Mark’s Shaker Workbench

I’ve always loved the classic shaker workbench, this is my adaptation of one. Red oak, leg vise, tail vise, record style vise. Plane shelves, two small drawers, two large drawers for routers, sanders and other assorted power tools. 1/2 blind dovetailed sides, with through dovetails on the tail vise.  Other side houses tool tote for all my carving tools. Power is hidden underneath at two spots. The dead man is very handy.

My inspiration for this bench is rooted in the traditional Shaker cabinet style bench. It is constructed out of a small cache of immaculate milled 10 quarter, 15 inch wide and 12 foot long red oak boards I carried around for almost 25 years. My home is all white oak, so you get why it sat for many years. I first saw a true woodworker’s bench at a woodworking show here in Los Angeles. It was a piece done by the Cerritos College Woodworking program. I’d been woodworking for many years on a 4×8 sheet of plywood and decided it was time for a true upgrade. The most eye opening part of the class, was the vises. There were so many to choose from and what were my needs and wants?  I chose the Benchcrafted leg vise first. Along with a desire to dovetail my ends,  I had a vision for it and it was worth every penny to fulfill that image. The tail vise is my go to vise by Lie Nielsen, love it. The Wilton record style vise came from my old bench and basically is a general dirty work vise, since the jaws are replaceable.

The backside houses a tool tote from the first class I took at the college; it holds all my carving tools. I added two small drawers for pencils, rulers and other assorted small stuff. The two larger drawers house the routers, sanders and jig saws. The ends hold an assortment of hand planes. It even has a couple of secret compartments for giggles and grins. The skirt is 5 inches thick while the top is 3inches. Add a few hold downs and she’s ready to sail. I used no plans, only measurements representing the dimensions of material and space I was limited by. From my head the shop floor. My absolute most valuable tool.