Project Information
A couple years ago, I first ran across Greg Miller's Saw Stool on Steroids. The idea rattled around until I decided to build a modified version, to make it more versatile for my needs.
While not a total Christopher Schwarz fanboy, I can relate to his advice for workbench building material, "The material should be cheap, easy to get, heavy (if possible), dry-ish and heavy (if possible)." A few months ago, I had the opportunity to pick up a good load of trucking skids for a ridiculously cheap price. The skids were predominantly red oak and mostly 2-1/2×3-1/2 in lengths of 40-48 inches. That fit Schwarz's guidelines perfectly and using reclaimed wood is easy on both the wallet and the landfill. Sorting through, I picked out enough pieces to build this project and set to work about two months ago.
The top is about 9×40 and just under 2-1/2 inches thick, which makes it plenty heavy for its intended use. Legs splay out approximately 10 degrees in both directions, similar to Miller's inspiration piece and result in a work surface 31 inches off the ground. The top is drilled for bench dogs and thick enough to allow for the use of holdfasts, as well.
The face vise was easy-an inexpensive unit picked up at a yard sale for $12. The tail vise was a bit more of a challenge. Almost any commercial vise is too wide to fit between the legs and other pre-made options cost more than I wanted to invest in this project, so I decided to do what many other woodworkers have done and utilize a pipe clamp. This actually worked out really well.
The pipe clamp can be adjusted as fast as a quick release vise and can clamp for working edges . . . . . .
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or pivot 90 degrees for working on ends.
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But how in the world am I supposed to work the face of a board? You probably noticed the vice chop doesn't have any dog holes. No worries, the chop is sized so that turning it 90 degrees allows it to project 3/8 inch above the top, so the whole chop becomes the dog.
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A pipe vise also has another advantage-travel distance. If I had used a traditional vise, it would be a big challenge to work a board that is longer than the bench top.
![]()
No worries here, just pull the pipe out, clamp it in and plane away. The bench can clamp a piece up to 50 inches long.
![]()
It's not perfect, as there is a lot of play in the the pipe vise chop, but hey, it's a travelling workbench and compromises have to be made. If I needed ideal, I could take the knockdown bench out of my shop to wherever it is needed.
In order to release the pipe clamp/vise, there is a lever on the side.
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It was ridiculously easy to make. I simply took a rope cleat, modified it slightly and screwed it to the framework around the pipe vise jaw.
![]()
Since the whole point of a traveling bench is to be able to easily take it on the road, the components are not glued. The legs and top join with sliding dovetails, the stretchers fit into angled dovetails on the legs and the support shelf wedges lock everything together. The whole bench can be set up or knocked down in a few minutes and the parts will easily fit in the trunk of a mid-size car.
![]()
.
Edit: 8/18/14 After a few uses, I was having issues with the stretchers popping out of the legs under planing load. Rather than try to rework the legs, I glued the stretchers & legs together. It now makes the leg assemblies a bit bigger to store, but they still easily fit in the trunk of a car.
.
.
Now if all I had was small workbench, that might be fine, but in the spirit of the late night infomercial, "Wait, there's more!" Since legs just slide in, I took advantage of that fact and built a set of auxiliary legs to convert the travelling workbench into an 18 inch tall saw bench with vises.
![]()
![]()
So far, I've found the shorter legs are stable enough to not need a shelf, but can make that modification in the future, if needed. My plan is to utilize the saw bench configuration in my shop most of the time, while still having the flexibility to take it on the road as a workbench if working away from home or doing demos at a woodworking guild meeting or show. Whichever configuration it is in, there is very little to have to worry about finding storage space-sticking an extra set of legs in the corner or up in the loft is much easier than trying to find space for a whole bench.
Total investment is less than $50.
![]()
If you made it all the way to the end of this long winded post, I thank you for looking and hope you enjoy.
While not a total Christopher Schwarz fanboy, I can relate to his advice for workbench building material, "The material should be cheap, easy to get, heavy (if possible), dry-ish and heavy (if possible)." A few months ago, I had the opportunity to pick up a good load of trucking skids for a ridiculously cheap price. The skids were predominantly red oak and mostly 2-1/2×3-1/2 in lengths of 40-48 inches. That fit Schwarz's guidelines perfectly and using reclaimed wood is easy on both the wallet and the landfill. Sorting through, I picked out enough pieces to build this project and set to work about two months ago.
The top is about 9×40 and just under 2-1/2 inches thick, which makes it plenty heavy for its intended use. Legs splay out approximately 10 degrees in both directions, similar to Miller's inspiration piece and result in a work surface 31 inches off the ground. The top is drilled for bench dogs and thick enough to allow for the use of holdfasts, as well.
The face vise was easy-an inexpensive unit picked up at a yard sale for $12. The tail vise was a bit more of a challenge. Almost any commercial vise is too wide to fit between the legs and other pre-made options cost more than I wanted to invest in this project, so I decided to do what many other woodworkers have done and utilize a pipe clamp. This actually worked out really well.
The pipe clamp can be adjusted as fast as a quick release vise and can clamp for working edges . . . . . .
or pivot 90 degrees for working on ends.
But how in the world am I supposed to work the face of a board? You probably noticed the vice chop doesn't have any dog holes. No worries, the chop is sized so that turning it 90 degrees allows it to project 3/8 inch above the top, so the whole chop becomes the dog.
A pipe vise also has another advantage-travel distance. If I had used a traditional vise, it would be a big challenge to work a board that is longer than the bench top.
No worries here, just pull the pipe out, clamp it in and plane away. The bench can clamp a piece up to 50 inches long.
It's not perfect, as there is a lot of play in the the pipe vise chop, but hey, it's a travelling workbench and compromises have to be made. If I needed ideal, I could take the knockdown bench out of my shop to wherever it is needed.
In order to release the pipe clamp/vise, there is a lever on the side.
It was ridiculously easy to make. I simply took a rope cleat, modified it slightly and screwed it to the framework around the pipe vise jaw.
Since the whole point of a traveling bench is to be able to easily take it on the road, the components are not glued. The legs and top join with sliding dovetails, the stretchers fit into angled dovetails on the legs and the support shelf wedges lock everything together. The whole bench can be set up or knocked down in a few minutes and the parts will easily fit in the trunk of a mid-size car.
.
Edit: 8/18/14 After a few uses, I was having issues with the stretchers popping out of the legs under planing load. Rather than try to rework the legs, I glued the stretchers & legs together. It now makes the leg assemblies a bit bigger to store, but they still easily fit in the trunk of a car.
.
.
Now if all I had was small workbench, that might be fine, but in the spirit of the late night infomercial, "Wait, there's more!" Since legs just slide in, I took advantage of that fact and built a set of auxiliary legs to convert the travelling workbench into an 18 inch tall saw bench with vises.
So far, I've found the shorter legs are stable enough to not need a shelf, but can make that modification in the future, if needed. My plan is to utilize the saw bench configuration in my shop most of the time, while still having the flexibility to take it on the road as a workbench if working away from home or doing demos at a woodworking guild meeting or show. Whichever configuration it is in, there is very little to have to worry about finding storage space-sticking an extra set of legs in the corner or up in the loft is much easier than trying to find space for a whole bench.
Total investment is less than $50.
If you made it all the way to the end of this long winded post, I thank you for looking and hope you enjoy.
