Rethinking the Workbench

8 ideas to make your bench work harder

a lthough the tablesaw is often cited as the center of the workshop, the workbench
is where most of the action happens. For sharpening, handwork, sanding,
assembling, and finishing, everyone needs a flat, solid surface to work on. But
workbenches vary widely, as do the myriad ways our readers accessorize them. This
special collection of reader ideas centers on the workbench, from the surface itself to
everything that happens there.
Whether you are dreaming up a new bench or looking to improve the one you have,
you are likely to find some great ideas here.

Use a gluelam beam to make a flat, forgiving benchtop

W hile builders were constructing a combined

garage and workshop at my house, I was
building my first workbench. Looking closely at
Thick gluelam beam,
designed for interior use

the laminated beams they were using, I saw my

first benchtop. I went to the local lumberyard
and purchased a 6-ft.-long portion of a laminated
beam designed for interior use. It was much less
expensive than purchasing similar lumber for
laminating the top myself, not to mention the many
hours of labor saved. While various dimensions are
available, including widths up to 24 in., my beam/
benchtop is 14 in. wide and 3-1⁄2 in. thick. Adding a
tool tray is an easy way to expand the width. While
most gluelam beams are softwood, I don’t mind the
nicks and dents it collects, plus I like the forgiving
nature of the surface. Beam can be used on its own,
have tall aprons glued on the
— P eT er M il l er , l it t le r oc k , A r k . edges to add depth and width,
or sit on a subtop as shown here.

48 FIne WOODWORKInG Photos provided by the contributors; drawings: Christopher Mills

COPYRIGHT 2018 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted. • Fine Woodworking #268 - May/June 2018
Simple, solid box helps with handwork
Box, made of MDF,

I ’m new to dovetailing, and before I made particleboard, or

plywood, assembled
a grand investment in a leg vise or Moxon with glue and screws
vise, I decided to try my own home brew.
I made this simple but effective jig with
scraps of particleboard and some wood
strips. The four pieces of particleboard
form a basic box, with one side left
long to hang down and register the
jig against the front of the bench.
I glued wood strips along the front
edge of the two working faces
of the box. A couple of C-clamps
attach the box to the bench.
Once I had built the jig, I found it
useful for all sorts of hand-tool operations.
To clamp a workpiece vertically for
dovetailing or tenoning, for example, you
just push the workpiece against the
molding strip and secure it in seconds
with Quick-Grip clamps. The workpiece is
perfectly vertical and extremely stable. Wood strips,
tacked and glued
It works just as well for clamping on, for aligning
pieces horizontally, for chopping dovetails workpieces

or routing, bringing the action to a more

comfortable height in the process. And it
really shines when lining up a tails board
with a pins board to transfer the layout from Online Extra
To see a few of these tips in action,
one to the other. Attach box to bench
with C-clamps. go to FineWoodworking.com/268.
—S TeVe FA r NoW, S an diego, C alif.

M ay / J u n e 2 0 1 8 49
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 Dumbbell bars create
a cheap Moxon vise

I ’ve been wanting a Moxon vise but have

hesitated to spend the money on some of
the beautiful Moxon hardware out there. I’m
not crazy about the makeshift alternatives I’ve
seen either. Stumbling around in the garage
one day, I saw some discarded dumbbell bars
with acme threading and large lock collars on
the ends and thought how similar they were Threaded dumbbell bar, with
Plywood spacers seat weight stop ground off front end
to twin-screw hardware. After 15 minutes at against weight stop
the bench grinder, removing one of the weight- at rear and support
rear jaw.
plate stops on each bar, I had my hardware.
I made some simple spacers and then made
the vise jaws as you would for any Moxon
vise. The jaws will open to about 3 in. and
hold tightly and securely, even at 24 in.
long. The nuts spin freely and with
a little momentum will close
on the fly just like the high-
priced version. The dumbbell
bars sell for about $20 on
the web but are a dime a
dozen at thrift stores and
Jaws, solid hardwood,
on Craigslist, etc. With a bit milled straight and square,
more work and creativity, I think at least 24 in. long
the dumbbell bars will also work
for a leg vise and other workbench Dumbbell nuts
Rear jaw is 2 in. tighten front jaw
fixtures. on workpiece.
longer at each
—reX Bo S T roM , S weet Hom e, or e. end, with large
hole for clamping.

50 FIne WOODWORKInG

COPYRIGHT 2018 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted. • Fine Woodworking #268 - May/June 2018
 Easy way to divide and organize drawers

I build a lot of drawers in my shop to store all my

wonderful tools, including under my workbench. But a
drawerful of tools and supplies will become a mess in no
time without some kind of organizer. I keep the entropy
at bay with a simple system of custom dividers, held in
place with hot-melt glue. I use 1⁄4-in. plywood, which is
cheap and easily cut to lengths and heights convenient
for every application. The hot glue goes on fast and lets
you start loading the drawer in seconds. Any time an
adjustment is needed, a little bit of force will break the
divider out. Fast, cheap, strong enough to serve, yet
weak enough to remove without damage—it’s perfect!
— C HA S e HA NS el , M elb our ne, F l a .

