Accessory Workbench

As I age bending over is getting more difficult. This has made some tasks a bit of a challenge with my primary workbench. Steve Latta's bench, as featured in the article “Minibench Works Wonders” from Fine Woodworking in 2014 inspired me, so I made a variation of his bench.

The bench is 8.4 inches high and sits on my primary bench which is 33 inches high. I can now work without bending over. It’s made entirely out of Baltic Birch Plywood. The bench is 3.5 inches shorter than Latta's to fit my height. It has wide beefy legs flush with the top to support vertical clamping similar to a twin-screw vice. There are mortises cutout in the spreaders and legs to allow clamping to the primary bench. The distance between the spreader centers is 21 inches. I have collars for Record #146 hold downs the same 21 inch centers apart. The primary bench dogholes are spaced with 7-inch centers. This gives multiple options for clamping the bench down. Jorgensen F-style single hand clamps work great for this.

A 7 inch Rockler quick release vice is mounted on one end. This vice was chosen for the reduced required clearance under the bench top. The 7 inch leg height was space limiting for the type of quick release vice used.

Both sides of the bench are identical with the legs flush with the top. It can be used from either side. The tail vice therefore can be either left or right sided depending on needs or handedness. I'm left handed.

The bench was finished with 3 coats of Watco Danish Oil.