Just starting out - my first work bench

[rhenson]

Hi – I’m hesitant to ask, as everyone seems to be more on the “thinking of going pro” level, but I am day 1 fresh – I know nothing, but for some reason I have this urge to get into wood working. I have no space and my wife is begging me to pick some other hobby to get into, but I want to proceed and make it as painless on her as possible.

We really don’t have much space, no rooms that I can claim at this point – so I want to start with a sawhorse and door style bench that I can collapse and store flat against the wall in the garage and pull out and assemble when I am working.

I’m starting with hand tools to learn the basics, but I need some help on how to keep the table top and the wood that I’m working on still – I see a lot of nice work tables with very nice clamp devices built in – what is the best way to get started on the cheap? I have some basic clamps for gluing that I bought at harbor freight, but I don’t think that is going to hold a board on edge while I work on it…any guidance to get me going would really be appreciated.

[bywc]

harbor freight is gonna be your best friend for "cheap" when it comes to a vise heres a couple of options.

6" Portable Carpenter's Vise $19.99

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-portable-carpenters-vise-95203.html

or for cheaper while its on sale and bigger but would have to build something to mount it.

10" Woodworking Vise Sale: $17.97

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch-woodworking-vise-42494.html

[Beechwood Chip]

I was in your position not long ago, but without the garage and the wife. I used a WorkMate, a circular saw, a router and a shop-vac. If you are going the Neanderthal route, you'll need a heavy, sturdy table and lots of clamps. If you are going the power tool route, plywood and saw-horses will do, and lots of clamps.

Think about dust control from the beginning. It's good that you have the garage, but if you are tracking dust in the house, or covering the other stuff in the garage with dust, it won't help your wife accept your new hobby.

[rhenson]

Awesome - thanks for the starting point...heading to harbor freight this afternoon!

[Dyami Plotke]

Hi – I’m hesitant to ask, as everyone seems to be more on the “thinking of going pro” level, but I am day 1 fresh – I know nothing, but for some reason I have this urge to get into wood working. I have no space and my wife is begging me to pick some other hobby to get into, but I want to proceed and make it as painless on her as possible.

We really don’t have much space, no rooms that I can claim at this point – so I want to start with a sawhorse and door style bench that I can collapse and store flat against the wall in the garage and pull out and assemble when I am working.

I’m starting with hand tools to learn the basics, but I need some help on how to keep the table top and the wood that I’m working on still – I see a lot of nice work tables with very nice clamp devices built in – what is the best way to get started on the cheap? I have some basic clamps for gluing that I bought at harbor freight, but I don’t think that is going to hold a board on edge while I work on it…any guidance to get me going would really be appreciated.

Ritchy,

Here are two suggestions for a portable bench / workstation. The first is the Blum Tool Bench Horse. It's a collapsable bench that has good work holding ability and is relatively stable considering it's high level of portability. My second suggestion would be to follow what Kenneth Woodruff's done with the bench he made. He too is woodworking without a shop and he custom built his bench to slide under his bed when he's not using it. Chris Schwarz has even written about Kenneth's bench.

Whichever way you go, good luck with the bench.

[jhl.verona]

Thanks Ritchy and Dyami for an interesting question and reply. I am also shopless and garageless, so a collapsible workbench is just the thing I'm looking for.

Looking at Kenneth's design, the only thing I might change would be to have the legs angled, and add a removable traversal stretcher.

I think that for a small bench, angled legs (5 to 10 degrees) would give a more stable platform, and be much less prone to racking?

P.S. Great kitchen table in Chris' article - the vise makes cutting the Sunday roast a breeze ;-)

Here's another example of a "household workbench", this time for carving. From an Italian woodworking forum, but you can still read the photos...

[samhell]

harbor freight is gonna be your best friend for "cheap" when it comes to a vise heres a couple of options.

6" Portable Carpenter's Vise $19.99

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-portable-carpenters-vise-95203.html

or for cheaper while its on sale and bigger but would have to build something to mount it.

10" Woodworking Vise Sale: $17.97

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch-woodworking-vise-42494.html

I have that bigger vice.... its super flimsy. I tossed it into a corner of my garage. However I also have this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/9-inch-quick-release-woodworking-vise-94386.html And its pretty nice. Its pretty heavy and requires a heavier bench to mount it to.

[RenaissanceWW]

Ritchy, despite the fact that I am proud owner of a monster Roubo style bench, I firmly believe you can get by with much less when doing hand work. In fact I actually recommend you start without a dedicate bench until you can "discover" your working style. Then you can design a bench to meet those exact needs. The simplest would be a solid core door and some wooden saw horses. then you can attach the horses to the door bottom with hinges that will allow them to fold flat. A sawhorse with a lower stretcher would be great so you can drape some sand bags on them to add weight and prevent the bench from sliding around the floor while hand planing.

[Dyami Plotke]

Thanks Ritchy and Dyami for an interesting question and reply. I am also shopless and garageless, so a collapsible workbench is just the thing I'm looking for.

Looking at Kenneth's design, the only thing I might change would be to have the legs angled, and add a removable traversal stretcher.

I think that for a small bench, angled legs (5 to 10 degrees) would give a more stable platform, and be much less prone to racking?

P.S. Great kitchen table in Chris' article - the vise makes cutting the Sunday roast a breeze ;-)

Here's another example of a "household workbench", this time for carving. From an Italian woodworking forum, but you can still read the photos...

John,

Glad you found it helpful. Good luck with your own bench.