You may recall that WOOD DUST backstreets needs ten benches. These benches must be sturdy and functional, yet mobile enough to make it all the way to Newrybar NSW for Christopher Schwarz’s Stick Chair workshop. Here are the design parameters again:
They need to be mobile.
They need to be flat packed.
There is a budget.
They need to suit a range of tasks.
They all require a front vice.
James Shadbolt to the rescue! Formerly of Workbench World, James is an expert in all things work benches and has suggested that a Moravian workbench is a possible solution for WOOD DUST’s workbench needs. Moravian workbenches can be traced to Old Salem, a historic Moravian village founded in north-west North Carolina in 1766. What makes this bench special is that it can easily be taken apart and reassembled making Moravian benches suitable for both indoor and outdoor use and for flat pack transportation. Sounds the perfect solution to me.
Moravian workbenches have been made popular again by Will Myers, a native of North Carolina. Will describes himself as a hand tool woodworker who also uses power tools for material prep and the dimensioning of stock, I think this is a universal description of woodworkers these days. According to his website, Will spends time measuring and documenting vintage furniture, then figures out the processes past makers used to build the pieces. He then uses this knowledge to build new furniture. Will also leads workshops on how to build Moravian workbenches.
One of Will’s workbenches lives in the Lost Art Press workshop in Covington Kentucky. Chris Schwarz has published a blog discussing the bench that includes a short video review, worth a look. This bench is fitted with a Benchcrafted Classic Face Vice and a Wagon Vice, otherwise known as a tail vice, manufactured by Will himself. In line with the Wagon Vice is a line of dog holes bored into the bench top along with a long deep tool well making this bench one functional setup.
The genius of this bench is the angled leg frames held together by the wedged front and rear lower rails. This bench resists flex due to the angle leg frames, yet it remains super easy to disassemble breaking down into easily transportable components. With this said, the knock down characteristic of this bench seems to annoy Chris as it must be occasionally adjusted (when the seasons change in Will's words) by tapping the four wedges to keep the bench leg assembly tight. To me this seems a minor inconvenience considering this bench can be assembled or disassembled in a matter of minutes.
So, we have a potential design, the next question is how big should these benches be? We discussed bench height in ‘The Perfect Bench’, now we are talking surface area. A standard pallet in Australia is 1165mm x 1165mm so a bench top 600mm x 1200mm could work well allowing us to stack all ten bench tops in pairs easily on a single pallet. My experiences with interstate transport providers and forkies in general means building a custom pallet with protective edges is probably warranted. This would mean the pallet is slightly oversized, but this is not normally an issue provided you are not shipping via Australia Post!
Are these benchtops big enough? Chris has advised that each participant in his workshop requires no more than one square metre of bench space to build their stick chair. The dimensions detailed above result in a surface area of roughly three quarters of a square metre. If we add an attachable tool well full length and 200mm wide and include a lid if deemed necessary, our bench top now comes to just shy of one square metre of working surface. Nice. Surface area is one thing, but what about thickness?
James advises that a workbench top is ideal at 60mm to 75mm thick. This thickness ensures the top is dense enough to absorb the blows of woodworking. If made from solid timber such a benchtop can be heavy and expensive to manufacture. Weight is not such a problem in our situation as the bench can be completely disassembled, yet a fully laminated top made from hardwood times ten adds up fast. I have a couple of benches in my workshop made from laminated construction pine purchased from the local green giant hardware store. If you can get past the somewhat ugly knots, these pine tops are economical and very serviceable due to the 80mm thickness achieved by using 90mm wide sticks. I prefer a pine benchtop to hardwood as they are softer than the material being worked on generally. If you are concerned about dents don’t be, an annual once over with the number seven keeps these bench tops flat and blemish free. Do try to pick as much quarter saw material as possible from the pack to minimise movement.
James also suggests using composite materials such as marine plywood for the bench surface recommending a minimum thickness 25mm. I have made composite benchtops previously using a plywood / MDF combination. Plywood increases in price exponentially the thicker it gets so using a sheet of 12mm ply laminated to 18mm MDF creates a sound economical work surface. Though in hindsight considering the hassle of laminating the sheets together it is probably better to just go with 25mm plywood and be done with it. Plywood does have the definite downside of being difficult to repair, so consider a 5mm Bamboo veneer over your ply or MDF substrate. I haven’t tried it, yet I hear it’s indestructible. James suggests adding a skirt to this ensemble to keep the bench top flat and to create a durable edge for clamping. It is important when adding such as skirt to make it as thick as practical otherwise landing a clamp on the underside of the skirt can be a pain, a thin skirt also limits the throat of your clamp. Even with these limitations a composite bench top with skirt can be an economical and functional solution.
This is all food for thought. We have a potential design that is both functional and mobile and the proposed dimensions meet the needs of the workshop participants. It's time to cost out the options.
Got anything to add to the conversation? Email your ideas and sketches to hello@wooddustaustralia.com.au and win one of two free tickets to the WOOD DUST Yarn featuring Chris Schwarz, Michael Fortune and Matt Kenney. Send us your ideas today!
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