In the late 19th century there seems to be a lot of evidence for benches in a Nicholson-type form – the box bench. These benches can be found in both Britain and North America in various forms.
The first bench can be found in Bench Work in Wood (1890) by W.F.M. Goss, of Purdue University. He describes a simple bench with a length (A) greater than 6 or more feet, and a height regulated by the type of work (carpenter’s benches are 33” high, while cabinet and pattern-makers benches are 2-4” higher). The bench has a number of features: a bench stop (a); a parallel device (c) for the leg vice (d), and a series of holes (e) on the face (g) to support long pieces of work.
The workbench of Goss
George Ellis shows another version of a box bench in Modern Practical Joinery (1908). It is joiner’s bench 10-12 feet in length, 27” wide, and 28” in height. The legs are sloped to either side, with a box-type top structure. The top is made of three 9” wide boards, the front one 1.5” thick, and the remaining two 1” thick. The legs are 3×4” legs are held together with mortise and tenon joints, glued and wedged. The sides are formed by 9×1” boards fixed to the legs with screws. The bottom stretchers are 9” from the floor. The top is fixed in place using countersunk screws. The bench has a metal bench stop, and a front vice.
The workbench of Ellis
The book “Woodworking for Beginners: A Manual for Amateurs”, by Charles G. Wheeler (1899) also provides a vision for a box-type bench. He describes the entire process of building this simple bench, made of pine if possible. The description includes the simple leg-vise, a parallel device to keep the leg-vise parallel, and other contrivances to hold work.
The workbench of Wheeler
These benches may seem quite simple, are inexpensive, and in reality don’t take a lot of effort to build.
One of the earliest tiny planes was likely the Stanley No.101 which appeared in 1877. In the 1879 Stanley catalog it was described as “a convenient tool for amateurs and others, who work with scroll saws, picture framing etc. It has proved so valuable to mechanics in all the lighter kinds of wood working, and so useful about offices, stores, and dwellings, for making slight repairs of windows, doors, furniture, etc., that it seems likely to be wanted in every household.”
The plane was likely developed for light planing work around the house. The plane had a much more structured look when it first came out in 1877, and was 3.5” in length and had a 1” cutter. By the 1888 catalog, it had changed its appearance slightly, to what we see today.
The No.101 entry from the 1877 Stanley catalogue
This plane is non-adjustable as it has no ability to finely adjust the blade. The blade is manually placed in position and then held in place using an integral locking-screw. To achieve this the plane uses a metal cross bar, so when the locking screw is turned, pressure is placed at the position where the screw meets the blade, and where the lever cap meets the cross bar.
The No.101 entry from the 1898 Stanley catalogue
The finish was Japanning over the entire surface, excluding the sole. Models after ca 1940 have a red lever cap. A nickel plated version of this plane was offered as the No.201 from 1890-1910. Very few specimens of the No.201 sport anything more than 50% of the nickel plating.
The plane is quite compact and easy to use, if the blade is properly sharpened. It might be the right size for planing bits of balsa wood for model making or similar. In the 1877 catalog this plane sold for $0.25, which is about US$7 in 2022 dollars. The No.101 today is quite cheap, because it is quite common, usually selling for around US$, the No.201 on the other hand can go as high as US$200.
SPECS:
Size (L×W): 3-1/2″ × 1″ Weight: 125 grams Material: cast-iron Bed angle: 45° Mouth: fixed Finish: Japanning Lever-cap: machine locking-screw through the cap Production: 1877-1962
This bench is illustrated in Werkstäte der heutigen Künste oder die neue Kunsthistorie (roughly translated as Workshops of Today’s Arts or the New Art History), by Johann Samuel Hallens and published in 1764. Hallens (1727-1810) was a Prussian historian and toxicologist who authored various scientific books. This book (Volume 3) is part of a series which describes various trades, including Der Zimmerman (carpenter) and Der Tischler (joiner, p.45-92). The section includes a wide introduction to various woods and tools used by the Tischler. The bench (German hobelbank), is made of beech or oak.
Did this bench typify German benches of the 18th century? This bench is unique because it is constructed of lumber which seems quite thin, the assumption being that the bench’s strength is provided by the joinery, and tusk tenons used to prevent racking. From the text it seems like the bench top is made up of two pieces of beech with the front being 3″ thick, and the rear being 2″ thick, to “prevent the bench becoming overloaded”. There also seems to be a drawer in the front, and a tool well in the back of the bench, which may have been typical of some regions, whereas others may have chosen the vertical tool storage attached to the back of the bench. The vises are set up in the classic German configuration with a front shoulder vise, and an tail vise. The front vise uses a screw to hold the work-piece against the bench.
