Believe it or not, Hammacher Schlemmer was around in the late 1800s / early 1900s and had benches just like yours that you could buy from their catalog. My great grandfather was a carpenter and had a bench just like this from the 1920s till his death in the 1970s. I have the bench now. VERY similar to yours. But mine is VERY used. Great bench and nice job restoring it while maintaining its originality. Well done.
I too renovated an old Scandinavian cabinet makers workbench. Looks much like this one, but with iron spindle vices. So I think it is from around 1950s. I made new pieces for wood for the vice, since the old ones were messed up by having been used by an amateur for many years and kept in an unheated shed for potting. Now it looks beautiful. Though I am still contemplating making new legs, so I can fit drawers below for hand tools - with space between the drawers cabinet and the top, so it can be used to put fx a plunge saw track during working on the bench.
WOW this is what you call a sympathetic restoration, it's great to see you restore this workbench rather than just tear it apart and remake it will new wood, well done and hats off to you for doing it Justice!!!
Hi Friend! Some years ago I bought a vintage Workbench exactly like yours, perhaps in a worse state, but identical, every day I look at it and intend to restore it. Your video gave me much more motivation to start the restoration. My biggest challenge will be repairing the screws, they are a bit rotten near the head, I'm not really sure how to repair it. I live in Sao Paulo, Brazil, And I have no idea how this workbench came to my country. Thanks a lot for documenting your awesome restoration. Congratulations for the well done job!!!
I have a similar one that was in our house when we bought it. Our house has been in my wife's family for a very long time. They were morticians and furniture makers. Mine is 8 1/2' long. You have inspired me to try harder to find a spot for it.
It migth bee easier to find a spot for the bench if you realise you dont need to put it in the middle of a room as in a lot of videos. In old shops they are often against a wall, perhaps with a shelf for small planes butt out just above eye level ready to grab and start planing. If possiible free space to the sides is good for long work but big pieces can be done on sawhorses or the floor.
Thanks for this cool video. I'm also refurbishing my bench and know what kind of job goes into getting a bench that nice looking. I can't believe you took it all apart into small pieces. Even fixing the metal screws. I definitely will use this as an example for my wife to sanction more power tools.
Mate, this is your best video yet! I love the way you focus on achievable projects and there isn’t a festool in sight. Your footage is fantastic and you’re a pleasure to watch at work. Keep it up!
Great work on this. It makes me happy seeing your joy at completion. I remember the feeling when I finished converting my crappy first workbench into a quality tank of a joiners bench. It's a feeling if great accomplishment. By the way your skit with the dog was hilarious.
Wow...just found your channel. I just bought a ~50 year old hand tool bench from the original maker and was looking for tips on restoration. You gave me some great tips. One thing I do when waxing naked wood is to slather the wax on liberally then use a MAP torch to heat the wax up so it penetrates into the grain. After it cools I just buff it out. Works beautifully. With your video I kept finding myself turning down the volume when the music came on then turning it back up when you started to speak. I just subscribed! Thanks!
Back in the early 70s Aolean American piano works closed shop in east Rochester New York ,they had dozens of the benches for sale,I managed to buy one for 2 bucks it has a brass tag C Christianson Chicago ,I restored it and it is used as a serving bar and place for my dog to sleep under it.great video thanks mike
Awesome vid man! Loved your sense of humor and given me a start point to restore my own cabinet makers bench i picked up only yesterday! That wax really brought that bench back to life and made those battle scars more visible! Lovely piece to have in your shop!! 🙌
robynmaree77 thanks so much Roby. Ya I wanted to keep it as original as possible. It’s a part of history and I wanted to keep it that way. Thanks brother
Great job as always, I was concerned that the bench would loose character and just be totally rebuilt. I think IMHO, that you kept the character of the bench and restored the damage. AWESOME.
Skully Wood & Metal thanks man. Ya I was trying to keep it all original. The only thing I had to reproduce was the leg base. They were way too far gone
Favorite moment...3:53. ha ha. That piece just flew off of there! That's so cool that you were able to restore something like this and give it new life. It looks fantastic! Great video, sir!
What a wonderful restoration! I am so glad you left much of the patina in place. I would kill to have a bench like that. I'm sure my husband would too!New subscriber here can't wait to see what you do next
Beautiful... realy beautiful... First. sorry for my bad english but, to say how I ike this kind of video I must write in Italian.. BELLISSIMOOOO che meraviglia di tavolo da falegname. This is a kind of restoing that I love where the result is like original and not new... I don't know i you understand me... WELL DONE Bravissimo
Just found your channel. Great stuff. You're very talented and I really appreciate that you are a warrior. I served but it was peace time so I have the utmost respect for those who served during times of trouble and war. Thank You for your service and the entertainment you now provide thru your videos... keep up the good work. I just subscribed and now have some catching up to do...
