her, but build it using composite decking material. Not my favorite material to work…

Cordless Jointer.  Yup, it's late. But it's still Friday. It's been a whirlwind of a week. While working on a project today, I got to use one of my favorite techniques. Most seasoned woodworkers are well aware of this one, but not everyone is a seasoned woodworker, and this is just one of those things…

Not Exactly At The Bench Browsing my local Woodcraft supply store today. Turns out they're now distributing Shapton sharpening products. If you're not familiar with them, they are the cream of the crop ceramic stones. I was drooling over their glass-backed versions today. I'll be talking more about these, their traditional stones and a Shapton…

The Right Boards  I've been planning out a bowfront wall cabinet with coopered doors for a few months. Originally, I was set on making it of walnut or cherry – two of my favorite woods to work with because they're very hand-tool friendly. I took a trip to the local lumberyard, and unfortunately, none of…

Making a change to my blog posts. Instead of posting old tips from the American Woodworker archives, I'll be posting a wide variety of stuff, including projects on which I'm working, new tools that I'm putting through their paces, or maybe just an interesting piece of wood.    When I'm not working on a commissioned…

Cutting Multiple Parts One day my wife asked me if I would make her 58 shields for awards day at her school. Usually when I cut multiples on my scrollsaw I tape or screw the parts. This time I hot-melt glued them together. It not only worked great, but was much faster and easier. Wayne…

Alright, this one's actually from our old Question & Answer department. Clean Up Squeeze Out Q. I saw one of those woodworking wizards on television the other day. As I watched the guy build a three-day project in 30 minutes, I noticed he washed off glue squeeze out with a wet cloth immediately after clamping….

Here's how to stay tuned to all the action on Thursday, March 20th!

Retractable Chuck Key After losing three chuck keys I attached the fourth to a plain, old retractable key chain. Now I don't have to turn my shop inside out looking for my chuck key because it'salways within easy reach. I truned the holder upside down because the chain pulls out mor smoothly that way. I…

Versatile Center Gauge I wanted to add accent dowel “dots” down the center of some slightly curved, tapered table legs. Sounds simple, but I nearly pulled my hair out trying to accurately find the center of these legs using a ruler! I was about to tick off the center of the leg every 1/4″ to…

No-Hassle Filter Cleaning My air filter works great and sure makes my shop a cleaner and healthier place to work. But cleaning the pleated filter was always a problem. Blowing or shaking it out just made a big mess. I tried vacuuming it but my vacuum wand would attach itself to the filter like a…

Knot-Free Planing I use a lot of #2 pine boards, but when I plane them, the knots often nick my knives. I found a way to prevent this by cutting out the knots before I plane. Because most of my projects require only short pieces, this works fine and my knives last a lot longer…

Stable Roller Stand I bought a roller stand to support my lumber when sawing. It worked okay, but sometimes the rear leg would fold up and the stand would collapse. This was very annoying. I fixed it by adding some plastic cable ties at the top and bottom of the leg and stretching a bungee…

Flip-Top Sawhorses I got tired of rummaging around for a blanket or anything soft to lay my finished projects on, so I rigged up these simple carpet caps that fit on top of my sawhorses. They just flip out of the way when I'm back to rough work.  James Blandford My Take Now that's just…

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Plane Stand Every so often I need to plane down a piece of wood that is too small for my jointer. To handle these small jobs, I devised a stand for my No. 5 Stanley jack plane. The plane rests upside down on two wood blocks that fit up between the ridges on the sides…

  Behind the Stairs Storage In my basement shop every square inch counts! Out of necessity I found a wealth of unused space tucked right under my nose, or should I say feet. That awkward space under the basement steps can easily be turned into a set of deep shelves perfect for storing everything from…

Straight-Shooting Drill Jig You may not face this problem often, but when you need to drill a hole nice and straight but the part is too big to fit on the drill press, here’s what to do: Make this nifty little jig. It’s about 1-1/2″ tall by 2″ wide. Line up your drill bit in…