Now the text relating to the bench talks about “nach der Art der eiſernen Schraubeſtöffe der Metallarbeiter“, basically suggesting that the vises held the boards to be planed in the manner of the metalworkers iron screws. This might explain the thin benchtop, as the tail vise seems to have twice the thickness of the bench it attaches to, something not possible with wooden screws. The text goes on to say that the screw of the rear vise is concealed under the benchtop.
NB: It would be interesting to actually read books like this, but translations aren’t abounding, and reading 18th century German is challenging to say the least. The text is written in the German Fraktur font, and it is possible to run portions of it through an optical-character recognition system these days, with reasonable results.
This workbench was described according to that found in Abbot Nollet’s work “L’art des expériences, ou Avis aux amateurs de la physique“, published in 1770. Abbot Nollet (1700-1770) was a French clergyman and physicist. The book was published in German in 1771 as “Die Kunst physikalische Versuche anzustellen” (Art of Making Physical Experiments). In the German version, from which Krünitz’s facsimilie was made, the plate has been reversed.
The bench in the original Nollet, 1770 (Plate 1)
The bench in the German transcription of Nollet, 1771 (Plate 1)
A bench 6-7 feet in length made of elm or beech, 18-20 inches wide, and at least 3½ inches thick. It is 27-28 inches high and placed on four oak legs, 3-4 inches wide and thick. The legs carry the bench top by means of a series of mortise/tenon joints, with four stretchers upon which boards can be placed, and tools stored on it. On one end of the workbench there is an “iron claw” with teeth (a) which is fastened to a square piece of wood which goes through the bench, and can be moved up and down with a mallet. This claw or hook is used to hold and fasten flat pieces of wood, the flat side of which is to be worked or planed.
At the same end of the bench, on its edge is a wooden hook/pincer (b) used to fasten boards whose side is to be worked on. The pincer is made from a flat piece of wood 5-6 inches long, and as wide as the bench is thick. One end is cut at an angle, makes an angle with the edge of the bench, in which the end of the board is inserted. If the board is long, the other end of the board is supported by means of a stake which is inserted into one of the holes which are drilled in the front of the left leg (c). If it is not so long, it is fastened by means of a board (d) which is cut out in the shape of an angle, and is fastened to the bench using a bench hook (or servant) (ed. – a doe’s foot in other words).
Since the servant is needed in different places on the bench, there must be different holes, but not in one and the same line, but in two. The holes in one row must always face the middle of the space between the holes in the other row. They must also be larger than necessary in order to allow only the lower part of the servant through, because it must obtain a lean (i.e. not be straight) – it must touch the upper edge on the right and the lower edge on the left if one drives it into the hole with a mallet.
The bench found in Krünitz
On the rear edge of the bench on the right end, and fastened by means of two small screws is a strip about 15″ long. The space between the strip and the bench is 7-8 Lin. This is used to hold tools that are needed most often, e.g. chisels ,compasses, etc. At the other end of this edge, another such strip is attached to hold drills, awls, and various coarse and fine rasps. There is a small drawer (f) under one end of the bench with compartments for drills, chalk, red clay, and a few pieces of seal skin.
The workbench is even more convenient if provided with a clamp (g) that can be removed when not in use. It consists of two wooden screws, each 15-16″ in length and a 20-22 Lin in average width, and two nuts 1½” thick, shaped like an S and 5-6″ in length. The two nut screws are drilled 4″ deep, two feet apart, into the side of the bench top (h,i), two feet apart, where the screws can be screwed into, and a cross piece of wood attached through the protruding screws at least 18″ in length, and 3″ wide. The S nuts are then attached and used to press together what is brought between the cross-wood and the bench. Between the holes h and i there is another nut screw (k), which can be used with a second cross-piece of wood, to the distance i,k. This provides two clamps of different lengths that can be used according to the size of pieces to be pressed. (Ed. g in the picture relates to a clamp of width i-k).
The screws and nuts must be made of sturdy wood that does not crack. Sperberbaum and Vogelbeer wood is the best wood for this purpose. If these aren’t available, then wood from wild pear trees or elm can be used. Ash wood is best used for the cross-piece.
Notes:
A Lin = line and in German this implied 1/10 or 1/12 of an inch.
Sperberbaum = Sorbus domestica, sorb or service tree. The wood is sometimes used to make planes, as it is quite dense.
working by hand 