Wood Carving Table/Bench?

[Steve Mathews]

Alexander Grabovetskiy in one of videos reviews a wood carving bench or table made offered by Veritas. It is no longer available however. Is there something equivalent out there that is available?

[David Carroll]

Sjoberg makes a hobbyist bench (they call it the Junior/Senior bench, because it comes with two sets of legs to raise or lower the height. Both are too short IMO and would need to be raised further. It has rows of holes for dogs, carving screws, and various other work holding devices. Other than building your own from scratch it's about the only one I am aware of.

I looked at the Veritas bench when I built mine but decided to do with a 24 x 36 butcherblock top (I think I got mine at Grizzly) on a heavy base I made myself. I put a cheap front vise on it and it does the trick. I put a series of dog holes all over the bench and I make use of all of the various bench dogs and pups that Veritas sells. I had intended to make the top tilt up like the Veritas one did, but needed to use the bench, so I put that off. That was a decade ago. I don't imagine I will ever need that feature.

DC

[Steve Mathews]

I have plenty of workbenches in my shop. What interested me about the Veritas setup was the 2'x2' surface that could be dedicated for woodcarving. I wouldn't use the pedestal that Veritas offered but instead just clamp the upper portion to one of my existing workbenches. If I could better see the underside hardware I might even make one myself. The wood top with holes for work holding is easy enough to make.

[Kevin Jenness]

As I recall, the Veritas setup had a proprietary spring-loaded support and the table could rotate as well as tilt in one plane. It wouldn't be too hard to make something similar, like thishttps://www.bing.com/images/search?v...t=0&ajaxserp=0 or this https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....-Carving-Bench

There's a good article on workholding by Chris Pye here https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/b...ing-your-work/ and more in his book Elements of Woodcarving.​

[David Carroll]

I do remember the rotating feature, which I thought odd on a 24-inch square table that you could easily just walk around. The tilt feature is cool, and I had an old drafting table to use as donor hardware. But as I said, for 10 years I have used it and not once did I think, I wish this table tilted, but maybe that's just the kind of work that I do.

I terms of building your own and clamping it onto another bench, you might have to devise your own hardware. The tilt mechanisms typically have a curved guide runners with a slot that rides over and gets fixed by screws from the sides, or they have rods, which pivot at the top tilts and these run through blocks with holes and fixing screws. Both have rods or runners that extend below the top quite a distance when the top is flat. But I would think that you could hinge it like a book and hold it up with stays like the tilt-top of Jefferson's writing desk. With different slots for the stays to rest in you could vary the angle.

DC

[Kevin Jenness]

https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/b...carving-table/

[Paul Mosteller]

Here's some pictures of the assembly. The assembly has two rods that extend to the side that control/lock the top rotation and the tilt mechanism. The tilt is controlled by a slotted arm that goes through the base as seen in the third picture. The third picture is a side view fully tilted. The slotted arm is pinched by the lower rod to hold the tilt position. The spring is pretty strong to allow for easy movement.
Hope this helps,
Paul

[Steve Mathews]

Here's some pictures of the assembly. The assembly has two rods that extend to the side that control/lock the top rotation and the tilt mechanism. The tilt is controlled by a slotted arm that goes through the base as seen in the third picture. The third picture is a side view fully tilted. The slotted arm is pinched by the lower rod to hold the tilt position. The spring is pretty strong to allow for easy movement.
Hope this helps,
Paul

Thanks for posting the photos Paul. They really help in understanding how this bench is put together. Any opinions on the bench?

[Paul Mosteller]

I first saw one in person about 20 years ago and finally found a second hand one about 5 years ago. I think it is an awesome product. If I didn't have one, I would still be watching for one to pop up. The upper portion is real heavy duty and well made. The stand is fairly stout being cast iron but it can move a little bit with a medium hard mallet smack on a chisel, but I knew that before I started looking for it.
Good luck in your search,
Paul

Additional though: being able to tilt the top allows you to sit versus stand, might save some back strain.

[Steve Mathews]

The Veritas Carver's Bench was delivered to me last week and I couldn't be more pleased. It now sits in the loft of my barn/shop ready to do some carving. I have a good start on the gouges needed and will soon add a small cabinet to store them. All I need is some direction to get going. I hope to begin the journey with some simple relief carvings with tutorage from Mary May and/or Chris Pye videos. I'm excited.

[David Carroll]

Congratulations! A good bench makes everything easier. You mention Chris Pye, I subscribe to his pay site, I think it's well worth the price, even just for the sharpening tutorials. If you are a beginner, I think that sharpening is probably the biggest hurdle for beginners. Best of luck!

DC