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under construction -- needs cleaning up
Workbench. noun. A bench on which work is performed; especially such a bench for mechanics, machinists, carpenters, etc.
The etymology of this term is obscure. Thomas Jefferson uses the term in 1781, but surely -- given the claims by such authorities on the workbench as James Balackaby -- as term, "workbench" was in use even before then.
A tool of the utmost importance, workbenches considered best have a top constructed of narrow strips of hardwood, glued and bolted together, a method that reduces warping. The top -- bolted to a frame consisting of four legs braced securely with cross pieces -- usually has a recess or trough, where tools are placed while working. This frame is often fitted with one or more drawers.
Workbenches are ancient. Roman woodworkers are depicted with very simple workbenches, and by the Renaissance, books of trades frequently depict the joiner at his bench. In the seventeenth century, workbenches begin to be illustrated with the vises that are now one of their distinguishing features.
Source: James R. Blackaby, "How the Workbench Changed the Nature of Work." American Heritage of Invention & Technology (Fall, 1986) page 29.
A Carpenter's Shop ... will contain..the well-known work-bench of the trade, and perhaps a lathe.
Source: Robert Kerr The gentleman's house; or, How to plan English residences, from the parsonage to the palace; with tables of accommodation and cost, and a series of selected plans.. London: J. Murray, 1864, page 307
Although more are always needed, we're limited to two hands. Workbenches, vises, and clamps provide those extra hands when you need them.
Source: Consumer Guide. The Tool Catalog New York: Harper & Row, 1978, page 272.
As tools get more sophisticated, we use them less and manage them more. It all goes back to the introduction of the workbench.
Source: James R Blackaby, "How the Workbench Changed the Nature of Work" American Heritage Of Invention & Technology 2 Fall 1986, page 26.
An Indispensable Tool in the Home Workshop
A workbench provides a sturdy, stable work surface, and allows you to work at a convenient height.
Woodworkers' benches at the turn of the twentieth century were simpler than those now in use. The ends of long boards were supported on wooden or iron pegs. Notice the various holes drilled in the side of the bench to hold these pegs. For the vise to hold thicker stock, you adjusted a part of the fixture at the bottom, by moving two pegs over one or more notches.
The European-style -- below, right -- workbench improves the workbench pictured above by making it capable of clamping long flat workpieces securely on the workbench's top.
For many American amateur woodworkers, born in this century, a workbench is shop-made -- often fitted against the shop's wall -- with a top usually fashioned from 2 X 10s and legs made from 2 X 4s or 4 X 4s. And, in more recent times, sometimes the workbench top is covered with a combination of plywood and a smooth-surface sheet of tempered-hardboard.Woodworking for Everybody.
Before and during the 1920s, in contrast, we see -- detailed below -- that to professional woodworkers in Europe or America, a workbench isn't built into a corner of the shop or against the wall. Instead, the workbench, in effect, becomes the focal point of the workshop, with tools situated around it.
Remember, this is an era of greater use of hand tools and -- when and where available -- smaller scale stationary power tools, powered by direct current motors.
After WW II, Who First Introduced the European Workbench to the American Market?
While it does not address specifically who is first, etc., the brief information in the 1978 The Tool Catalog, pages 273-274, gives details about this movement to reinstate the European-style workbench in home workshops by some woodworkers. A 1979 Fine Woodworking issue has an adv for a European-type workbench by Garden Way, a Vermont-based manufacturer that copied the style.
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On the right is a European- style bench, created by my friend, Keith Rucker, Webmaster for www.owwm.com For more examples of workbenches created by American woodworkers, see the Geocities webpage on workbenches.
Below, left, a typical European bench laid out schematically.
Enduring Concepts About How Workbenches Function in the WorkshopA European-style bench's system of vises and holds allows it to grip workpieces in almost any position. Thus, in this sense, workbenches greatly assist craftsmen whose work concentrates on hand tools, but are optional for the craftsmen who prefer power tools.
A workbench is a flat surface for accurately laying out parts, assembling the components -- "dry fitting" -- that comprise a woodworking project.
A workbench is a flat surface on which a project's parts can be permanently and precisely joined. The height of the bench top is determined by the type of use the bench is to support. If used mainly for hand tool work, the bench top height should be about "palm height" (stand erect, arm at your side, wrist bent so the palm of the hand is horizontal). This height allows for using body weight -- rather than just muscles -- to apply downward force for planing. This height will also let you work kneeling or sitting on a stool - better on your feet, legs and back -- getting your eyes closer to the work -- without bending way over.
(I am indebted to Charlie Belden for a lengthy discussion about these concepts.) Interest in workbenches today is both status symbol and expectation toward creative achievement
[I admit that I’m struggling with the Workbench entry. When I started assembling this piece, I visualized "workbench" -- like my other glossary entries -- as something that I could finish quickly. Something was not right, though. Instead, I realized that rather than a narrative about “workbench” that fits into my personal concept of that tool, because of an importance it has for many amateur woodworkers, as a symbol of fine woodworking, the treatment of workbench deserves an emphasis of a different kind.
(In my own case -- on the left -- my workbench, a Woodbutcher's workbench? -- is on large rubber casters, has an English Record metal vise, and a 2' X 6' X 1" particle board top. Definitely not "classic", and, since I'm messy, it is almost always cluttered.)
You have probably noticed already that in my shop, my workbench is always cluttered – it’s a place to put things -- with tools that should put away, leaving no room for the work that a workbench is designed for.
