The Benchcrafted Bench plans

We've been getting lots of requests for a full set of plans and construction notes for both our travel bench and our latest bench.

Apart from our own vises and a couple small details, this bench can be built using several sources, all of which are readily available, and in some cases, free.

If you're interested in building a version of our "split-top" bench, please follow along here as we outline the resources for building this bench, along with our own construction details over the next few blog posts.

Resources:

1. Workbenches by Christopher Schwarz $34

If you're about to build a bench, this is the one book you shouldn't be without. It's the best book out there for designing and building benches, hands down. You don't necessarily need this book to build our bench, but it will help you decide on many aspects of your build.

2. Issue 8 of Woodworking Magazine $6 download

This issue features Schwarz's Holtzapffel workbench, which served as a basis for building the base of our own workbench. Chris has chosen very robust dimensions and construction methods for the undercarriage of his bench. Both vises on this bench simply bolt on, so it's easy to build the bench and disregard the vise elements of the plan. This bench features a 3" thick top, but we recommend a 4" top for easier installation of our vises, although tops less than 4" thick will work fine.

3. Holtzapffel bench extras. Free

Info and drawings about building a knockdown version of the base, plus other links to construction notes and info from a class Schwarz held on building the bench.

4. Travel bench blog posts. Free

Follow along as I built our travel bench. This is simply a smaller version of our latest bench with a couple small changes.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

Next we'll post construction details and dimensions for the 7' version of the bench.