The Bench is a paid library and small community for furniture makers and hand-tool woodworkers. This is the welcome post — what we are, what we’re not, and what to expect.
We’re Sam and Ruth. We’ve been building furniture professionally and teaching since 2014 — first out of a shared shop in a converted boathouse, now from our own workshop near Pioneer Square. The library here is the work we wished existed when we were starting out: not the Instagram videos, not the influencer-sponsored YouTube playlists, but the patient written work that explains why one approach to a joint is sounder than another and how to tell when you’ve done it right.
What you’ll find here
- Lessons. Hand-tool fundamentals, joint-cutting tutorials, sharpening, setup. Long-form, photographed, with the failure modes called out
- Essays. The why behind the how. Why hand tools at all, why we still draw, what a Shaker design teaches you about restraint
- Projects. Full plans for furniture pieces — measured drawings, materials list, step sequence, finishing notes. About one new project per month
- Office hours. Monthly live calls for members where we work through questions from the queue. Founders get the live link; members get the recording
What we’re not
Not a YouTube channel. Not a Patreon. Not a video course you binge on a Sunday and then forget. We write because the writing forces clarity in a way video doesn’t. The library is read-it-once-then-keep-it material.
We also’re not a beginner’s resource. The work assumes you can identify a No. 4 plane, that you know what a marking gauge is, and that the difference between rip and crosscut sharpening doesn’t make you freeze. If you’re earlier than that — honestly — Christopher Schwarz’s books and Paul Sellers’ free YouTube are the right starting points. Come back when you have a workbench and a few sharpened chisels.