5 Tips For A BETTER Workbench 

As someone who's,laid low by age & injury,and Australia's rental crisis, (no where to live nowhere to work) I live through you vicariously. Having built several workbenches over my carpentry & woodworking life, from the simplest to my classic European style, mortise & Tennon, they would now be a luxury? Be greatful for everything."Thanks mate".

My workbench was THE first thing I made on my woodworking journey three years ago, and I didn't "really" know what I was doing compared to what I've learned since. I use NO joinery in it, just lots of screws and wood glue, because I didn't have the tools or the knowledge. To make up for my lack of knowledge and skill, I screwed the back face to the wall. The thing is super rigid and steady, works great.

Brother let me just say thank you. Tip number 5 was exactly what I needed. I'm 23, 2 years into this hobby, self taught everything I know and I've spent the last couple months trying to strategically plan out some over complicated work bench to the point of throwing out all my tools in frustration. But you're right, just build something. Can't experience by thinking about it. I appreciate this content so much, looking forward to more.

Hillarious that the whisky makes this video more and more entertaining the longer into the video we get😂

Im a newbie woodworker in country with limited power tools. I enjoy your channel. Thank you

Brother, I love your approach and attitude towards “just make a thing”. I soooo get hung up on the planning, thinking, process and more thinking and NOT the doing. Just make a thing is my new in-the -shop-motto. Thanks brother!

One the most refreshing “Bench” videos I have seen in maybe 3 years! I think you may be on to something with this format! 2 👍👍

This is likely the most insightful, most practical, most useful video on woodworking that I've seen in several years of stalking RU-vid for information. That Erik is talking here about more of the same is definitely something to look forward to. I've been cutting RU-vid woodworking subscriptions recently, but after watching several segments, I'm going to add Erik's..

I love this video. Just great, solid information! 53 year old here getting more serious about woodworking.

Great video, let’s keep making things and having chats with the thoughtful woodworker

The plane stop with magnets is genius!!!!! Keep them coming man

This bench is accessible for most - and I like the reuse of the top. I like the magnetic plane stop! However, what you call a bench hook is actually called a holdfast.

I’m a little late to the party here, seeing that this video is a year old, but that’s sometimes the way it just happens to work out. First of all, full disclosure, I’m a novice, but I make a lot of things 😊. It is so satisfying to just go make a thing, even small things or big things. A couple of years ago, I built a Roubo workbench more or less based on Christopher Schwartz anarchist bench. The bench top is Yellow Pine and Live oak laminated that I milled, dried, and hand planed from super rough to okay smooth. Way above my pay grade. I did draw-bore blind mortise and tenon joints to connect the leg base, built a tail vise from the screw assembly on a black and decker workmate, made a leg vise and criss-cross hardware from heavy flat bar, a 1” threaded rod for the chop screw, an old valve (large) handle for the handle mostly metal stuff I’d found interesting. It kicked my butt, but OMG it was so much fun! The top isn’t quite as flat as it should be (next one will be better). I forged my own hold fasts (they could be prettier) but hold super thigh out of 3/4 cold roll steel. I added a heavy duty face vise (the most used part of the bench) and made so many errors. All the mortises were done with a chisel and hammer, and I even drilled the dog holes with a bit and brace. So much fun! So many mistakes. I highly recommend trying to go build a thing! Great content and information!

When I built my bench as a novice woodworker last year I used it as an opertunaty to practice my joinery and try out new things. For example on the mortices in the lags I deliberately did not drill out the bulk of the waste first and instead except for the one where I hit a knot chisseled them out by hand. Another example is I deceded to close the ends of my bench. Originally I was going to use finger joints for this then I saw the blind dovetail on a video. So my first ever dovetails ended up being the blind variety on the ends of my workbench. The first thing I actually build on my workbench apart from itself once it was far enough along to hold work via clamps was the planning stop. Just a strip of left over wood from my pre-workbench project with a couple of dowels through it so I could drop it into a couple of dogholes. The planning stop was a ten minuet project if that. The first real project I used the workbench for was making the chop for it's leg vice. Your suggestion of of building the plane till into your bench is a good one and I added one to my bench once my plane collection had grown a bit. I will add on to the suggestion and say add a saw till as well at least for your joinery saws. I have still to add this to my bench. One of the most usefull things I built into my bench from the begining is a central raisable stop. This has turned out so useful I leave it in the raised position and have not needed to make myself a set of bench hooks. The only thing I disagree with you is the need for a tail vice. If I ever needed to clamp a board lengthwise like that I would probably just make myself a does hook.

