Build a Cabinetmaker’s Workbench

Instructors: Craig Stevens and Greg Horton

We’ll be scheduling the workbench class again

This class teaches the design and construction of a traditional cabinetmaker’s workbench. At the end of a busy 5-day week, each student will have built a serious traditional workbench.

A sturdy, flat-topped bench capable of firmly holding work in a variety of ways is perhaps the single most important woodworking tool in any shop. In this course, we discuss thoughts about workbenches, various designs developed over the years, and a variety of vises and other work-holding hardware. Each student builds a bench to be used and enjoyed for generations.

The top is a 3" thick commercial butcher block, made from strips of 8/4 stock. This means that the grain of the top is essentially quartersawn, which makes for a surface with less movement than plain-sawn lumber and helps assure that it stays flat and stable. The finished size is 7 feet long, 28-1/2" wide, and is built at a height customized for each student. The length can be shortened to fit each student's home shop, although less than 6 feet is not recommended.

Materials: the materials fee is $1525. This fee includes the 7-foot long commercial butcher block slab, 3" thick. It also includes the wood for the base and hardware. Also included is the new Veritas Quick-Release Sliding Tail Vise and the large Milwaukee front vise from Tools For Working Wood. In short, all you need to build this bench is included in the materials fee. This is an excellent, professional-level workbench and we’re proud to offer its design and construction as a workshop.

Tuition: $875, plus a materials and vises fee of $1525, for a total of $2400. Please note that PFW needs 7 weeks’ advance notice in order to source the proper materials. June 22, 2020 is the last day to register for the class.

Students provide their own lunch.

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