Beech Wood Workbenches

• Real undermounted vise assembly — not just a threaded insert.
• Twin support bars to help eliminate racking
• Solid steel bars (not hollow) for added strength and stability
• Both vises include beech jaws and a hardwood handle

A Better Bench.

• Solid beech top and supporting trestle
• Dowel pin construction
• Wider feet for added stability
• Two rows of round dog holes spaced 5'' apart
• Dog holes on legs to support long workpieces while in vise
• Four steel-cored round bench dogs
• Storage shelf with plywood base

Measurements:

• Top thickness: 1-3/16''
• Apron depth: 3-1/2''
• Height: 33-1/2''

Length and Weight:

• Small (34814): 52-3/4'' long, 104 lbs.
• Medium (37545): 60-5/8'' long, 112 lbs.
• Large (31719): 72-1/2'' long, 124 lbs.

Out of the box there was a minor abrasion on the edge of one end of the top. Some very slight sanding, and it blended in well. After laying out all the parts, I had no trouble in putting the bench together. There were a few problems with attaching the vise and vise blocks. The holes did not line up correctly on mounting the vise to the underside of the table. I did as suggested, and that was to glue some dowels into the holes, let it dry, and then cut off the ends of the dowels, and sand them flush with the underside. Then I could drill new holes. I didn’t know the quality of the Lag Screws that came with the kit, so I went to Tractor Supply to buy some new ones. The Lag Screws that came with the kit were 1 ¼ ” long, and the closest that I could find was 1 ½”.... a 1" Lag Screw would have been too short. To remedy the extra length, I added 3 washers to each Lag Screw. The thread size was ¼”. The pilot hole for a ¼” Lag in hardwood is 7/32”, so I carefully drilled the holes after marking them. I put a piece of tape around the drill bit at 7/8” of the bit, so that I wouldn’t go through the top. Lag screws cannot push through un-drilled hardwood, so I wanted to make sure that the pilot hole was long enough. The process worked well, I was careful not to over tighten the screws, which would have resulted in them stripping out. Some reviewers stated that they stripped out some of the Lag Screws, or sheared the head off accidentally. As far as mounting the wood blocks to the vises, I wanted the top of the block to be flat with the top of the workbench top, but the pre-drilled holes in the wood vise block did not line up to do that, so I positioned the block so that the pre-drilled holes were on the inside, then I could drill new holes in the block that would be flat with the top. That worked well. The pre-drilled holes on the inside of the vise aren’t obvious, so I was OK with that. I finished the top with 3 coats of Arm-R-Seal Oil & Urethane Topcoat that was recommended by an associate at the Rockler store, and it came out very well. I am very pleased with the bench, and it will give me many years of good use.

I browsed several models from different manufacturers from el cheapo to expensive and decided finally to settle for a full size Rockler workbench. I read all the reviews, including the comments about the very basic instructions and the need for using a screwdriver to block the nut, all true....but not important. If you buy a woodworking bench, I would assume that you have some woodworking experience. Granted, the manual is not too helpful, but it took me about 10 minutes to lay out all the parts and figure out what goes where, pretty simple, and the screwdriver trick works like a charm. It took me about 1.5 hours to assemble the bench and I am very happy with the final result. Great product for the price, well built and finished. A few little nicks from the transport, but nothing worth getting a headache. I called the customer support before I ordered to clarify a few things and they were very helpful. Real people, no automated service line with 10 menu options. The only thing I'm missing on the bench, is a tool rest in the back of the bench, which you get when you spend more $$$, but since I have a great bench now, I probably add it myself. Very satisfied, great product for the price and they shipped really fast.

After reading all of the reviews, I decided to buy the medium sized table. The workbench was packaged extremely well. There was absolutely no damage to any of the workbench. Several people complained about it not going together very well. I had no trouble at all. Everything lined up perfectly. The only thing that I had to do was sand the top down with 220 grit sandpaper. I then applied several layers of Danish oil. The next day the table is beautiful. Good job Rockler for listening to peoples complaints and fixing them. I just wish the instructions were a little bit more clear and that Rockler offered a cabinet that would fit on the lower shelf .

I appreciated being able to read reviews of other customer's experiences and decided to return the favor. Bought this yesterday and assembled it last night. I didn't have the sorts of problems that other people described. The construction and assembly are pretty obvious. You'll need four or eight bar clamps long enough to pull the trestle leg assemblies together. It's true that the pilot holes for the vise hardware don't line up exactly. It was simple enough to put bolts in the two closest to the frame of the top and quickly bore the other two a little bit closer to center. Was careful not to overtighten so I didn't snap any bolt heads off. The one thing I would change is to include washers and slightly longer bolts for the attachement of the top to the base. The head tended to sink into a counter-bored hole and would not pull the two elements together because it lost purchase with the socket. Corrected that with washers. Everything pulled together very square - no need to adjust the frames. The bench dogs appear to be slightly larger than the holes - they are not. I miked both and just used some paste wax inside the holes. The fit is absolutely perfect. I decided to buy this when I came up with nothing decent on Craigslist. It also weighs more than the Swedish bench offered by competitor so I figured that between the reviews and the price this was a better way to go.

It took me two days to assemble this bench. From a distance the bench looks great, but walk up to it and you'll see it was made of over 100 pieces of wood. If you're a craftsman, then you'll know this is bad workmanship. If I could unglue it and ship it back I would.

