As an amateur with woodworker, i typically feel overpowered with the entire arrangement ruclips.net/user/postUgkxrYREG3-7f1Aqk9ams3ZESRNzGnfdUtyQ . Be that as it may, this arrangements drove me through with much clarity and effortlessness woodplans. Works i now work like a genius. That is great!
Tool and die maker here, a file shouldn't wear out quickly so long as you keep it clean. Keep a file card handy and occasionally use the wite brush side while working to clear the chips from the file teeth. Makes a world of difference
Rex (can I call you Rex? Okay.) I think the highest compliment I can pay you is to say you remind me of an early Alton Brown, if he'd done a woodworking show instead of a cooking show.
Oooh. That makes me think of a good concept for a future Rex vid. There's a video out there called "Alton Brown reviews Amazon's dumbest kitchen gadgets". I think a version of that would be great with Rex reviewing Amazon's dumbest woodworking gadgets.
One of the hallmarks of the Nicholson/English bench is that they are full of holes for holdfasts. The holdfast is fundamental. I saw another video where a guy glued reinforcing blocks under his bench for holdfasts. The force exerted by the holdfast eventually popped the block off. Might need a screw or 4.
I reinforced mine and that was the perfect solution. I’ve heard the grammercy hold fasts don’t need them. But, blocking is cheap. I added a bunch and I did use screws to keep it tight.
This is one of Rex’s best videos. This is fundamental stuff. For those that want to build a bench there is no need to be slavish to details. The essence of the English style is two boards on edge front and back and then cover with boards. 2x4 with supports every 24 inches is plenty of strength. Do glue on the thickener pieces for the holdfasts. Do buy a pair of holdfasts. The Gramercy brand are steel rod and will never snap like the cheap cast iron ones. 22-26 inches wide is nice. Don’t go too wide. The well type style (see his other video) can go wider. 4 feet is a little too short. 6 feet is nice. The skirts front and back have to be at least 2x6s, but you’ll be happier with 2x8s. (I went with 2x6s and find wider long boards ride too high above the bench.) I came back to this video to go over the plane stop he did. I’ve just been driving screws into the top now and then as needed. Don’t be put off by the rough construction. A beautiful bench of hardwood can dent your projects: better dent the bench with the project than dent the project with the bench. With a cheap top you’ll put in holes for the holdfasts without concern. You’ll paint on it, glue on it, drive in the occasional screw or nail and you won’t care. You’ll just get the job done. Say you build 5 projects a year. 5 years from now plane the surface. In 10 years you’ll have spent $50 in wood per project or $2500 in materials. Maybe then, maybe, you replace the top for $40. Get it? Cheap bench makes lots of projects and you can even patch it up. On top of that this bench (the English Style) is so approachable that you’ll make it. What are you waiting for?
Great job! Thanks so much for looking out for the "average" weekend woodworker. I bought the plan bundle (well worth $10!!!) and am just completing my bench. I modified the plans slightly to include some ideas from Mike Siemsen's bench. Never would have thought about all the different options without your videos! Keep doing what you are doing!!!!!!!! (also I REALLY enjoy your videos on your analysis of old furniture.)
This is brilliant. Have never before seriously considered the possibility of successful woodworking sans a bevy of electric tools and a big workshop. This opens up whole new world of possibilities.
Awesome videos. I've learned a lot watching them. I went to antique store about 15 miles from my home and found a Pine Knot brase and 27 bits and only played $ 18.00, all in great shape too. Keep up the great videos.
YT -> "This old Tony" has an excellent video on bit geometry and understand on how to sharpen them. I messed up trying to resharpen my used bits until I watched his vid.
9:50 where you talk about sawing. That is the MAJOR reason for the well in an English workbench. Like so many other people said we all had these in school. Each bench had a 4" paint brush that we would clear the sawdust away from the well with. Long pieces would lie along the well and we'd use it like a bench hook. Hold/lean on the piece with one hand and saw with the other. No hold-fast required. You could reference the saw to the bench for a rough 90 degrees. but we were always taught to use a square and mark it. It was never used to keep tools in. Mr L would throw a mallet at you for that! Tools were always stored correctly. You can only hold one tool at a time so when you get one put the other one back. I'm sure this was because we had more students than tools but it's still something I do now.
Fantastic videos, Rex. I've been putting together my woodworking "shop" with minimal indoor space. I do work outdoors extensively. I love you showing woodworkers that they don't need all the expensive stuff that we "must" have.
I built a Nicholson style bench a few years ago and love the front "vertical bench" that goes with it. So a lot of nodding in agreement from me with your present Nicholson series. And a very hearty HECK YEAH on the holdfasts. So simple and easy to use yet so capable. I wish I'd learned about them years ago for my wood working. I've been using one as a "mallet operated vise" on the front apron for a while now.
Exactly! I made my own bench with one side that's Nicholson-like, and the other side is more Roubo style, so that I can easily use clamps, too. The Nicholson side has a bunch of holes for the holdfasts, so does the top of the table, while the side without the apron doesn't have any holes for holdfasts, but the benchtop is still about 3" thick. To hold stuff, I sawed myself a bunch of little dogs, and made two holdfasts using steel rod and wood, but I think I'm going to remake them all in steel rod.
