My First Work Bench

December 28, 2022 - When I started out learning to carve, I had only my slojd knife and a hunk of wood. I started with a few spoons and then developed and itch to go bigger. Pretty quickly I realized that if I was going to learn to carve bowls I needed a bench to secure my work. I had no idea what a work bench entailed or how to go about crafting one. After scouring the internet, and mostly finding results for benches that were way beyond my skill level to create, I found a blog post on Dave Fisher’s site where he had written about a low boy bench he had constructed out of a huge walnut slab. I basically replicated his dimensions but used a salvaged length of pressure treated lumber instead. This bench was going to be living outside in the PNW - and possibly even getting rained on - so while not ideal from a green wood working perspective, I knew the pressure treated wood would last indefinitely. I sawed the timber in half, wood glued it together, gave it a nice sanding and then drilled three rows of dog holes in it. I was so eager to get carving that I never ended up putting legs on the bench top, but rather have been using a pair of old saw horses that the top just floats on top of. One upside of the unattached saw horse method is that although the top is weighty, it is very easy to move around and store out of the way if need be. For the last year and a half this has served as my main work bench for securing bowls. I have to say though that it does get a bit frustrating having to constantly shift the bench top back onto the saw horses, as it wants to slide right off after a while. The plus side is that I can literally move the whole top around to achieve a better angle. My eventual plan is to auger some mortise holes in the bottom and to tenon some nice legs onto it with some vine maple lengths. The idea is to make a low boy similar to Dave’s - no more than 23 to 24 inches tall - so that I can sit while doing the gouge work. This may look rough to a seasoned wood worker, but it has worked just fine for my needs up to this point. The take away is that you really have to do very little to craft something to hold your work and start carving. I have a tendency to let intimidation get the best of me and feel like I’ve got to do everything the best that I possibly can. While this can be a good thing it’s good to let it be a hinderance. My main goal was to secure my work and get carving. Below are some photos of my bench in action with holdfasts securing down the first bowl I carved. This piece of plum almost did me in. A post for another time…