Instead, to do justice to it for woodworkers, I’m finding that you need to look at the workbench from another point, i.e., that many -- maybe most – professional and amateur woodworkers alike -- treasure, even idolize, their workbench. Why? Is it, perhaps, because for these woodworkers, their workbench is a symbol of realizing their aspirations of woodworking achievement, of finally becoming a “craftsman”? That is, with their completed projects, realize their dream of rising above the “wood-butcher” level of creativity. To finally achieve that quality of creativity that puts them into that circle of achievement, the realm of “creating a work of art”. In this sense, I am beginning to understand why many amateur woodworkers visualize as the workbench central tool in their shop. It is both status symbol and expectation toward creative achievement.
For me, I am happy being the Woodbutcher. That is, in creating something out of wood, mistakes are made, but unless these mistakes make the piece nonfunctional, I say "don’t fret". This helps, I think, explain why a power tool, the bandsaw, is the central tool in my shop.
In woodworking, creativity in, in my view, comes from taking the wood in it rough dimensioned stage, and – by cutting and shaping it – fashioning this wood into a “final” stage, where – while it is not a work of “art” – as a functional piece, becomes a symbol of your achievement, in the sense that endures as a piece that you made, and that generations to come might treasure it because of its origin, and not always because of its artistic quality. Without a bandsaw to dimension this rough wood, I could not realize my personal goals in woodworking. ]
Impact of Electrification on Concept of the Workbench
As electrification progressed -- beginning around 1915, and completed in urban centers by 1930 -- and fractional horsepower motors became readily available, the transition in home workshops from hand tools to power tools increased.
The impact of electrification is significant, for it meant that much of the dimensioning of lumber could be achieved through operations involving power tools, rather than hand tools, thus reducing the need for a hefty workbench.The evidence that shows this shift in the centrality of workbenches -- literally a shrinking of the workbench's size and functionality -- comes from several sources, but primarily Woodworker's Manuals.
Workbenches, regardless of the style, whether commercial or carefully-constructed by craftsmen, usually have one or more Vises, Bench Dogs and other appliances and -- optionally, for storage -- shelves or drawers below.
Some amateur woodworkers either purchase a ready-made European-style workbench, or, like my friend Keith Rucker, take pride in constructing their own workbench (Keith's workbench is pictured above).From my experience, other amateur woodworkers -- and I have to count myself in the other group -- are less inclined to see the necessity of an elaborate workbench, and make use other tables as substitutes.
The Size of Home Workbench Depends on Size of Home Workshop: The Workbench's Shrinking Size.For most amateur woodworkers, beginning in the mid-1920s, a transition from hand tools to power tools became a reality, and the dependence on the larger, heavier European-style bench declined. As this workbench disappeared, it was often replaced by the semi-built-in against-the-wall units. [examples below]Having authors of woodworker's manuals recommend workbench sizes is one thing, but having the required space in one's home is another. Before WW II house square footage was considerably less than after, especially given the housing boom that grew out of the economic engine that World War II produced in America. The increase in numbers of attached garages -- especially the two-car garage -- presents more space, but space that must be shared with automobiles. In this setting, where in the garage are the workbenches located? Does the homeowner have a basement workshop? As factors in determining size of workbenches, available space in the home workshop needs to be factored into any equation about what determines workbench size.
See the entry Workshop and/or Subchapter ":3", for example, Chapter 5:3
Workbench: A Central Tool for Woodworkers
First, let's recognize that in the woodwork shop, the workbench is a "tool". According to Norm Abram, of television's New Yankee Workshop fame, "the workbench is the most important tool in the homeshop":
The workbench is really your most important tool. Without a good one, it's difficult to work with the convenience, precision and safety that most operations require. From a more personal point of view, the workbench is a signature of sorts. Carpenters and cabinetmakers tend to compare their workbenches just as they compare completed furniture projects.While you can buy very good woodworker's benches from different woodworking tool suppliers, it's traditional for the carpenter to make his own bench. Besides, the factory-made workbenches can cost over $500. By building your own, you'll save enough money to buy a new router, or the wood for several furniture projects.
My workbench is a lightweight version of the traditional European- style benches that most cabinet- makers use. Like the classic cabinet- maker's bench, this one is designed to use bench dogs and a heavy-duty bench vice. An integral tool tray runs the full length of the bench along its back side, and there's a lower shelf for storing lumber or tools. Instead of using hardwood for the entire bench, my version has a frame that's made from common 2x4s. The workbench top is 1/4-in.thick tempered hardboard, screwed to a 3/4-in.-thick plywood base. The hardboard may not look as impressive as a top of laminated oak or maple, but it's inexpensive and easy to replace when it gets overloaded with scratches and stains.
There is some oak in my workbench, but it's used selectively. For example, the oak edge boards look good and provide longer wear at the bench perimeter than softwood could offer. It's also important for the tail stock assembly and bench dogs to be made from oak. These are the moving parts of the bench, and they need hardwood's extra density, strength and durability.
Source: Norm Abram, The New Yankee Workshop, Boston: Littlem Brown, 1989, page 27.
And as you read the statements below, Abram merely echoes authors of earlier woodworking manuals.
The Workbench 1900 and before:1769: 1769: André Jacob Roubo, L'Art du Menuisier Paris, 1769-74. Three volumes, over 300 plates. (read more about Roubo and his famous woodworker's manual)
For more background on Roubo's bench, see Scott Landis' chapter 2,The Workbench Book
Newtown, CT: Taunton Press, 1998.
W. F. M. Goss Bench Work In Wood: A Course Of Study And Practice Designed For The Use Of Schools And Colleges , Boston, : Ginn & Company, 1887, page 7. Goss's workbench is almost identical to Wheeler's 1899 workbench. What is different, though, is that Goss's context is the school shop, meaning that he is not recommending a model workbench for amateurs to reproduce in their home workshops.
Contemporary with both Goss and Wheeler, but located in London, the Australian, Paul N Hasluck, published plans for numerous workbenches intended for amateur wooddworkers to replicate.