My father was a joiner and of course made many work benches during the course of his life. I was intrigued by the planing stop in your video I have never seen my father employ that design before in his work he simply cut a V shape from a piece of good quality plywood and nailed that to the end of the bench. The wood being planed just jams tightly into the V holding it secure for planing.
I don't normally subscribe to WW channels, I just use the tutorials that I need. You definitely deserve a sub - I'm not a wealthy man, everything is about budget, and your videos are FILLED with budget tips, I love it.
I built a very similar bench in about 1975. I planned to use it to build by beautiful hardwood bench but I never had the money for the hardwood and I did have my construction lumber bench. When I retired to Florida in 2002, I still had that bench and I had constructed dozens of jigs to make it more useful. So don't be afraid this is not a good enough bench. It's perfect.
Thank you for pointing out a great use for those Barrel Nuts, as people always make fun of me for keeping them when scavenging random stuff from cheap furniture in the garbage...
I love living vise free ;) I tried a bunch of vises: shoulder, twin screw, tail, leg. In the end, I don't have one on my bench. Once you learn how to use viseless options, you will discover that they are indeed more convenient to use than a vise. There are only two vises I'd consider: leg vise (because they are the strongest vise available and have the largest capacity) and a tail vise (because they can hold things to the bench top very securely). Great video, I hope you inspire more people to go viseless!
Man i have to say i have been watching your series since the low roman bench and it is getting better and better. As a woodworker from Eastern Europe i have a lot of fun watching a great craftsman actualy using his head and not only his wallet (which often happens with woodworking channels). Keep up the great work Rex im sure you help a lot of people with your tutorials and most importantly you teach people to innovate and use new ideas.
Hi Rex. Whilst, of course, you can do perfectly well without a vice (yes, that's how we spell it in British and Australian English) I would like to see how you would go about installing one. Should the front apron of the bench act as the liner for the fixed jaw? Should the jaw be proud of the bench apron? What timbers would you use for jaw liners? What are the pros/cons of different styles of vice? Maybe look at some different ones available online? Perhaps ad-vise us on what to look for in a new and/or used vice? I look forward to hearing from you. - Martin
I'm getting de ja vu from when I first got into 3D printers. We were criticized a lot back then because the most popular things to print were upgrades to our 3D printers, and well... Other 3D printers. -- Watching you build the woodworking humans bench, and the vice, and upgrades, and then this bench, and the upgrades, and the vice... It's kind of the exact same feeling. I can even print a little matching toy cake to go along with it. XD
Rex, on my first bench (about 50 years ago) I went even lower tech for bench dogs...drilled holes wherever necessary and countersunk them to accept flathead wood screws (brass in case I ever ran into them with a plane). Screwed flush they were out of the way. Unscrewed a turn or two the sharp flat heads bit into the workpiece like the teeth of your “hinge dog”. Worked slick. In fact that bench and those dogs still see service to this day!
Loop a tow strap or a bicycle tire tube around your bench and slide the work under it, hold tension on the strap with your foot. Used with a stop that will handle most everything you need until you get around to adding fancy stops.
Rex my man. Some people might think you're a complete nut but coming from a "woodworker lacking every proper tool" to get the job done, I see how you adapted and made work with what you had available. Bravo! Would you agree a Nicholson bench is the best bench to build for a serious, no messing around, get the project done workhorse? Have you experimented adding hardwood block inserts in all your holdfast holes?
I love the creative bench hold solutions. Some really useful, inexpensive options for an outdoor bench up at the family cabin. Lots of woodworking happens there, many annual repairs, but nobody ever wants to spend a lot on a lake cabin bench or tools. Everything there is a cast-off. Thanks Rex!
I spent $150 on the materials for my joiners bench, but I went to a reputable builders supplier in my area known for better quality lumber, and I mistakenly bought 1/2 inch carriage bolts and hardware. I also quickly learned the downside of using the factory edge on the chisel set I could afford (irwin). I also quickly learned that cutting square with the japanese hand saw is rather difficult. 😂 you live and learn my friends.
Big like here. I built the bench (minus the top, it's still hidden in the boards) and it is rock solid. Think I will add a few dogs, combined with a cheap vice as a end vice and dog pusher. Thanks
This bench just brings back so many school memories!, Although ours had centre troughs, and were fitted with wood and (occasionally) metalworking vices on the edges
I made my holdfast out of a bit of rhododendron. Find a branch a bit bigger than your thumb and follow it until a branch comes off it at a good strong angle then cut the main trunk just below the smaller bit. Then trim the smaller to four inches or so and the thicker to somewhat longer. Drill a hole in your bench to fit the big one. Put the wood to be worked next to the hole, turn your slingshot upside down and stick it in the hole. Wacking it with a mallet and having it clamp instantly is very satisfying. Tap the part opposite the smaller branch to release. A wonderful, and free, tool.
Great idea. I use a 3 cent drywall screw drilled into the end of my bench. I screw it up when I plane and screw it down when I’m done. Can’t use a does foot though, so I like your idea better. Thanks for sharing this.
