That is the entrance to the rabbit hole that, within a week, had me torn up inside. I mean, on the one hand I was very tempted by the traditional French split-top bench Roubo described in his 1774 seminal treatise L'Art du Menuisier. But I can already hear the hissing and booing, I know, I know, I am forgetting the very practical workbench in the style of John Jacob Holtzapffel--a German immigrant to London in 1793 who founded a successful tool-making business.
This paragraph is where I would put a witty little transition to what I actually decided to build. The French-German standoff immediately suggested a World War reference. (I've also recently read a few books by Max Hastings--Armageddon and Retribution which are excellent academic histories and also very engaging reads.) "Battle of the Bulge" is what first came to mind. And I would be able to throw in a short anecdote about trying to lose weight as well. However, crafting that witty paragraph proved too difficult. "And so, like France and Germany almost a century earlier, I waged the Battle of the Bulge in my mind and in my pants." I am sure that would have killed among the lecherous academic historian types.
Anyway, I am incorporating elements of a lot of benches--a bit of a frankenstein. However, the workbenchdesign.net guy had a really nice Shaker style bench that had some interesting features.
His bench:
and his plane storage:
Choosing the right kind of material – there are many kinds of wood to choose from like hardwood, softwood, combination and plywood. For you to decide on which of them to use, identify first how you would be using the equipment and take into account also the weather or environmental conditions of the location of your workplace because woods can be easily affected by destructive elements.
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