My grandfather was a cabinet maker in Yugoslavia from before the second world war till he passed in the 80's. Im not sure where his bench came from but it sure looked like it could tell some stories! Would be great to see your bench after 50 years of use!

TOY MAKER never heard of the linseed oil trick. Got any sharpening tips and tricks?

So this would have been in the early to mid fifties, still using gas lighting? Huh. I suppose that makes sense, it would have still been city gas and not natural gas at that time, and the old lamps would have hung on in spots... and yet in my mind, the electric lighting revolution was mostly complete by WWII, but it makes sense that it would only be the natural gas transition in the sixties that really killed off gas lighting.

Jasper Janssen ....Thanks all for your interest.... All of our large rip sawing was done at another yard across the town Main Street... we used an old gas engine connected by a belt to a huge guard-less circular saw... the kind seen in museums and at shows now.... smaller power sawing was done on a tiny petrol engined circular saw, it used to fill the workshop with deadly fumes. This was 1953 to 1956 when 3 phase power was installed.... I was the kid who got his ear clipped for wasting my tools money on a small WOLF power drill....within 3 years, all the joiners had one, plus other power tools. We made ALL joinery from sawn including stairs and cabinets.... as well as MAINTENENCE joinery locally... Sharpening tips ? A jobbing joiner, sharpens, on the hoof so to speak.... every month or so, we were allowed a sharpening morning, for saws and all bladed tools....I still have my wooden and metal planes, plus a shelf full of wooden moulding planes and rabbet planes.

@@JasperJanssen There were a few houses in Leeds that were gas only The last ones were demolished about 1957 My eldest brother got one when he married in 1955 I am 75 now and he is 86

As a non-woodworker, I have to ask--what does pointing the finger while sawing do? Thanks.

Hahahaha

"let me show you how to build this workbench for $30! Step one is to use your $5,000 specialty power tool in your fully tricked out workshop and..."

Yeah, really helpful for learninh the why's and how's for woodworking! I really enjoy the woodworking community in general

I agree completely, this is why I love channels like this and Paul Sellers. Mr Sellers builds a bench also without the need for a bench in the first place.

@@Dilophomasnaurus I get the same feeling when some YT presenter is using a $500 hand plane, or a $300 bench saw or a calvary of not so cheap clamps, to make wood construction projects. How did our forefathers ever get by?

Why are you snubbing Paul Sellers? :)

@@sailingkiel I am toying with making the Ply version of Pauls bench and downloaded the Plans but I love don't stress the little things Rex approach. Somewhere in middle is the likely result ;)

@@seabreezecoffeeroasters7994 Build Rex's joiner's bench, then use it to build Paul's top, shorten the legs on Rex's bench and attach Paul's top right over the 3 planks of Rex's and you should have about the most solid top to a bench as you would ever need....double sided too!

sailingkiel I love those also, just for different things. ;)

Same in New Zealand, I used benches like those in the early 2010s for my word working class.

Yes! Exactly why I love this channel too! "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good"

You should get some pictures ( bench owner's permitting) when the shop is done for the day... those would be awesome to see!

@Dixie Ten Broeck ^

Yeah, hate how augur bits always get away from you on a power drill. Never occurred to me to use a brace! ("Duh"" moment...) Anyway, now I gotta buy one.

The best thing about augor bits is the screw on the business end. It pulls the augor into the wood and the operator of the brace only has to exert enough pressure to guide the and drill the hole. A twist bit requires a lot more pressure to drill the hole.

Lew Hunt what did he learn from it then?.🤷‍♂️ Then best build a better one.

Great advice. Cheers

"The first thing I did as an apprentice was make my work bench. Very joinery workshop in England has them. A standard bench should be about 3 feet (1 metre) across and a minimum length of 6 foot 6" (2 metres).... :)""

The ideal dimensions theatre you gave were really useful, thank you. The height is especially difficult to determine and if you make it too low to the ground, your back will soon suffer, especially if you are getting on a bit! But all the dimensions matter a lot, so thanks again.

