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Summary: Vital reading for the woodworker.
Review: And I do mean vital. The workbench is often the red-headed stepchild of the modern shop. We spend thousands of dollars on power tools we use once a year, and then when it comes to a workbench, we lay some plywood on cheap steel legs and proceed to spill paint all over it. No other shop item is as vital to good work done efficiently as is the proper workbench. But the fun of this book is trying to pin the tail on the donkey - what makes a "proper" bench?
The inspired touch of this book is to approach the subject chronologically - what's the oldest dedicated bench we know of? By going back to the benches of the Renaissance, and one modern interpretation of their absolute minimalist simplicity, we can see the essence of "benchness", if such a thing exists. The plainest of heavy tables, rock solid, for planing boards. No vices please - just hold fasts.
By starting off at this ground zero, all subsequent benches are placed in context. Additional vices and features and fixtures are introduced and explained, and bit by bit we find ourselves in the modern workshops of people like Frank Klausz, with glorious benches that take the form to it's possible limit. Vises are gone over in excrusiating detail, along with all the possible positions they can occur in.
This is the most important of the 3 books (often sold as a boxed set) that discuss worbenches, toolboxes, and workshops. Get this one first, and you'll refer to it constantly. I've read it 3 times, cover to cover, and still find new things.
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Summary: Diverse and Detailed - An Excellent Book
Review: Building your own workbench is for most woodworkers a passage from apprenticeship to proficiency. In his "The Workbench Book", Scott Landis captures the artistry, craftsmanship, and utility behind the design and construction of this most fundamental of woodworking tools. The book begins with a brief history of the workbench (from Roman times to the present) which serves the more detailed part of the book well by providing a context for understanding the layout and design of more modern workbenches. What makes this book truly outstanding however is that Scott Landis choose to eschew the narrow, personal perspective, instead focusing on the workbench philosophy and design detail of a diverse group of master wood craftsmen. This approach allows us to appreciate different bench designs not as simple woodworking projects themselves, but as the foundation of diverse disciplines to the wood craft. This is an excellent book and I would recommend it to any serious woodworker.
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Summary: A must-read for every serious woodworker!
Review: If you're a serious woodworker, you need a serious workbench. If you want to build your own workbench, you won't want to do it without first reading "The Workbench Book." Scott Landis superbly covers the world of workbenches and provides a lot of insight into the history and function of workbenches. When I set out to build my workbench, I didn't know what kind I wanted to build. "The Workbench Book" gave me all the information I needed to decide what kind of bench to build and how to build it. But what really surprised me about the book was that even if I wasn't planning to build a bench, it would have been well worth reading simply for the interesting story of the workbench. Scott Landis' knowledge, experience and love of the craft of woodworking, and his respect for the workbench, made the book a joy to read. I not only learned much more about workbenches than I expected; I also gained an appreciation for the craft and those who put their hearts, as well as their hands, into it. If you have even the slightest interest in woodworking, get this book! You won't be disappointed.
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Summary: A must-read for every serious woodworker!
Review: If you're a serious woodworker, you need a serious workbench. If you want to build your own workbench, you won't want to do it without first reading "The Workbench Book." Scott Landis superbly covers the world of workbenches and provides a lot of insight into the history and function of workbenches. When I set out to build my workbench, I didn't know what kind I wanted to build. "The Workbench Book" gave me all the information I needed to decide what kind of bench to build and how to build it. But what really surprised me about the book was that even if I wasn't planning to build a bench, it would have been well worth reading simply for the interesting story of the workbench. Scott Landis' knowledge, experience and love of the craft of woodworking, and his respect for the workbench, made the book a joy to read. I not only learned much more about workbenches than I expected; I also gained an appreciation for the craft and those who put their hearts, as well as their hands, into it. If you have even the slightest interest in woodworking, get this book! You won't be disappointed.
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Summary: Work with wood? Design your own bench
Review: OK where do I start ....This is a great book. Inspirational. Great photos and illustrations, well written, fascinating history, deep insight into the various uses of benches and the techniques of holding workpieces. I bought this to inspire the design of my own bench. Now this book might not be for everyone, so I am breaking this review into bits: Beginner: will educate you to the history of woodworking and inspire you. Making your own bench is probably beyond you at the moment. If you have a love of woodworking, this will fire your enthusiasm. Novice: can give you ideas for the future. There are sketches in this book, but not plans, especially not detailed router diagrams with measurements. Intermediate: (you can design your own projects) get it. You should seriously consider making your own workbench, to your own requirements and style. This book will show you many possibilities and get your thinking. Advanced: well you should definetely get it, and make yourself a variety of benches to suit different applications. I really enjoy this book. I have designed my own bench with the many, many ideas from this book. I have many innovative concepts, and specific requirements - for example, I carry my bench into the courtyard, and so have a hole in the middle where I can put a beach umbrella to keep the sun off (not to mention fact that it must be light enough to lift). I also work with leather, jewelry, metal, and beads, so I need adaptability for hammering, soldering, velvet lining to prevent beads escaping, etc etc you get the picture. This book gave me many many ideas for various means of clamping a work to the bench .. things that I can make myself, which is great. For example, there is a detailed diagram for cutting your own woodscrew, to build your own vice. Hmmm... a bit of a warning to power tool users, however, this is not really aimed at power tool users. The benches are designed for traditional woodwork, although the techniques are still useful for you if you want to build yoru own router bench. Note there are benches for carving as well, Japanese approaches, medieval benches ... Overall I am very pleased with this book and I would recommend to anyone. Furthermore, I would recommend it as a present, I don't know anyone who works with wood who would not be pleased with this one, although as a present I would first recommend some of the books such as Art of Fine Tools or the Handplane book. Note that I bought this book as part of the boxed set, which is excellent value and you save on shipping since it is one item not 3.
