Thread: Is a workbench really necessary?

Originally Posted by raptor

I am relatively new to woodworking, and don't have a proper workbench. Whenever I read online about woodworking, apparently the first thing you must have is a proper workbench. What are the benefits of having a proper workbench?

Currently I do have something that is kind of a bench. It's a cheap $24 craftright bench n vice from Bunnings. (http://www.bunnings.com.au/craftrigh...-vice_p5860871). It seems to do the job for helping me hold wood to cut or to hold pieces of wood for me to hand plane.

Last weekend I was pondering buying some wood to put together a basic workbench, but I realised I couldn't think of why I would need one as I've been able to get by quite fine using the bench n vice. So for now, I decided to wait and think about it before spending it on the workbench.

I do all my woodworking with hand tools and so far haven't had any issues with hand planing or cutting wood with the bench n vice and a simple bench hook on a small desk.

Are there any projects that require a proper workbench or that would be difficult to build without one? I guess I'm trying to find some justification for me to spend the money to make a workbench and if it's really necessary.

Thanks.
Tim.

Hi Tim

Do you want the forum to tell you a bench is unnecessary so that you can carry on as you are? Sorry.

There are many types of benches and many types of woodworkers. A power tool user has different needs to a hand tool woodworker.

You mention a cheap bench, a vise and a handplane. I guess that puts you into the handtool camp. I have been using handtools for a long time, and the bench is the most important tool I own. I could not do the work I do without one that is stable, resists racking and holds work for different tasks.

For 18 years I used a very basic bench I built - still probably better than the Bunnings one (everything is better than a Bunnings one! ), and just bolted it the wall. My present bench was built about 3 years ago, and it a good one, the product of years of experience.

You are most welcome to come over and see what a decent bench can do, or what you can do this a decent bench. I am in Rossmoyne.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I think the historic driver for a solid workbench was hand tools for major shaping operations; you tend to feel any wobble or give in a bench much more when you are actually putting your sweat into the tool action, rather than just guiding a power tool on a course. Then when you move up to large stationary machines, these are generally their own workbench at least for the functions that the tool performs.

You still need a bench though and it needs to be flat and stable. If you're not doing hand tool work, a door on horses is as good as anything. It just has to be flat so that whatever you are building will also be flat, assuming you want it to be

When I'm gluing up face frames, I drop a door on top of my bench (which unfortunately means I have to clean it off and then again later when I want to take the door away). It's absolutely useless for planing because it slides around (unless I clamp it, which I have done in a fit of desperation) but it is perfectly flat and wide enough for a 900 high cabinet face frame.

I suppose you can do stuff like that on the floor, but my back is not going to love me for that.

When I took up woodworking again after a few years in the wilderness, the first thing I did was made a bench out of old floor boards and other crap I found lying around in the house I was renting.

You need a bench.

Need a bench........yes.

It doesn't matter when you start out, just something that provides a work surface that you can use.

From there you will work out it's limitations and start to formulate what YOU want in a bench.

It took me about 2 years of scrounging to get enough timber to build my workbench. It suits me and probably some others but not all.

It's made from recycled pine pallets. These pallets where big though.

So basically continue as you are and formuate what you would like in a bench but all the time scrounge timber when you can.

You need some thing to dump your junk on.

I had two benches, one for metal work and one for other stuff. I pulled one apart and cut the other in half because all they did was collect junk. I have a small dedicated WW bench which isn't big enough to collect too much stuff but I tend to put things away now as it saves so much time.

Sorry for the lack of replies, I was sick over the weekend.

Derek is right, I am a handtool woodworker and have been doing most of my hand sawing and planing work on the cheap Bunnings vice n bench, although I have often had to keep one foot on the horizontal part of it to make it stable enough to work on.

I don't really have much room to store power tools and since I like to do woodworking at night, so handtools work well for me.

I don't really have space for a workbench so one of the main reasons for asking is if I really need one to do woodworking or is it worth the effort of reorganise the shed to make room for one so I can do woodworking on.

