The only problem is that my research is turning up that there are many styles of workbenches that have been used over the years and if I know its name (say Roubo), I can google Roubo Workbench and get all the info I want and more about that particular design.

However, I have seen lots of different pictures and there does not seem to be many names associated (at least that I can find).

The first is by Scott Landis, The Workbench Book, the second by Christopher Schwarz, Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use.

A local library may have one or the other if youre lucky so you wouldnt have to buy both.

It doesnt get mentioned as much (dont know why) but The Workbench: A Complete Guide to Creating Your Perfect Bench by Lon Schleining must also be mentioned.

But it doesnt have to be for the bench to work, and work well.

Just make it heavyish to heavy, give it rock-solid joints to prevent racking, have the top flat and level and everything else is gravy.

In some other parts of the world they dont even use workbenches and they manage to get stuff built, its well worth bearing that in mind when agonising which is better, a face vice or a leg vice.

Ideal workbench height just as a subject in itself is something there are endless debates about.

And that the various features of one or another dont matter as much in practical terms as one might assume because any decent bench can allow for much the same.

Take the bench type popularised by Frank Klausz and Tage Frid as an example.

As vital to their working philosophy and practices as the Continental shouldered bench was it must be realised that not having those same vital design features didnt stop their American contemporaries from doing the same work.

Provide details and share your research But avoid Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

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Tage Frid Workbench Plans