(Never Enough Money) wrote in message . com...

Then someone told me about Japanese trestle beams. A search of
rec.woodworking didn't reveal any pictures. It did reveal that there's
a chapter in Landis' "The Workbench Book" but I'm not going to buy a
book just for 13 pages I may not even build.

I also learned that Fine Woodworking issue #54 (9/01/1985) has an
article "Body Mechanics and the Japanese Beams" by Drew Langston. I go
to the FWW home page and try to get that issue (for $3.50) but they
don't seem to archive back that far.

Popular Woodworking also had an article in issue #35 (2/1/1987).

Bob Bench Page shows one but somehow I don't think master Japanese
woodworkers use something like that....
http://www.terraclavis.com/bws/benches.htm fourth picture down.

So does anyone in this group have a picture, plans, etc.? Does anyone
have opinions about these beams/benches?

My intuition says that a bench about knee high with someway to hold
planks down would be perfect for planing and not take up a lot of
room. Perfect to complement my current imperfect bench.

Coming in late but here's another reference: the Bench Tools book
in *The Best of FWW* series has the piece by Drew Langston, though
titled "Body Mechanics and the Trestle Workbench". The article makes
reference to Japanese woodworking techniques as the souce of the bench
design. Accompanying pics show it to be above the knee, but not quite
middle of the thigh. Two trestles, with both a thick beam (to chop
against, etc.) and a thinner board (to hold tools) spanning them.
Langston pull-planes, chisels and saws at the bench, using different
postures. When chiseling, for instance, he half-sits on the bench,
clamping the work with thigh and shin. When planing, he uses a full
width stop to secure the work and stands at the end of the bench.

The book also features a piece on the 18th century joiners' bench, and
one on a more contemporary "classic" bench with shoulder and tail
vises.

I'm just beginning to move away from the tubi and plywood stage. This
book gave me much to think about. Got it on eBay for just a few
bucks.

Good luck, Never Enough; it's been fun reading about your experiment.

Dan