Might as well thrown in my two cents. I decided to break down and buy the large bench. Here's my experience... The base went together with no problem. I sanded it smooth as others did and will give it a nice oil coat as well this spring. I had no problems with the lag bolts for the stretchers. I did thread the nuts through the bolt prior to installing and I think that helped. When I started to install the vice hardware I noticed that the pre drilled holes did not line up with the mounting holes in the vice. So off  to get a dowel to fill the pre drilled holes. I glued them in, had lunch, then cut and sanded them flush with the bottom of the table. Next I drilled new holes, used clamps to hold the hardware in place and used the lag bolts supplied to secure the hardware in place. The screws used to attach the base to the table did not not work well. I shaved off some slivers of wood, stuck them in the pre drilled hole, and then tightened the supplied screws down. The slivers gave the screws more bite. Now the strange part. The supplied bench dogs have a shaft with a diameter .785 inches. The holes drilled in the table are .755 inches. See the problem? Now the holes in the wood vice are .790 which is perfect. Now how did they do that?  Other than that I'm very pleased with it though I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. It is very stable and solid bench and compared to the alternatives out there I think the best value in its class. The wood is a little on the soft side for my taste but not unexpected given the material and price.

I had no problems with this bench and put it together today in an hour. The instructions are pretty spartan, but it's a fairly simple project, instructions link located on left side of this page under Tech Documents. The guide pins are 6" apart, the vises are 14" wide, and max jaw opening is just over 5" before you run out of guide pin. Also, though neither pictures nor instructions show it, there are additional holes on the trestle so that you could mount the shelf close to the floor if you wanted. There are a couple cons. You do need to sand it as the surface coating is rough. The only problem here really was that I wanted to do this on the vise jaw areas befor I mounted them. Also, though my vise mounting holes lined up fine, it's easy to over-tighten the mounting bolts and strip them out which I did to one, I think... In all, five stars for a bench of this price-point. It may not be 1-3/4" thick, but it's sturdy, and it doesn't cost $1500, either.

Package appeared relative intact from the outside, but when unpacked there were several significant dents and dings every corner mashed, big gouge in table top. Fasteners missing! had to use my own. Instructions totally useless pictures don't match parts. Table top is as rough as rough-cut lumber! will take some significant sanding and finishing just to make it usable. Frame warped! will have to shim one corner just to keep it from rocking back and forth. I have always had good experiences with Rockler products, but I very much regret this very expensive purchase.

Editor's note:  Our cusomer service team at 800-376-7856 will be able to assist with this Tom.

The bench arrived with a few minor abrasions to the packing box. Once unpacked I found a few minor dents here and there, but hey it's a workbench!! Not a big deal. The finish on all the parts was a bit rough. I took the time to sand it all down using 180 then 320 grit. I then gave everything a few coats of clear semi-gloss polyurethane with a light sanding with 320 grit between coats. The result was a very smooth finish that looks great. Assembly took a couple of hours. I had the same happenings and complaints as others {i.e. large bolts that are a bear to tighten, lag screws holding the legs to the top that are recessed, a little trouble getting the vices to line up correctly}. None of it was insurmountable. The workbench is sturdy though a bit low. I'll probably add another foot to raise it up about 3". Also going to add retractable casters so I can move it around easily. Bottomline - good product for the price.

Been waiting a long time to set up a shop for retirement. Did a lot of web surfing and decided that the long bench would be just the ticket. All the pieces were there, although I found the instructions to be pretty useless. I had a lot of problems getting all the dowels to fit on the ends and legs. I used carpenter's glue, and after I hammered the dowels into one piece, a couple were too long and had to be cut off. Then, I hammered the bejesus out of the second piece to assemble it, but it just wouldn't go completely together. Either the holes are just a few thousandths too small, or the dowels are a few thousandths too large, for MOST pieces, but not all, suggesting that maybe the holes are just a hair too small. It is real humid here, and also possible that the dowels {which had fallen out of the plastic bag during shipment} swelled up in the high humidity. I had to pull the pieces apart and use a file on the sides of the dowels before I could hammer the pieces together. I didn't have furniture clamps long enough to try. The screwdriver trick had to be used. These are only minor problems compared to a lot of other kits I have made, but it is a lot nicer when something goes together the first time without any Rube Goldberg tricks to make it work.

Good bench for the money but poor instructions and some minor flaws as previously stated. Am I the only one here who used the long wood screws instead of the lag screws to mount the bench top to the base? The pre-drilled holes were too small for the lag screws, but the wood screws fit perfectly. Also the countersunk area fit the head of the wood screws better than the lag screws. Finally, the wood screws seemed the appropriate length whereas the lag screws were too short. The wood screws just seemed to work better to mount the base to the top. I used the lag screws to mount the vice face to the vice, and that seemed to fit well, too. As with others, the pre-drilled holes to mount the vice to the underside of the bench top were not aligned requiring me to plug them with a dowel and re-drill the holes. Those issues aside, it seems a sturdy bench and a good value. I only hope my bench top does not fall off from using the wood screws to mount it.

Just purchased this and started assembling the medium bench. Most of the assembly is straighforward. The holes in the vise plate that attach to the bottom of the work surface didn't match the pre drilled holes. I called customer service and they suggested  to plug the holes and drill new ones. I didn't need to call customer service to figure that one out! In hindsight, I should have a spent a little more a bought one from a Swedish competitor.