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.