Thread: Is a workbench really necessary?

If it works for you, then you do not need a bench, at least not yet.

You may find in time that what you have might be too low which might be indicated by a sore back. You might be working on an item which requires a bigger work surface.

I have a workbench, but over the years the top has become cluttered with bits and pieces so now I tend to use an old door over two saw horses which depending on what I am doing give's me a sore back.

If you do decide on a dedicated workbench and vice just be careful that you do not get a big pain around where your hip pocket is .

I have two do called work benches and they are covered in crap and I end up working on the corner of the table saw so you are right, a bench is not essential.

Hi,
Just carry on and your needs will make them selves known, then give them a bit more time to see if they change, then make the investment in time and/or money.
Have fun

As yet I do not have a work bench and have been using something similar to what you have. I use to have two but a friend borrowed one.

Before that I was using a fold up table and it is very light and rocky. I am still using the table but mainly to sort things out and try to keep things in order. Does not always work out that way. But it is a surface that allows me to assemble things.

I know that I will have to make myself a workbench and I am on the lookout for garbage days for the bed frames that I might be able to use in it's construction.

I have been doing woodwork as an income outside my daytime work for over 6 years now. I don't have a work bench.

I know it wil be covered with stuff that shouldn't be on the bench so why create one? Besides, what I make are bigger items and I tend to work on the floor with my hands on the floor too from time to time. It's better for your back

As said there are ways to get by without a bench but life is so much easier with one. There are plenty of low cost options like recycled or skip rescued wood so no need to break the bank. An old solid core door on trestles works and can be the bench you build a bench on. This forum is loaded with countless bench builds from the cost almost nothing to the no expense spared bench so no shortage of ideas. Building a bench is also a good learning experience for the beginning woodworker. I guess that if you feel you are getting by for now thats fine and when you do really need a bench you will know.
Happy woodworking
John

As abovementioned I only built one as I needed one and procured most of the material and only paid for some craftwood for the top.
I got tired of the doors on sawhorse's being wobbly and have the space to have one I now have the task of keeping it clear to work on (so far so good)
But if you a going fine with what you have stick with it.

Wow, there are lots of responses.
Thanks for all the input!

After reading through each of them, I've concluded that I don't really need one yet. I'll keep working without one for now, but I'll definitely keep an eye out on some of the builds on this forum for ideas of what to make when I decide that it's time to build one.

I did have a laugh at how some of you have a workbench but can't use it because of having too much other stuff on it.

Hmm, want vs need... No let's not go there again.

I've got 3 benches, a table saw, a long bed jointer and a long narrow bench adjacent to my drop saw. I use which ever one has less crap on it to be cleared off and sometimes I put a door on trestles too. In fact it's hard to move for benches in my shed at times.

But seriously, I have a woodworking bench, which is just two 8x2 planks side by side with a gap between on a base with a vice. I do all the serious woody stuff there. I have a metal working bench, which is a solid core door sitting on an old under-counter fridge with a sheet of gal stuck to the top. And I have a traditional style woodworking bench which I bought at a garage sale but which I use to store crap on mostly.

It depends on what you do, but I think that you will find a decent size bench will make your life a lot easier, even if it's just to have more length to clamp long things to or more space to stack parts on.

Like when you are making doors for example. You need somewhere to stack your panels and your frame parts, you need somewhere to assemble the door, and you need somewhere to stack the ones you've glued up.

Planing long boards is much easier if you can support it along it's full length.

There are plenty of good reasons to make yourself a decent sized bench. It doesn't have to be a work of art. Like I say mine is just two planks. It's ugly but it does the job.

For my money, it depends on what you are going to do and how disciplined you can be regarding keeping stuff off it so that it is available for woodworking as required. If it's going to end up as a a storage table, it's not worth calling it a workbench, or putting expensive accessories such as vices and dog systems on it.

I have a couple of gizmos similar to yours but find that the are prone to movement whenever you put a side load on them, like sawing and planing. Because of their light weight, they are not good at absorbing excess energy when driving a chisel, so they tend to move which means that you may need to reallign the chisel before the next blow. A big heavy bench will normally just soak up the excess energy and not move, particularly if you chisel over one of the legs.

With a workbench you can size it to accommodate whatever components you anticipate working with, so that your materials are always properly supported, and you can get it level for assembly. Added to that you can build in vices, dog and holdfast systems to lock materials in place. Depends really on perceived needs, ego, space availability, and budget.

I built a big, simple and heavy bench as the only option to crawling around on the floor to build stuff.
96" x 36" x 36" high. All kinds of small builds, wood carving & repairs get done on that. Sure, there are all sorts of
labelled tins of bits and pieces, the shop radio, etc, but I can't call it clutter.
The miter saw, the drill press, the scroll saw and the band saw are on the 4 sides of an island bench
in the middle of the shop.

Best of all, I have quite a good-sized deep freeze which is white and top loading.
So, I can't store stuff there.
With a black felt marker, I very carefully drew a grid of lines on the freezer lid.
That's the "assembly bench."

So what is it with woodies and flat surfaces, being covered in crap??? I'm guilty of it!

It's not just woodies mate. I share my shed with my Dad and he is worse than me. What he likes to do is get a container of screws or bolts, tip it out on MY bench, fish out the one he wants and then just leave them there. You can follow his progress around the property. If I go to the storage shed under the house, where we have yet another bench, there will be an upturned bucket of irrigation fittings on it. Then if you go to the garden shed, where there is - yes - another bench (actually two) - there will be a jar of micro spray jets spread all over the bench. When he runs out of flat surfaces at bench height, he has been known to tip things out on the floor and leave them there too.

Then you come up to the house, where we have a dining table, an island bench and a dresser. Within a week of clearing them off, they will be cluttered with all sorts of paraphernalia left by my wife and two kids (it's never me, you understand).

Yes flat surfaces at my place are like the implied proverbial non-rolling stone.

Originally Posted by silentC

It's not just woodies mate. I share my shed with my Dad and he is worse than me. What he likes to do is get a container of screws or bolts, tip it out on MY bench, fish out the one he wants and then just leave them there. You can follow his progress around the property. If I go to the storage shed under the house, where we have yet another bench, there will be an upturned bucket of irrigation fittings on it. Then if you go to the garden shed, where there is - yes - another bench (actually two) - there will be a jar of micro spray jets spread all over the bench. When he runs out of flat surfaces at bench height, he has been known to tip things out on the floor and leave them there too.

Then you come up to the house, where we have a dining table, an island bench and a dresser. Within a week of clearing them off, they will be cluttered with all sorts of paraphernalia left by my wife and two kids (it's never me, you understand).

Yes flat surfaces at my place are like the implied proverbial non-rolling stone.

lol this is classic... you can eventually follow someones progress around the property.

I have always wanted to build a work bench but I dont think I need one, my combination machine has usable flat surfaces of about 2.2m x 1.5m when everything is folded away, this is huge for a workbench(for me), I dont have to clear everything off the machine when I use the machine because its so wide and long (the planner is 410mm wide), I think its better this way than creating another bench.

I have a small mobile bench which I use mainly for - you guessed it - putting crap on it.