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Part 6 - It's A Bench! With the frame now complete (rails still to be glued/drawbored but ends complete), I could start thinking about putting it all together. First up was preparing the beam that would become the front half of the bench top - the vice was removed and the beam supported on edge...

Part 5 - Glue Up Continuing on... With the end frames ready it was my chance to try some drawboring. Having never done it before, nor having a way to easily make pegs, nor having drawbore pins, I opted for some 12mm oak dowels and hoping for the best. The legs were drilled with a spacer in the...

Part 4 - Building the End Frames With the parts for the end frames all ready, it was time for joinery. I never planned a write up so missed taking photos of some elements but a little head scratching and eventually telling myself to just get on with it, I decided on tenons that were 1/3rd of...

Wow - what a good looking bench!! With the exception of the leg vice its very very similar. How do you find the split top? I wondered if my gap should be bigger - I dont plan to keep the rear edge flush so I have some flexibility in making it wider. My Bessey clamps are around 36mm so won't...

Part 3 - Starting The Build As I mentioned earlier, I had a rough plan and decided to go full hand tools a couple of years ago so before the last machine (bandsaw) went out the door I used it to rip the timbers for the legs, rails and stretchers in half, and then crosscut (by hand) them all to...

Thanks - it could be my terrible 'plans' at fault here but the overall height is 900mm. The legs to the bottom edge of the benchtop are 810mm (840mm overall to allow for the tenon) with a 90mm thick top.

Now then. On to the design. And you'll have to excuse my mixture of imperial and metric units - I tend to think in imperial until we get down to weird fractions when I switch to metric! I had always assumed on having a 6-7ft bench. My 'workshop' is the back half of a single garage so even 7ft...

They were more or less flat but having kicked around a site for a while then sat for years they did end up with some surface dings and damage and weren’t perfectly flat. I took the approach of ensuring it was flat where it mattered (joints and the top) and either left them alone otherwise or got...

I figured it might be time to document (as well as I can) my workbench build if there is any interest? Don't expect fine furniture, truckloads of Beech or perfect joints here! But hopefully it gives people a view of another way to do it and lets me learn from retelling my mistakes!! Around 5-6...

Tibi - I have both books you mention and would recommend them both but as others have said I would go with Wearing first out of the two. Schwarz is an informative and thought provoking read, but you can find similar lists of tools to buy elsewhere as a starting point, whilst Wearing goes further...

Hats off to you for this response - it's refreshing to see someone these days not pursuing sales at any cost. I'll be buying a copy for myself to go under the tree as soon as it goes up!

I totally get the office thing but don't kid yourself into thinking that behaviour doesn't exist in every business. No matter where you go, there will always be people willing to climb over you to get to the top. I've considered the same as you many times - leaving a reasonably well paying job...

Does anyone know what thread the two little bolts that hold the plate above the half nut are? The ones that are Allen head on that photo? Mine appear to be made of cheese

I think it is fitted correct - hard to tell from the descriptions. I’ll try and get another photo later. The notch in the half nut that the strap goes into looks quite worn - I’ll take a photo of that too.

Got an issue with an old Record 53 vice. It tightens up just fine but won’t loosen - when I unwind the handle two things happen. First the handle and moves away from the jaw by a few mm (pin at the other end is there but looks like not enough washers under it). That might be a red herring...

What is wrong with your current setup? MIght be easier to recommend if we understand what you are unhappy with.

Hand tools or machines? Do you have the entire garage or just a bit of it? Do tools need to go away at night to fit a car in or can you setup permanently?

I’m in the process of building my new bench as well (the old one is something of a mongrel and better suited to a bonfire than woodwork!!). I went for flush mounted by chopping a substantial mortise for the vice into the bench top. So far I’m only using it for light work whilst I finish building...

I’ve used the Hermes stuff from Axminster (WoodSmith is also just down the road but I didn’t know they stocked it). My use was primarily for green wood carving tools and axes (I use diamond stones in the workshop). In my experience they cut just fine, last a long time and are nice and thick so...

Yes, I’ve done some of those as well but hadn’t thought to look at the other ones he did.