Carver’s clamp allows access from all sides Round post,

made from

I carve all sorts of objects, including some recent tuataras (a New Zealand
lizard; see photo at top right) in tough black beech burl. This simple bench
clamp works for most of them, letting me attack the work from almost any
disks sawn
on bandsaw

angle and reposition the blank within seconds. The post attaches to the
carving with yellow glue, and is clamped in the two halves of a holding
Post usually just
block, with force provided by any workbench vise. (You can add screws glued to bottom of
to strengthen the joint but I haven’t found that necessary in most workpiece, but has
counterbored holes
cases.) Release the vise and the workpiece can be turned 360°; by in bottom so it can be
tilting the holding block in the vise, you can angle the workpiece up screwed as needed.
to 30° to allow undercutting. Tighten the vise handle again, and the
carving is rock solid.
You’ll need a lathe to turn the post, but the rest of the construction
is simple. You could turn the post from one block, but for a long-
grain glue joint with the carving, I cut disks on the bandsaw to about
3-1⁄2 in. dia., glued them in a stack, and turned the post from that. In
fact I turned a few posts, sized for various carvings. I counterbore
and drill the posts for screws as needed. To make the holding block,
I just traced the post on two pieces of 2x4 lumber, and bandsawed the
matching half-circles. After carving, you can remove the post from the
workpiece with a handsaw and clean up the cut faces with a sander. 2x4 jaws cradle
— J oHN F r Y, r i c h m o n d , N e w Z e a l a n d post and allow quick
re-positioning.

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COPYRIGHT 2018 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted. • Fine Woodworking #268 - May/June 2018
 Turn your workbench into a wide jointer
Router sled fits

I came across some rough

16-in.-wide walnut boards, far too
big for my jointer. Inspired by the
Base of sled is slotted for
a large, straight router bit.
base of router
and fits over rails.

jig Nick Offerman uses to surface

big slabs (FWW #222), I created a Long slots allow
adjustment.
simplified version that sets up in
minutes, with simple boards that
are jointed straight and attached
to the front and back edge of my
workbench, and a slightly simplified
version of Offerman’s sled.
The rear board is attached
permanently with bolts and clamp
handles, and takes just a few
seconds to raise. I clamp a second
board to the front and measure to
be sure the ends of both boards are
the same height off the bench. My
Rails are straight, stable boards
benchdogs make it easy to lock the attached to edges of benchtop, using
lumber in place, and I wedge under front vise plus bolts and clamp knobs.
the board, if necessary, to keep
it level and stable. Then, just like
Offerman, I load a fat straight bit in
the router, zip the router back and
forth on the sled, and the wide board
comes out dead flat. If it will fit in
my planer at that point, I surface the
other side that way; if not, I just flip
the board and use the jig again. On
my bench I can flatten anything up to
25 in. wide and 6 ft. long.
—Jo S HUA CS eHA K , Bos t on, M as s .

52 FIne WOODWORKInG

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 DIY benchdogs work perfectly

M
Square notch at top ost shopmade benchdogs employ bullet-catch
of dog for secure
grip on workpiece hardware or spring steel to create some friction
in the dog hole so that they can be adjusted up
and down without dropping out of reach. I found an
easier answer for my benchdogs. I used rubber spline
material left over from repairing window screens,
setting it in a sawkerf to create the perfect amount of
friction. I started with a dowel that was 3⁄4 in. dia. (the
same as my dog holes) by 3 ft. long, using the extra
length as a way to keep a safe, firm grip on the dowel.
A standard-kerf (0.125 in.) blade worked perfectly for
the spline material. I cut the slot to a depth between
3
⁄32 in. and 1⁄8 in., pushing the first 7 in. of the dowel
over the blade, trapped between the rip fence and
a featherboard, with a zero-clearance insert below.
Then I tilted the dowel up out of the cut. Last I sawed
Standard 1⁄8-in. Rubber window- the little notch at the tip of the dog, cut it to length,
kerf cut on screen spline
tablesaw, using fits tightly in and tapped the spline into place with a hammer.
push stick and notch and sticks —A dam Wag n e r , P l y m o u th , Mi c h .
featherboard out slightly.

Metal scoop helps you sort through small parts

H ere is a gadget I put together the other day that I should have made years ago. I
am always sorting through nails, screws, nuts, and bolts, and I’m tired of dumping
them out on the bench, losing some off the edge or down a dog hole, and then having
to round them up afterward. It’s a tedious, awkward process. This simple shopmade
scoop is both tray and funnel, helping me fan out small parts for a closer look and then
dump them smoothly back into the container they belong in. You might already have
the materials you need. Any piece of stiff sheet metal will work, with a cheap door
handle. The scoop is 12 in. long by 7 in. wide at the big end and 1-1⁄2 in. wide at the
funnel end. The sides taper from 3 in. high at the funnel end to 1⁄2 in. at the back. It
sure speeds things up in my shop.
—N e i l L o n g , Mo u n d C i ty, Mo .
Scoop, sheet metal, 12 in.
Funnel end, 11⁄2 in. wide long by 8 in. wide
Scoop end,
with sides 3 in. tall 7 in. wide
with sides
1
⁄2 in. tall

Cheap metal door

handle, bolted on

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COPYRIGHT 2018 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted. • Fine Woodworking #268 - May/June 2018