Double-Decker Mini Clamp Here's a great little clamp for those light-duty hobby or craft jobs. Start with two ordinary clothespins, then modify and combine them as shown above. You now have a clamp with triple the capacity of a single clothespin. Alan Dooley My Take Who thinks of this stuff? Well, obviously, Alan Dooley did,…

Workbench Joint Plans for my knock-down workbench called for the 2 x 4 stretchers to be fastened with bolts and hex nuts. I'd have to rout huge pockets, weakening the stretcher, in order to get a wrench on the nuts. Yuck! I rummaged through my jelly jars of spare hardware and came up with this…

Edge-Banding Clamp I ran out of clamps and patience the last time I applied a veneered edge to a long piece of plywood. The tangle of clamps to hold the veneer and cauls in place was more than I could take! To make life simpler, I came up with a slick way to clamp edge…

Glue-Up Helper I've always struggled with the rubber bands I use to hold jewelry box sides square and steady during glue-up. The biggest pain in the neck was cleaning the glue squeeze-out from under the bands. When I lifted the band the box would shift before my eyes! I was ready to chuck the whole…

Tabletop Connection Steel tabletop fasteners are a great way to attach a tabletop to its base while still allowing for seasonal changes. On a table with straight aprons, it’s easy enough to saw a kerf to hold the connectors with the tablesaw, but on a curved or molded apron that’s not feasible. Instead, I’ve found…

Tablesaw Sled Cutoff Block My sliding cutoff sled gets lots of use for repetitive cuts. In the past, I clamped a board to use as a stop, but moving it for different cuts became cumbersome. To make a quickly adjustable stop, I routed a dovetail slot into the back edge of the sled and made…

Getting the Point I frequently use awls in my work and like to keep them needle-sharp. This little jig takes only a few minutes to make and guarantees a fine, tapered point. The magnets keep the jig securely in place while in use.  Jay Wallace My Take Judging from the "down" arrow on the illustration,…

Cross-Grain Trim I recently needed to attach molding across the sides of some bookcases. Because the sides were solid wood, I had to allow for some seasonal movement. I used a table-mounted router with a keyhole bit and cut slots in the back of the molding, as shown above. I installed round-head screws and adjusted…

Repairing Ripped Belts Sanding belts can rip at the worst possible moment – such as when you're out on a jobsite with no spares. When this happens I remove the belt, turn it inside out and cut the torn spot into a diamond-shaped hole with a utility knife. This adds life to the belt without…

Tablesaw Jig Clamp I added this hold-down to my tablesaw’s sliding cutoff jig and find it a great convenience, because the height of the clamp is easily changed. This clamp uses a standard bar-type caulking gun, cut in half, as shown. The mounting block slides to apply clamping pressure where needed, and I covered the…

Glove Finger Chisel Protectors My Chisels used to get dull and rusty rattling around in my toolbox. No more! I found a clever way to protect them. I cut the fingers off some old leather work gloves. Then I poked holes with an awl and threaded a drawstring through the holes. Now I just slide…

Router Base Transfer Points After I lost track of the base plate for the router that goes in my router table, I had to make a new one with accurately marked holes for the mounting screws and a centered hole for the bit. I figured out how to do it while flipping through a machinist's…

Vise Crank Handle I'm getting up in years but I still love woodworking. My hands aren't as limber as they used to be, so it was uncomfortable to twist my vise handle. I remembered the crank on my father's Model T, so I made one just like it for my vise. I drilled a hole…

A Brush for Tight Spots Q. I built a little TV stand for our living room that included a 4″ space for the DVD player. It seemed like a great idea until I went to varnish the piece. That’s when I realized I couldn’t get a brush in that little space. What should I have…

Temporary Zero-Clearance Insert My small tablesaw and accessories follow me to jobsites every day. One morning I needed to rip thin slats from a 2 x 4 and wouldn't you know it, I forgot my zero-clearance insert. Tape to the rescue! First I lowered the saw blade all the way. Then I laid a strip…

