Book Review: The Workbench Design Book / Schwarz
I ordered Christopher Schwarz's latest tome, The Workbench Design Book: The Art & Philosophy of Building Better Benches, and I just finished reading it a couple of days ago, so I thought I'd share.
First off, I did something I rarely do with woodworking books. I read it from cover-to-cover, and I'm glad I did. But more on that later. And don't let the words "Art" and "Philosophy" in the subtitle fool you. This is not some touchy-feely romp into existential woodworking angst. This is a nuts and bolts look at bench building. If it makes you feel better, substitute the terms "How" and "Why" in the the subtitle, because that's really all Schwarz talking about.
In Chapter One, the introduction, he explains that the impetus for this new workbench book was a grumpy old man who was disappointed by Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use, because there were only two bench plans. He wanted at least a dozen designs from which to choose. This new book covers nine different bench builds from start to finish and a tenth plan for a proposed build that had not been undertaken at the time of printing. In addition, there are chapters on bench upgrades, tool racks, knockdown options, the latest (and I mean the latest) advances in workholding. Schwarz must have been researching and writing right up until the deadline.
The introduction is followed by "18 Principles for Building Workbenches" that he has gleaned from his research and experiences. Although he acknowledges that he has never be able to work all eighteen into a single bench he does refer back to them throughout the rest of the book.
If you have been following all of the various bench builds going on at Popular Woodworking over the last few years then you are already very familiar with most of the specimens covered, such as Schwarz's Roubo, the Holtzapffel, Megan Fitzpatrick's LVL (Gluebo), Glen Huey's Shaker, etc. If this is you, you may ask yourself, "Why, then, do I need this book?" Well, you may not. However, one advantage I see is that you would have all of those various options in one handy reference. What's more, in the introduction Schwarz expresses the hope that by examining all of these plans and learning what "makes them tick" that you will choose not to build any of them, but design your own bench. To aid in this effort each build is followed by a two page critique discussing what the builder may have changed since the original build and what works well and not so well and why. Schwarz explains the advantages and disadvantages of every standard component and why you might or might not want to include a certain feature or appliance in a design. He addresses issues with which most of us struggle such as bench height, wood choices, vice & workholding choices, etc. But the key throughout the whole book is "choices."
The builds are not covered in excruciating detail, so novice woodworkers might get a little overwhelmed or frustrated, but there is enough detail so that anyone who is already familiar with basic woodworking should be able to follow each build reasonably well. Certain aspects of bench building such as how to do a draw-bore or aligning the holes for bench bolts are covered in greater detail and multiple times throughout the text.
Also, there is a chapter of critiques of common bench designs that can be found on the Web. Reading from cover-to-cover some of the information became very repetitive. By the time I made it to this chapter I was so familiar with the 18 Principles from the previous critiques that I felt that the chapter was really overkill. However, in taking a moment to reflect I realized that 1) "Repetition is the Mother of Learning," and 2) the repetition allows each chapter to stand on its own, if need be. For me, the real value in reading it through was that it brought me closer to designing and building my own bench by making informed decisions, in accordance with the author's wishes.
This is the book that, like the grumpy old man, I was hoping that Schwarz's first workbench book was going to be. I strongly recommend The Workbench Design Book to anyone who is considering a bench build. I think it will quickly take a place beside The Workbench Book: A Craftsman's Guide to Workbenches for Every Type of Woodworking by Scott Landis and The Workbench: A Complete Guide to Creating Your Perfect Bench by Lon Schleining as a go to resource on the topic.
Cheers,
Charles
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Originally Posted by Jay Runde
