English Bench - Bench Stop

What kind of work holding can you expect from a British joiners bench? Well just the like the bench, its really simple stuff. This device is normally used during planning and gives the worker something strong to thrust against. The simplest form of bench stop is a long section of 2″ x 2″ fitted into a tight fitting mortice in the bench top. The stop is then raised and lowered using blows from a mallet. To improve the grip old bench stops did, on occasion, have sharpened nails or screw added to bite into the end grain of the wood. Folding wedges were also used instead of the 2″ x 2″.

The industrial revolution offered what on the face of it seems a really neat solution to save you making a wooden bench stop. The iron bench stop shown above offers a reliable and easily adjusted bench stop. But do you fancy introducing your nice bench plane to a hunk of metal? I’m not sure I do. Therefore my bench stop will be a simple wooden one.