The Dusty Life crew (Brian McCauley, Kyle Toth, and Myself) is hosting a Workbench building event in the late weeks of August and into September. The event is conveniently called the Bench Build-Off. There is a sizable list of sponsors who are pledging prizes to be given at random to several lucky builders. You can find that list here.
Brian and I will be participating and I plan on building a 19th century Nicholson Bench. I have drawn up a model and put together a 24 page PDF set of plans for my bench which are available here. This bench is 8′ long 27″ wide and 31″ tall. It features a fixed crochet on the right side, a sliding crochet on the left, and a shelf for storing your planes during a project.
Also, I have designed a smaller version for kids if you have any apprentices running around the shop. Plans for that are found here. Once the kids outgrow the bench it can be used as a place to sit.
Keep an eye out for the announcement and if you are interested in making a dedicated workbench, start planning now.