Our latest Workbench Idea comes from Quentin W. who has built a tremendous English Style “Nicholson” Workbench featuring a face vise. The entire bench is also made out of cherry and she’s a beauty!. Enjoy.
Primary construction of my modified Nicholson “English” bench is complete. I still need to add holes in top and skirt. I am waiting for arrival of holdfasts from blacksmith before drilling to assure proper fit.
The bench is constructed entirely from 8/4 cherry, glued up into 16/4 stock for legs and vise. The top is flush with skirt in front, overhanging in the rear so that I have option of clamping a work light for detail work.
The vise jaw is a massive 4x12x24 inches, with a 3×3 walnut glide parallel to the screw to avoid racking. Even with this weight, the Lake Erie vise is smooth acting.
The cherry had a number of imperfections that made it is less than ideal for a serious furniture project, but with a butterfly inlay securing a split on the rear skirt and a couple of dutchmen laid into the top, it is flat, solid, and good to go.
I am not sure of weight, but it definitely does not move no matter how hard I push. For an 18th-century inspired bench designed for hand work, there is something very special about a wooden screw.
The heft and precision threads of the Lake Erie screw were an ideal match to this period style bench.
Quentin W. – Greenwich, NJ
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