# Richard Maguire workbench



## charlibalv (23 Jun 2015)

Hi, has anyone any experience of Richard Maguire workbenches. I built my last one myself, a Frank Klausz style bench, but following an operation on my right shoulder I dont think I can manage the weight any more. So I thought about Richard Maguires 'Workhorse' bench. Its not cheap but the minister of finance has said she would view it as a wedding anniversery gift. So has any one on the forum used his benches or know someone who has.


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## undergroundhunter (23 Jun 2015)

I haven't got one or used one but all I know is Richard is a true gent and supplies only the best.

Matt


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## AndyT (23 Jun 2015)

^^^ Like Matt said!


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## Andy Kev. (23 Jun 2015)

I got an Maguire Artisan workbench over a year ago (due to an unexpected excess of funds) and it is simply tip top. It's the definition of down to earth no nonsense quality made to the highest standards and there's no higher praise which I can give than that.


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## custard (23 Jun 2015)

I fitted a Maguire tail vice to a bench that I made and I take my hat off to his craftsmanship...beautifully made and finished.


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## Scouse (24 Jun 2015)

My bench is a Maguire Workhorse, although it was bought in 2010 and I think he has tweaked the design a bit since then. Mine is 7 foot long and has a 24 inch double screw vice as opposed to the leg vice and doesn't have the central flip stop. He didn't make the wagon vice at the time, and it came with a record 52 1/2 vice on the tail, but I don't use tail vices so I took it off. A couple of hold fasts (mine were made by Richard, so needless to say are treasured) and it does all I ask.

All I can say about it is that it's the best money I have spent on equipment. Absolutely rock solid, took 4 of us to carry it 20 yards to the workshop, none of us small (I'm 6' 2" 20 stone rugby second row!), and we still had to put it down for a minute half way!

Five years on and used professionally every day, it doesn't get an easy life but apart from a few dings and scratches etc it still looks great.

Richard and Helen were a pleasure to deal with, and if I ever need a second bench they will be my first call.


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## Paddy Roxburgh (24 Jun 2015)

You say you can't manage the weight of your current bench with your shoulder, do you have to move your bench? If so I reckon the Richard Maguire bench will be quite heavy, it's made of ash, he even says "‘The Workhorse’ has an extremely heavy weight and substantial base" on his site. 
Paddy


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## charlibalv (24 Jun 2015)

Thanks for the replies, from the research I had done online I thought they should be very good. It's great to get that confirmed by real users, thanks guys.

Paddy, once in I dont expect to have to move it. As for my shoulder its not so much a one off but the repatative heavy lifting needed when making a new banch that may agrivate the shoulder.


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## Paddy Roxburgh (24 Jun 2015)

Gotcha, 
bench looks amazing, I've only recently come across Richard Maguire, I really like his videos


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## vally bar (25 Jun 2015)

You would have to be insane to pay £3000 + for a bench or incompetent at basic woodwork (the empoures clothes springs to mind)


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## Phil Pascoe (25 Jun 2015)

Lovely as they are that was my thought - if you need one, you're capable of making one.


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## DTR (26 Jun 2015)

phil.p":2uyhe3v3 said:


> Lovely as they are that was my thought - if you need one, you're capable of making one.



I think certain people would prefer to spend their time building furniture rather than a workshop tool. And if they have the money to spend, who are we to tell them what to spend them on? It's a bit like the argument between buying a new top-brand plane or a second-hand Stanley.


(I'll pipe down now and go play with my home-made bench and bootsale planes...)


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## Adam9453 (26 Jun 2015)

vally bar":3t0alww9 said:


> You would have to be insane to pay £3000 + for a bench or incompetent at basic woodwork (the empoures clothes springs to mind)



The OP has explained his shoulder injury will prohibit him from making it, not inexperience. I would politely suggest you guys read the previous posts more thoroughly before chipping in. Also like DTR said, its his money to spend.


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## Phil Pascoe (26 Jun 2015)

My comment was a general reference to the purchasers of the bench, not really meant to be specific to the op's needs, although I wonder why he needs a bench that heavy when he can't work heavy timber. It's a little extreme for doing your marquetry on, although of course everyone can do as they wish with their own money.


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## JohnPW (26 Jun 2015)

The op wasn't that clear to me, I thought "couldn't manage the weight any more" meant moving a workbench rather than building a new one.