So true! Workbenches are way too high IMHO, but I’m very short. I find 28-28 ½”ideal for me…

not true, i did wood work similarly in high school only 6 or so years ago

@@thecodingninjaisepic3561 If I've learned anything from 60 year old guys in youtube comment sections it's that all my memories of sharp edges and power tools in high school were figments of my imagination. Everything that has happened in a classroom in the last 20 years is happy clap clap singalongs, a fact they gathered by sitting around being scared that the world is changing, and you can't argue with air-tight thinking like that.

I was a pupil in the 70's and I love those old benches. the ends of the troughs had angles so they could be brushed out easily.

*Center. Sorry, just trying to be funny since you're pointing out spelling differences.

Yep, we spell it centre in the UK. It took me ages to get my first webpage to work properly because of that little difference.

I remember those school benches and would love to get hold of one in a sale. The ones we had at our school in Wales had tool cabinets underneath, each fitted out with the set of tools for each pupil.

It's in the background of this video I did years ago kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rLKPedFq3LDbpoE.html

Same thought.

Ya, that was a real doozy!

If you don’t retract your tape carefully, eventually the tip will come off or the tape will snap.

@@paulcook7986 $20 max, i'll take my chances

@@holdintheaces7468 Letting your recoil tape measure fly back on its own is extremely bad form and will wear the little rivets on the stop so ruining the accuracy for.how long will your measurements be 'off' before wasting another $20 ?

Great idea. I'm curious, where is your recess, in that middle spot of the frame? What are it's dimensions?

@@Stinger296 it runs right down the middle, the whole length of the table. I had to cut away some material from the original plans to accommodate it. It’s dimensions are just wide and deep enough to fit a speed square.

That's nice to hear. Many of your fellow Englishmen don't feel the same way!

It won’t last long.

I use that method every day. But you need a good quality tape and hold your finger on it to slow down the speed at the end.

good job!

Did your dads bench have a toolwell?

@@linetiilikainen2755 memory suggests a relatively shallow central channel. I'll ask him. He's still with us.

@@jeffadams111 Thank you. Im in the process of coming up with a design for my own bench. Could you be so kind and ask your father why the toolwell is always in the center on the english joiners benches? Where they designed to be used by two workers? Would be interesting to know. Here in sweden they are always at the front of the bench.

@@jeffadams111 my best guess would be something like a spot to place trim when finished or a unique shape of cut that’s easier to shape or cut with a small drop off. I’m so excited for the answer though I always love that epiphany that happens when you hear how ingenious a lot of these designs really are.

@@linetiilikainen2755 well, there were some thoughts that you could clamp work across the channel to give clearance for tools. Either that it's for your lunch, but the most likely is that it is simply for tools that might otherwise have rolled off or got lost. Apparently no cunning plan was intended. I guess when working on site, there was no guarantee of a flat floor.

That's wonderful!

@Tye Bear Thanks Tye we'll do that!

Maybe, but it's probably just as likely that, around 250 years ago in Bengal, an amateur carpenter in the East India Company spotted one of these and said "mind if I nip off with that for a bit?"

@@richardchristie1293 haha that's another possibility you never know really.

I have just come back from India, nothing is square there I find it hard to believe.

@Robert Jackson Post a picture of your bench, please!

Yeah, those school benches were a bit annoying. Never big enough, but had a silly little cupboard underneath. What they needed was a working surface that could be put on when needed so your job remained clean and square. They came with a small stool as well.

Only thing that makes me slightly cringe is letting it slap back; I have seen the holes elongate over time on the ruler stops. But, tape measures are cheap enough that that's more a theoretical issue than practical.

Thanks for this - what does a saw board look like? (A quick Google only turns up power tool related stuff. ) thanks

A mechanic's car always needs maintenance bro

he doesn't do stairs

Mathew Wright after watching him build a bench with tools from the 40’s just for fun. I think he can handle it lol

"And its annoying that it moved so much" right as it happens.