I'm building a solid workbench out of 14cm thick left-over beams and I was working out how to put a vise in that. Thanks to you, I no longer have to, your tools look way cooler and are really retro - they seem to work great and I'll try them. I'm bookmarking this.
Glad to see Mike getting the attention he deserves. That video was the single most influential thing I watched before I made my bench. Totally agree on adding vises though. I went without for exactly as long as it took me to save up and buy a wooden screw. That would be a cool future video by the way. Also I was just noticing last night, I don't have a lot of space and I have noticed that my wood bench gets used for a lot of non woodworking tasks. Last night I was assembling hardware for a custom dishwasher front on it, and I think the last thing I was doing before that was playing with back gearing on an Atlas lathe. The point is I am able to do all of that because I added carcasses with drawers under my English bench. There is just a ton of space under there that most people don't use. If you can easily get your hands on screwdrivers, pliers, snips, and marking tools, then it becomes a general-purpose bench. And I even have space between the carcass top and the bench top, which is required for the holdfast bottoms when they are used, but there is enough left over to have a stack of clamps stuffed in there.
This out of all the thousands of woodworking videos ive watched and books ive read has honestly changed my whole experience for the better than any other one video
I have been watching you for about 6 or 8 months and I really do enjoy your videos. You have some great ideas and even I am a intermediately hand tool wood worker I still learn from you. Thanks for being you.
I've been watching your channel for awhile. Your English joiners bench video was good, but I think it's just your channel starting to get traction. You've had very high production values from the beginning. My first thought when I found the channel was "Why doesn't this guy have more subscribers".
You're very kind. My very early videos looked like crap and it took a while to get it together. I hope things are catching on now, but viewers like you make everything worth it!
I have a set of the Gramercy holdfasts, Rex is right. They are an incredible deal. My only recommendation - the holdfasts are very finely finished. I roughed them up a bit with some 120 grit on the spot where the holdfasts lock up with the bench. You don't have to, but they lock up with much less force from the mallet.
I've been woodworking my whole life and learn so much from your videos, also ya know they're funny. As a fellow hand tool lover I really appreciate the traditional elements and builds you do as I've always wanted to try using these methods but never had a starting point. Thanks Again
You've quickly become one of my favorite, if not my favorite, woodworking RUclipsrs. I love your video style, down-to-earth content, and sense of humor. You seem like the kind of guy I'd like to buy a beer for and just chat. I don't really do the Patreon thing, so instead, I just bought all your plans. You could really use a "buy all my plans" option, though I'm sure it would mean an extra step to update it every time you add a new plan.
I love that you haven't made the plans super expensive. $5 is perfect! It will be a while before I have a workshop but when I do get one I am really looking forward to making this bench.
I've seen some other people make pipe clamp Vise it looks really sturdy and cheap and would make the bench better also were I work in a joinery factory we always cover are benches with with ply or MDF to protect the tops and so we have a bigger working area and 4 square corners to reference but that's on a more industrial scale and the bench tops are really abused
Love your stuff Rex, but a 6 1/2 in Irwin woodworking vise is only ~30 off Amazon and it works like a champ. I mounted it flush with the top of the vise to the benchtop and in the middle of the bench. Then I drilled a series of half inch wide through holes along the apron which I populated with a few 6in long sections of dowel on both sides of the vise so they carry the weight of the stock I am prepping and the vise holds the stock solidly in place. Works like a champ and vise and a couple feet of 1/2in pine dowel is cheap and very usable for the beginning woodworker. I've used it on 12in wide (on edge) by 8 ft long planks, and for working on the faces of those planks, Just a couple quick clamps to hold it to the benchtop.
Christian Becksvoort's book Shaker Inspiration has a dandy plane stop that goes onto the edge of the bench that is easily adjustable and can be kept out of the way. I can't think how to describe it but you will smile when you see it.
A great source for hardwood and other lumber is Craigslist under 'materials'. I bought a foot tall stack of 1/2" X 12" X 10' planks. Some rough cut, some planed. Only 1 piece of soft pine.
Great video. Your videos are awesome for beginners as well as seasoned carpenters. One recommendation is PLEASE use some safety gear mainly eye protection. Most beginners don’t realize how important they can be. Before viewers jump on me I’m NOT saying you’re a beginner because your work shows you aren’t. A pro like you can promote safety. Someone once said “you won’t know how many times they save your eyes until you wish you had them”. Again, your videos are great. I’ve learned a bunch already.
Dude thanks for the teachings, if only i was near you, i would ask for a part time job, so i can get my head away from car painting for a while. Once again thanks
Hi Rex, I love the way you do your videos and tell us that it doesn't need to be exact, slight rough cut will work as I am not an experienced woodworker but love to play with wood and challenge myself to construct things. My work may not be perfect or precise but I made it and that's all that counts, Thank you for your inspiration. Rob
I do all my work in the driveway and need a bench that I can leave outside. A vice was not in the cards for that reason since it would just rust. I'm going to give this a go!
With all these accessories for holding your work to the bench, it would probably be a good idea to add a shelf to the underside of the bench. That way everything is always accessible.