From http://www.rm-workbenches.co.uk/html/th ... enches.htm:


> Some simple assembly is required and full instructions are provided


which I think will involve some lifting of at least the bench top, which could weigh several tens of kg.

When I first opened that page and glance at the price of the "basic" bench I thought it was £125.00, which seems quite reasonable...I looked again...add another nought to that!

Come off it, of course workbenches that cost £2,500 to £3,000 should weight at least 100kg and be completely solid and be perfect in every way, at those prices you wouldn't expect anything less.


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## scotty38 (26 Jun 2015)

He also said one off lifting is ok, it's repetitive lifting that's the issue....

Anyway, nothing wrong with spending good money on nice things and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if it weren't for the fact that at my current skill level it'd be a bit like having a Ferrari but not being able to drive....


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## Andy Kev. (27 Jun 2015)

phil.p":2u9kl4si said:


> Lovely as they are that was my thought - if you need one, you're capable of making one.



I think it's easy for the experienced and thus skilled to forget what it is like to be a beginner. I ordered my Maguire workbench about 6 months into my woodworking career, having become frustrated at chasing a workmate 1 1/2 miles around the room every time I used a plane bigger than a block plane. I realised I needed a proper workbench. So I bought a book on making them and had a go. My planing skills just were not good enough and having wasted a fair bit of wood I researched a bit more and then placed my order.

Nowadays I'm quite happy taking a 4 foot rough board and planing it to square on all six sides and I'm now fairly confident that I could actually make a bench as you indicate. The problem is that I needed a bench to acquire my planing skills (which is a bit like riding a bike: once you've got it you can't quite remember what it was like not to be able to do it). The next big stage of development for me is to get my sawing sorted out. So far it is proving to be a harder skill to acquire. At least I can practise that using the vice on a first class bench.


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## CStanford (27 Jun 2015)

Alan Peters used purchased workbenches his entire career. Nothing wrong with it. He obviously had better things to do with his shop time, as do a lot of people.

One's magnum opus probably shouldn't be a workbench or other shop fittings and fixtures.


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## Zeddedhed (27 Jun 2015)

Personally I'd say that getting a bench with decent work holding is more important than how you go about getting it. If you've got the dosh and you don't mind spending it then buy one - fair play.

If you haven't got the dosh then make one as quick as you can so you can get started - 4 x 2, ply or MDF in a couple of layers, a handful of gold screws and some glue and you're off and running once you find a second hand vice.

If you like making benches then make one as nice as you want.

Either way is fine but a bench is a tool - nothing more and nothing less.


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## Droogs (28 Jun 2015)

CStanford":1qz2xq9u said:


> One's magnum opus probably shouldn't be a workbench or other shop fittings and fixtures.



Unless your name is Richard Mcguire :lol:


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## Mr_P (28 Jun 2015)

Droogs":rg7sel2n said:


> CStanford":rg7sel2n said:
> 
> 
> > One's magnum opus probably shouldn't be a workbench or other shop fittings and fixtures.
> ...



Does the English Woodworker have a distant Scottish relation making benches North of the border ?


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## Droogs (28 Jun 2015)

Funny you should say that. i just happen to be making a new bench in maple and good scottish elm. wish i was related then i might have got the Mcguire family "bench making" gene instead of the hamster bedding one i seem to have inherited


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## CStanford (28 Jun 2015)

Droogs":i0idwf2s said:


> CStanford":i0idwf2s said:
> 
> 
> > One's magnum opus probably shouldn't be a workbench or other shop fittings and fixtures.
> ...



Well, with the obvious exception of making them as a line of business I should have said. I'm sure Alan Peters himself would have been pleased to own one.


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## charlibalv (5 Jul 2015)

Just to say I have orderd a Maguire workbench (a 'Workhorse') should be ready in about 8 to 10 weeks. The for those sceptical about buying a bench rather than making my own I, have piece of my coller bone missing and cannot support large heavy objects shuch as the top of a workbench any more.


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## Jacob (5 Jul 2015)

DTR":1o2ovj4e said:


> phil.p":1o2ovj4e said:
> 
> 
> > Lovely as they are that was my thought - if you need one, you're capable of making one.
> ...