What a beauty! You did an incredible job on the bench. I wonder how many people passed on it before you? It looks like a lot of work went into it and it came out just beautiful. Did you get the rectangle steel bench dogs with it? Watch out that back tray is a clutter catch-all waiting to happen. Mine is always full of stuff and I have to clean it out every week, lol. I have my great great great grandfathers workbench and it looks just like yours except I don't have a wagon vise. My grampa had it last and left it to me along with tools from the late 1600s that came over from Ireland with an ancestor who was a cabinet maker. The collection was added to over the centuries. Both of my brothers are builders, so we split them up along with a room full of walnut, American chestnut, maple, cherry, and many other species in slabs. No one knew of the room, that was under the big barn. PS-Dude you need a dust mask. Lung issues are no joke. My brothers never wore masks and they both wish they had. My eldest brother has serious upper respiratory issues from it and my other brother is having some issues now. I know it's a personal choice, but for your kid's sake, reconsider wearing one. Okay, that's the last time I say anything on that subject. I just care and as a woodworker who is teaching my great-nephew, it was one of the first things I taught him along with other safety items.
A wonderful restoration, when I was at school in the U K, in the 1950s we had one or two in the wood work class room, and more modem ones with the metal vice, they all had a tool well, in the middle, or at one side. I watched a video on the making of the bench in America, But why would you put a dining table finish on a work bench, there is know way you will ever use it for every day hard and heavy use, I mean just look at that magnificent bench you have put back in to use, over the years it has had a hard working life, despite the digs cuts and glue stains it out lasted its maker, I hope you get as much enjoyment using this bench as the former owners.
Thank goodness no motorcycles! That bench is beautiful. Very talented videos my husband has always been a DIY as we raised 8 kids. He put himself thru college pouring streets in Kansas City while he went to Medical School. We are getting to old to do some things but still at it. I thought thor was a boston terrier at first LOL Thanks for these nice uplifting videos and think about at least a helmet with your bike. Once so many years ago, I was at the side of a poor guy who got died in my boyfriends arms in Santa Cruz California and I never got over it too. They are designing airbags for old peoples hips and young peoples motorcycles LOL
As an amateur with woodworker, I typically feel overpowered with the entire arrangement. Be that as it may, this arrangements drove me through with much clarity and effortlessness [Link Here== t.co/oLg9l5gL3F ]. I now work like a genius. That is great!?
Great video, the project was interesting and your presentation skills are excellent, well done for sticking with the task as many would have given up before completion, loved the dawg humour, keep up the good work !!
I loved the project. We have a similar one in our workshop and I'm planning to restore it. There were some details I would have missed if I hadn't watched your video. Very inspiring, thank you! But man, I was so worried about your hands at 7:58 😱.
Bart, This restoration is awsome! That workbench is a piece of history and you gave it a new life. Just awsome man! I Loved this video. The way you make videos is just fun to watch! I'm starting to call it komar time! I'm a big fan... But i think you already knew that hahahaha. Well done my friend!
Christofix - DIY Projects Christi thanks so much!! You know I’m a fan of your stuff too. Hopefully one day we can collaborate on something. Thanks again
Congratulations for the work. I have one from the 1930s and I will restore too. thank you for the incentive. I live in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. Translated text.
Very nice, and thanks for the video! This is a fantastic restoration. If you look up Frank Klausz and Tage Frid, this is (more or less) the style of bench they prefer, which is sometimes called a "Swedish bench". I'm about to build one, and I want to especially thank you for the shots of the underside, so I could see how the tail vise went together!
Outstanding work my friend. Congratulations! I am embarking on a similar project with an old workbench found here at the bottom south of south america (Chile). I'll try to find similar products for the cleaning/finishing part. Cheers!
I have a very similiar bench,, It was my grandfather's who was in fact a cabinet maker. I think the top is a bit heavier,, can just barely pick it up. Wooden screws for the vises, the top is at least six inches thick. Very solid.
@@KomarProject My Father cleaned it up back in the seventies and its in very nice shape, has a lot of patina. I think I'll leave it be and just use it. It surprises me when I see them,, never gave it much thought that there are still many out there. I was looking on e bay and saw some that were in disrepair that were selling for quite a price. One of my Grandfather's specialties was veneering. I have a pile of his old veneers in the attic of my barn.
