Swiss Army Knife Work Benches

[dan sherman]

I think a Schwarz quote is relevant here.

“Every piece of lumber has three kinds of surfaces: edges, faces and ends. A good workbench should be able to hold your lumber so you can easily work on these three kinds of surfaces. Any bench that falls short of this basic requirement will hold you back as your woodworking skills advance.”

What Schwarz doesn't mention is that the scale of your projects has a drastic effect on what work holding devices you use. If only ever make small boxes you might only need a face vise, but if you go to make a bed, that leg vise and sliding dead man might be really handy.

[Prashun Patel]

What's a sticking board, Zach? I was just reading about metal planing stops and am thinking about adding one to my Swiss Army Bench. I kind of like the idea of little bite marks in the finished product - a little like overcutting the base lines for half blind dovetails...

[Zach Dillinger]

What's a sticking board, Zach? I was just reading about metal planing stops and am thinking about adding one to my Swiss Army Bench. I kind of like the idea of little bite marks in the finished product - a little like overcutting the base lines for half blind dovetails...

You see those marks in end grain on old pieces, but you have to be careful. If you are using a split friendly wood, you can take a big chunk out of your board with those teeth when they dig in, especially if you have the stop set at a low height above the bench top (DAMHIKT). I sometimes put a sacrificial piece between the work piece and the teeth to stop this from happening... again.

A sticking board is a bench appliance that is used to hold narrow / thin pieces for woodwork. They are usually used for making moldings and sash work. Mine has the only miter box (a couple of saw kerfs at opposing 45 deg angles) that I have ever needed built right in. I don't have a picture of my boards handy but I can take one if it would be helpful.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Prasun

I built an adjustable sticking board here:

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...kingBoard.html

Useful for mouldings and small parts.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Zach Dillinger]

Mine is not adjustable but Derek's board is right on and works like mine I am sure.

[Mike Holbrook]

Prashun, I think the solution I am thinking about is similar. I plan to have the right side of the bench extend past the base the 17 1/2" necessary to mount the vise. I plan to bolt/screw an apron, the width of my vise jaw, under the front edge between the two legs of the bench and along the left side past the left leg. The bench top to the right of the right leg will be the correct width to allow the vise to move flush with the front edge and legs of the bench. The right bench leg then becomes an extended surface for the tail vise to work against. With dog holes in the top and side of my apron I should be able to clamp just about anything to the top or side of the bench.

[John Sanford]

Sometimes a image helps...

Also called a bench slave

Attachment 292377

It seems to me that a bench jack/slave would be more trouble than a sliding deadman. You have to have someplace "out of the way" to store it, and it looks like it would get in the way when you're using it. Mind you, I haven't used one, so I can't say for sure that it would meaningfully interfere with planing for me, much less anyone else.

[Roy Lindberry]

I don't know what you mean.
There is only ONE woodworking bench.
Anything else is . . .
I better stop there.

PS: quite a difference a little light change makes; it is the same bench.

Winton,

I too, love the Scandanavian bench, and finished mine last year. However, I haven't gotten around to building the slave. Do you use a slave, or have you found another work around for edge jointing long/wide boards?

[Brian Holcombe]

I finally made a slave, very much worth the effort for edge jointing. I'm always working with some heavy lumber, so pivoting it over the slave is much easier then putting it in the vise and lifting it then clamping.