If they don't flex they break

yeah but if you "snap" the tape measure like that, you will bend the tip and your measurements will be off. its also obnoxious

Holy cow! i just.... Me too.

@@countdublevay7327 haad i not been reading the comments i so wouldnt have noticed that awesome now i know why theres a carabeener mesuring tape ithought it was a pain in the ass to get it off my belt loop now will just leave it on duh lol

@@bc7495 Yeah! Hell, it was this guys comment that actually alerted me to the idea. i thought (in the video) something looked strange but....

It's TM abuse man !

They are getting a lot rarer people just want a workmate style bench which fits into a van these days, I've seen them converted into dining tables (the Salvage Hunters have a lot to answer for!) or just thrown out or burnt, people seem to think that because they are old they are not worth having. We had these types of benches in our woodworking classes at school, they were on a bigger scale and had cupboard space, they also had the middle "well" feature which you could hook all manner of accessories into, they were so well built I imagine that they are still being used today... or hope they would be.

Craig - fighting 'snobbery' with willful ignorance and lack of historical knowledge is not instructive.

Ah, the snob army appears and fires their first shot. 😂🤣😂🤣

@@richardwebb2348, I see nothing in his post that demonstrates "willful ignorance" nor "lack of historical knowledge".

60s as well

@@networkbike543 My father was using them in the 1940s at his school.

when i was 10, Me dad made one in mid 70's for our house when we replaced all the old sash windows and some doors in a house we bought/moved in to east Yorkshire. i helped him do it too. i made one for myself in the 90's when i got wed and a house to maintain, me dad taught me joinery so was easy to make, cheap too.

Because he cots joints in wood to join them ....

Use "Nylock" nuts on the inside. You can spin that bolt from the outside for years and never loosen that nut. (Okay: hinge with square holes would be just as effective with carriage-- "coach"-- bolts). Problem with carriage bolts with Nylocks is: they take a lot of force to turn, tend to ream out the soft wood they're attaching to; no way to keep the bolt stationary while attaching nylocks.

@@shaddec55 if you want to use nylocks with carriage bolts you can pin the head of the bolt in place with a c clamp while you put the nut on

Im a UK apprentice currently. Still use these battered and heavily vandalised benches at college haha

BTW: My skill level is "Monkey with a Saw.

@@denniswhite166 That describes my skill level too.

Mighty small. "Ere, do us a favor, like, and post a pic of yer own, eh?

Trevor. Thank you. Yes even in America, Rich people will destroy a charming neighborhood with ghastly monstrosities. I live in an area of Los Angeles that has\had houses made from stone. I'm not sure what type of stone but it's big stuff. Has a blue look to it. But people who know "better" are destroying these structures and replacing it with stucco boxes. Disgusting.

Trevor Nelmes, and I am hoping that since his house was purchased by wealthy MD’s, that it means your Da made a good chunk of change on it for his twilight years.

