Project Information
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.
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.