I just use a pair of big brass countersunk screws for a planing stop. I countersunk the hole way down so i can run it down below the surface of the bench so nothing catches on it. If I need a planing stop, i just unscrew them to the proper height. The is extra nice for me because I plane a lot of thinner stock, and theyre brass so i don't have to worry about steel tools getting all dinged on them. Over time they get bent and dinged up so every few years i spend $2 and get new screws.
A quick and shitty holdfast can be made out of rebar or other metal bars if you’ve a charcoal barbecue, a hair dryer, two sets of sturdy pliers, and a pair of sledgehammers or a very large and very hard stone. Take the bar, stick the end in the fire, and blow it with the dryer until the metal is very orange or yellow. Take it out and hammer it flat using either your stone or a hammer for the anvil. Then heat the middle of it to the same colour, then take it and try to bend it by hand. If you can’t, hammer it across the corner of the stone. Aim to make it just slightly acute, and KEEP IT ROUND.
A wonderfully useful drill bit with integral countersink is the machinist's "center drill" style which being rigid is less likely to walk (a problem even in a milling machine). They are not expensive and along with a prick and center punch make basic metalworking much easier.
Hey rex. I saw in a book if you drill a hole for a dowel perpendicular to the end grain and run screwed through the end grain into the dowel it's the same effect but with wood
I've been using holdfasts made from the crotch of tree branches for several months with good results. I made them from a tree branch blown down in a storm. They are a bit springier than metal holdfasts, which sometimes is great (they push back against movement), but sometimes lets things work loose. They also don't seem to damage the holes in my 1.5" bench top. Can't complain about free though.
I love my Gramercy holdfasts, and use them a lot. I also made 2 more holdfasts as a newbie blacksmith project that work just as well. If you have a thick top workbench, you need holdfasts. Gramercy are the only inexpensive ones worth looking at that I know of. Also look up Black Bear Forge on Etsy for blacksmithed but not too expensive holdfasts.
Question from someone who knows nothing. The teeth on the plaining stop, looks to me that they would leave marks in the end of the stock. Would guess that most of the time these marks would get buried, but not always. Maybe this has been asked already. Rex you are the man.
If it's a concern, you could always leave your stock a bit longer before using it on the planing stop, and then chop off the end so there won't be any marks once you're done
Knowing what you know now about the hold fasts you could have drilled the holes through the 4x4 keys in the top from the beginning. Great video and good adaptation.
You can make a holdfast from wood. Find a sapling with a crotch (a main branch with a thickness rivaling the stem not a stem splitting in to two stems). Cut the branch a foot from the stem. Cut the stem 2 foot above the crotch and a handspan below the crotch. Take some cordage and lash the short part tightly continue until you reach the crotch, lash the limb to the stem in a figure 8 pattern tightly about 10 times, fasten your twine. You have a basic holdfast. Pound it in your bench. Trim the lenghts of the limb and stem to appropriate lenghts and you are done.
I really like Rex's presentation style. It's very direct, yet somewhat retro in that it feels very 2010 in a satisfyingly well done way.
As an amateur with woodworker, i typically feel overpowered with the entire arrangement ruclips.net/user/postUgkxrYREG3-7f1Aqk9ams3ZESRNzGnfdUtyQ . Be that as it may, this arrangements drove me through with much clarity and effortlessness woodplans. Works i now work like a genius. That is great!
Tool and die maker here, a file shouldn't wear out quickly so long as you keep it clean. Keep a file card handy and occasionally use the wite brush side while working to clear the chips from the file teeth. Makes a world of difference
You're my favourite American, Rex. I highly appreciate the no fuss approach of building things out of bits and bobs and skill you have in your craft.
Rex (can I call you Rex? Okay.) I think the highest compliment I can pay you is to say you remind me of an early Alton Brown, if he'd done a woodworking show instead of a cooking show.
The Alton Brown of woodworking, PERFECT!
Oooh. That makes me think of a good concept for a future Rex vid. There's a video out there called "Alton Brown reviews Amazon's dumbest kitchen gadgets". I think a version of that would be great with Rex reviewing Amazon's dumbest woodworking gadgets.
@@RtotheK605 please no... there's enough idiots out there reviewing shitty tools already... don't ruin the channel with something like that!
Whoa! Dude this is so true
This is high praise
One of the hallmarks of the Nicholson/English bench is that they are full of holes for holdfasts. The holdfast is fundamental. I saw another video where a guy glued reinforcing blocks under his bench for holdfasts. The force exerted by the holdfast eventually popped the block off. Might need a screw or 4.
I reinforced mine and that was the perfect solution. I’ve heard the grammercy hold fasts don’t need them. But, blocking is cheap. I added a bunch and I did use screws to keep it tight.
This is one of Rex’s best videos. This is fundamental stuff. For those that want to build a bench there is no need to be slavish to details. The essence of the English style is two boards on edge front and back and then cover with boards. 2x4 with supports every 24 inches is plenty of strength. Do glue on the thickener pieces for the holdfasts. Do buy a pair of holdfasts. The Gramercy brand are steel rod and will never snap like the cheap cast iron ones. 22-26 inches wide is nice. Don’t go too wide. The well type style (see his other video) can go wider. 4 feet is a little too short. 6 feet is nice. The skirts front and back have to be at least 2x6s, but you’ll be happier with 2x8s. (I went with 2x6s and find wider long boards ride too high above the bench.) I came back to this video to go over the plane stop he did. I’ve just been driving screws into the top now and then as needed.
