Replies

1. 
   johnlill | Dec 29, 2006 02:04am | #1

   I made a Frid style bench based on the plans in "Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking Book 3". The same bench was in a FWW article (Fall 1976 issue and on the DVD). I actually started it over 20 years ago and it was way beyond my skill level. The top and base were OK, but the vises were tough. Now that it is done I wish I had completed it a long time ago :) A good solid bench with dogs and vises will be used a LOT. Good luck and enjoy the process! It's a challenge but well worth the effort. The worst part was getting the first nick in the top after it looked so nice!

   John L

1. 
   dougmeyer | Dec 29, 2006 07:44pm | #12

   John did you mean to say that it took you 20 years to build this bench? Or am i missunderstanding you?

1. 
   johnlill | Dec 29, 2006 08:37pm | #17

   "John did you mean to say that it took you 20 years to build this bench? Or am i missunderstanding you?"

   Doug,

   What I meant was that I started it 20 years ago and had neither the skills nor the tools that I needed to make the bench. I made the base and most of the top but could not make the vises (or was afraid to try!). Then, as my skills and tool arsenal improved, I did not want to spend the time making something for my shop - there were always other projects that took precedence. So the parts were gathering dust for many years until I got frustrated trying to clamp boards to my basic, lightweight bench.  Once I got started again, it did not take very long to complete. Now that the bench is done, I wish that I did not wait so long! It has made woodworking so much more enjoyable - I wonder how I ever got along without it!

   John

2. 
   JeffHeath | Dec 29, 2006 02:57am | #2

   Radio Flyer

   In Taunton's book The Workbench, which for me came in a 3 book set, there is an entire chapter devoted to Frank Klausz's bench, with step by step procedures on the both the bench top and the trestle construction.  There is also an exploded diagram in the back of the book to reference.  Good luck, and have fun.

   Jeff

3. 
   cadiddlehopper | Dec 29, 2006 03:02am | #3

   I built one from the 1976 issue of FWW using nargusta. I still have the magazine but had to sell the bench during a hard time. It was extremely sturdy and useful except for the tool tray. I put a cabinet under it which proved much more useful. Except for the top it was not all that difficult to build. Go for it! You'll be proud of it when finished.

   Purpleheart may look funny as a bench, but it ought to work. You may need to solvent-wipe glue surfaces. I found that purpleheart color faded away with time.

   Cadiddlehopper

4. 
   roninfante2 | Dec 29, 2006 03:21am | #4

   Radio,

   I built two of these benches using the directions/plans in Tage Frid's book.  One of them was left-handed (for me) and the other right-handed for a friend.  They were built out of maple fifteen to twenty years ago and mine is still going strong.

   I made mine a little longer than Frid's plan and that has proved useful.  The tool tray is a mixed blessing.  It is handy to park a chisel or plane out of harm's way, but the tray collect copious amounts of debris quickly.  You can lose stuff in the mess.

   This bench gave me the feeling of being a real woodworker.  The feeling was and is unjustified but I still wallow in it.

    

   Ron

1. 
   gmoney | Dec 29, 2006 06:38am | #5

   This bench gave me the feeling of being a real woodworker.  The feeling was and is unjustified but I still wallow in it.

   enough of that kind of talk. you built it, you enjoy it, you're a real woodworker and that's good enough for me and for you too, i hope.

5. 
   DavidCockey | Dec 29, 2006 07:58am | #6

   Either "The Workbench" or "The Workbench Book" have plans for the Frid workbench.

6. 
   chuckh | Dec 29, 2006 08:26am | #7

   Glenn,

   You can find plans for both benches right here on this site.

   http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2129

   http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=1985

   -Chuck

7. 
   [email protected] | Dec 29, 2006 08:36am | #8

   Woodworker's Journal, has a "Workshop Projects and Techniques" issue on the newsstands now, that has a nine page article by Frank Klausz on building a "European Workbench" he designed.  

   Step by step instructions, drawings, materials lists, and lots of pictures of techniques and jigs. 

1. 
   Radio Flyer | Dec 29, 2006 06:52pm | #11

   Jigs, Thanks for the lead on the Woodworker's journal issue.  Very timely as I picked it up last night.  Very nice details, darn thing is complex enough to merit the advantages of a really good plan.  I appreciate your tip very much.  Thanks, Glenn

8. 
   MonteB | Dec 29, 2006 04:01pm | #9

   Radio,

   In Lon Schleining's book, The Workbench, he shows a bench made entirely of purpleheart. I am sorry that I cannot remember the name of the woodworker who made it. It was not done in a European style, but you may be able to contact him and ask about the advantages/disadvantages of building a bench in purpleheart. I've never worked with the material, but I wonder about how difficult it might be to refresh the surface flat with a hand plane from time to time.

   I received the slip set of Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking earlier this month and am looking forward to building his bench from the plans in volume 3. As others have mentioned, Frid's and Klausz' plans are available elsewhere, but I have the bonus of being able to read what else he has to say about woodworking.

   Monte

1. 
   Radio Flyer | Dec 29, 2006 05:38pm | #10

   Thanks to all of you for the great tips and leads.  All very helpful.  Glenn

9. 
   dougmeyer | Dec 29, 2006 07:48pm | #13

   Radio,

   Thank you, thank you, thank you, now those interested in building a bench will be all over here on this thread and they will (may be) not have time to come after me with pitchforks and torches for buying a bench! :) 

   So thank you!