I just bought a very similar bench and as old made in Riihimäki in Finland for 100 euros and looking forward to a similar restoration and raising the level, which is about 65 cm.
This is a great video from a great channel. Looking forward to owning a work bench like this (Sjoberg work bench circa 1950's?).I've spotted one and hope I'll have it. Thanks and I subscribed.
@@KomarProject agreed this iconic workbench is hard to find and I'm dying to find one. I know it's dimensions but since you already have it how heavy is this workbench do you think. Appreciate very much if you could provide me an approximate weight. Thanks.
Absolutely beautiful. I'm living in Germany and just bought a similar bench. I'm new to woodworking and started trying to plane down the top, but I can't get my plane to bite at all. Probably not sharp enough, combined with me not yet knowing what I'm doing. Is there a reason you choose to sand the top rather than plane it? Again, beautiful job and very inspiring. Thank you.
Sean thanks for that. Ya I sanded it down because if I planed it down it would take to much character off the top. I wasn’t trying to get it flat just remove some of the grime and gunk of it. Want to see all the old chisel marks all over it. Kinda retains the history of it.
I managed to get my hands on one of these (almost the same as yours) today! They wanted to throw it away so I got it for free! 😍 I love it and I'm planning on restoring it in the future.
A beautiful restoration of a spectacular work bench. The original builder of that bench is probably looking down ad smiling that his pride and joy is now yours. By the way, did the pooch keep mum? (Best start to a YT video I've seen yet)
Nice, got a really similar one but with a scandinavian front vice with just a screw and no proper jaw. Some proper wood benchdogs that can dissapear into the benchtop might be a good small build. Dont know if you already know but i was told when using benches like this in primary school wodworking class to never bang or chop anything on top of the back vise even if it looks just like normal benchtop. Of course its okay if using the benchdogs but always use the one closest to the jaw thats practical and open the vice as little as possible when using benchdogs is what i was told, The sliding asembly is not quite up to heavy downwards force. Yours is sloppy but alright, mine is really too sloppy but can still be used. You should also never overtighten a wood screw. If the project moves in the vice it is better to set up on the benchtop or prop from below, mainly when chopping with chisels. Overtightening (say with the full weigth of a frustrated 12 year old) might damage the threads. And of course never force open a swollen screw. Just bring it in to a heated shop and wait. Btw workbenches are made to be trued with a big smoother plane when not flat any more.
Great video and beautiful bench. I am a complete newbie and just moved into a new home with a vintage workbench in the basement. It's smaller than this one and with 2 metal vice. I'd like to restore it as I have some things in mind that I would like to make...Please can you list the tools etc you used?
Great restoration! I'm going to restore an old workbench like yours, and i have a question: wich kind of product did you use to wax the wood? I thought to use a restoration oil, but you had a great effect with your product...
Awesome work and thanks for the tips, I’m going to be doing one myself soon. I love old story telling benches. Im planning on using mine in the end. It’s what it was made for right? Great work again man!
I just got one every similar well over 100 years old doesn't have a leg vise but a massive tail vise with steel screw and 2 steel bench dogs with spring not sure what to do with it might restore it or sell it . also to another bench that has an old electric motor under it and a hole in the top for the belt to come through for a possible lathe or grinder maybe not as old but still cool.
Here is another guy's restoration of the same type of bench. Watch "Carpenter's Bench ( ponk ) - Restoration" on RU-vid ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zODZ0E4LsIM.html There are so many questions I have for you and the other guy. Why is the wood color so different? Was it the wood that was used, stains, or the environment where the benches spent time? Were the benches a mail-order? Made by the same company? Or used in the same shop? I have lots more questions, but I think it is so cool that y'all restored the same type of bench.
If that bench could talk about the projects it's been part of. Very nice job with video and rebuild. Is it working out as you thought with today's power tools is it in need of updating? Thank you
redwood1957 honestly I don’t use it as much as I though I would. I spent so much time restoring it that I’m afraid I will ruin it with power tools so I only use it when I do hand tool work.
@@KomarProject I'm jealous, I've been digging through basements for years and haven't turned a good bench up....virtually everything else but not a bench...at least at a price I was ok with.
I have a couple just like that and plan on refinishing them to used in my house what kind of oil or wax did you use to finish it with and what type of sealer would you use??
Torstein Myrdal I used black bison wood wax to finish it. As for the tool it’s just a old paint scraper i had that got some of the grime off before planning it.
I was almost screaming noooo. Man a little soap and elbow grease would have been amazing as it was. You probably could have cleaned it and sold it for more than enough to buy a nice new well made expensive bench.