True - it wouldn't make the slightest difference to your woodwork whichever you have. But think of the wood you could buy with the savings!

These are good. Almost a quarter of the price. Or easy DIY for less than £100 I would have thought
http://www.artisancoshop.com/eu/product ... bench.html
Basically the trad bench as used by millions throughout the trade and in schools and colleges for the last 100 years or so. Now unfashionable for no good reason.

Must be good; just like mine! Except mine is bigger + 2 vices


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## woodbrains (5 Jul 2015)

Jacob":2jc3r5yk said:


> True - it wouldn't make the slightest difference to your woodwork whichever you have. But think of the wood you could buy with the savings!
> 
> These are good. Almost a quarter of the price. Or easy DIY for less than £100 I would have thought
> http://www.artisancoshop.com/eu/product ... bench.html
> ...



Hello,

Funny, but for a quarter the cost of the Maguire bench, they look about 1/10 as good! Nearly 900 quid for a fairly low grade pine joiner bench; not value for money. Of course you can work on one well enough, but I know what I'd prefer.

Mike.


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## Jacob (5 Jul 2015)

woodbrains":10tyxvyc said:


> .....
> 
> Funny, but for a quarter the cost of the Maguire bench, they look about 1/10 as good! Nearly 900 quid for a fairly low grade pine joiner bench; not value for money. Of course you can work on one well enough, but I know what I'd prefer.
> 
> Mike.


Yes I agree they look 1/10th as good but in fact they are 100% as good (give or take a few details). 
Being fashionable is pricey!

PS and I feel the Record vice is almost certainly much more useful and better value than those retro-styled leg vices


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## Racers (5 Jul 2015)

It will be flopping about like beer garden picnic table in a couple of weeks, as there seems to only be one coach bolt to stop the legs racking.

Pete


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## Jacob (5 Jul 2015)

Racers":1akpbplp said:


> It will be flopping about like beer garden picnic table in a couple of weeks, as there seems to only be one coach bolt to stop the legs racking.
> 
> Pete


The usual thing is to house the legs in the apron. If not then the top rail would also have to be fixed somehow, in addition to the bolt through the leg.
I expect Sellers and co will have thought of something sensible!


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## Racers (5 Jul 2015)

Nothing visible even when zooming in to the in progress pictures.

Pete


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## Paddy Roxburgh (5 Jul 2015)

Pete, assuming these are made the same as in Paul Sellers videos the legs are prevented from racking by tapered housings with a wedge driven in. The coachbolt only serves to hold the leg in the housing not to prevent racking. It's a good system as any racking causes the wedge to drop and tighten, and it can be easily taken apart. I made a bench like this a couple of years ago and it is solid as a rock.
Having said that if money was no object I thing I'd buy Richards, unfortunately money is a big object so I made one out of construction 4x2s. To me its pretty posh compared to the 25mm ply under 25mm mdf screwed onto a frame sat on a load of ex school drawers that we work on at the dock, nail/screw stops, drill holes for hold downs cut and chisel into at will, every couple of years we replace the mdf, I find the responsibility of a homemade pine english workbench a bit stressful, not sure how I'd cope with a 3 grand bench, then again if money was no object......
Paddy


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## Racers (5 Jul 2015)

You would thought they'd have featured that in the photos. 

Pete


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## matthewwh (5 Jul 2015)

Nothing wrong with a pine bench at all, a well designed and made one would see a teenager out and Paul's ethos of making woodworking realistically accessible to as many people as possible is admirable. He is also the first to recommend that those who can build their own bench should do so.

I've not seen one of Paul's benches in the flesh, but in fairness you're probably paying about the same rate for the time and labour involved, compare the prices of pine 4 x 2s and seasoned ash/oak in 6 x 6 and bigger! 

Richard has taken a more 'in for a penny, in for a pound' approach and done everything as well / solidly / sturdily as humanly possible. I have used one of his benches and it was like the foundations of a cathedral. A Maguire will last for centuries, serving the last man as well as the first and like most things that are an exceptional example of their type, will quite probably increase in value over time.


