The Beginner's Workbench | Shop Update
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- Опубліковано 19 сер 2024
- Last week I spent some time up in Maine building a workbench. This workbench is hardly a new design as its based on the English Nicholson style but it is design to be built with minimal construction lumber and very few tools. A hardware store saw, a jack plane, a chisel, and 3 different sized auger bits with a brace. It can be built quickly to get the new woodworker started, but it may also be the same bench you are using 5 or 6 years from now.
The detailed, step by step build will be a part of a new Semester at my Hand Tool School (www.handtoolschool.net). I'm calling it my Orientation semester which goes all the way back to a blank shop space and no skills. The workbench plans alone can also be purchased at www.handtoolsc...
I like this guy . His vids are very straightforward and honest . Ideally suited for people with limited resources . Bravo Shannon .BRAVO.
Nice work. Love the center spine.
Well done, also appreciate your mention of left handed configuration. This will be my bench. Thank you
Joe Renta We lefty’s are at odds with the world! And the only ones in our right minds.
Very nice Shannon! You make old school seem innovative.
I really can't wait for this. I have been dying to build a simple stout cheap bench like this for a while. Keep up the great work Shannon!!
Lots of encouragement here - from tools needed to time spent to budget - this looks like a terrific project & useful bench. Thanks as always.
p.s. Semester 0.5...can't wait! 🙂
Welcome back to Maine in Summer! It looks like we are going to have a nice one this year and not drought ridden like last year.
Your bench is very similar to my "naked woodworker" bench. It also uses the center stop and I have found it really useful. I used it "vise-less" for a year before I added a leg vise. I thought I would miss being able to clamp things to the top as easily you can with the roubo, but I have not found that to be a problem,
Nice work on the bench. Can't wait to see you building on it in August. 🇨🇦
Dang, sorry I missed you coming though Boston. Very cool bench Shannon! It's very similar to the one I built for my shop a few years ago. I also used cutoffs to make the top 3", and have the center stop that can raise up as a planing stop. When I built it, I wasn't sure how often I'd use it. Turns out I've used it quite a bit and I'm happy I included it. - Jim
I like the idea of a starter bench like this. That's where I am. After a time, I expect then to make my second follow-on bench on the starter bench.
Those impulse hardened saws are not bad - if you pick out a good one and modify them a bit. Sight down them at the store. Look at the teeth to see if they are the same side to side and that the plate is straight. I had to inspect about ten of them to find a good one. When I got it home, it was pretty jarring to cut with, catching in the cut because some teeth stuck out to the side. I stoned the sides until I had a tiny, shiny bit on each tooth. Stop as soon as the stone has touched every tooth. The cut was smooth, but pulled to one side. I stoned that side and retested until it cut straight. I've resharpened it by stoning the sides maybe half a dozen times in 10 years of weekend use. After the last sharpening, the kerf is finally too tight for green wood, but still works fine for dry. Not bad for twenty bucks. Cross cut only, unless you really like work.
Very cool! Looking forward to the detailed build in the HTS in the fall.
Very inspiring. Thanks
Hey Shannon count me in on that. 5 semester! Congrats on the sweet workbench!
It's very good! Thankyou.
Really nice, Shannon! I have a couple of benches to build myself, one for work and a smaller, more portable version for home. I'll stay tuned and hope to join the fall semester at the HTS. Thanks for sharing this.
Awesome bench. Nice work.
Nice looking bench you've made there, Shannon.
I don’t know why UA-cam wants me to watch this but I like this
Very nice. Love your videos. Wish I had that bench.
love this style of bench works awesome! !!!!!
Wow! That's just what I have been looking for but I can't wait until Fall to build it! Or maybe I can but that means not having a work bench for 3 or 4 months! I was just getting ready to buy the materials for a poor mans roubo style bench to be built out of southern yellow pine. I'd much rather have this one. Decisions decisions....
Chuck Rice build something else instead without a bench and you will have a better appreciation of what you want in a workbench
Wow. I've never seen that type of center stop. I freakin LOVE IT! Definitely incorporating that. May even consider Additional ones to reduce dogs. Thanks for the vid
You mentioned Southport Island Maine that's where Cecil Pierce the plane maker lived did your folks know him I had the chance to go there and spend the day with him. And have a plane that he built I cherished very much.
Dennis O'Shea I know nothing about this. How interesting. Do you have any further information?
If you go to amazon and look up his Book Cecil Pierce 50 years a plane maker Also just Google his name there is some info on there also My folk's lived on the Cape I was living in Colorado at the time and came back for the Holidays. That's when I went up there to visit when I got back to the Cape my mom said I looked like Moses after he came down from the mount.He was primarily a boat builder all of his planes had a handle like a hand saw on them.I asked why and he said "Well put my hand in a planner pulled my hand out and the finger's stayed "I asked him how long ago that was he looked over his glasses and said about a life time ago.There was a couple of articles in American Woodworker and FFW back in the 90's He was also on a segment on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Krault he was at his work shop in Maine. When he passed he was on the front cover of American Woodworker Enough I could go on for hours about the entire visit you being the Hands on woodworker you would love to hear it all Maybe we can talk
Nice!. Really enjoyed this video.
Always like economy builds that don't look cheap.
Nice job!
Really smart design man!
You know you're a serious woodworker (or is it woodworking addict?) when you build yourself a bench at your in-laws' place up north!
I might be building myself a small-ish bench sometime soon and would like to go the construction lumber route; I'm thinking maybe some nice Southern Yellow Pine (good supplier nearby). I really need to look at the different designs and features I might be able to build into my first serious woodworking bench. This one looks great, but I don't think it's the right style for me.