Super Chop Saw Stop This stop slides along a rail that's screwed to the top of my chop saw fence, and I can lock it in any position. The hinged block is locked in the down position with a trunk latch. When not needed, the stop can be flipped up out of the way or…

Groovy Dowels Have you ever tried gluing a pin made from dowel rod in a blind hole? If so you've probably encountered the nasty air pocket that forms at the bottom of the hole and makes insertion difficult. I've got a solution: tighten the dowel in a drill press chuck to create three grooves in…

Large Sheet Crosscutting Crosscutting large sheets of plywood on the tablesaw can be difficult, and I usually end up binding the blade, burning the wood, or worse. To get around this, I clamp a board under the plywood, and use it as an auxiliary fence which rides against the left edge of the tablesaw to….

Bench Helper I use this simple device when planing the edges of long boards. It's especially useful when the board is too springy to be clamped between a bench dog and a tail vise. I hold the board in the v-shaped notch with my left hand and plane with my right. Use 1/2" or 3/4"…

Because we have just about put to bed the current issue and due to the upcoming holiday weekend, I had a little free time to be out in the shop. Look out workbench, here I come – again. Today I worked on the shop drawers that slip into boxes that will eventually fit inside the…

Getting the Point I frequently use awls in my work and like to keep them needle-sharp. This little jig takes only a few minutes to make and guarantees a fine, tapered point. Two magnets keep the jig securely in place while in use.  Jay Wallace My Take Not only do jigs help ensure accuracy and…

Veneer for Edging Instead of buying veneer or edge-banding material for plywood, make your own from scrap left over from the project. This is not only inexpensive, but the edge banding will match exactly. First install a zero-clearance throat plate on your tablesaw. Take a long piece of scrap plywood and rip pieces 1/8" wider…

Clean Bandsaw Tires – This one is from our old Q & A department. Q. My bandsaw tires have a builup of pitch and sawdust that seems to be embedded right into the  rubber. What's the best way to clean my tires? George Satter A. An excessive buildup of sawdust and pitch on your tires…

Router Table Spring Board I saw this device in an old woodworking book. I gave it a try and now I use it all the time. With this spring board you get even pressure along the entire fence and better results than either hand feeding or just featherboards. I still use a featherboard on the…

I’ve had a bit of time in the shop this week, so I went back to work on the storage boxes that sit inside my yet-to-be-built workbench. I know. It’s been almost six months and I’m still just building the boxes – managing editor duties are many. After knocking out my dovetails, I laid out…

Double-Duty Sanding Drum I sand a lot of thin wood on my drum sander and as a result, I only wear out the bottom part of the drums. Flipping them over allows me to use the top but the middle remains unused. Call me a cheapskate, but I hate throwing away anything that's still usable!…

Zero-Clearance Bandsaw Table I like to cut tenons with my bandsaw, but the little cutoffs tend to fall down in the space by the blade and get in the way or bind the blade. I found a slick fix. Tape a piece of thin cardboard (from something like a manila folder or old cereal box)…

Plywood Carrier You don't have to be built like an orangutan to carry plywood! This simple carrier extends your reach and turns an awkward job into an easy one. It's quick to build out of 3/4" plywood, a scrap of 2 x 2, some glue and a few screws. Clarence C. Kositzke My Take Well,…

Thickness Gauge I use this handy device constantly to check and compare thickness on a variety of projects. Slide the gauge over the edge of the stock, keeping the graduated edge flat on the surface of the board, and read the thickness. You'll have to make the graduations yourself, based on a board you gradually…

Router Dado Jig In the course of my work as a contractor, I often need to build cabinets and bookshelves on site – without the luxury of shop tools. I gave up on the flimsy router fence supplied with the machine and made the jig shown in the sketch. The router base now slides between…

