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Days four, five and six of the 21st Century Workbench class at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking found me too beat to blog. Building a workbench in six days is a challenge, and as work progressed the days grew longer and the need for coffee and baked goods increased. Fortunately both were on hand, along with determination from the students. By Thursday, the focus had shifted from making the tops to the joinery for the bases. On Friday, the goal was clearly in sight, but still some distance away. Saturday was a whirlwind of activity as complete bases were taken outside, and reassembled on upside down tops.

Mounting blocks for face vises were cut and fit, and recesses for tail vises were cut with a router. After lunch, benches began to disappear from the yard, loaded into trucks, trailers and a station wagon, heading for new homes and long lives of service. It was a wonderful, demanding week; a great time with a great group of woodworkers. My thanks go to Kelly, his assistant Ben and to the cook.

Click Below to view a slide show of photos from the class.

BenchSlides.pdf (2.34 MB)

Click Here to download a free SketchUp model of the 21st Century Workbench

Click Here to buy “Build the 21st Century Workbench” video.

–Robert W. Lang

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