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Summary: What no more working on the table, counter, floor ?!?!?!
Review: The definitive guide to traditional work surfaces for the fine woodworker.
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Summary: Not only useful, but wonderful entertainment, too
Review: This book is of course a must buy for anyone contemplating building a workbench, but it's much more than that. It's also a tremendously entertaining and fascinating book for woodworkers, tool junkies, fans of technology and gear heads everywhere. The photographs are beautiful, the text is a perfect example of the kind of fine writing Taunton Press is known for, and the history of the Black and Decker Workmate alone is reason enough to buy this book.
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Summary: For the enthusiast
Review: This book is part of a "trilogy" that was published around the same time, accompanying The Toolbox Book and The Workshop Book. With these three books you get plenty of ideas for creating or updating your own woodworking shop. These books are not meant for people doing simple home repair work. They are meant for people who have a love and fascination with working wood. In addition to a history lesson of what workbenches have been in the past, this book offers suggestions and "plans" for building workbenches that work in today's modern shops. Of course, if you only use hand tools, a bench designed in the 1700's would work as well now as then. Most of the workbenches in this book were designed for hand tool use, but many will work fine with portable power tools. In addition to the benches themselves, the "accessories" for benches are covered. This includes several different types of vices, bench dogs, bench hooks, and other items that make a bench more useful. The photographs and writing are excellent. It is a dream book for the enthusiast. If all you need is a sturdy bench for simple work, then grab some 2 x 4's, plywood and nails and make one. Don't wait to build a bench - you will need one. But if you grow in woodworking, you will soon want to have something more useful and more sophisticated. This is the book you will read when you come to that point.
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Summary: Exposition or Narration?
Review: Why am I writing this review? Well, the main reason is that I've just finished reading this book for the "umpteenth" time and I've just ordered "the other 'must-have' workbench book"-- the one by Sam Allen, from amazon.com...and I really want to build my dream workbench--soon! Landis's book is brilliant and, having browsed it, for years, and read it from cover to cover at least 8 times, I can state *categorically* that everything you really need to know, or even think about, before building a superb workbench is covered SOMEWHERE in this beautifully-illustrated tribute to one of the woodworker's most basic tools--the bench. It doesn't much matter what kind of woodcraft you are most fond of, or forced to do...carving and sculpting, modelmaking, cabinet-work, carpentry, joinery, instrument-making...there is something here for you to think about before you lay down the bucks for timber, or even before you put pencil to paper to design "the bench of your dreams". [The benches in the book are mostly directed at, but not entirely limited to, woodworkers...] If you actually find the bench of your dreams within the covers of this book [and who WOULDN'T!?--it's that comprehensive!] and expect a hint as to how big it might be, or what size of workshop it would suit, then you'd better be prepared to think again--and read the book again, and again... There are very clear hints about how to solve ALL of the problems you might face in designing and building your own individual bench, or its concomitant accessories [holdfasts, dogs, vises, board-jacks, storage compartments--you name it!] Consideration is given to work specialities and even to base designs to suit different flooring types of workshops around the globe. The book is very short, however, on DIY-style "projects". So...*you* pick up the ideas, *you* design, *you* build...The author is quite up-front about saying that you will probably need some sort of half-decent workbench to build a 'great' workbench. This book may not be the first-stop for a newbie woodworker, who just wants a good sturdy "bench-with-vise" to start making shavings, or even for the more experienced woodworker who has a specific bench project in mind. However, with a good collection of magazine and web articles on benches and, preferably, a bit of construction experience, this book will probably address your dreams...but perhaps not by next week. Be patient, read a lot and keep learning. Buy the book, of course, so you can have a "target" to aim at. You might not know what you want, or need, until you have considered all of the brilliant ideas contained within the covers of Landis's book. [Warning!--I've so far only designed and built one free-standing workbench in my life. Naturally, it was designed upon the ones upon which I had learned woodworking. It took me about a week to build and was made almost entirely of salvaged timber--ancient jarrah posts and weathered 5/4 and 4/4 boards from old 'piano crates'. The metal front vise alone (even 20 years ago!) cost about the same as my present, small, commercially-made bench supplied with two useable wooden vises!]
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