Machine Floor Locks Anyone with a machine on wheels – especially a tablesaw or planer – understands the necessity of locking it in place before using it. I use a pair of toggle clamps connected to rods. I position the machine where I want it and lock the toggle clamps down, as shown above. To…

Smooth-Cutting Hole Saw I cut a lot of discs and large-diameter holes in my shop. I was puzzled for the longest time because I was getting vibration and smoke. It even happened with new hole saws. Eventually, it dawned on me that the culprit wasn't my antiquated drill press, but the simple fact that a…

Dovetail Marking Jig This little jig greatly speeds the laying out and marking of dovetail pins. Make the jig so the thin piece is exactly the same size as the pin you plan to use. Then, mark a half-pin on the left side, and divide the remaining space into equal parts according the the number…

Easier Resawing I'm stuck with a wimpy 1/2 hp bandsaw that stalled whenever I tried to resaw anything tall. Then my neighbor turned me on to a technique that solved my problem. I pre-cut a 1-1/2" deep kerf in each edge of the board with my tablesaw and do the final cutting on my bandsaw….

As you can see, I did get into the shop this week to begin on my workbench storage boxes. The thing I most like about building my own design – after 15 plus years building 18th- and early 19th-Century designs for customers – is that I can change the design clear up until I can’t….

Bevel Gauge For years I ground a way-too-shallow edge on my favorite chisel. It wouldn't hold up worth beans, so I dug through the junk drawer for something I could make a bevel gauge out of. What I came up with is this simple jig. Just place the chisel's bevel into the angle formed by…

This week, I swear I’m getting started on my workbench. To heck with my computer, I need to make dust or something. It’s time to get into the shop. Trouble is, I don’t have, as of yet, any tools at the Popular Woodworking Magazine shop. I need a place to store my tools when I…

Rubber Band Veneer Clamp I had tried everything to successfully glue veneer on curved surfaces: cauls, three-way clamps, string and tape, you name it. Nothing ever worked as well as this homespun solution, which requires only simple shop supplies. Nail a row of brads into two boards and clamp them to both sides of the…

Adjustable Curves Laying out a large curve with a cobbled-together, oversize compass is a pain in the neck. Instead I use a bowed slat that can be adjusted to any curve. I used to bend the slat with my hands and draw the curve with a pencil in my mouth. That didn't work very well!…

Comfortable Dovetails Like the majority of wokbenches, mine is fine for planing but too low for cutting dovetails without prolonged stooping. My answer is to clamp a heavy backing board, as shown in the sketch, and clamp the workpiece to it. I usually tilt the work so half the dovetail-cutting lines are vertical and then,…

Normal 0 0 1 377 2153 17 4 2644 11.1282 0 0 0 I recently attended the JLC Live event in Providence, RI. It's an event for builders and remodelers. Since Festool was showcasing some new tools at the event, I decided it'd be good for me to have a look. I ended up getting…

Starting today, and continuing each Friday, I'll be posting tips from the American Woodworker archives. This first one, however simple, is one of my all-time favorites, and one of the most-reached-for tools in my shop. Belt Sanding Block I do most of my sanding by hand, so I made this convenient wooden sanding block to…

As I read many of your comments and suggestions for my bench drawer storage, I also talked with executive editor Bob Lang. Bob suggested that I consider making my drawers depths in multiples of 2″, such as 2″, 4″ and 6″ deep drawers. If I then position the grooves cut into the case sides at…

One of the biggest obstacles to beginning woodworkers is carving out a space to work in, and building a bench to work on. Recently, I built a pair of portable workbenches that are closely based on a now-disappeared commercial bench from the 20th century. These small-scale benches clamp to almost any surface, from a kitchen…

I’m in the midst of making my mom’s Christmas present*, and though I did the machine work at the “office” today, I decided to bring the surfaced and mortised pieces home (the hollow-chisel mortiser is my favorite power tool) and cut the tenons by hand. Yes, I could have cut them on the table saw,…

