Rutlands bench sale - 48 hrs only

[rafezetter]

Hi all

Saw this offer and thought it a great oppo for anyone considering a bench - £199 seems to be an excellent price.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/pp+woodworking-hand-tools-work-benches+b21000?promo=DK2700

 

[cusimar9]

That is nice. Those vices alone must come in at £70+, that's almost cost price to make

My bench cost around £30 though

 

[John15]

The legs look a bit on the thin side for the bench to be stable.

John

 

[cusimar9]

And the legs don't line up with the front face of the vice... useful when clamping large boards or sheets

 

[Fat ferret]

Would probably be ok if it had some diagonal bracing, or ply screwed to the back. Looks a bit flimsy as it is.

 

[matt_southward]

I really wouldn't recommend it as I have one and it's rubbish. I bought it about a year ago and it was ok when kept indoors, but when I moved house and put it in a garage I discovered that the design doesn't allow for wood movement. Basically the end caps long grain are dowelled into the top and aprons end grain and the aprons are bolted to the trestle so the top moves width wise but can't and the whole top and aprons buckle. Mine's now got a rippled surface!

Might be ok if you keep it in a low humidity environment, but I'd avoid it - I paid £230 in a similar Rutlands 'sale' and now have to make my own bench!

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I would have to disagree with Matt (sorry) - I bought one about six months ago and use it in a small (dry) workshop. I am a relative beginner and would agree it is fairly light weight but not a problem for fairly small items and could be reinforced if it was felt worthwhile.

There are a lot of better benches out there if you have deep pockets but for the money (I recall I got it for about £180 with an extra 10% off) it is excellent. Certainly an improvement over an MDF top balanced on storage cabinets. In particular having two reasonable vices and the ability to clamp work using the dogs is a revelation compared to a small £20 steel woodworking vice.

I was planning to build my own from beech kitchen worktop but when I saw the offer I realised I could not even buy the material at that price. Axminster equivalent (I think) is over £400 although this may come finished.

Terry

 

[matt_southward]

No worries! As I said, if kept fairly dry it should be ok - and if you need something cheap and fast it's not a bad option. But my logic was much like yours and I was ultimately disappointed. Still, I am looking forward to my bench build!