The Anarchist's Workbench
July 7, 2020 8:24 AM   Subscribe

Christopher Schwarz (prev.) has finished a book on workbenches, which you can download for free.
posted by zamboni (17 comments total) 46 users marked this as a favorite
 
Neat! I've only skimmed it but it looks nice. I'm one of these people who dreams about building a workbench for real but just keeps working off a solid-core-door on 2x4 legs, which is OK for now I guess.
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:02 AM on July 7, 2020 [3 favorites]


(lol "for now", I've been at this for like 15 years, just not seriously)
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:02 AM on July 7, 2020 [4 favorites]


(He's the nephew of Tom West, whose name is familiar to many here from "Soul of a New Machine.")

I've glanced into this a few times over the years. What an amazing project-of-love.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:32 AM on July 7, 2020 [3 favorites]


He's also the cousin of Jessamyn West, whose name may be familiar to many here.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:43 AM on July 7, 2020 [10 favorites]


If you'll believe it, there's a "get the pdf here" link that just LINKS TO AN ACTUAL PDF!!! I didn't know that was technically possible.

Still might be worth getting a hardcopy though.
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 9:55 AM on July 7, 2020 [4 favorites]


This bench and this book are not a revolutionary statement about workbenches – we haven’t had one of those since 1565 I’m afraid.

So aparently no IoT WiFi robotic WaaS (Workbench as a Service) online integration with AWS/Facebook?
posted by sammyo at 10:12 AM on July 7, 2020 [4 favorites]


That's a finely honed design right there. Thanks for posting!

BTW, holdfasts are amazing. Get a pair and you'll use them all the time.
posted by echo target at 10:19 AM on July 7, 2020 [4 favorites]


My carpenter friend was just asking for non fiction book recs, I am so happy to pass this on.
posted by Duffington at 11:02 AM on July 7, 2020


thank you Zamboni and Christopher Swartz.
i cherish this PDF. Of the 12 DVD tapes I have, one is of Swartz and Roy Underhill on his show. I learned alot about the history of tools and construction from these guys.
gem post.

jessamyns' cousin, cool. I have kin in Berea Kentucky who took The Kelly Mehler School.
coutse. genuis and his site is to really buy for.
posted by clavdivs at 1:00 PM on July 7, 2020


My only beef with Schwarz is about drawbored tenons. Lab tests show them failing before regular tenons. They're used heavily in a lot of old benches and other furniture that's lasted a couple of centuries, but historically they were probably a compromise for a problem we don't have anymore.

Before bar clamps existed, a drawbore tenon was the only way to draw those pieces together with force. Glues were unreliable at best, so you needed a physical way to lock the joint. Metal clamps (once invented) were expensive, so you'd make the most out of a small collection by clamping a joint, pounding in the pins or drawbores, and then taking the clamp off for the next joint.

Given the scale of a workbench and the low cost (historically speaking) of decent bar clamps, I don't think drawbores add anything. You get a weaker joint with more hassle. You still need them for timber framing, of course, and they're still a neat hack if you're short on clamps and a necessity if you're building without glue.

No disrespect to Schwarz, he's second only to Saint Roy Underhill if you like hand tools. The book looks great.
posted by echo target at 1:07 PM on July 7, 2020 [3 favorites]


This is fantastic, and I would love to build this bench. Sadly, it suffers from the problem that a lot of woodworking instructional stuff does: even the shit that they say is easy? Ain't. And with neither the space nor the time to collect the materials, I'm still stuck dreaming.

Super fun to skim around and check out the cool bench variations, though!
posted by that's candlepin at 1:14 PM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]


It's amazing how much my work in progress bench looks like the featured bench (on a budget, mine probably only weighs 2/3 of the pictured bench). Right down to dimensional lumber (So called SPF but in reality 99% pine) that I spent the better part of a day picking out of two lifts at the Home Improvement Borg. I did a ton of looking around on the net before finalizing on a design so maybe I came across one of his benches at some time?

I anticipate building one more bench and plan to use dimension lumber fir. I'd love a maple or walnut bench but here that would easily 7-10x the price. I'd rather put that material into some nice furniture.

I don't think drawbores add anything. You get a weaker joint with more hassle.

Those glued joints are so ridiculously strong already the weakening from the draw bores isn't going to cause the bench to fail. More decorative than anything.
posted by Mitheral at 2:49 PM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


I have his Anarchist's Design Book. I was going to get into woodworking as a hobby, but so far the only thing I've built is a workbench. Well, I also built one of the world's most unnecessarily strong and complicated sawhorses as a practice learning mortise and tenon joinery. But only one, so it's not very useful. Got a couple of holdfasts and they're fine, but not so good I won't eventually put the vise back on the bench.

In any case, the book I've got is a good enjoyable read for it's own sake, just for learning something even if I never use it.
posted by ctmf at 4:39 PM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Love! Thank you!
posted by frumiousb at 5:40 PM on July 7, 2020



I don't think drawbores add anything. You get a weaker joint with more hassle
.

Counterpoint:. They are really fun to assemble, and not very much hassle!
( and useful if you have odd angles or a shortage of clamps)

I love when I can make furniture with tusk and tenons, which are a variety of drawbore. Sturdy! Easy to assemble and knock down! No screws or glue! Everyone can understand what's going on!

Thanks for the link. I really enjoy when people write down their "I've done this a bunch and here are ways in which you shouldn't bother wasting your time / here's what worked for me" advice.
posted by Acari at 7:59 AM on July 8, 2020 [3 favorites]


There's an updated version.
posted by zamboni at 7:37 AM on July 9, 2020 [2 favorites]


This is an amazing resource from a true expert (if opinionated) in the field. I look forward to to the hinted-at free pdfs of The Anarchist's Toolchest and The Anarchist's Design Book.
posted by St. Oops at 2:22 PM on July 9, 2020


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