Every one I ever did concrete work for told me I was too dang fussy to do concrete. I should have been a finish carpenter.... I plan on building one eventually, and one massive one behind the table saw for assembly and an infeed table.

People will watch if you make these videos and market them on your instagram. This is golden knowledge. Keep it up man, I love the videos.

6:57 You recited the incantation, "That thing ain't goin' nowhere!" I believe that's why it works...when you recite the incantation, you call upon the old magic to engage with the spirit of the wood and to hold it FAST.

Watched this video, with a Ron Zacapa 23. A nice end of day coastdown and good input because I have to build a new bench. Thanks

I wish you could share photos in comments so you could see my bench. It’s mostly laminated fir 2x4s but for the extra originality to make it mine I did 1/2” walnut accents in between the leg glue up and 1 section of my 2x4 laminated top is a walnut board. I did do all the way through mortise & tenon to see that walnut accent in the bench top. Strictly for looks😂. Man, I wish you could see it! Lol. It cost me about $80 in 2x4s and scrap walnut to make a bench that’s great that when people see are immediately attracted to. There’s also the pony vise with walnut board for the non-marring clamp and a big piece of spalted live edge ash (that I got from my dads firewood pile) that I milled into a leg vise. I will have this bench until my son inherits it and again… it cost me $90.

I have to say i like your delivery of good and sensible woodworking tips. Tips for and five I really like the most because of some of the ergonomics and some of the other RU-vid shenanigans a Woodworkers like tool displays for the sake of display and that good ergonomics. And tip number 5 was excellent because yes there is too much too much hype on these expensive professional workbenches what you my opinion well wasted material and Overkill. Well done I just wish I had coffee and whiskey just like you watching the video. Columbus Michigan

So right.. Just make things 👌

I built a rob cosman workbench with mdf top. It’s very flat and solid as a rock. I built my own tail vise using a vise screw I got on Amazon for $30. I love having a tail vise. I then built s moxon vise to hold things vertical. I would hate bending over to get my planes. But I’m an old guy

I will put in a vote for the Moravian work bench. It was one of my first projects and mostly hand tool built with big box lumber. It was a great skill builder and let me realize that I enjoy hand tools over power tools. Its a shame I found this out right after I bought a saw stop. Enjoy your videos, keep up the good work!

Yes! Just make a thing! Thanks!

Not saying I'm rich, I'm retired. Can I afford to make a hard maple & black walnut workbench? Yes but I'd prefer to use that wood for furniture. Although the wood wasn't free, it was cheap and I built my workbench out of yellow pine and have been using it for 4 years without any problems. I agree with the end vice but I went with two side vices and bench dogs, a couple of bench bars(?) & the metal do-hickies that hold things down. - Total cost (back then- 2019) $150 for both wood & vices. Unless you want to impress your buddies with a $3,000 bench, do the soft wood bench. If you drop your hardwood project on your bench you don't have to worry about which one is going to break or dent. Your choice!

Refreshing comments on making an “affordable” work bench 👍🏻, on my todo list …retirement is looming so looking forward to some sawdust and shavings to celebrate 😉💪🏻

I built a sweet Roubo style work bench four years ago, all hand joinery for my hand tool wood working. My father-in-law, lives with us since my mother-in-law passed, has taken up collecting old pallets and dismantling them to build garden planters. He does a pretty good job and saves some nice hardwoods for me to use, but... He uses my workbench to pull nails out of all the pallet boards. He's wrecked my bench surface. I thought about planing it down, it's only pine, but some of the pits are a good 1/4" deep, and I know he's just going to wreck it again. 😥 It's still a great bench. I have square dogs in it and I've made all kinds of holding attachments that fit in the dog holes to make up for not having a vice. I'm super glad I had the foresight to put those in when I was building the bench.

