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Please don't misunderstand me.

I do respect Schwarz and all the research he has done about workbenches. I have both his books and I learnt a lot from them.
What I don't like is his style of writing, either in books or in articles. On workbenches, he almost (almost!) managed to convey the idea that if you don't have a Roubo type bench, you can't possibly be taken seriously. At least that's how I see it. And so he managed to convince a lot of people that a Roubo is a must (at least he later recognised he had changed his ideas on some points).

I much prefer Scott Landis "humbler", if I may say so, approach. Basicallty, he proposes to look at the hows and whys of the workbenches of a number of high level pros, and talk about their benches (he even manages to write an entire chapter on the Workmate...). This is an approach that encourages people to think "what are my real needs in what regards a workbench? What am I going to use it for?".

I believe that a workbench must fit the work it is going to be used for, not the other way around. But...who am I to criticise Schwarz?

(I apologise if my English is not up to scratch. Last time I had classes in English was about sixty years ago, and I have worked mostly in a French or Spanish environment. Fortunately I like to read, mostly English, but I know for sure my pronunciation is horrendous)
Your English is way better than most people's. I try to take everything I read(also in English as nothing worth reading is translated to our native language) with a pinch of salt.
I totally agree with you regarding most people not needing a big workbench. The best luthier I know, who's even made guitars for the Beatles works on an old table with no vises and poor lighting.. In fact, we spend hours discussing and reading about machinery and other aspects and I think the only machine he uses is a drill.. Even his scrillsaw is foot powered..
I started building guitar bodies and ended up enjoying building stuff for the shop. Planes, clamps, cabinets, workbenches... Oh and of course, my most important build, a playhouse for my daughter.. I am weird and like overbuilding stuff.. I like to imagine what I build will survive me and reach future generations of weirdos. I know, I know..
 

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