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Scandinavian-style workbench with shoulder vise and tail vise. Hard maple and ash top with cherry and walnut tail vise accents, mahogany vise handles and leather-lined vise jaws. Base is cheapo borg lumber, stained dark. Boiled linseed oil and wax finish. Heavy and rock solid. Shoulder and tail vise screws from Lee Valley, used the Franz Klaus plan from FWW. The tail vise was the most difficult part of the build, taking more time to make than the entire base. I found I really liked working with ash (it's used for the aprons and shoulder); it's hard, planes beautifully, affordable and I really like the light color with prominent grain. Total cost of for wood, vises and hardware was about $300, as I got a great deal on the maple and ash and had the rest of the wood sitting around in the shop. That's about $10 for every year of use I expect to get. My 7 year old son likes to sit on the bench and plane scrap blocks of wood, and I hope to pass it on to him someday.

The first picture was taken when the bench was completed about 1 year ago. The remaining 5 pictures were taken today after I flattened the top using the LV LA jack seen in the pictures, applied a fresh coat of wipe on poly, and tightened up all the nuts in the top and base. I was surprised to see how much I could tighten each nut. The tool tray never looks so tidy. Most of the crap on the adjacent table in the 5th picture is usually in the tool tray.

I plan to 1) add a bank of drawers underneath to store my hand tools, 2) make a board jack to support long stock held in the shoulder vise, 3) add a LV mortised bench stop between the 1st and 2nd dogs in the tail vise, as I have found that the spacing is a little wide for my taste and 4) turn new handles for the vises that look nicer but do not protrude past the top of the bench.

Gallery

Comments

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461 Posts
It is gorgeous
Perhaps you should move it up to the dining room and out of the basement, it is too nice to work on :)
Great job!
 

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110 Posts
That's awesome, you should post some more pics though, that one doesn't seem to do it justice. Close ups and details!
 

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that does look a lot better than mine with all the ding and scratches it has
but on the other side its allso 80+ years old ….LOL

thank´s for sharing it
Dennis
 

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682 Posts
Great bench. Nice planes. This will server for many, many years to come.
 

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3 Posts
Nice Bench!!!! I'd be afraid to use it!!!
 

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2,076 Posts
Wow, I think I'll build one and make it my kitchen island. Just to pretty for anything else!
 

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691 Posts
That is a Beaut!!!
 

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Absolutely beautiful. Your attention to detail is inspiring! I too love working with ash. Its a great wood and very affordable. In Michigan we get it very cheap now due to the emerald ash borer which has devastated our ash population. Market is glutted now, but I suspect ash will get more expensive in the next 5 to 10 years as the number of ash trees dwindles nationwide.
 

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I'd like to use one of the photos of your vise in an article we're writing about various vise styles for Stumpynubs.com. I'll give you full credit for it. Would that be ok?
 

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stumpyNubs, yes you can use the photos for your article. Please post the link to the finished article in this thread, I'd love to read it.
 

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19 Posts
Dominic,
Good evening. Where do you find the plans for this scandanavian workbench?

Looks absolutely awesome!

Thanks
Craig
 

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I'm trying to refurbish an old Scandinavian style bench (I'm living in Germany) and I'm having trouble with the plate. I'm using the same "c-style" fitting as you have, but my plate wobbles all over the place and nearly falls off…any advise? Thanks!

-Sean
 
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