Beech Wood Workbenches

For its price this is an good buy. Particularly like the hole layout on the top.

I can second most points Mr. Abraham makes above. Here is where I differ:1. I give it slightly higher marks (four stars). This product is a perfect fit for my needs, as a weekend project platform. There are fancier and more massive benches, and they cost 2x and up. 2. No issues at all with vise components, I am very pleased with them so far. A reference edge is ideally used during assembly to ensure vise ends are flush with the top. I guess anyone wanting this type of bench would already know that. 3. No problems with fit.4. The insets for the stretcher nuts are definitely a problem. It's the critical joint in the assembly; it needs to be tight, and periodically re-tightened. My recommendation is to replace the bolts with suitable hex bolts and install them in reverse - a hex wrench should have no problems in these insets. Yeah I know its ugly with the nuts in plain view. But if you get bolts long enough you have extra pegs to hang stuff on.5. I don't mind some wiggle room in the dog holes. Here in Florida the wood will swell up for 9 months out of the year, and the extra room is welcome. 6. the packaging was good, but the bench is HEAVY and one corner was a bit dinged in shipment. I just took a rasp to it and smoothed it over - not an issue for me. 7. The trestle design of the legs is a big plus. The footers provide adequate space to install casters. I hope this can help set your expectations - keep in mind that overall I think this bench is a good value and I recommend it.

I purchased the 72" bench at a local store with a 20% off coupon so, I am very happy with the price and the quality of the bench. Following the reviews of the previous gentlemen, I found the following:1. Directions are pretty bad. Lay everything out on the floor and study the pictures on line. Then it makes sense. I lucked out with the dog holes on the legs. I never even thought about it. You will need 10mm and a 3/4" wrenches, a screw driver and 320 grit sandpaper. Assembly time for me was about 2 1/2 hours.2. The finish is okay. Lightly sand all of the parts prior to assembly. You will love yourself for it.3. The glue was the consistency of peanut butter so I didn't use it although I thought it was nice of Rockler to include it.4. The vises, dogs and plywood shelf fit perfectly for me. No missing parts.5. I did have a problem with spinning bolts but I solved it with the screw driver mentioned above.6. One of the nice features of this bench is that you can install the plywood as a shelf or a tray. You could also install it at the bottom to leave room for cabinets or drawers. That said,I recommend not gluing the joints with the bolts until you decide how to configure the shelf/tray. This is a well thought out, high quality bench at a very good price. I recommend it.

I wanted a bench for my small shop (20'X25') and I got the 60 inch model. For the price, it's more than I expected.Following Mr. Abraham's comments of Jan 13th::1. The instructions one page, no text are OK if you first study the picture of the assembled bench on the carton. Not obvious is to assemble the H shaped leg supports first, everything follows after that. Be sure to assemble the legs such that the dog holes are on the side which you'll use most.2. Finish OK3. The white glue I think is supposed to make the kit complete. I used Titebond.4. I had no problem with the vises.5. I had no problem with the plywood shelf sheet.6. Thanks to Mr. Abraham, I was forewarned about access to the nuts for the stretcher bolts. There is no room for a wrench, but I managed by jamming a screwdriver between the nut and the side of the access hole. It still spun a little, but it's not coming apart anytime soon.7. The dogs fit in the holes in my bench perfectly.Everything fit perfectly, pre-drilled holes lined up just right and there were no parts lacking or left over. The assembly took me about 2 hours. I'm very pleased with it.

I will say at the start, this is a good solid bench and a good value for the price, but you must be prepared to deal with several problems in the assembly.1. The instructions are just one page on one side and no text.2. The finish, sprayed with something, possibly a lacquer type sealer, finish is rough, sand lightly with 400 grit.3. The glue supplied appears to be Elmer's white, replace with a decent glue.4. Check the vises, one of mine had a lead screw that was poorly machined,"drug" badly on each rotation and had to be replaced. 5. Check the length of the plywood sheet for the bottom of the tray, mine was about 1/8" too long, which prevented the leg assemblies from being pulled into contact with the stretchers. I then had to dis-assemble in order to trim the plywood sheet.6. The insets to allow access to the nuts on the stretcher bolts are not large enough to access the nut with any wrench known to man. The folks @ Rockler said a wrench was not necessary that the nuts would "dig in" to the wood and secure themselves. Good theory, but it does not work well in practice. Once the torque level rises, they start to spin. I got them tight enough for the present, but if I had it to do over again, I would use a forstner bit to drill a hole through to the outside large enough to access the nut with a wrench. I will probably grind douwn a cheap wrench to hold the nut for now.7. The dog holes in the bench are not actually 3/4", they seem to be 20mm,about 1mm larger than 3/4" which makes for a rather sloppy fit for a 3/4" round device. May prove to be a bit problematic with later purchases of dog devices.However,in spite of all the foregoing, I do consider it a good product for the price, and money well spent.