(note - I'm going to poke a little fun at 'pretty' hardwood benches here - it's not meant as an indictment of anyone's bench, and not intended to offend. It's meant to be humorous... I like gorgeous hardwood benches as much as anyone; but sometimes I think we can convey the wrong idea about benches by only posting the multi-species fine furniture style benches.)
OK - I know, I know - the world needs another workbench build thread right now like it needs more Lindsay Lohan exposés - so I won’t go through the build process. I promise. It’s basically a Roubo as Schwarz writes up in his book.
I am, however, going to tell you why my new workbench kicks my pretty, old, over-achiever workbench's butt and sends it home to mommy blubbering, teary, and without its milk money.
So anyway, here is my new bench. She's not especially pretty (though she's not ugly either) but she knows how to treat a woodworker!
A few thoughts on what is so sweeeet about this bench, and why you can't have it.
1) Doug fir is a great bench wood. Super stiff, good density, and cheap. It does dent pretty easily, but that's a plus as far as I’m concerned – it means the bench will dent before whatever I'm working on. It’s flat, but it’s not smooth, so it has a little friction advantage for holding stock. It’s also unfinished. Completely. So far, not so much as a coat of paste wax. I’m not sure I’ll be able to stick to that strategy (it means I can’t do ANY gluing on the bench) but for now I’m committed to trying it out.
2) Size - I had to rearrange my whole shop to do it, but I finally squeezed an 8-foot bench in, and managed to get three sides accessible for working. 8 feet is ten times as big as 70-inchs (the length of the old bench) and I don't need no math to tell me otherwise.
3) two words: bench. crafted. - well, maybe it's actually one word. I don't know. Anyway - it's the vises, stupid.
First – the tail vise: Why is it so awesome? Because it incorporates all the good bits of a classic tail vise, but it doesn't sag, it operates really really quickly, and it doesn't sag. It’s basically a really well-designed wagon vise, and with a traveling nut instead of a traveling screw. That’s nice, because it means you don’t need a lot of excess space at the end of the bench. And to the best of my knowledge, it is the only complete wagon vise solution currently (and maybe ever) available for purchase. The hardware is seriously beefy, and seriously smooth. It’s just Well Built. Plus, and this is a BIG plus, you can actually WORK on the right corner of the bench without fear that the tail vise is going to sag . Why? . Because this vise doesn't sag.
Last night I did some dovetailing. When it came time to chop the waste – do you know what I did? I put the board in between the dogs, and I chopped the waste. No complicated clamp and holdfast arrangements - I just clamped, chopped, unclamped, flipped, and chopped some more.. And can you guess what the vise DIDN'T do??? Yeah - you guessed it: SAG.
And as far as I can tell, I suspect this vise is pretty much immune to sagging. Did I mention that already? Yup – this is the ultimate wagon vise – and for my money it’s the ultimate tail vise in general.
Glide Leg vise: what can I say about this. If you've seen the video for it, all I can tell you is that it's completely accurate. You just give that wheel a spin like your name was Vanna, and whoosh! Next thing you know your workpiece is locked in.
When I talked to Jameel about it, he told me that he’s still getting used to the fact that the vise really doesn't need any torque at all 99% of the time. I've been putting that to the test, and I couldn't agree more. Set the parallel guide pin, give the wheel the old Vanna spin, watch it lock down and go to work. No handles to rotate, no vowels to buy. Releasing is just as easy.
There are two indispensable bits of innovation in the Glide: the first is the parallel guide support rollers, which mean this thing literally floats along in the horizontal plane. A seriously cool idea. The second is the 'Acetal' bushing that keeps the vise screw stable. It keeps the vise laterally stable, but with almost zero friction. The combination of these two features is what makes the glide glide, and why that handwheel is capable of 10X more torque than you'd ever need.
I knew how incredible the vises were when I ordered them. But what did surprise me, actually, was how easy they are to install. Jameel's instructions are ludicrously complete, including outstanding templates, a video or two, and page upon page of photos, step-by-steps, and recommendations.
So complete, in fact, that I did one of those “dumb ideas” we all know you shouldn’t do: I cut all the pieces, and did all the prep for these vises before the hardware arrived.
Let me be perfectly clear that I DO NOT recommend this. It's a dumb idea. You know it, and I know it. Nonetheless, that's what I did... what can I say? I'm a risk-taker.
And you know what? It all went off without a hitch.
These things are incredibly precisely made - but one of the advantages of that precision, is that they really are forgiving about installation. You CAN screw the installation up, but if you take your time and follow the instruction guide (make sure you print the templates at the right scale) they're remarkably easy to get working, and working really well.
As with anything this great, there is a price. In this case, that price is – well… the price. I think they’re well worth every penny, and as someone well aware that my vises are probably the most used tools I own, I have zero qualms about the expense - but it costs money to make small runs of such high-tolerance gear; and I know that cost is not something all of us can swing.
So here's my recommendation - if you can afford it, buy a vise (or both) from Benchcrafted - it's money you won't regret.
But even if you can't afford them, spend a bit of time really looking at what he's put into the design. Some of the ideas he's implemented are worthy additions to ANY hardware. I don't really think re-creating the Glide is very feasible (or cost effective) with cheaper hardware, but if cheaper hardware is what you can afford, you might want to consider borrowing from Jameel's roller guide concept. And making a wagon vise from an inexpensive acme screw and wooden parts may not get you as smooth or robust a vise as the BC tail vise, but it will still get you a lot further than any other wagon vise solution you can buy!
So there you have it. Best workbench ever? I don’t know. But it is without a doubt the best one I’ve ever used. And the more I use it, the more I like it.
So tell your Trophy Bloodwood and Hard Maple Euro-bench to be wary – if it wants to keep its milk money and its self-respect, it best keep out of my neighborhood
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