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Another pic for some inspiration - I obviously built mine.



It is 88 inches long by 18 inches deep by 33 inches tall; no tool trough.
The top was made by ripping 2x6 Hemlock Fir in half, then laminating the
1 3/4 inch by 2 1/2+ inch strips with the edge grain up - poor man's
quartersaw top! The front edge of the top is faced with a 3/4 inch thick
piece of Maple. The base is made of laminated Spruce and Fir -- the legs
are effectively 4x4, and the stretchers are 4x8. The base is constructed
using mortise and tenon joinery and painted with Rustoleum green. The
end vise is a 7 inch quick release iron vise with 3/4 inch Maple jaws. A
row of round dog holes in the bench top align with the pop-up dog in the
vice. The front vice is a 9 inch Shop Fox quick release iron vice. Its inner
jaw is the workbench top and its outer jaw is a 2 1/2 inch thick
lamination of Maple and Oak. The bench weighs in the neighborhood of
250 pounds.

Since this picture was taken, I built a set of drawers out of plywood that
set on top of the stretchers and are about 8 inches tall (leaving space to
put stuff on top of the drawers and space for holdfasts which stick down
through the dog holes.

Jay

I have 3 core benches (and I am going to build a 4th which will be covered in carpet and used exclusively as a set up and "clean" bench.

My big one is a 80" x 36" top and is a pretty traditional bench. I used a solid core door for the top. This bench is used as a general utility bench, fretting, (currently) set up and other small things.

I find that rather than having tool storage underneath I prefer to have bins and cubbys for work inprogress, I have a home made "baker's rack" type storage with movable mdf shelves that let me store tops/backs that are in various stages of glue up and bracing, bodies that are assembled awaiting binding, partially completed necks, etc. I find this storage solution very handy.

I am soon going to modify the big bench to sandwich 2 drawers on top of the existing surface and put another solid core door on top. The drawers will be large enough to hold 2 radius dishes and vacuum presses. That way I can pull out the drawer, brace a top, turn on the vac pump, then push the whole thing back in and keep right on working. It looks like a great way to save space. I got the idea from the Taylor Factory Friday's tours (thanks Bob).

A couple of other things I have on the big bench are electrical outlets that are prewired to both timers, (occassionally dimmers) and master on off switches. These are very helpful for glue pots, bending irons, soldering guns, and other things you should be careful to turn off. This just provides a good insurance policy that is virtually brainless.

My smaller benches are 42" high and butcher block tops. These are my assembly benches. This is where I do most of the assembly and glue up work for the guitars. The bottoms of both of these are cram packed full of cam clamps. in various sizes.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Wow thanks for all the great resources guys...

The Laguna Signature bench is EXACTLY what I am looking for just a little smaller, I will be doing other things than building guitars but I already have some plans for adapting a number of my guitar jigs to work specifically on a bench like this.

Kelby's bench is just about right (which by the way looks awesome), I just want drawers for storage, I'm going to french fit some of the tools in the drawers to keep things neat (like all my micro-fence tools). Right now I have a couple of orders pending but they are people very close to me so they understand my drive to setup the shop right this time from the outset.

I have Landis's other book on workshops but I'll run down today and get his one on workbenches, I know basically what I want and after hearing all the advice here I'm going to build it. It will in the long run be cheaper and I can always show it off as a testament to my woodworking skills (what little I have).

I haven't mentioned this but there is a reason I'm looking to build something so nice, normally when I'm building at the end of the day the shop looks like a train crashed into my toolbox, when I'm in the right frame of mind and cleaning as I go and doing things in a neat and orderely way my work is much better. It's goes back to something Walt Disney said about DisneyLand that has always stuck with me, I'm paraphrasing here but basically he stated that if you did things right, in a clean fashion with quality then people would be much more inclined to not trash them but would appreciate the effort and help take care of it. He was referring to the parks, but I think that fits anywhere in life.

I'm taking the time to organize, paint, build and outfit not a dream shop (that's a whole different topic) but ones that's neat, orderely, clean and functional that I'm not ashamed to have other builders over to look at.

Cheers

-Paul-

_________________
-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

PS-Here's the "Tucker Vise"
http://www.fine-tools.com/G307962.htmChas Freeborn38752.5129976852

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

The Studley toolchest is awesome! I have seen several attempts at recreating it and the makers were proud to get 75 tools inside of them. The Studley holds over 300 tools and weighs around 300 pounds!

I posted a picture of it in the workshop for inspiration.

Kurt

One cool idea i saw for those like me who use to move a lot, was a mobile workstation : 2 benches(2' wide x 6' long each) on lockable casters for sturdeeness and that you can roll out if you have to move again or work outside in the sun! i don't have a link but if you do a search on mobile work station, you'll probably end up at the same place i did. you can even put them side by side when handling large stock. Here's a pic but you can't see the wheels, sorry, if you want to know more, just PM me!



Serge

I see that right now, Woodcraft has the Sjoberg plus benches on sale with the drawered cupboard included. The largest is about $500 plus shipping. If I didn't have two knockoffs it would be hard to pass up.

[QUOTE=Kelby] Paul,

Here's my workbench:

One of these days I'll add some drawers.

The materials were a bit cheaper than what it would have cost to purchase a decent Sohlberg. However, I think it's a much better bench than that (much thicker top, etc.). On the downside, it took a lot of time to make --- probably 60-80 hours. If you are taking time away from building guitars (which you will sell) in order to build a bench (which you won't), it's cheaper to buy one.

My suggestion is that if you have orders to fill, don't hold yourself up by spending a lot of time building a bench you could buy for a reasonable price. On the other hand, if you occasionally find yourself with some downtime or spare time, it is a very rewarding project.

One final thought. If you have the time to build a beautiful and functional bench, it will be a tribute to your craftsmanship to anyone who sees it. That may be worth something. Have you ever seen the Studley tool chest? He was a piano maker who built himself an incredible tool chest --- remarkable enough that it spent quite a bit of time on display at the Smithsonian. I was once watching Norm in a tool-chest episode, and he was showing the Studley tool chest. Norm commented "if he built that kind of tool chest, imagine what kind of pianos he made." There's something to be said for that.



He must have been one heck of a craftsman.

With that said, he probably did it in his downtime, and did not take time away from paying jobs to work on his tool chest.[/QUOTE]

It's my understanding that the tool chest was his "masterwork" completed before his apprenticeship was over. Regardless, what a marvel of thought and engineering! I have stared at the photo in Fine Woodworking time and time again and always see something new. Wow! Can you even conceive of doing that today? Hmmm... do I include the 18 volt drill or do I hold out until I get the 24 volt drill?

Steve

what workbench? Oh you mean that thing under the clutter I stand in
front of all day...

I am building myself a new one though this coming week. It is going to
be rather primitive with 2x6, 4x4, MDF, plywood and hardbaord. It won't
be as cool as the green bench!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com