Modern doctors and foreigners or pushers of social order go out of their way to destroy everything that has to do with Independence, Autonomy, Self Sufficiency as an INDIVIDUAL(yes that is redundant but since self sufficiency is equated to more as one the self needs to be repeated and inforced in place of the lack of mental that occurs from forced mindsets which cause a turning-off of the Sense of Self whereby you then are easily supplanted, dumbed-down, and can no longer since that you are not your functioning self because no one does a daily reality check to turn off the routine and check for your free flowing, reasoning consciousness and full awakeness . It's not just the tools, it's each individual's ability to envision and turn nothing into working devices to ease the work load in Natural Order for yourself as if you were the only Hu-Man creature on the planet but with a cognizance that you are alive but you came into the life plane. When they form a social mindset or those that get sucked in or drugged into a social mindset they cannot do envisioning for Independence and Autonomy from Natural Order, and are terrified of what they can't systemically be able to control, and want everyone under their control within a system that they own despite they are on a planet they can't control which they didn't loose sight of and therefore this ability to envision and make above all other outside of their system scares them categorically and they try to destroy anyone because it allows you to see through being manipulated both by the envisioning and by insights of doing hard work alone and listening from within, not from externally. They can do thought implantation and possession but they cannot stop the inner voice until they grow brain cells on chips. That's why they are using the COVID19 to push digital currency. Trillions of dollars being spent by major companies and governments and you are blocked from buying into shares of these major block chain technologies where you could force a change in the company that should throw up a red flag. Trillions of dollars being spent for fake money you can never touch or create or challenge but paper or coin money is some how worse which didn't cost trillions and everyone can learn it and can opt in or not opt in. The money didn't fail, it was the corruption of the regulator's of the money that failed and anyone corrupt within the using the currency that failed not the money itself it can't fail it makes no decisions. Those electronic corridors are not just for money transfers many other things could be done on these corridors. Make sure you uncouple from the social order and create an out of human controling out of thought implanting system option(which is what use to exist and still partly does) before they complete these corridors by opening the door to the Ancestors and Forebearers while simultaneously developing your envisioning and making/building/doing ability in the face of social order violence and don't just make from conventions materials. You have to physically and spiritually capture enough richasses that aren't so damned system game social order socialized to have enough counter control for viable access of the planet and it's resources as True Functional Individuals in love with life itself and in respect of the Red, White, Blue, and Green on our own land and this planet free of the oppression of mindset bodies pedaling one subset of a system after another. But yes you will need to see how their expensive shit works and create a firewall to comeback through to reawake from their cityslicken shit where you work for nothing getting paid with expensive toxic money that when you have to be implanted to get a job(if it's going on in America it will follow else where until you can be replaced with bezos robots and that a.i. thing that Arabs gave more rights to then Hu-Men.) Again, the problem wasn't doing Real Work in Natural Order, the problem was you were taken out of Natural Order and culturized, taken out of Natural Order, forced into a social order conditioned out of your awareness of being fully awake and thinking self through routines, and paid less than what it costs you in Real Time to provide for your needs as a bioslave and in a social order with kaste and inequity. As the age old expression has stated it they still eat breathe drink water, shit, and piss so there is a way to counter conquer them and shut down their crazy bioslave system creating more problems then good at horrific costs. If you can do these Real Life Skills while working with other qualified individuals vector your hatred against these creating these computer based systems and you can amplify the ability to stop the insanity. (I can't rule out that you might need to study some of the shit to see their true intent in the short term with all the computer shit but stay safe on the other side it's for the richasses and their minions to replace all human life and spiritually not better it.(All these rights being given to computers and a.i.and robots, churches of a.i. for something that it is not even alive and can never be alive like the creatures) Network now to quickly learn and save the functional living concepts of SELF, Natural Order, Real Life Skills before it is too late. If they can make you blindly follow, it's easy to use you and then kill you when they decide they don't need you any more.

@Trevor, Oh, god... 😭😭😭 My Family has done irreparable harm to the inheritance of my Grandfather's skills and love of building and making. He gave that inheritance to me. But all his own children sold or threw away his stuff out from under me and I was never given the opportunity to receive any of it. Since his bench was still useful for storing tools that my Grandmother may have needed after he died, that remained until she died. And I bloody claimed that! It's not as hardy as this bench here, but he and I made it together when I was small, and I love it. I'd love to use it to build this bench some day. Both can be useful. Blessings to you.

Sane in Australia...well, they are better. Ours include a channel in the middle which is very useful to wedge/hold woodwork against.

I remember benches like these from when I was at school in the UK in the late 1950s

Maybe across the pond... to the US. We still have them in schools in Canada, that is, when you can find a school that actually teaches wood shop.

Sad situation that's for sure. My shop teacher still had 9 fingers, so he must have been a pretty good woodworker...

Yup. My brace produces a LOT more torque than my drill or impact driver.

@@andymckenzie8031 That is actually wrong, modern drivers have way more tourqe than you can get with a brace. The reason it feels like the brace has more tourqe is because when hand drilling holes your body is applying force from multiple directions which makes it feel like it takes less.