   As for building a bench good luck with that it alwas looked like and interesting project (I have a few books on doing it) but not something i have the time for.  IF/when you get started on this please drop photos of the bench off here once in a while (while under construction) so that we can see it. That way those of us that did not build our own can live the experince though you and yours.

   Good luck and I hope it turns out well.

   Doug Meyer

1. 
   Radio Flyer | Dec 29, 2006 08:04pm | #14

   Doug, You are welcome.  Yes I too deal with the appropriation of time issue.  There always seems to be something more important to do with my time rather than spending many weekends building the beast. 

   But, geez!  Why not.  I guess this is where the word "Benchmark" came from.  I'll surely send some photos into Knots.  Perhap with a cold beer on top of the finished bench.  But...the beer will be on a coaster.

   Thanks again, Glenn 

1. 
   dougmeyer | Dec 29, 2006 08:21pm | #15

   In my case it is a matter of trying to finish the house the shop is part of. I am also going to need a bunch of furniture (to replace that lost in a house fire) and a whole bunch of there stuff. My brother in law as been waiting for almost 3 years for my dad and I to have time to help him build a fire place surround but what with the last year being taken up with building a new house to replace the one lost that has just had to wait.  And of course you have the issue that my father is not getting any younger and he wants to build things for the family to keep. Not that I would object to having a bench he built for my own someday, but he seams to think that he would be better off spending is time in the shop working on things that the family needs/wants.

   Hard to argue with that point of his.

   Personally I want to someday build a tool box for hand tools.  MY great grandfather was a paternmaker but my dad did not get anything of his.  I had a tool box (metal) from my grandfather that I kept tools in (not hand tools it was not design for wood working) but that was also lost.  So that is going to be my piece to test myself on when I have time. With luck and god willing I hope to get to it next fall.

   Doug Meyer

1. 
   Radio Flyer | Dec 29, 2006 08:32pm | #16

   Coincidence?  My Grandfather was also a pattern maker in NYC.  An immigrant from Germany who's European bench I sat on as a young boy.  Prior to his passing away about 40 years ago, he gave me his tool box of hand tools.  It contained every model of Stanley Bedrock plane ever made.  All in mint condition, other than handles he had worn with his hands.  Today, these reside a beautiful wall hung tool cabinet I built for them a few years back.

   The new bench will go below this cabinet, sort of a monument to Grandpa.  He was my mentor, my teacher, my idol.  The best woodworker I have ever met.

   Keep the faith Doug and best of luck finishing your home.  Happy New Year, Glenn

1. 
   dougmeyer | Dec 30, 2006 12:54am | #20

   My great grandfather worked I think someplace in Michigan but dont hold me to that. He was from Germinay to begin with. Then he moved to California when he retired and bought a motel (well I guess it would have been and inn or something back then (1930's) when the war started he went to work for one of the airplane makers.  He was the guy that got my father (his Grandson) to come to the US after the war (His daughter, my grandmother had returned to Germinay in the late 20's)

   So thier is a lot of simularity to that.  I never met the man he died when my eldist brother was born and that would have been the mid 50's  As i understand it his tools went to my dads cousins husband. (A guy that did NOT use tools at all, go figure)

   Doug Meyer

2. 
   Radio Flyer | Dec 30, 2006 01:02am | #21

   Very interesting!  Too bad on the tools though.  Thanks, Glenn

3. 
   dougmeyer | Dec 30, 2006 03:58am | #22

   Yeah I imagine they were either pitched or destoyed or sold at a yard sale long before I got interested in this hobby and I started helping my dad build stuff when I was about 9.

   Doug Meyer

10. 
    cdober | Dec 29, 2006 11:24pm | #18

    Here's a web site with a very detailed description of construction of a bench similar to the Klausz type:

    http://pages.friendlycity.net/~krucker/Bench/index.htm

    He also has a link to download a PDF file of the entire process.

    Cliff

1. 
   Radio Flyer | Dec 30, 2006 12:11am | #19

   Cliff, Yes I found this one, but it does not have a shoulder vise.  A big motive for building this type of bench.  But it does have many good tips.  I appreciate your input.

   Thanks, Glenn

11. 
    AdamCherubini | Dec 30, 2006 06:55am | #23

    Glen,

    I think that bench is a terrible place to start. Its design evolved for projects and conditions you may never encounter. I grant you, it looks cool, and that may be sufficient for you. Your needs for a workbench may be modest.

    To begin with, I don't like using a tail vise to pinch a board for planing. As an any old jawed vise, a tail vise is awesome, But I find it interferes with the sawing I do. I'd prefer a flat right end.

    The shoulder vise is particularly ridiculous. Its not really big enough for wide stock and its way too substantial for thin work. I don't like standing behind it when I'm planing the end of something. Also, I do a fair bit of work with molding planes and wooden plow planes and that L gets in the way.

    Lastly, as a planing platform, I think these benches are too short. I buy and often plane 8' lumber. So an 8' bench would be preferable. Overall, I'd say this bench design is more restrictive than useful. Its quirky features look cooler than they work. That said, people who use them, love them and don't mind doing things the way they must because of the bench.

    I work on a German style 6-1/2' bench with a tail vise and I get by. So whatever you decide won't be the end of the world. But if you are starting from scratch and would like to be able to take hand tools wherever you want- I recommend a really stout table- 8-10' long, lower than you would like, with no vises whatsoever. Drill the legs and top for hold fasts or pegs and be done with it. IMHO, the most compelling bench in the Work Bench Book is Dr. Rob Tarule's Roubo bench. Moxon, Diderot, and Roubo all depict these benches. Another good choice is the so called English bench depicted by Peter Nicholson.

    Adam