The Bench
Posted by Exile on February 12, 2022
Every woodworker needs a bench at which to work. I have a built in bench in my shed, Not big, not elaborate, but nonetheless functional. I haven’t the room for a free standing bench. One day, and maybe sooner than later, I will have that room. When that day comes, I’ll be building this one in full size. Hard to see from the image here, but this one is a miniature. I built it from scraps of wood from previous projects. It is a copy of Rex Kruegers English Bench.
Rex has a woodworking Youtube channel and I like to see what he gets up to. After popular demand to see more on types of benches and being keen to get people working for themselves, Rex designed and built this for his channel and made the plans free for people to download and get cracking. He’s worth watching if you are keen to learn and his way of doing things is both simple and appealing. I’ll leave a link…
Making this tiny bench took me some time. I had to mill all the parts from scratch, which took some time at the bandsaw. I tried to get my wood proportionally correct. I couldn’t use all the fasteners he used but luckily I have glue. OK, I did find some screws that would pass for tiny carriage bolts but hey, you can’t have it all.
And just to give you an idea of the size of the finished bench, here’s another picture. That’s a full size no. 3 bench plane.
I sent the pictures to Rex. He loved it. I had added one little modification. When I eventually get to build this monster, I will add a small shelf between the aprons at one end of the bench, which is visible in this image.
There are things one needs around one while working but one does not wish to clutter the working area.
So there you go. Room for a mug, telephone, glue, sharpening stones, pipe and tobacco, etc. I can’t wait for the time to come and the chance to build the real thing.
Next? A miniature shaving horse?
We’ll see…
Rex Kreuger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcq1LQq08lk&t=3s
The Exile Files 
James said
Nice looking model young man. I enjoyed the video you linked as well, especially some of the ideas such as using construction adhesive rather than wood glue when appropriate.
My son had a similar bench in a shop he recently leased, and the owner was going to scrap it unless Jake wanted it.
It now resides in my garage which is slowly but surely becoming a shop. The first project in there will be to convert a gun cabinet I no longer need into a pipe cabinet. At my age, I have greater need for pipe display and storage than for firearms. My back and hips just don’t put up with uneven ground the way they once did. 😦
Dad was right; it takes more grit to be and old fart than it ever did to be a young squirt. 🙂
Take care my friend and may all your nails and screws pound and drive true.
Exile said
Your father was a wise man.. like mine. I hope we inherit some of that wisdom to pass on… Thanks, Jim. I’ll look forward to seing the remodelled cabinet.