Serious woodworking started at least in Egyptian times: it is
amongst the oldest of crafts. By the 18th century, the workbench
was pretty well thought-out, but came to absolute perfection
after 1850. The second half of the 20th Century has seen a
gradual decline of the workbench. I place the blame for this on
well-meaning engineers who may be bright young graduates of
prestigious schools, but sadly deficient in any real
understanding of woodworking. These meddlers have tweaked
workbench design in the name of “streamlining” manufacture,”
adding “usability” to the product or simply satisfying the
latest marketing research. What is commonly called a European
workbench represents the zenith of bench design. Stout trestle
legs support the heavy top, which has a tail vise with a series
of progressively spaced rectangular holes that carry the movable
dog. An opposing row of equally spaced holes are housed in the
face of the bench to carry the fixed dog. The reason for the
progressively spaced holes in the tail vise