Don’t be put off by the rough construction. A beautiful bench of hardwood can dent your projects: better dent the bench with the project than dent the project with the bench. With a cheap top you’ll put in holes for the holdfasts without concern. You’ll paint on it, glue on it, drive in the occasional screw or nail and you won’t care. You’ll just get the job done. Say you build 5 projects a year. 5 years from now plane the surface. In 10 years you’ll have spent $50 in wood per project or $2500 in materials. Maybe then, maybe, you replace the top for $40. Get it? Cheap bench makes lots of projects and you can even patch it up.
On top of that this bench (the English Style) is so approachable that you’ll make it. What are you waiting for?
I made a crochet too. I was so proud! As it turns out I use it all the time. That with dog pegs or hold fast on my apron and I can do anything
totally love the fact that your stuff works and not looks like its a piece of furniture. that really held me off building a bench for a looong time.
The only stuff I make that looks like furniture is actual furniture.
@@RexKruegerbased
I was looking for this video, I wrote "rex krueger planning stop", but couldn't find this. I'm glad I found it though!
The best part of wood working is doing so much with so little. Forces you to be creative
Great job! Thanks so much for looking out for the "average" weekend woodworker. I bought the plan bundle (well worth $10!!!) and am just completing my bench. I modified the plans slightly to include some ideas from Mike Siemsen's bench. Never would have thought about all the different options without your videos! Keep doing what you are doing!!!!!!!! (also I REALLY enjoy your videos on your analysis of old furniture.)
This is brilliant. Have never before seriously considered the possibility of successful woodworking sans a bevy of electric tools and a big workshop. This opens up whole new world of possibilities.
Awesome videos. I've learned a lot watching them. I went to antique store about 15 miles from my home and found a Pine Knot brase and 27 bits and only played $ 18.00, all in great shape too. Keep up the great videos.
YT -> "This old Tony" has an excellent video on bit geometry and understand on how to sharpen them. I messed up trying to resharpen my used bits until I watched his vid.
Troy Nall p
I am a new woodworker on a super tight budget because this is a new hobby. You sir saved me with this video!
9:50 where you talk about sawing. That is the MAJOR reason for the well in an English workbench. Like so many other people said we all had these in school. Each bench had a 4" paint brush that we would clear the sawdust away from the well with. Long pieces would lie along the well and we'd use it like a bench hook. Hold/lean on the piece with one hand and saw with the other. No hold-fast required. You could reference the saw to the bench for a rough 90 degrees. but we were always taught to use a square and mark it. It was never used to keep tools in. Mr L would throw a mallet at you for that! Tools were always stored correctly. You can only hold one tool at a time so when you get one put the other one back. I'm sure this was because we had more students than tools but it's still something I do now.
Fantastic videos, Rex. I've been putting together my woodworking "shop" with minimal indoor space. I do work outdoors extensively. I love you showing woodworkers that they don't need all the expensive stuff that we "must" have.
I built a Nicholson style bench a few years ago and love the front "vertical bench" that goes with it. So a lot of nodding in agreement from me with your present Nicholson series. And a very hearty HECK YEAH on the holdfasts. So simple and easy to use yet so capable. I wish I'd learned about them years ago for my wood working. I've been using one as a "mallet operated vise" on the front apron for a while now.
Exactly! I made my own bench with one side that's Nicholson-like, and the other side is more Roubo style, so that I can easily use clamps, too. The Nicholson side has a bunch of holes for the holdfasts, so does the top of the table, while the side without the apron doesn't have any holes for holdfasts, but the benchtop is still about 3" thick. To hold stuff, I sawed myself a bunch of little dogs, and made two holdfasts using steel rod and wood, but I think I'm going to remake them all in steel rod.
My father was a joiner and of course made many work benches during the course of his life. I was intrigued by the planing stop in your video I have never seen my father employ that design before in his work he simply cut a V shape from a piece of good quality plywood and nailed that to the end of the bench. The wood being planed just jams tightly into the V holding it secure for planing.
I've never done any serious woodworking, but I have enjoyed the heck out of watching these videos about this bench.
I have to admit that I have really started looking forward to learning something new from you in every single episode!
Thank You!
Thanks!
I don't normally subscribe to WW channels, I just use the tutorials that I need. You definitely deserve a sub - I'm not a wealthy man, everything is about budget, and your videos are FILLED with budget tips, I love it.
I built a very similar bench in about 1975. I planned to use it to build by beautiful hardwood bench but I never had the money for the hardwood and I did have my construction lumber bench. When I retired to Florida in 2002, I still had that bench and I had constructed dozens of jigs to make it more useful. So don't be afraid this is not a good enough bench. It's perfect.
All great solutions. Now, it's a workbench. Thanks, Rex.
Thank you for pointing out a great use for those Barrel Nuts, as people always make fun of me for keeping them when scavenging random stuff from cheap furniture in the garbage...
Love the style of the bench it very effective on what it do. And nice that the roman bench not got scrapped.
You can never have too many flat surfaces in a shop!