Finding a French-style workbench with a twin-screw vise is somewhat uncommon. And so what furniture maker Nick Webb stumbled upon on the Mediterranean island of Gozo is even more unusual. The bench is in the carpenter’s shop of the Ta’ Kola Windmill, an 18th-century structure on the island. The bones of the bench are fairly…

I see a lot of workbenches. Lots of them are gorgeous. Many of them are tough. Few benches are both. Last weekend at Woodworking in America in Pasadena, Calif., I got to use a massive Nicholson-style workbench made by Erik Mortensen, an instructor at Cerritos College. For the most part, the bench is made from…

Earlier this year I wrote about a portable workbench top that went up for sale in an Australian auction. It was an ingenious solution to a problem that many woodworkers face: How do I do woodworking while watching television in the house? Well, that’s one of the problems this solves. This bench gizmo also is…

If you’ve been reading Popular Woodworking Magazine for more than a decade, two “new” products won’t be new to you: “Workbenches & Toolboxes” and “Great American Furniture.” Both are “SIPs” (special-interest publications) that we offered only on newsstands, before I joined the PWM staff (so they’re really old). But they’re chock-full of great information, and…

In this one minute video you can see how I find materials, how I design, and the building of a new piece. The piece that I built was made from glass that I found on the street on Manhattans' upper east side, and cedar that I salvaged from the dumpster of a woodshop where I teach in  Brooklyn NY….

This summer I have made two changes to my Roubo-style workbench that I built in 2005 that have made the bench even more effective and easy to use. First up, a real-deal antique French holdfast, sent to me by a colleague in France. Clearly blacksmith made, this holdfast is sized somewhere between the monster holdfast…

 Awhile back, I had won a Diamond Edge #6c handplane.    It was kind of rusty, front knob was cracked, everything was in one piece, though..    However, when the box arrived at my front door….something didn't look quite right.  The front of the part came out of this box, followed by the rest of the plane..Not…

On the first day of my woodworking classes at Dictum GmbH in Bavaria in June, I began with a confession. “I’m afraid that after three years, my German language skills are still crap,” I told the students. “However, I am fairly fluent in speaking ‘workbench.’” And it was a skill that came in handy during…

On the final day of a workbench class, the students either assemble all their benches or pack up the parts in their cars to assemble things at home. Assembly is easy. I usually do it by myself, but I never decline offers of help. Plus, it’s the best part of the entire job because it…

When I build a workbench in the old style, the rules for joinery change a bit for me. The strength of the bench comes from the top – not the base. And the amount of contact surface between all the mortises and the tenons is formidable. So if you need a mallet to drive home…

When you build a workbench with an impressively thick top, one of the challenges is cutting it to its finished length. Unless you have an insane circular saw from Mafell. Yup. The chain mortiser that we used to make the mortises for the base wasn’t the only nutty timber-framing tool we’re using to build these…

My least-favorite joint to cut by hand is – hands down – a deep mortise. But when you build a French-style workbench, you need to make about a dozen of them. And if you do it by hand, you are talking about a lot of boring, chopping, paring and sweating. When I mentioned this to…

No matter how many times I do it, every class on building a workbench is remarkably different. Different wood. Different tools. Different students. Different country. I don’t know how I got talked into teaching a workbench class at a hand-tool school in Germany. OK, that’s a lie. I know exactly how. I was drinking beer…

  Is underway.   i started with some old, nail-sick, UGLY beams from a garage that fell down, old age.    enough for four legs and some other items.    I also had a beam laying around outside of the shop, kind of buggy.    Wound up takingan axeto plane off the buggy stuff.   Brought it in, and split…

During the last few years, I’ve been using giant 6×6 softwood timbers to build workbenches for classes and customers. These big hunks look old school and make the construction process quick and painless – the top has only three glue lines. Of course, the problem for most people is finding this wood. You can find…

