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Sjöbergs' Traditional Workbenches and Portable Smart Vise

By Rain Noe - March 31, 2014

in Furniture Design

With workbenches like Ron Paulk's and Guido Einemann's around, is there any demand for an old-school workbench? Apparently so: Swedish company Sjöbergs does a brisk business in producing the traditional variety, with only slightly-modernized updates, like steel-cored, rubber-wrapped bench dogs (with half-round tops to accommodate angled workpieces), cork jaw protectors for the vise's clamping surface, and precision steel hardware for the vise's guts, ensuring they close perfectly parallel.

Though dated (if the soundtrack doesn't tip you off), the following company video gives you a pretty good look at the bench:

By the bye, that "more than 75 years" of experience line is presently inaccurate; at this point Sjöbergs has been building the things for 90 years.

The company sells to both the professional and hobbyist market, and interestingly enough, they've even got an entry-level product that presumably sucks in the weekend warriors. Their Smart Vise is a simple, portable vise that can be clamped to any horizontal surface, and is slim enough to tuck away in a closet afterwards.

As for catching 'em young, Sjöbergs also makes a scaled-down child-sized model. Remember: It's not child labor if your kids enjoy the work! So maybe you make a couple of bucks because they spent a few hours refinishing the neighbor's window frames, is that so bad?

Spotted at Holz-Handwerk.

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Michael Matrone

3 years ago

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God bless you Rain, I too left the big apple behind and corporate life for a farm in Kentucky with my wife and two Golden Retrievers, I in the process of building my workshop in a 50x80 steel barn, thank you for your insight on these magnificent workbenches.

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Ken J

10 years ago

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There's a certain irony of designer workbenches...
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stephan wintner

10 years ago

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If you think this and the Paulk benches are interesting, you also need to check out Chris Schwartz, Roubo, and Plate11.com. Also Nicholson benches and Theenglishwoodworker.com

Think minimalism and function - Roubos very simple benches have it is spades, and use very simple workholding.

Different benches have different uses, I would never chop a mortise on Paulks bench. And I would never attempt to assemble a large cabinet on a Roubo.

Also check out Langs shop boxes for another concept. http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/the_shop_box_system

Have fun
Stephan
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