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## Paddy Roxburgh (5 Jul 2015)

According to this article http://blog.lostartpress.com/2013/09/22 ... d-maguire/ Richard Maguire spent most of his time at a woodworking show where his benches were for sale encouraging people not to buy them but to make their own. His woodworking philosophy, from what I have seen on his videos, is very similar to Paul Sellers, minimal tools (not something you should necessarily be encouraging Matthew) and simple traditional designs. I've only discovered him recently and really like what I have seen. 
I often find there is a disconnect when you want to make "the best" as Richards workbenches seem to be, in that you end up making things that you could not afford to buy yourself. I could not afford to pay me to work on my boats, luckily I do it for myself for free.


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## Jacob (5 Jul 2015)

matthewwh":2zwksgx1 said:


> Nothing wrong with a pine bench at all, a well designed and made one would see a teenager out and Paul's ethos of making woodworking realistically accessible to as many people as possible is admirable. He is also the first to recommend that those who can build their own bench should do so.
> 
> I've not seen one of Paul's benches in the flesh, but in fairness you're probably paying about the same rate for the time and labour involved, compare the prices of pine 4 x 2s and seasoned ash/oak in 6 x 6 and bigger!
> 
> Richard has taken a more 'in for a penny, in for a pound' approach and done everything as well / solidly / sturdily as humanly possible. I have used one of his benches and it was like the foundations of a cathedral. A Maguire will last for centuries, serving the last man as well as the first and like most things that are an exceptional example of their type, will quite probably increase in value over time.


Hmm I don't think the wood thread leg vice would last (or work) too well - that really is a sacrifice of function for style.

A pine bench would last the life of a woodworker, given normal use and dry conditions. What is there to wear out?
Mine's been going strong for 40 years and will see me out. A lot of joinery done on it, much heavier use than for furniture.


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## mouppe (6 Jul 2015)

I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of Richard's workbenches. I built my own workbench close to ten years ago, and the lumber alone cost me about C$1000. I had no heavy tools to speak of, so I paid the lumber yard a little extra to mill the wood close to final dimension. Vices cost another $300 or so. And I am sure that lumber here is half the cost of lumber in the UK. 

Putting cost to one side, and also the difficulty that you need a bench to build a bench so-to-speak, maybe I'd like to spend my time building other things than yet another workbench? It's a fairly easy project unless you want to make it unnecessarily fancy, but very laborious and hard on the back. As a comparison the Lie Nielsen large workbench in maple is $3500.


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## Jacob (6 Jul 2015)

mouppe":2koahnrt said:


> I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of Richard's workbenches. I built my own workbench close to ten years ago, and the lumber alone cost me about C$1000. I had no heavy tools to speak of, so I paid the lumber yard a little extra to mill the wood close to final dimension. Vices cost another $300 or so. And I am sure that lumber here is half the cost of lumber in the UK. ....


The basic trad bench materials shouldn't cost more than £100 in redwood and Record vices are available 2nd hand for about £30 (£100 ish new).

By all means indulge in steam punk fantasy woodwork if that's what turns you on: benches built like stonehenge, heavy tools bristling with brass knobs, heavy blades made out of mysterious steels from the planet Tharg (PMT 911 etc), huge matching sets of shiny chisels with mirror flat polished faces, saws with incredibly curly gothic handles (don't poke your eye out!), fantastical sharpening regimes involving diamonds & rouge (silk stockings?), power tools like spacecraft, hand tooled leather tool belts/pouches with huge brass buckles and rhinestones 
But if you just want to do woodwork you don't need any of this.


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## Phil Pascoe (6 Jul 2015)

Reminds me of the old prayer - O Lord give me want I need, not what I want ...


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## No skills (6 Jul 2015)

Seems as if building something relatively simple has become rather hard work for everybody, I can understand medical conditions hindering lifting things and maybe using some tools but surely everybody here isnt injured?

I would even go so far to say that knocking up a useable bench should be a quick(ish) fun project, am I that far wrong?


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## MIGNAL (6 Jul 2015)

We are all injured my friend. Life has a way of inflicting trauma. Before long you are suffering the ailment of woodworkers fetishism, a rather serious and debilitating condition. Just as well I built my Pine workbench 30 years ago. There's no way I could build one now, far too many of life's open wounds.


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## No skills (6 Jul 2015)

very good Mignal.

I think having the ability to remove ones head from ones buttocks is something that should be taught in school, we all get too caught up in somethings some times and cant see the softwood bench from the maple roubo.
I am quite guilty of this with tool purchases...


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