First, Welcome Paul!
> 

> It all started inocently enough. My wife and I decided to make a small
> table for the kitchen to use for slicing and dicing, and to pile stuff on
> and under. We started out with a cordless (p*w*r) drill, a cheap tenon saw
> (modern Stanley) a pretty good cross-cut saw (D-23), a block plane, and a
> small pile of red oak. Work began in the kitchen, using a bench hook on the
> formica couter tops and sawing boards to length. Using handtools was a
> natural, both because I'm just that kind of a low-tech guy, and because we
> lived above the apartment manager and hand tools are quieter. The design
> for the table was to mortice 1x4 rails and 1x2 strechers into 3x3 legs.
> Some slatted shelves and a maple counter top completed the design. Well,
> things went along in fit and starts until I was trying to clean up the
> inside of a mortice (in the living room now) when the chisel I was using
> (sharp but not SS) homed in on the index finger of my left hand. Three
> stiches (and a scar to remind me about safety) later I was back at it, but
> now working on my brand new workmut. To this day I wish I had a proper
> workbench, but I'll tell you that there is a big difference between woring
> on the floor (carpeted) and on a workmut. 

I used and abused my workmutt much (It's still in one piece though B^)),
but
when it came time to work on making my "real" bench the mutt wasn't up
to
being pounded on. I'd read many articles on japanese techniques with
minimalistic
benchs and holding techniques, so, though I ain't as limber as I once
was, I did much of the work on my basement floor using legs and feet as
braces/holddowns. It really worked pretty well. I used the mutt for
holding
boards while cutting tenons (I don't have any pull saws and think that
they'd probably be better for doing this cutting if the work was less 
supported/restrained). A mutt _is_ a handy critter, but nothing beats
a big, solid bench. B^)

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