Build an 18th-Century Workbench

Directions were clear and author's experience was helpful in pointing out pitfalls. Digital plans were also included with a separate article that can be printed and studied.

Interesting book, interesting project. Love his practical approach to building a workbench - make it work for you, make it cheap, USE it! Really enjoy the writing, too.

I have a few books and videos by Chris Schwarz. He usually has pretty good information and he tends to do thorough analysis. This video is typical of his work which is to say, very good.Schwarz starts the video by talking about the history or how he became interested in the Roubo Workbench and also the history of the bench itself. He then goes on to show quick looks at the construction details and gives some ideas about what it took to build this bench by hand. I think he originally intended to do the build entirely by hand tools but opted out of ripping the thick slab by hand. He probably made a very wise choice to head over to a nice large modern band saw for that work. Lastly he mentions that he was trying to build this bench without a bench. Something that is necessary for most of us who wouldn’t build a bench if we already have one.There is some large stock in this bench. The legs are 6” by 6” and came from his local home center. The top is made out of a punky slab of cherry that he found at a local sawyer. Full size slabs can be hard to come by and he had to join two slabs together to make this bench. I mention that this was a punky slab because I think Roy Underhill may have broken a corner off. In any case, solid wood will have checks and cracks so Schwarz shows how he dealt with those using a flexible epoxy. This is a beautiful workbench and I think it was made for a family member to use.Two things to consider:First, Schwarz has a certain personality that some don't prefer. For me, he's not over the top about it and he really does his homework so I like to hear or read what he has to say. You may find him very entertaining.Lastly, I didn't read the fine print close enough. This is a very short DVD. Just over 35-minutes of presentation. Schwarz is good but nobody can cover this build in only 35-minutes. I'm not sure why Poplar Woodworking did such an incredibly short DVD when Schwarz could easily talk for hours about this bench. Bottom line, it's a good video but you'll have to decide if you want to spend almost $1.00 a minute to hear Schwarz talk.This isn’t to say I don’t like the video. I do like it and maybe Chris Schwarz is one of the few people that can do this much material in just 35-minutes.