Mini Holtzapffel Workbench - Project of the Week

March 28, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week 

This week’s project comes from Shawn. Impressive indeed! Here’s the story:

holtzapffel-01.jpgThis project was different than a normal one, I had to reduce the size down to fit my four year old daughter and stay within visual scale of the original. I got the idea to build this because my daughter is a tom-boy who likes to spend time in the wood shop with me. After seeing the reworked Holtzapffel workbench by Christopher Schwarz, I was inspired to create a scaled down version for my daughter’s Christmas present.

holtzapffel-02.jpgThe workbench is made of scrap pine I had in the shop. It is finished with amber shellac to give it a antique look and the hand cut scaled down hold-fast and bench dogs are finished in a black enamel paint. The hold-fast, bench dogs and clamps all work just like the real deal. I found it fun to do this project and quite challenging as well and it’s nice to step out of your normal work zone and be refreshed with something new and different. Plus help the next generation of woodworkers get started, even if they are only four years old.

holtzapffe-03.jpg holtzapffe-04.jpg holtzapffe-05.jpg

Comments

10 Responses to “Mini Holtzapffel Workbench - Project of the Week”

  1. stewbacca on March 28th, 2008 8:45 pm

    What a great idea. The coolest thing to do in my shop for my two boys (4 and 2) is to play with the handles to my workbench vises. They would be fired up to have something that cool!

  2. Vic on March 28th, 2008 9:23 pm

    That’s too cool! Beats the heck outta building her a dollhouse!

  3. TedM on March 29th, 2008 4:39 am

    Kudos to Shawn! Though I never built him anything as impressive, my son used to spend a lot of time with me in the shop building bird houses and such. He now runs his own home construction company so I guess there’s a lot to be said for getting them started early. Once again, great job!

  4. Lars on March 29th, 2008 5:14 am

    Perfect for the Lie-Nielsen No. 1 bench plane I got for my daughter when she was born.

  5. Claude Stewart on March 29th, 2008 7:27 am

    Very Nice! Now I wish I had one except mine would have to be full size.

  6. Don Burbank on March 29th, 2008 7:58 am

    I have been looking for a bench project similar to this one. I would like to buy a set of plans but do not see anywhere on the site to order them. Are there plans and where do I buy them? Thanks Don

  7. Tom on March 29th, 2008 9:01 am

    Amazing work and a great idea!
    My granddaughter recently turned 5 and loves to build things. I’m giving her a bag of tools next month, and Shawn’s mini workbench would be a great gift for her.

  8. Kip on March 29th, 2008 10:48 am

    What a productiveway to involve a chid in your hobby. Shawn you will have your dauaghters attention in the shop for yeas to come.

    Very nice Shawn

  9. Mattias in Durham, NC on March 29th, 2008 3:24 pm

    That’s really cool. I wish I had space in my small shop for something like that for my son.

    Don - this is what you need - Chris Schwarz’ Workbenches book:
    http://www.lostartpress.com/pr.....96377.aspx

  10. Todd on March 29th, 2008 9:16 pm

    I found a link to the plans here if you scroll down to the second project there is a link to buy the plans (full size of course!!).

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