The smallest, lightest, and cheapest of the benches we looked at, Hoffman & Hammer’s medium bench could have been overshadowed by the heavyweight competition, but it stood its ground and earned the best-value award. The front vise in particular had very little racking.

The main criticism was the lightness of the bench, particularly the base, which made the bench unstable when pushed from front to back (end-to-end planing pressure was no problem). A solution would be to install a tool cabinet in the base, although the elevated stretchers don’t leave much room. The dogs and vises were small but worked smoothly, although the tail vise gradually increased in height as it was extended. This would be an ideal choice for someone looking for an economical, well-made workbench but without the physical mass.

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