Bench dreams 😴
Very nice. Thanks
Nice job 🤙🏽
wonder if this can be modified to be a "take down" bench like the Moravian work bench...
That idea interested me too, and from that thought the idea developed into now considering building a Moravian style bench with the Nicholson style apron. Combining the portability and minimal storage space requirement of the Maravion with the simple but versatile work-holding, of the Nicholson just might result in a useful mutation. I say just might, because hybrids don't always meet expectations.
Its likely that a lot of woodworkers have explored this idea and some will have made it into reality. If anyone has hands on knowledge please do share it. I would value your input before making a commitment to a project which isn't going to work, or conversely could be a great success. I must say that the bench as built by RWW is a real beaut and I would be more than happy to own one if I had space for a permanent set-up.
Looks great... cant wait to build mine. Plans?
Have vacationed in Boothbay... love the change from my Florida island home... wish i could escape back there to get out of the heat this summer.
So where are the videos of the guts/bracing under the bench? Did I get distracted and miss that?
Nice bench but to hear your leaving so you can't play that's torture. Have a safe trip home.
Just a thought, UHaul rents trucks, trailers and vans. Of course you do have an excuse to make another bench since that one is so far away.
Tom Angle except I already have a Roubo bench at home
I am from the school that you can never have too many tools.
Tom Angle lol how about space limitations. Do you have a Tartis for your shop?
lol, I would say you have an excuse for a bigger shop.
No I do not have a Tardis, in reality I have a wife that thinks I have enough tools and a big enough shop.
The workbench is just another tool,a means to an END!!
I like it
NIce bench. II just finished a different style and put one of those long planing fences in. I love that.
I know you guys get auger bits at trade show/swaps. I don't know if it was you or wood by wright that said ebay was iffy, which I agree with.
What I'm trying to get at is, I don't have anywhere local to get auger bits, and don't care to roll the dice with ebay. Nor can I travel at this time to an trade show or similar.
I was wondering if you'd comment on new bits, say from Irwin, which is the only new ones I've been able to find, but again not locally. One thing, I can't tell from the images they have if they have cutters on both sides of the bit, which I think I definitely want.
Any suggestions for other brands or something less risky than ebay to get these apparently difficult to source but invaluable bits would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
weedeater64 I've gotten a lot of bits from eBay without problem. It's been a while so maybe it's gone to hell. Still I'd rather buy tools from hyperkitten.com or for bits I go to grandpaslittleworkshop.com. I don't like the modern bits. The geometry is wrong.
Hey thanks. Got that first one bookmarked, the second one appears to a dead link.
I haven't had a bad experience with ebay, nor am I sure wood by wright did. It's just that you don't know what you're getting until it arrives. Personally I've never used ebay at all.
I do browse there and see things I might like to get, but just haven't ever been comfortable buying from strangers hundreds or thousands of miles away.
sorry, grandpaslittlefarm.com
This is an area where I know almost nothing... old style drilling. i have a couple of braces and eggbeaters from Miller Falls but as far as the bits... I am lost. Any good links you can share or even produce a video or two... that would be awesome.
Thanks, I'll definitely give that a whirl.
I've recently been getting back into woodworking after years of not. I never had a great tool kit. I've got a couple of decent tools, and a few not so decent but get by tools. Need to finish out a basic kit. Bits is something I sorely need. I have a good brace and a good large dual speed egg beater as well as a piece of crap Garrett Wade small egg beater.
Been having a go a making tools. Just finished a bow/frame coping saw. Need to work out some bugs, but I'm definitely going to like that better than the 5 dollar crappy one I have.
Made a grooving plane, and of course a bench. The bench is more of a general bench, but I made it on the heavy side and incorporated a planing fence, though not as good as the one you've got there. Love that stair step idea. Will be redoing mine like that.
Planing on making some wooden holdfasts. Any recommendations for type of wood that grows in Arkansas for those? Was planing on finding a couple of hickory or oak branches.
Shannon: The bench looks really handy. Can a standard quick release vice be added to it without much trouble? I bought one and don't really want to not use it. If so, I would be more inclined to sign up for the new beginner's course since this workbench is one of the projects. (PS: I have had my metal legged workbench for more than 30 years. You know, you buy the legs and add some plywood on top. Really more than 30 years)
Bruce Brachman do not see why not. You could add it to the end or the front without too much trouble
Terrific. I just have to decide whether I like the front apron. You did mention getting used to it. A new year and new goals. Thank you, Shannon.
Very nice job Shannon, don't let the M & M's tease you about it.....by the way, are you making a dog bed under the bench for your fur baby with all those shavings?
gA m that's for the Maine luau
how similar to Mike Steimson's "The Naked Woodworker" is your bench and will be semester five? I have already followed his video and would appreciate suggestions for a next step on the learning curve.
first it will be Semester .5. Semester 5 is already out and its about woodturning. Second, I actually haven't seen Mike's video, so I only know it from the description on the sales page. I won't be restoring tools like he did and I think the bench is pretty similar though I believe mine is a little simpler in construction. Though not sure there since I have watched that video other than his final viseless woodworking video here on YT. But as far as next steps I would bet that you are ready to start building some projects on that workbench and perhaps you should look at my Semester 1. www.handtoolschool.net/products/semester-1-hand-tool-fundamentals/
Is that an English jointer bench?
I don't see this on your website. No Semester .5?
rmojo23 it’s in the Orientation semester
Thank you!
Any plans out there for this bench?
Soul Hydration as the last couple frames state. This will be part of The Hand Tool School Semester .5. Coming this fall
Opps!! I didn't catch that! Thanks!
Are you selling the plans for the workbench?
Yes it is part of my Orientation semester at The Hand Tool School