gert
11-18-2004, 01:51 PM
A workbench is a wonderful thing; it’s like having an extra set of hands.
Let me share my workbench story.
Twenty years ago my father phoned me and asked if I would like a free Scandinavian bench that he had had in storage for some 20 years, of coarse I jumped at the opportunity and went to pick it up. What he presented to me was a pile of parts all in old growth VG fir and no screws. I confess to being quite disappointed because I had envisioned a fully assembled maple bench. But it did come with a story.
Being so disappointed I piled the parts in a corner of my shop for about 8 years till one day I had nothing to do and so decided to try to assemble this beast. I recalled having seen an article in Fine Woodworking by Tage Frid about Scandinavian benches, I went and found the issue to assist in the assembly of the bench.
Myres Rasmussen built this bench immediately after he immigrated to Canada from Denmark. As an apprentice carpenter in Denmark (late 1940s) the students had to build a bench using only hand tools; in Canada he had no plans for this bench and so built it from memory. The reason this bench was never finished was because its builder died suddenly at about age 30. His widow gave the bench to my father because they were best friends, but dad had no place for it so put it in storage.
Heres the neat part.
The bench measured in every dimension with in a quarter inch of the Tage Frid bench in FW and when I purchased the proper vice screws from Lee Valley they dropped right into place with no fitting needed.
This is a cool bench.
Let me share my workbench story.
Twenty years ago my father phoned me and asked if I would like a free Scandinavian bench that he had had in storage for some 20 years, of coarse I jumped at the opportunity and went to pick it up. What he presented to me was a pile of parts all in old growth VG fir and no screws. I confess to being quite disappointed because I had envisioned a fully assembled maple bench. But it did come with a story.
Being so disappointed I piled the parts in a corner of my shop for about 8 years till one day I had nothing to do and so decided to try to assemble this beast. I recalled having seen an article in Fine Woodworking by Tage Frid about Scandinavian benches, I went and found the issue to assist in the assembly of the bench.
Myres Rasmussen built this bench immediately after he immigrated to Canada from Denmark. As an apprentice carpenter in Denmark (late 1940s) the students had to build a bench using only hand tools; in Canada he had no plans for this bench and so built it from memory. The reason this bench was never finished was because its builder died suddenly at about age 30. His widow gave the bench to my father because they were best friends, but dad had no place for it so put it in storage.
Heres the neat part.
The bench measured in every dimension with in a quarter inch of the Tage Frid bench in FW and when I purchased the proper vice screws from Lee Valley they dropped right into place with no fitting needed.
This is a cool bench.