My latest project with the portable bench is a pair of floor standing speaker cabinets with a combination of using the vice n bench and using the floor as a place to assemble it. So making large things hasn't seemed to be a problem yet. I'm not sure if using the tops of freezers counts as a workbench.

Speaker making by raptor_tk, on Flickr

I do have to admit that having a bench with bench dogs and a clamp to keep the work stable would be a nice to have. The vice n bench has holes with bench dogs I can fit in, but it's not really usuable.

On occasion, I have accidentally knocked of things from the vice n bench and damaged some projects (including this speaker cabinet ) , so I guess a good workbench could help me avoid those accidents. In the case for this speaker cabinet, it was fixed by adding some water to the dented corner and waiting hoping that the MDF swelled back to the normal size.

For those of you that have too much stuff on your workbenches, is it woodworking tools that clutters the workbench or is it other stuff? Is building a dedicated tool storage unit a solution to that issue?

Although I made a decision earlier that I can work without a proper workbench, the latest posts are indicating if I work with hand tools, I would need one. So I'm still undecided again.

I didn't realise that workbenches differ for hand tool and power tool woodworkers. I guess I need to understand more what a suitable bench is for hand tool woodworking and see the benefits over my current Bunnings one. I'll try to meet up with Derek as he lives reasonably close to me.

Tim.

If space is a problem, I've always thought these were a neat idea:

workbench-fold-close1.jpg

Folds up relatively flat against the wall and incorporates storage with the tools right where you need them when the bench is down. I'm tempted to make one, even though in my case I don't need it and it would probably stay open all the time anyway.

Regarding what's on the bench, in my case I have a bad habit of just putting anything and everything down, usually when I've been doing some work up at the house and I've brought the tools etc back to the shed. I usually put things like planes and chisels away - I've got an old wardrobe that I fitted out for that.

A lot of it just comes down to discipline. If you have a fair bit of space, which I do, you tend to develop bad habits because it's not so necessary to keep it tidy.

Silentc, that design looks really interesting. I like how it has space for all the tools so you shouldn't end up with a lot of stuff on the workbench.

What is that particular design from? It might be worth reading up on.

It came from this site: http://plansnow.com/wbenchfold.html

They want you to buy the plans. They're not very expensive but you could probably work it out from the photo. I thought the top folded up but it looks like it actually folds down, which makes more sense.

SilentC, there's the solution to your Dad leaving nuts and bolts on your benches ! Perhaps legs rigged with string so when he grabs a box of nuts and bolts, just yank the string and drop the table surface!

I like the way you think! Maybe remote controlled with CCTV. I could have lots of fun with that...

Originally Posted by silentC

I like the way you think! Maybe remote controlled with CCTV. I could have lots of fun with that...

Hilarious ... *ahem* ...I mean this is your father show some respect.

I visited Derek on the weekend and really enjoyed checking out his work area and his amazing works.
He took time from his busy schedule to show me the basics on how to prepare wood by hand with hand planes, cutting grooves, sharpening and preparing Japanese chisels. It was very much appreciated!


His workbench had many ways of holding wood for purposes like hand planing, jointing edges, cutting joints and so on. It was very quick to set it up to hold a piece steady. I think the big difference is that a good workbench lets you work on large pieces of wood which is a lot harder to work with with on a small mobile bench.


It’s still doable on a small bench, but you work in awkward positions and you waste too much time fiddling around trying to figure out how to clamp and hold a piece to work on which was the case when making my large speakers.


I think another benefit of a good workbench is it helps you work faster and work in more comfortable positions. It gives you more control when the work is more stable and at a good working height.


I’ve decided that a proper workbench is a good idea. I’m going to clean up the shed and look into building one. I do like the folding workbench, although it does look complicated and seems like a lot of work to build. I’ll also take a look through the forum to check out some of the other designs everyone else is using and what I can fit into my shed.