THE HASHTAG WORKBENCH
The Hashtag Workbench is a culmination of months of thinking, planning, pondering and research, to create a workbench that was not only a functional workshop tool, but also a reimagining of what a workbench could look like aesthetically.
It is largely based on a Holtzappfel workbench, tweaked and customised to suit my own needs and requirements.
WOOD CHOICE
I wanted the bench to have weight, heft, longevity. But I also wanted to introduce contrast and a level of exclusivity.
I settled upon Ash and Sapele for their durability, workability and their weight and accented with 4500 year old bog oak.
SIZE
I wanted this bench to be an heirloom quality piece, something that will be left to my children, and then to their children.
I therefore knew that once I had finished it, there would be no altering its size in the future.
So i opted to make it as big as I could with the materials I had available.
The workbench top is 2m x 0.9m and stands about 0.95m tall.
JOINERY
Following on from the decision to have this bench outlive my children, I wanted to ensure that the joinery would survive long after any glue may have decided to fail.
For this reason I decided to use drawborn mortice and tenon joinery to mechanically pin every joint in place in conjunction with using hide glue.
VICES
When it came to vice selection, this face rise and tail vice from HNT Gordon in Australia were a no brainer.
Their clean aesthetic as well as easy installation and smooth operation make working on this bench an absolute dream.
SLIDING DEADMAN
The sliding deadman is not a pre-requisite for a Holtzappfel bench and they can by all means be added at a later date.
But this is not a pedigree Holtzappfel, it is a hybrid, and by planning to include one from the start it meant I could seamlessly work on the underneath of the workbench and create an environment where the deadman is removable whilst appearing to be a permanent fixture.
DOWEL PLATE
This came about entirely by accident.
I had an issue when thicknessing these final sections of the workbench before final glue up when i lost my footing and pivoted the piece into the helical blades of the planer, taking a large cylindrical chunk out of the end of the piece.
it couldn't be turned upside down so I was left with two options, cut the workbench down by an inch, or get creative.
This was my solution and it has proved to be one I can't believe I didn't think of in the first place!!
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Completely customisable to suit your own woodworking needs