Yeah, more places to collect crap!
It's like you have seen my garage!
@@RexKrueger Flat surface syndrome.
I love living vise free ;) I tried a bunch of vises: shoulder, twin screw, tail, leg. In the end, I don't have one on my bench. Once you learn how to use viseless options, you will discover that they are indeed more convenient to use than a vise. There are only two vises I'd consider: leg vise (because they are the strongest vise available and have the largest capacity) and a tail vise (because they can hold things to the bench top very securely). Great video, I hope you inspire more people to go viseless!
Man i have to say i have been watching your series since the low roman bench and it is getting better and better. As a woodworker from Eastern Europe i have a lot of fun watching a great craftsman actualy using his head and not only his wallet (which often happens with woodworking channels). Keep up the great work Rex im sure you help a lot of people with your tutorials and most importantly you teach people to innovate and use new ideas.
Hi Rex. Whilst, of course, you can do perfectly well without a vice (yes, that's how we spell it in British and Australian English) I would like to see how you would go about installing one. Should the front apron of the bench act as the liner for the fixed jaw? Should the jaw be proud of the bench apron? What timbers would you use for jaw liners? What are the pros/cons of different styles of vice? Maybe look at some different ones available online? Perhaps ad-vise us on what to look for in a new and/or used vice? I look forward to hearing from you. - Martin
Vice next week!
@@RexKrueger - Looking forward to it!
Beautiful contrivance for thickening the board to holdfast. Clever!
I'm getting de ja vu from when I first got into 3D printers. We were criticized a lot back then because the most popular things to print were upgrades to our 3D printers, and well... Other 3D printers. -- Watching you build the woodworking humans bench, and the vice, and upgrades, and then this bench, and the upgrades, and the vice... It's kind of the exact same feeling. I can even print a little matching toy cake to go along with it. XD
Those of us without a lot of cash have to bootstrap. You get one nice tool and use it to make more tools. I don't see anything to criticize in that.
Rex, on my first bench (about 50 years ago) I went even lower tech for bench dogs...drilled holes wherever necessary and countersunk them to accept flathead wood screws (brass in case I ever ran into them with a plane). Screwed flush they were out of the way. Unscrewed a turn or two the sharp flat heads bit into the workpiece like the teeth of your “hinge dog”. Worked slick. In fact that bench and those dogs still see service to this day!
Loop a tow strap or a bicycle tire tube around your bench and slide the work under it, hold tension on the strap with your foot. Used with a stop that will handle most everything you need until you get around to adding fancy stops.
Rex my man. Some people might think you're a complete nut but coming from a "woodworker lacking every proper tool" to get the job done, I see how you adapted and made work with what you had available. Bravo! Would you agree a Nicholson bench is the best bench to build for a serious, no messing around, get the project done workhorse? Have you experimented adding hardwood block inserts in all your holdfast holes?
The dowel dog is fantastic. Thank you Rex!
I have no idea how I found you, but I'm glad I did. Subscribed. Thank you.
I love the creative bench hold solutions. Some really useful, inexpensive options for an outdoor bench up at the family cabin. Lots of woodworking happens there, many annual repairs, but nobody ever wants to spend a lot on a lake cabin bench or tools. Everything there is a cast-off. Thanks Rex!
Very good video. The Mike Siemsen video was an eye opener for me. Thanks
I spent $150 on the materials for my joiners bench, but I went to a reputable builders supplier in my area known for better quality lumber, and I mistakenly bought 1/2 inch carriage bolts and hardware. I also quickly learned the downside of using the factory edge on the chisel set I could afford (irwin). I also quickly learned that cutting square with the japanese hand saw is rather difficult. 😂 you live and learn my friends.
Your video showed up in my feed and after checking out all the topics you cover I couldn’t subscribe quick enough. Fantastic channel sir.
Big like here. I built the bench (minus the top, it's still hidden in the boards) and it is rock solid. Think I will add a few dogs, combined with a cheap vice as a end vice and dog pusher. Thanks
This bench just brings back so many school memories!, Although ours had centre troughs, and were fitted with wood and (occasionally) metalworking vices on the edges
I made my holdfast out of a bit of rhododendron. Find a branch a bit bigger than your thumb and follow it until a branch comes off it at a good strong angle then cut the main trunk just below the smaller bit. Then trim the smaller to four inches or so and the thicker to somewhat longer. Drill a hole in your bench to fit the big one. Put the wood to be worked next to the hole, turn your slingshot upside down and stick it in the hole. Wacking it with a mallet and having it clamp instantly is very satisfying. Tap the part opposite the smaller branch to release. A wonderful, and free, tool.
Great idea. I use a 3 cent drywall screw drilled into the end of my bench. I screw it up when I plane and screw it down when I’m done. Can’t use a does foot though, so I like your idea better. Thanks for sharing this.
I'm building a solid workbench out of 14cm thick left-over beams and I was working out how to put a vise in that.
Thanks to you, I no longer have to, your tools look way cooler and are really retro - they seem to work great and I'll try them. I'm bookmarking this.
The tea party thing cracks me up. You are the king, Rex. Love your channel.
