Thread: The things kids ask

It is quite simple, really. No, the answer is not 42! It is to do with whether you are left or right handed when planing a piece of timber held in a vice.

If you are left handed like me, you hold the rear handle of the plane in your left hand, and the knob at the front in your right. So the natural tendency is to go from left to right when planing a piece of timber If the timber to be planed was clamped in a vice on the left side of the bench, you could not naturally plane it without stepping well to the left of the bench - ie outside the normal bench work area.

Hence my vice is on the right side of my bench. For planing long board by hand, I start in the middle of the bench and work out towards the right end of the bench where the vice is located.

Not all workbenches are clear of obstructions each end. If the vice is on the left of the bench, I could start on the left side of the timber and work towards the centre of the bench, but in my case, that end of the bench is up against a wall, and it would be quite uncomfortable When positioning the bench, lefties like to have the right hand side of the bench clear of obstructions, and the vice on the right.