Roman Workbenches: Being a Short Treatise on Benches from Pompeii, Herculaneum & the Holy Roman Empire Founded on Research & Historical Reconstructions with Practical Applications Concerning Construction, Workholding, Planing, Sawing, Joinery &c.

by Christopher Schwarz, Nicholas Moegly (Illustrator)

The first workbenches we know of were built by the Greco-Romans, and these benches were decidedly different than modern benches. Many are low – about knee-high – have no stretchers between the legs and use a series of pegs or nails for workholding. "Roman Workbenches" explores this early form using paintings, engravings, writings, and a surviving example from a Roman fort in Saalburg. The author built a low Roman bench for the book and spent much of 2016 decoding its workholding with some surprising findings. In addition, the author built a taller bench from the Holy Roman Empire that wedded a typical Roman workbench undercarriage with the first-known combination of a tail vise and face vise. The tail vise and face vise are unlike modern vises and offer some surprising advantages. The book tells the sometimes twisting and personal tale about researching these benches, sorting out inaccurate information, and learning to use the benches without instructions from long-dead Roman woodworkers or German writers.

The last two lines of page 28 were not printed. The missing text is "most of the stock with a chisel. Then remove the waste with a router plane like you are traversing the work (lock the board against the".

Genres: Woodwork

56 pages, Hardcover

Published February 2, 2017

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say about such an odd but useful book? Think of a thick plank of wood with short legs that you can sit on that has some holes drilled in it and some bits chopped out. The world's simplest bench with very little fancy hardware. Some of these have already popped up on YouTube, including some laminated from 2x material. And what if you don't like them? You can always use it as a very sturdy bench to sit on!

Out of print, you can find a download on the Lost Arts Press blog. This has been replaced by Ingenious Mechanicks, an expansion of this fancy letterpress edition.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little history and woodworking together. A great short read.

[Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. I’ve been able to use some of the techniques and designs.