Glad to see Mike getting the attention he deserves. That video was the single most influential thing I watched before I made my bench.
Totally agree on adding vises though. I went without for exactly as long as it took me to save up and buy a wooden screw. That would be a cool future video by the way.
Also I was just noticing last night, I don't have a lot of space and I have noticed that my wood bench gets used for a lot of non woodworking tasks. Last night I was assembling hardware for a custom dishwasher front on it, and I think the last thing I was doing before that was playing with back gearing on an Atlas lathe. The point is I am able to do all of that because I added carcasses with drawers under my English bench. There is just a ton of space under there that most people don't use. If you can easily get your hands on screwdrivers, pliers, snips, and marking tools, then it becomes a general-purpose bench. And I even have space between the carcass top and the bench top, which is required for the holdfast bottoms when they are used, but there is enough left over to have a stack of clamps stuffed in there.
This is great! Thanks. You're making me want to skip out of work and play in my garage all day! I can't wait to see the vise!
This out of all the thousands of woodworking videos ive watched and books ive read has honestly changed my whole experience for the better than any other one video
I have been watching you for about 6 or 8 months and I really do enjoy your videos. You have some great ideas and even I am a intermediately hand tool wood worker I still learn from you. Thanks for being you.
I've been watching your channel for awhile. Your English joiners bench video was good, but I think it's just your channel starting to get traction. You've had very high production values from the beginning. My first thought when I found the channel was "Why doesn't this guy have more subscribers".
You're very kind. My very early videos looked like crap and it took a while to get it together. I hope things are catching on now, but viewers like you make everything worth it!
Dude, I just like your direct and chippy style :)
Bermuda viewer loving your wood working for humans series
Wow it looks like you get a lot of exercise banging those hold fasts. I love the washer copper dowel trick...you made a benchdog or bench pup. props
Your ingenuity always amazes me.
You are a fun guy to watch and you have a lot of great ideas.
Super useful, and learned a lot from this video. It was a suggestion by youtube.
I watch ton of wood vids on diy bench work, this is pure genius! Thank you.
I have a set of the Gramercy holdfasts, Rex is right. They are an incredible deal. My only recommendation - the holdfasts are very finely finished. I roughed them up a bit with some 120 grit on the spot where the holdfasts lock up with the bench. You don't have to, but they lock up with much less force from the mallet.
I've been woodworking my whole life and learn so much from your videos, also ya know they're funny. As a fellow hand tool lover I really appreciate the traditional elements and builds you do as I've always wanted to try using these methods but never had a starting point. Thanks Again
Legendary Rex - love to see a bit of old fashioned ingenuity in use
You've quickly become one of my favorite, if not my favorite, woodworking RUclipsrs. I love your video style, down-to-earth content, and sense of humor. You seem like the kind of guy I'd like to buy a beer for and just chat.
I don't really do the Patreon thing, so instead, I just bought all your plans. You could really use a "buy all my plans" option, though I'm sure it would mean an extra step to update it every time you add a new plan.
Holdfasts seem to be a nice and (compared to a "good" vice) cost effective (right word?) extension to a workbench. I really like that.
I love that you haven't made the plans super expensive. $5 is perfect!
It will be a while before I have a workshop but when I do get one I am really looking forward to making this bench.
Looking forward to the vice build.
Wow. It’s like you just looked at my bench and made a video to solve the issue I was just dealing with Once again great build
Rex, you're going to hit 100k subbies in the next month! Congratulations!!!
Rex you are having way too much fun. Good on ya!
I've seen some other people make pipe clamp Vise it looks really sturdy and cheap and would make the bench better also were I work in a joinery factory we always cover are benches with with ply or MDF to protect the tops and so we have a bigger working area and 4 square corners to reference but that's on a more industrial scale and the bench tops are really abused
You are really becoming more and more fantastic . Your low cost attitude/tricks are beautiful. Congratulations for all your work.
Love your stuff Rex, but a 6 1/2 in Irwin woodworking vise is only ~30 off Amazon and it works like a champ. I mounted it flush with the top of the vise to the benchtop and in the middle of the bench. Then I drilled a series of half inch wide through holes along the apron which I populated with a few 6in long sections of dowel on both sides of the vise so they carry the weight of the stock I am prepping and the vise holds the stock solidly in place. Works like a champ and vise and a couple feet of 1/2in pine dowel is cheap and very usable for the beginning woodworker. I've used it on 12in wide (on edge) by 8 ft long planks, and for working on the faces of those planks, Just a couple quick clamps to hold it to the benchtop.
I'm glad you like it, but to me, that vise is WAY too small. I need much more capacity.
great video - you're getting better and better.
Greetings from No. VT - Neighbor Andy, you are a master of understatement.
Christian Becksvoort's book Shaker Inspiration has a dandy plane stop that goes onto the edge of the bench that is easily adjustable and can be kept out of the way. I can't think how to describe it but you will smile when you see it.
A great source for hardwood and other lumber is Craigslist under 'materials'. I bought a foot tall stack of 1/2" X 12" X 10' planks. Some rough cut, some planed. Only 1 piece of soft pine.