I’ve drawbored hundreds and hundreds of joints since 1999, mostly on workbenches I’ve built for myself or with students. That doesn’t mean I know jack buddy about drawboring, as last weekend proves. I was in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, for a Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event and staying with a friend. Let’s call him…

Assembling workbenches in the old-school manner is a nail-biter. If the drawbores are too close together, then you drive the peg in and nothing happens. The tenon isn’t pulled into the mortise. You start looking around for your framing nailer. If the drawbores are too far apart, you drive the peg in and it explodes…

After three days of work, we are going to start assembling the workbenches we are building at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking tomorrow and are coming to a familiar fork in the road. Should we assemble the benches using glue or not? My gut says these benches don’t need glue. The legs are immobile…

Talking about the motivation for building a French-style handwork bench using lots of power tools is always a discussion that feels like a hall of mirrors. Many of the 16 students in my workbench class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking aren’t infatuated by the gorgeous machinery the school offers. They don’t seem impressed…

When it comes to building furniture in my shop at home, I have zero desire for industrial-grade machinery. But when I need to get a class of students at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking to get 17 benches completely built in five days, I embrace the large-scale noisy stuff. Some might call it selling…

It’s funny how my chainsaw skills have gone through the roof since I started to build lots of workbenches in 1999. Today I cut down a buttload of 6 x 6 x 16’ Douglas Fir beams for a bench-building class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking that I’m teaching next week. And when you…

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It is unwise to rush when installing vises on a workbench. So I stopped whipping the maggots students during the last two days of the class and encouraged them to work at their own pace. Some slowed down, but some stayed at the fevered pitch established in the first four days of the class. In…

Torsion-Box Workbench and Expandable Assembly Table Double your work space without doubling your shop space. By Randy Johnson and Luke Hartle In our shop, we used to pile tools, parts and hardware on top of a wobbly workbench made from 2x4s. When we had to glue a project together, we shoved everything aside. Finally, we…

Wedged-Base Workbench Tablesaw joinery locks it together. By Tim Johnson This workbench has a top ready for hard use. But it’s the base that catches your eye. The interlocking joinery, with its dovetails and wedges, is rock solid, yet it knocks down quickly for moving. Although it looks complicated, the base is surprisingly easy to…

The first real woodworking project I built in the USA was a pine workbench. The story of this piece began with a discarded metal cabinet I found on Irving street in Cambridge MA. I mention Irving Street because a few weeks after I found the metal cabinet I found a set of pine bunk beds…

I have used a bowling alley 7' length made of maple and pine for my bench top.  I have it sanded and planed to new wood as level as I can get it.  There a few cracks ~1/16" .  What would make a good finish for it?  This wll primarilary be used for assembly of…

Solar Kiln Dry Your Own Wood Fast and Hassle-Free By Dave Munkittrick Wood is expensive. And extra-wide or figured wood is practically beyond reach. Over the 25-plus years I’ve been a professional woodworker, wood seems to have taken a cue from oil: The price keeps going up. There are ways to use less oil, but…

The “Nicholson” or “English” bench is a simple workbench, possibly made using 2 by construction lumber, that features a characteristic deep front apron drilled to enable to the use of holdfasts or pegs to support work vertically. It lacks any penetration through its top save a single planing stop. A simple and ineffectual face vise…

10 good rules for workbenches and 10 ways to help your current bench work better.

Sycamore Pantry The best way to match solid wood and veneer is to make the veneer yourself. By John English Sometimes you just fall in love with a special kind of wood. For me, that wood is quartersawn sycamore, but I’ve never had a chance to build something big that would really show it off….

One great gathering and five great shows.   Members' Show    Camosun College Retrospective Show   Camosun Student Chair Show   Cultural Mosaic Show Cascadia Show       Ball and Claw Bats by Hayami Arakawa Turned and carved oak Custom Case Boston, MA    Wine Cabinet/Coffee Table by Mike Wolos Maple Burl, Ebony Purpleheart Vancouver B.C….