I have a brace I'm not even sure how old is. It could be between 50 and 80 years old.

@@xavier1964 so the body can apply more torque with a bit & brace than the driver, but the driver uses just a wrist so it can't keep the bit from camming out?

I know right. Also, did I miss the bit where he explained what was incredible about it? I know he called out it's solidness a few times _(and mentioned the 'toolless' construction techniques / efficiency of material use)_ but did he even talk about why parts of the surface are at different heights?

@@EggBastion I've just stumbled on this video but yes, these were exactly the type of woodwork bench we had at my school

Hi Rex thank you for the memories of linseed oil and just cut pine ,all from my apprenticeship I started in 1943 , we had 16 benches in our joiners shop all the replica of yours but 12 foot ,we worked with all the best timbers ,including blitz repairs on Buckingham Palace,I am now 92 but still enjoy using the tools ,and well remember the the tin filled with felt then softened with linseed oil to make those old wooden planes SING Joiner Jack

Well, as for me, the rate of waste and the material in the bench would be slightly different - leaving some room for even more cries.

Lol 😂 same here

Dont feel bad. Even I as a trained Carpenter still screw that up sometimes XD

Well....obviously you’re not a monkey. Be thankful for that. Oh...and no...it’s not easy. This Rex Krueger is a good instructor. No B.S. or unnecessary yakking.

Mac Mac that is the most optimistic response ever. Thank you.

That center "valley" is also pretty useful for edge work. You can solidly wedge anything in there that'll fit (boards, windows, drawers, etc.) using appropriately sized scrap and it'll stay put while you do whatever you need to.

I learned all my jointing skills behind the school.

So THAT'S what it's for! I kinda watched the entire video to figure out what the purpose was for that, and it wasn't addressed - most of the older designs seemed to have a MASSIVE drop though, not just an inch, to what was basically pretty flimsy, but was that then just to be used as an easy waste receptacle as well?

@@Nordrir it could also serve as a spot to place tools that will be needed often.

@@PerrinPansy And you can bet that the moment you want a specific chisel you were using its in the well under the workpiece. Happened to me lots of times. Plus wheres the benchhook, or the holes near the ends for stops.

Also the drop down can be used to lock the wood beig worked on if sawing it. Did this at school 35 years ago. Recently went back for a open day the same benches are still being used. They were well used when i was at school. Dad as a master carpenter made this style for his work benches. So when i needed a bench in my workshop this was the style i made with out thinking of other styles. The center area is just so handy.

As others have stated, the lower, dropped-down centre section in a carpenters bench can be used for a lot of different jobs and in my opinion it's essential.

We had 2 classrooms for woodworking in the 60's - that makes me about 60-something. The College I work at hasn't changed the design either.

NO S**T! I was just down looking at lumber...and they wanted eight-n-a-half bucks for ONE 2X4!!! I ended up paying over $5.50 just for TWO-by-TWOs!!! Can't imagine what a whole house worth of lumber would cost these days!

@@rockdog2584 price of a house has apparently gone up by $30k just for lumber! I’m scrounging like a maniac here. Salvaging some abandoned wood and hoping for the best

For real!!! I just built a much smaller crappier bench for $100. Would cost NUTS right now! It's gotta stop at so.e point.

I got my lumber when prices just started to climb. Cost about $125 I think. Now, it’s way nuts.

Bought 100 4x6 timbers at eight feet long last spring. Returned the majority of them 5 per week and made 300% on my investment

I feel like it directly shows your workmanship to the customer. Do you give them away to the customers or do you tear them apart after you're done?

@@zoutewand They often got stolen or used as firewood. Sometimes if I could be bothered I would carry it to the next job

Bill you are correct, this was the benches that were in schools. Those benches took a lot of abuse and the tops were replaced when needed. Dog holes were drilled in line with the vices. Remember we had woodwork from about the age of 8.