The Workbench Book: A Craftsman's Guide to Workbenches for Every Type of Woodworking (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "I began writing this book in celebration of the modern workbench..." (more)
Key Phrases: vise core, tail vise, planking bench, North America, United States, Modern Hybrid (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"If I only bought one woodwork book, this first and definitive book on the workbench would be it".--"Woodworker Magazine". 278 color photos. 185 drawings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Taunton (October 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0918804760
• ISBN-13: 978-0918804761
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,777 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Work with wood? Design your own bench, August 31, 2000

By	Oavde "oavde" (Australia) - See all my reviews

OK where do I start ....

This is a great book. Inspirational. Great photos and illustrations, well written, fascinating history, deep insight into the various uses of benches and the techniques of holding workpieces.

I bought this to inspire the design of my own bench.

Now this book might not be for everyone, so I am breaking this review into bits:

Beginner: will educate you to the history of woodworking and inspire you. Making your own bench is probably beyond you at the moment. If you have a love of woodworking, this will fire your enthusiasm.

Novice: can give you ideas for the future. There are sketches in this book, but not plans, especially not detailed router diagrams with measurements.

Intermediate: (you can design your own projects) get it. You should seriously consider making your own workbench, to your own requirements and style. This book will show you many possibilities and get your thinking.

Advanced: well you should definetely get it, and make yourself a variety of benches to suit different applications.

I really enjoy this book. I have designed my own bench with the many, many ideas from this book. I have many innovative concepts, and specific requirements - for example, I carry my bench into the courtyard, and so have a hole in the middle where I can put a beach umbrella to keep the sun off (not to mention fact that it must be light enough to lift). I also work with leather, jewelry, metal, and beads, so I need adaptability for hammering, soldering, velvet lining to prevent beads escaping, etc etc you get the picture.

This book gave me many many ideas for various means of clamping a work to the bench .. things that I can make myself, which is great. For example, there is a detailed diagram for cutting your own woodscrew, to build your own vice.

Hmmm... a bit of a warning to power tool users, however, this is not really aimed at power tool users. The benches are designed for traditional woodwork, although the techniques are still useful for you if you want to build yoru own router bench.

Note there are benches for carving as well, Japanese approaches, medieval benches ...

Overall I am very pleased with this book and I would recommend to anyone. Furthermore, I would recommend it as a present, I don't know anyone who works with wood who would not be pleased with this one, although as a present I would first recommend some of the books such as Art of Fine Tools or the Handplane book.

Note that I bought this book as part of the boxed set, which is excellent value and you save on shipping since it is one item not 3.

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for every serious woodworker!, June 19, 1999

By	Scott Martin, [e-mail] (Jacksonville, Ark., USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Workbench Book: A Craftsman's Guide to Workbenches for Every Type of Woodworking (Paperback)

If you're a serious woodworker, you need a serious workbench. If you want to build your own workbench, you won't want to do it without first reading "The Workbench Book." Scott Landis superbly covers the world of workbenches and provides a lot of insight into the history and function of workbenches. When I set out to build my workbench, I didn't know what kind I wanted to build. "The Workbench Book" gave me all the information I needed to decide what kind of bench to build and how to build it. But what really surprised me about the book was that even if I wasn't planning to build a bench, it would have been well worth reading simply for the interesting story of the workbench. Scott Landis' knowledge, experience and love of the craft of woodworking, and his respect for the workbench, made the book a joy to read. I not only learned much more about workbenches than I expected; I also gained an appreciation for the craft and those who put their hearts, as well as their hands, into it. If you have even the slightest interest in woodworking, get this book! You won't be disappointed.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly an amazing reference., January 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Workbench Book: A Craftsman's Guide to Workbenches for Every Type of Woodworking (Paperback)

This is a well written book with many great ideas for workbenches. In defference to the gentleman who gave this book a review of only 2 stars I would say that while it is true that only 5 workbenches had measured drawings, there are probably twenty different workbenches discussed. There are 4 in the japanese work bench chapter alone! Although it is true that these workbenches (as woodworking projects) are probably not beginner projects. But I don't think that they're suppose to be. What I found most interesting was reading the reasons why each woodworker built his bench the way he did. You can really pick up on the different philosophies and work habits of these masters. Once you've digested these ideas it's easy to see how you could take one idea from this bench and another idea from that bench and design "YOUR" bench. Highly recommended.