The Bench

Making a bench is a threshold time. There is something very special, in my mind at least, in my first big project being the bench upon which I will make everything else. A bench is a cabinetmaker's largest and arguably most important tool. More than just a tabletop with a vice attached, the bench is the first bespoke piece of furniture that we make here at Rowden. The bench is carefully designed to the height of the maker. It needs to be perfectly flat, as it will be used as a reference point for all other work. It needs a variety of different ways to hold and clamp work. Some sort of storage is useful. And it needs to be beautiful.

Beautiful? Beauty is of course a very personal concept, and in terms of a bench the concept can be quite divisive. There are plenty of makers who will see no need for beauty in their workbench, and (it must be stated), will go on to make incredible furniture. For me, however, the bench is the hub of my creative space. The bench, the maker and that which is made are so intricately linked that I cannot separate them.

We made the underframe first, which was a textbook exercise in classic joinery. Mortice and tenon joins back and front, stub-tenons to attach the top rail, and through tenons to wedge the stretchers into place. I used some gorgeous 3" English Ash from UK Hardwoods - a local timber-yard specialising in timber from carefully managed forests in the South West. Most Ash is fairly uninspiring stuff - blonde with a coarse, straight grain. This had a significant amount of dark, swirling Olive Ash - colours and patterns like fractals, galaxies.

The top is from Canadian Maple and Purpleheart. The Maple was edge-jointed to form a large, thick top, 18" wide and 7' long. A backboard was added, onto which I added a tool-well. I don't want to store too many tools on my bench, but there are a few tools - chisels, mallets, an adjustable spanner, that I reach for all the time. It seemed sensible to keep them close to hand. Between these two surfaces, we leave a gap. This is so we might use our benches to clamp up work all around.

For the main vice I attached a big Purpleheart jaw to a lovely old Record 52½ quick release. Made in England in the earlier part of the 20th Century, the flowing lines and teardrop hub give this vice real flare - reminiscent of wonderful old British sports-cars, and it still works like a dream.

Finally, I made the tail vice. Huge dovetails on each end of a thick piece of maple, cut on the band-saw. The pin-ends form the jaws of the vice, which I also made in purpleheart to give a real pop of contrast. The tail-vice clamps boards horizontally on the bench to allow for planing. It also has the ability to support smaller pieces of work held vertically from three sides, making anything held in its grip practically immovable. This is important when working on fine, delicate pieces.

Overall I am really excited with how it has come out. I think the mix of white, purple and gold gives it a bright, regal look, and contrasting sections shows off the grain on the maple and ash to really good effect. Now here comes the real challenge - designing and making beautiful furniture! Just one more project to go before that...

-sh