Another great video! Thanks for sharing and I can wait to see how the new shop and new shop mates come together!

Thanks for the videos you do. I'm using my hollow core door on sawhorses to laminate some scaffold boards into the next work top for my backyard woodworking journey. Take care & stay safe.

Yes, this was fun, informative, and relaxing to watch. It's like your IG stories, but without 15 or 90-second clips. If you have time, I'll keep watching and appreciating them.

Great advice, particularly on the material for a bench.

I enjoy your woodworking chats. Awesome format, feels like a real chat with someone that has lots of experience. I also think you and Rex Kreuger should have a good chat, he doesn't understand construction very well but has a vault of old knowledge I'm sure you'd appreciate

The till under the bench may be better than the wall cabinet, but a custom tool cart is even better. My best planes live on it (among many of my most-used tools). They're always within reach at a comfortable height, even when I'm moving around the shop. No bending over. It's a game changer.

I also made my workbench out of softwood ,I’m about to remake my vice jaws for the third time.This time I will spend on hardwood for this job.Thanks for another great video ,great delivery.

Excellent vid! I skipped the front apron and instead installed 4 drawers, the top one of which is my plane/chisel till. With a 2 X 12 for the back apron, it's still plenty rigid.

Something about whiskey from a coffee mug just hits different.

I've watched so many videos in trying to come up with a design for my workbench..this is the most helpful..solid cheap timber..made to purpose

Love the under storage. For my needs, maybe 1/2 plane tilt, 1/2 circ saw, etc. Thanks for the inspiration!

Love the Video input. I am coming up on retirement and time hopefully will allow me to take on some projects. I have limited experience and every little tip helps. The work bench and some tips goes a long way. Thank You

One of my favorite video series is Paul Sellers building a workbench with dimensional pine. I'd love to see what kind of workbench you would build today! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

For a tail vice: saw a tip where a large sliding dovetale was cut into the end of the bench and a matching 8" dovetale slides into it. It was 2" wide and had a dog hole in it. An elcheapo vice was mounted on the end of the bench that could push against the sliding dovetale. Low cost - effective.

Great video! I always love practical woodworking tips and tricks!

Love the plane till and need to add that to my Box Store bench!

Found your channel about a year ago and it’s a great source of practical information. My plane stop is a scrap piece of 1/4” ply screwed to a scrap of 3/4” pine in an “L” so when the pine is clamped in my face vice, the ply lays flat on my bench. If I work on thicker stock, I can tilt the front of the ply up a bit and clamp it at an angle. When done, I store it on a shelf under the bench.

Well dude, I really dig on your videos, keep 'em coming. All the best from the UK

All great tips and view on the woodworking as a whole. My bench was also salvaged material lower frame was from scrap laminated structural beams, hard on the tools but has held up well for also 10 years

Thanks for these cool videos! You talk about real woodworking stuff that helps me, for one, think better about what I'm doing. It's like shooting the bull with a more experienced woodworker. Tip number 5 I took already, by necessity. My first bench 3 years ago was a plastic and metal folding table with a piece of CDX plywood screwed on. Using that, and working from wheelchair, I upgraded to a 24-inch high, 24 by 60 inch bench out of 2 x 4 spruce. Layered the legs to get a rabbet or mortise as needed, glued and screwed together with drywall screws, and it's a rock-solid working bench. Thanks for all the no-nonsense perspective. Makes me feel better. My bench is too short for a plane till underneath, so I made a pull-out tray with my 400/1000 diamond plates. That's as fine as I go and it works for me!

