The Workbench Book: A Craftsman's Guide to Workbenches for Every Type of Woodworking

This book is part of a "trilogy" that was published around the same time, accompanying The Toolbox Book and The Workshop Book. With these three books you get plenty of ideas for creating or updating your own woodworking shop. These books are not meant for people doing simple home repair work. They are meant for people who have a love and fascination with working wood.In addition to a history lesson of what workbenches have been in the past, this book offers suggestions and "plans" for building workbenches that work in today's modern shops. Of course, if you only use hand tools, a bench designed in the 1700's would work as well now as then. Most of the workbenches in this book were designed for hand tool use, but many will work fine with portable power tools.In addition to the benches themselves, the "accessories" for benches are covered. This includes several different types of vices, bench dogs, bench hooks, and other items that make a bench more useful. The photographs and writing are excellent. It is a dream book for the enthusiast.If all you need is a sturdy bench for simple work, then grab some 2 x 4's, plywood and nails and make one. Don't wait to build a bench - you will need one. But if you grow in woodworking, you will soon want to have something more useful and more sophisticated. This is the book you will read when you come to that point.

The author, Scott Landis, is a thoughtful writer--something I appreciate in an author. He conducted a lot of interviews and he amassed excellent photographs. He will give you an opportunity to think some if you care to. He will give you the opportunity to better understand the evolution of workbenches over numerous centuries along with the corresponding technology of the day, and help you appreciate their compatibility. In a nutshell, a tool is the inspiration of someone with a job to do and a workbench is arguably the woodworkers foremost tool. Surely the reading of the book will help you formulate a reasonable design for your own workbench, but there is so much more here that to recommend it just for that purpose does not do the book justice. Bottom line: If you would like to gain a throughtful perspective about workbenches and the work/lives of the people who used them, you may enjoy the book whether you have a new workbench on your horizon or not! It's a good read.I will be watchful for more by the author, Scott Landis. Thank you!

Purchased this book hoping to find plans for Frank Klausz’s bench, that would assist in building a similar bench built by Rob Cosman. There are plans in the back of the book, but dimensions provided are somewhat limited. Should be enough though to refine plans to my specific needs. My only issue with the text as a whole is that the font size used is way too small for any scenario other than bright light, which is not great for many of us older woodworkers.

I built my work bench in college, I used this book to help make improvements to my work bench . I also made a second work bench for my shop.

This is an excellent book on the subject of woodworking and cabinetmaking bench design and construction. It provides a history of bench design from the Egyptians to contemporary times along with numerous detailed drawing sketches and photographs of every aspect of design and construction. There is also an increadible amount of detail on the operational side of the various designs. In many instances comparisons are drawn to better explain the various uses and reasons behind the different approaches or options being described. A book which will appeal to both amature and professional alike, a very comprehensive reference particularly in relation to location an construction of bench accessories such as vice types and use.

This is a great book for a Workbench connoisseuer and historian. Takes you from the 18th century Roubo design to modern day variations of the Roubo and Shaker benches through Hyrids etc. And then it reverses and takes you to the Japanese method which is essentially a strongback and backwards acting tools - shakes you up a bit. but actually, as great a read as it was - and i enjoyed it, all I was looking for was some plans to build a common workbench for about 15 sq ft of workspace and room enough to bolt a couple of power tools so I wouldn't have to spend a fortune to buy one ready-made. i guess not. so if someone would like to buy this for $10 delivered in USA, its yours.

When I read Chris Schwartz's (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) book I thought it was the be all, end all book on the subject. But this was actually written first. It has more in depth information in my opinion. If you are thinking of building a bench, I would recommend this a first read (then Schwartz). It begins with a history of the workbench which I found very interesting. Then it examines various benches, and the function of different add ons (like planing stops, vises, etc.). It presents a smorgasbord of choices that you could add to your bench. Well researched. Recommended.

If you are considering building a serious woodworking workbench,I strongly encourage you to buy this book. This is particularly true if you have read Schwartz's "The Workbench: Its Design, Theory, Construction and Use". This book provide excellent counterpoint to Schwartz's erudite, but often ivory tower theories on workbench design. Buy this book before you build a 400 pound mahogany cathedral to woodworking. Workbench minimalists will particularly enjoy the section on Sam Maloofs workbench. Maloof built $200,000 rocking chairs, some of which sit in the Museum of Modern Art, on what is essentially a kitchen table. Essential reading.