Official Luthiers Forum!

There is nothing in the way of vises half so elegant as a wooden shoulder vise, but there are easier ways to hold guitar-sized work that don't require hand-cutting perfect through and half-blind dovetails in 16/4 stock. Heck, the Brits don't even bother with a tail or end vise...hang a metal vise on the face and you've got yourself a traditional British bench.

I don't think Beth is considering building her bench with mahoganies or rosewoods, so the hardwoods she might likely use will be cheap and commonly available...maple, birch, etc. I've seen some folks dress up a plain bench with some curly material or a stick of something pretty for a front skirt, but - given that the user will be looking at that bench for the next few decades - a little indulgence in some bling is excusable. I used some curly birch for the stretchers on my last bench, as well as some curly maple on the rear apron and on the tail vise cap.

FWIW, poplar and soft maple are cheaper locally than reasonably clear pine, so it makes sense to see what the pricing before committing to materials. If I could get good quality fir here in the mid-Atlantic states, I'd def consider that - tough stuff and fairly hard.

Whatever face vise is fitted, it should handle common luthiery and cabinetmaking tasks...I used to do a lot more hand dovetailing and tenoning, so the L-shaped shoulder vise made sense. For guitar builders, I think nearly any face vise will work, provided it will comfortably take a neck blank.

I made this workbench out of discarded beech floorboard... Got the wood years ago from a neighbor that was remodeling and among the rubble pile was these really nice looking beech tongue and groove beech floors. I guess they figured a plastic laminate was more maintenance free. The wood sat around for some time before it was actually given to me, and I cut it up, and then really gave the Wagner Safe T Planer a workout getting the original finish off and gluing them into sizable beams. The process took like 2 months.

Then I pieced together the legs and runner from some 4/4 maple I found cheaply, and the workbench was born.