I built my first workbench last summer. I used old 4x4 pressure treated fence posts from a fence that was being torn down, and 2x6 pressure treated lumber from my old deck that I replaced. I just ran them through my thickness planner to remove the weathered surface and they look as good as new. And free

Just recently found your channel and have found it to be helpful and inspirational. I’m recently retired and watching my pennies; so buying expensive tools is not in my budget. So I appreciate your approach of just do what you can to gain the experience. If you can afford it great, if not try a less expensive method. The goal is to enjoy woodworking. Thank you for the informative videos, I look forward to seeing more in the future.

yup to all those tips, especially number 5. My first bench was from an article in Fine woodworking somewhere in the late 70's. I learned plenty making it and it had a shoulder vise that has been invaluable. I also learned how to hide mistakes. Its heavy, its still solid and has now gotten to the point of needing the top resurfaced. Gonna use my hand plane and destroy 40 years of patina to make it flat again. So I hit that subscribe button.

Ya know, I really appreciate the bit about "use materials you can afford; it's a bloody workbench." Thank you.

Some brilliant advice here! My bench consists of an MFT top and rest is made from leftover engineered wood floorboards and it's rock solid! Probably not a forever bench but it was dead cheap to make (only significant expense was fifty quid for the top), and the dog holes give you so many options for accessories.

Excellent advice. Thx.

Love your content, style, and articulation! Great mind!

As a person completely new to woodworking, I enjoyed this video. I can listen to some people talk like this for hours.

Love tip number 5. My bench is made from SYP and has worked well for 5 years!

Great video thanks. For anyone thinking of making a bench I can highly recommend Chris Schwarz's book. I built a simple Roubot bench from softwood and it is fantastically solid and takes a right old hammering without budging and cost me very little in materials. The only thing I wish I had done a better job of was laminating the 4x2's - should have used more and better quality wood glue. Ended up using some cheap PVA but I think the real problem was that I didn't flatten the laminations quite well enough and didn't use enough glue. So I have had a couple of failed joints here and there which I have had to deal with in situ by re-glueing and clamping. But other than that brilliant..

i just discovered your channel. Tip 5 is spot on! Thanks, I'll be following along.

Very helpful indeed!

Only recently discovered your channel and every video I’ve watched has been informative and entertaining to watch. I like the “woodworking and whiskey time”, very relaxing. Next time I’ll pour myself one while I watch. Thanks for the great vids!

Thanks, Great practical advise

Great video and content! Thank you for your suggestions, they make sense!

Awesome video! Very helpful, and binging you’re video’s currently. Here’s a tip you can do. Make your vice flush with the front face of your bench, then long pieces can sit flush and an extra clamp/dog can support it further along. Mine still has a sacrificial piece of timber…. And true to your top number 5, I dressed it so it would be flush with ¾” ply😅

Thanks so much!!! Big help great perspective

These are all good tips, thanks. One of the most annoying issues is a bench that is not rock solid, or reasonably so but underweight. Hold downs, tail vise, shoulder vise, Moxon vise, hard to have too many (if they work). I've seen several designs that use 3 or more 1" layers of MDF for the top. As you say, it's a work bench, make it strong, make it stable, use it, it won't be pretty for long anyway and function over pretty works. BTW, just subbed.

Dude, your the coolest. Would love to sit down with you and have a drink and talk shop stuff every day, but since I can’t, you continue to do so!!! Ahahahhaah, keep up the good work brother.

Great video! I'm new to your channel, but love your no nonsense approach. I recently built a Roubo style bench and I love it. Definitely recommend a tail vise and holdfasts. My 4yr old son loves hitting the holdfasts to lock in place 🤣

There all great tips but 5 is my favourite. Cheers fella love your channel

From what I see and hear, you are or can be a great teacher. Nice job!

I forgot to count along with you and I’ve never been real good at math but I would certainly say that the bottle on top is a great tip for the hand tool woodworker. If you use power tools maybe rethink incorporating that but great video. Keep them coming.

I've been brainstorming your inlayed bench stop. I've got a slight change I'm going to do. Love it brother.

Very much enjoyed this!

Try out a does foot - better tan tail vice, it woodland it cheap.... and I don't know how they work but they do...