Great video. Your videos are awesome for beginners as well as seasoned carpenters. One recommendation is PLEASE use some safety gear mainly eye protection. Most beginners don’t realize how important they can be. Before viewers jump on me I’m NOT saying you’re a beginner because your work shows you aren’t. A pro like you can promote safety. Someone once said “you won’t know how many times they save your eyes until you wish you had them”. Again, your videos are great. I’ve learned a bunch already.
Dude thanks for the teachings, if only i was near you, i would ask for a part time job, so i can get my head away from car painting for a while. Once again thanks
Thank you for adding cm measurements to your free plan
Hi Rex,
I love the way you do your videos and tell us that it doesn't need to be exact, slight rough cut will work as I am not an experienced woodworker but love to play with wood and challenge myself to construct things. My work may not be perfect or precise but I made it and that's all that counts,
Thank you for your inspiration.
Rob
I'd like to second the call for a card scraper video, and I'd also like to see one on resawing with hand tools. Thanks for doing what you do!
I do all my work in the driveway and need a bench that I can leave outside. A vice was not in the cards for that reason since it would just rust. I'm going to give this a go!
Hye Rex I'm really enjoying your videos,
I'm watching from Costa Rica
Very excited for the home-made vise video. Can't wait to see what you come up with.
Rex, that lil’ stop you made with a dowel? Ingenious!
With all these accessories for holding your work to the bench, it would probably be a good idea to add a shelf to the underside of the bench. That way everything is always accessible.
I just use a pair of big brass countersunk screws for a planing stop. I countersunk the hole way down so i can run it down below the surface of the bench so nothing catches on it. If I need a planing stop, i just unscrew them to the proper height. The is extra nice for me because I plane a lot of thinner stock, and theyre brass so i don't have to worry about steel tools getting all dinged on them. Over time they get bent and dinged up so every few years i spend $2 and get new screws.
only trick is remembering to add length allowance to plane out the marks they leave, but that'd be true for any planing stop ive ever seen
That was some great adVICE.
A quick and shitty holdfast can be made out of rebar or other metal bars if you’ve a charcoal barbecue, a hair dryer, two sets of sturdy pliers, and a pair of sledgehammers or a very large and very hard stone. Take the bar, stick the end in the fire, and blow it with the dryer until the metal is very orange or yellow. Take it out and hammer it flat using either your stone or a hammer for the anvil. Then heat the middle of it to the same colour, then take it and try to bend it by hand. If you can’t, hammer it across the corner of the stone. Aim to make it just slightly acute, and KEEP IT ROUND.
A wonderfully useful drill bit with integral countersink is the machinist's "center drill" style which being rigid is less likely to walk (a problem even in a milling machine). They are not expensive and along with a prick and center punch make basic metalworking much easier.
Hey rex. I saw in a book if you drill a hole for a dowel perpendicular to the end grain and run screwed through the end grain into the dowel it's the same effect but with wood
I love your sense of humor Rex. Stay funky Bro
I've been using holdfasts made from the crotch of tree branches for several months with good results. I made them from a tree branch blown down in a storm.
They are a bit springier than metal holdfasts, which sometimes is great (they push back against movement), but sometimes lets things work loose. They also don't seem to damage the holes in my 1.5" bench top. Can't complain about free though.
I love how he wears hearing protection while using hand tools!
Wireless headphones, listening to music.
Lynyrd Skynyrd.
He has a daughter.
Make your own hold fasts with some really large rebar and a blow torch !
I love my Gramercy holdfasts, and use them a lot. I also made 2 more holdfasts as a newbie blacksmith project that work just as well. If you have a thick top workbench, you need holdfasts. Gramercy are the only inexpensive ones worth looking at that I know of. Also look up Black Bear Forge on Etsy for blacksmithed but not too expensive holdfasts.
Question from someone who knows nothing. The teeth on the plaining stop, looks to me that they would leave marks in the end of the stock. Would guess that most of the time these marks would get buried, but not always. Maybe this has been asked already. Rex you are the man.
If it's a concern, you could always leave your stock a bit longer before using it on the planing stop, and then chop off the end so there won't be any marks once you're done
Excellent advise throughout the whole video. Thanks Rex!
Great demo on work holding! another way to get the hold downs are to make friends with a blacksmith. They are cheap and simple to make.
Im a blacksmith! And I'm friends with myself!
Knowing what you know now about the hold fasts you could have drilled the holes through the 4x4 keys in the top from the beginning. Great video and good adaptation.
If the top is TOO thick, they also don't work.
That toy cake made my day, thank you.
That's nice to hear!
@@RexKrueger Do you have a video on that? :)
The lifted pinkie made it.
@@11aldum You're here to see woodwork not other peoples children !
Stick to the topic .... grrr
The cake is a lie
You can make a holdfast from wood.
Find a sapling with a crotch (a main branch with a thickness rivaling the stem not a stem splitting in to two stems). Cut the branch a foot from the stem. Cut the stem 2 foot above the crotch and a handspan below the crotch. Take some cordage and lash the short part tightly continue until you reach the crotch, lash the limb to the stem in a figure 8 pattern tightly about 10 times, fasten your twine. You have a basic holdfast. Pound it in your bench. Trim the lenghts of the limb and stem to appropriate lenghts and you are done.