Power vs. hand tool workbenches

Although I have found woodworkers claiming power and hand tool users demand very specific workbenche, my limited experience doesn't point to that direction.

A Festool workbench looks radically different from a traditional European one but they don't look me so popular among woodworkers, at last at Internet most of them clearly favored traditional models.

I would love to listen about your experience: do you need specific type for workbench if you use (mainly) power or hand tools? Why?

Thanks in advance to help educate me.

I do a fair amount of routing, sanding, and other handheld power tool work on my traditional bench. At the end of the day, if the workbench adequately holds the workpiece then I don’t think it matters if you are routing on an MFT or a roubo. I do much more power tool work, so I made my bench several inches higher than what is standard. This is more taxing on my arms when hand planing a lot, but I have power tools for that grunt work.

The biggest difference is the flip side to what you are asking. You are severely disadvantaged when doing hand tool work on a contemporary worksite bench. I’m pretty sure the MFT would break from heavy handplaning or chopping mortises. Not to mention you would be chasing it around your shop.

For many years I have used a more traditional heavy workbench with a front Record vise and a Veritas twin screw vise on the end. I used it for both hand and power tools although I don't do as much hand tool work as power tool use. Then I purchased a Festool MFT and have found many uses for it. It really is more of a table as compared to a workbench and is smaller and lighter and much easier to make portable if one needs to and can be set up in smaller spaces which may matter to those if they have limited shop space. I use the MFT table more than my primary bench now because of its versatility. Among the things I use if for are for crosscutting, pocket hole drilling, loose tenon machining, edge banding, edge routing and more. The hole array in the top allow for a variety of clamping abilities and also provide many ways to set up a square corner or 45° references by using dogs in the holes. I have shown a number of ways to use this type of table in this thread https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?274763-Assembly-table-with-MFT-top Since the top is constructed of MDF, I don't mind cutting into it whereas I would never want to do that on my maple benchtop.

The more traditional bench (for me) is better if hand planing and for work where higher lateral forces require a more massive and stable bench. They both have their rightful places in a shop if space allows depending on they type of work one does. Fortunately there are now several ways to construct a multi function top with a precise hole array without having to purchase the expensive Festool unit and many folks have built excellent tables and bench versions incorporating those features.

How you use the bench is going to influence what the ideal design is going to be. Heavy hand-tool users exert lateral forces on the structure, so something very solid and not prone to racking while doing that work is very important. When you are taking very fine shavings, the bench moving can have a "not great result". The mass of the bench also helps insure it doesn't slide across the floor when using hand tools. On the other hand, a work surface that is primarily used for things like assembly and very minor hand work largely needs to be flat. With less "pushing around" by tools, the underlying mass doesn't necessarily need to be as stout as with a bench optimized for hand tool use. The type(s) of vices that folks prefer for their work are also going to influence the bench design.

My personal ideal bench is a combination setup which I did with my recent auxiliary bench project for my guitar making. It has some beef due to the use of thicker maple for the majority of the structure and strength for dog holes to use my hold-fasts but also sports some 25mm thick MDF panels with the Festool style 20mm holes on a 96mm grid for the benefits that brings to general woodworking. The cabinet under it doesn't rack at all. I'm going to be replacing my primary bench's work top with a similar, but larger setup and my primary bench also has a feature that for me, is absolutely essential...adjustable height. Being able to have the bench surface at a height that's keyed into what I'm doing makes for better results and a lot more comfort for me physically. It allows me to get the leverage needed for using hand planes while also permitting me to do detail work with less bending. At the same time, the Noden Adjust-A-Bench setup that supports it is surprisingly stable and doesn't rack. I also want mobility so I can adjust space utilization for workflow in my shop. My primary bench has that as does my new auxiliary bench. I don't move them often, but there are times when it's require to support a given project. The wheels for the primary bench are not engaged with the floor unless I'm actually moving it, so that contributes to the stability required for hand tool work.

Jim, would you please post some detailed photos of your set-up?

I do a lot of power tool work on my Frid bench. The dogs and tail vise make it convenient for holding boards for routing and biscuit joining, and the lower height is often handy. Right on the other side of the Frid bench is my 3'x7' assembly/outfield table which is more than beefy enough for hand tool work if need be. I guess it wouldn't occur to me to build a bench not stout enough for hand tool work:)

Would also like to see your bench design Jim, sounds like that would be ideal for the generic stuff I do.

I grew up in a time where wood shop was available for two or three years at high school and most of the work benches were conventional benches designed for heavy hand tool sawing and planing.

I don't consider myself a fine craftsman, maybe that will come in time, so when I built my recent bench, my goal was to have a big flat area with plenty of storage and still be mobile, so I could move it around and get it out of the way when space was needed for other tools.

I decided that the top height should be the same as my table saw, so I could use it as a large indeed support.

I designed the top to be 1.5" thick around all the edges and have a 4" over hang to allow clamping all around the perimeter.

I mounted a wood vise with flush jaws to the top and mounted my metal work vise on a couple of pieces of thick wood, so when that is needed, I can just clamp it in the wood vise.

The top is about 72" x 34". When I need a larger area, I just lay a sheet of 4' x 8' plywood on it.

I have a Festool MFT and like it when cross cutting plywood, but found the crosscut rip width a little short of capacity. So I recently bought the UJK Parf Guide system and built a new top out of MDF that just lays on my bench. This gives me the ability to perfectly cross cut a 36" width, up from the 21" capacity of the MFT.

I also use the large flat area as the base for my miter saw and fence.


https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums...psvpkrlszb.jpg

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums...psczfeejs4.jpg

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums...psvlotsjsk.jpg

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums...psjib4unpa.jpg


https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums...pskls3h8xb.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPy5fkNf_98

Chris, I really like that setup with the giant "MFT" type top!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jack Frederick

Jim, would you please post some detailed photos of your set-up?

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New auxiliary bench is in this thread and looks like this:

Attachment 419683

Current primary bench setup is as in this photo (looks small because of the pano-perspective, but is 60"x30"), but as noted I'm working on a design for a new top that is more in line with what my needs have become. (and also flat...this one inadvertently has too much "stray metal" in it to flatten with hand-planes.

Attachment 419682

More recent view showing both benches