First of all, start scrounging scrap wood. Your work bench doesn't have to be pretty but it does have to be heavy. This one is heavy enough to not walk across the floor when I am stripping bark and sap wood off with my draw knife. I bolted my previous bench to the wall because it was much lighter. I bought a couple of drawer units from Lowe's to put in this bench because I am lousy cabinet maker. The post on the end of the bench is a necessity to keep your staves from getting loose in your vise. It gives you a solid support to work against.
The bow blank in the picture is getting a string alignment heat bend using the vise and the post.
A big American made vise is worth what you pay for it. I broke two or three Chinese vises before I dropped the cash for an American made one. I have since seen some great bargains on good old American made vises at the local flea markets. The other day I saw a huge old Wilton that sells new for around $400 on sale for $40 at the flea market.
Here is my first work bench, scrap wood for the most part except for the 2X12 boards on top.
I had it set up in a 5X7 space at the back of my garage by the water heater, like I said, I had to bolt this one to the wall to keep it from walking away when I was doing some heavy draw knifing.
