Choosing a Woodworking Vise – woodworking benches

Why would I start my woodworking craft experience with a bench? A bench is actually very easy to build and it can be done with just a few tools and a small amount of materials. You will learn a few of the basics of woodworking and carpentry by building a simple bench and you will have something that is useful. You can either build a small bench to be used in your woodworking craft so you will have a place to do some small projects or you can use the bench in your home for other purposes. A simple bench could also be covered with cork or bamboo flooring and either be used or displayed ornamentally.

Materials List

You should look for plans that are as simple as they can be. Don’t look for over complicated plans that uses a lot of poor sketches and excessive notes. The simpler the plans, the less likely it will be that you get confused.

For being able to crate and carve complex woodworking designs, a workers proficiency and experience is a must. For example, a naive woodworker will not be able to design a loft bed plan without any assistance from an experienced woodworker. This is because such designs require perfection and only veterans can make impeccable designs for the same. Woodworking is very often used in loft bed plan designs.

It consists of one piece for the top, two pieces for the legs, one piece for the stretcher and four pieces for the wedges. A handheld jigsaw comes in handy to round the edges. Move on to cutting your tenon and mortises and several notches. Follow the assembly instructions, glue and stain as you desire. You are done.

Usually, the width of the jaws is used to describe the vise. So, if a vise is advertized as a “7 inch vise,” that means that it has 7 inch wide jaws. You’ll also almost always find the maximum opening capacity of the vise and the screw diameter also listed in the specifications. Look for a vise that opens wide enough to accommodate the thickest piece of stock you can imagine yourself working on, and remember that you will need to subtract the thickness of the of the wooden pads that you’ll be installing on the jaw faces. A 9” capacity vise with 3/4” thick pads will give you 7- 1/2” to work with, which is plenty in most situations. But the odd occasion does arise when more would come in handy. A 13” opening capacity vise should have you covered for just about anything you run into.

So go ahead and build that woodworking bench yourself. You won’t be sorry that you engaged in this wonderful hobby.

When building a woodworking bench you should make sure you don’t build one that completely fills your work space. You should try to leave some open space, at last 2 feet open space.

Assembling the woodworking bench.

The next step is to identify what lumber you’re going to use. This is an important step as it is going to be what your woodworking bench is going to be made up of. Pine planks will be good enough for your work surface. If you’re building a three foot wide bench, you should use around six pine planks.