PLEASE MAKE MORE VIDEOS. YOU ELEVATE EVERY SUBJECT YOU PRESENT!

Love it you got it right. Stop over thinking stuff, Do it, you will be the better for it. You got my vote.

I have a little chuckle to myself every time you bang on about being old. 😂😂😂😂 Young fella. Got 20 years on you with two metal knees and one metal shoulder. Harden up princess 😮😅😂😂. Love your channel and style dude.

I like your logic and I like the way you think.

Great stuff👍

Regardless of designs, perhaps the best places to begin are with working platforms and storage e.g. Bench, saw horses,/trestle, tool box and tote, as each provide sound skill building practise with tools, joints and materials handling in readiness for those projects you want to get up and running.

Nice bench ideas, but that rocking every time you push a plane would drive nuts!

This is the second video from you that I am watching: I am now a subscriber! I like your approach and style, and the use you make of music is spot on. Cheers from Ottawa, ON - almost a walking distance from Veritas and the local Lee Valley store. I am glad they are supporting your channel.

Earned a sub after like 3 vids. Awesome content, man!

Love it! “Don’t overthink it,use material that is affordable to build a workbench”.

I appreciate your tips about going with cheaper materials and not showing your tools on the back wall so it’s seen on the video. I think the WW you tube is becoming a showcase of tools not woodworking skills. Great video.. got a new “sub”

8:50 Pine just makes a great bench AND, since it's often SOFTER than the woods I work with, my bench won't dent my workpieces. In stead, my work dents my bench...and I can swell that out.

That's a commonsense approach to a bench. Keep it up.

I was (retired) a trim carpenter for a few decades. I can not count how many kitchens I have built on saw horses and a sheet of 3/4 plywood. Sure, do I have the proverbial European Beech bench , yes I do. We have summer get togethers here with the neighbors, and said bench is one of the designated sites for food and drink to allow friends to wander around. Some of them ooh and ahhh at the bench yet in the back of my mind I am thinking " Christ, it's a bench." The point I am getting at here is ( I agree with EN ) don't get hung up on building the King Kong of benches. Learn to see through your task at hand.

Do you think it would be worthwhile to laminate a thin hardwood top (.75"-1.0") over a larger pine section? I'm feeling like the hardwood surface might resist wear better, but the pine lower layer would keep the costs down. Also, I love that plane till, it's a nice one. I do like the vertical on-wall tills, too, if they're right next to the bench.

Great video, man! Love you're relaxed, substantive attitude. One suggestion, make some sponsorship deals on anything and everything you recommend. If you want to preserve your integrity and avoid an overly commercial appearance, no problem! Make the sponsorship deals AFTER you choose what to recommend! Maybe you can make a deal with Amazon to link to items and get some sort of referral fee. Easy way to improve your revenue form the video. The real reason I am urging you to do this is that this video would be more useful to me if you had included links on where I could find the specific items you mention. Even if I don't choose the one you chose, those links can be very helpful starting points for getting more info on items of that type.

I would like to request a video on the spoke shaves. Best practices, uses and choice of what kind to get and why. I know your busy so if you have it or have done it, please point me in the direction. I love your content and the way you go about presenting it. Thank you sir

Very good, pls make more of this vids.

Keep it up!

I do request more drinking and talking videos. Also more one liners like lost to time black magic that made me gaffaw while watching in my office at work. I feel sad that I just found your page recently, but happy that I get to binge a lot of content.

Love the videos! Keep it up 😎😎

You’re my favorite woodworker by far, of course, besides Norm. Do you have plans for this workbench?

Hold fasts can also be made out of wood. Mine are made from Tasmanian Oak and hold well on my 3 1/2 inch deep top of construction pine. My dog holes are 22mm and are rounded at the top to avoid crushing of the superficial fibres.

Any tips for putting bench dog holes in? I do not have any currently and keep finding myself needed them while working on projects.

I'm getting ready to build a new bench and some sort of vise is my first thought not having one sucks

thank you . hey your tool set up works so its thier problem .

Great video