Craft6 min read
A bench that holds still
Every good workday starts with a surface that does not wobble. Notes on setting up a bench you will actually use.
The first thing I fixed in the workshop was not a tool. It was the bench. A surface that shifts under a hand plane turns every cut into a negotiation, and you spend the afternoon correcting instead of making.
Height matters more than price. Stand straight, let your arms hang, and set the top just below your wrists. Anything higher and your shoulders do the work your body weight should be doing.
Then leave it clear. A bench covered in yesterday is a bench you will avoid tomorrow.
