We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
Probably the silliest thing about woodworking journalism is the “in a weekend” project that we promise readers on the cover of the magazine: “Build a John Goddard Highboy With Four Sticks and Pocket Knife , In a Weekend!”
(And trust me, it’s the exclamation point at the end of that sentence that makes you buy the magazine and puts food on my table.)
Anyway, loyal reader and blogger Eric Seidlitz sent me the above photo of his Roubo-style workbench that he built over a holiday weekend. Eric, who works in Malaysia, said he’s been frustrated with his bench-building efforts lately and has been having trouble finding good material and getting his tools to work. So he absconded with his children’s Christmas present and built the above bench.
I think it’s lacking in the mass department, but otherwise he did a fine job.
What would really improve this photo would be the addition of some Lego Frenchmen with frilly cuffs and collars at work at the bench. I checked the Lego web site, and though you can get Lego dudes dressed up like knights, astronauts and Indiana Jones, Lego doesn’t appear to have any 18th-century French Joiners in its product line.
I think the Lego Pirates would be a good substitute. However, their eye patches aren’t going to help with their sawing.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
Chris –
This post, with the links, turned out to be a hilarious read. A laugh well deserved and necessary after math homework with my 5th grader…
And, I’m glad I came back to this, because the humor eluded me the first time – the links didn’t work, and although I was intrigued at the thought of the Lego pirate-for-joiner substitutes, it was the visuals that struck my funny bone. That second click…you in the eye-patch made for the perfect topper.
In 1932 Ole Kirk Christiansen began manufacturing ironing boards, stepladders, and wooden toys in the town of Billund, Denmark. Two years later, when his company had grown to have half a dozen employees, he gave it the name Lego.
Just another woodworker gone wrong!
Mike
Eric missed the sliding deadman, he can’t possibly hold a cabinet door in twelve different positions withour a sliding deadman. lol. Wilfred
The sad thing is that you HAVE to promise a project that can be "built in a weekend" to sell magazines. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I take that as a sad commentary on our modern need for instant gratification.
But, of course, that need sells a vast array of commercial jigs and fixtures that promise instant results, if not instant skills.
There are a few magazines and well-known woodworkers that go against that grain. While I don’t personally like his methods (he likes that nail gun WAY too much), Norm Abrams will be testing whether he can hold woodworker’s attention for more than 15 minutes this new season – 9 of the 13 episodes will be devoted to one project (the construction of a kitchen). It’ll be interesting to see how it’s received.
David
Raleigh NC
In all honesty, I have used legos to make router templates. Can you think of another toy that has been around for 30+ years that is still popular and compatible with components sold today? My son loves to build with my old sets. Maybe a lego-jig article is in order…
Ha!
Good point. He’s going to need some dog holes for his little plastic hold-fasts, as well.
Chris
He certainly has an abundance of bench dogs installed in his Lego benchtop.
And I always thought it was the hyphen that made us buy the magazine; that implied pause that seems to whisper in the reader’s ear, "buy me!" Now we know the truth.:)