A Roubo is born (yes another bench thread)

[Michael Sobik]

Seriously, what's with all the benches lately? I blame The Schwartz. I debated whether or not to post these pics, since the bench isn't quite done yet, but what the hey.





Drawbored baby! I made all the pegs with a dowel sizing plate I had waterjet cut. FYI white oak is really tough just in case you didn't know. I bashed those things with a huge hammer and couln't believe how much abuse they took.




Canyon for wagon vice. I'll post more pictures/info once I have it installed.



Dovetails size XXXL



End cap has a giant mortice and tenon and is bolted through to the top. Also pinned through slotted holes in the tenon just for kicks.

Based on the bench in Schwartz's workbench book, but mostly a copy of Jameel Abraham's Deluxe Roubo that can be seen here:

http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com...uxe+Roubo.aspx

It will incorporate a copy of Jameel's wagon vice with some changes I had to make (because I'm a little OCD and want things the way I want them )

I have two wedged through tenons left to cut, then I'll finally have some vice action (the legal kind).

It's SYP from Lowe's with an Ash endcap and vice chops. This has been a really fun project. I've never worked on anything quite this scale, and it's been a real learning experience. Cleaning up a 3/8" wide mortice is pretty easy, cleaning up a 2 1/2" wide mortice...not so much. Making a bench like this is a lot of work. Not work in the "normal" sence of woodworking, lot's of joints to cut, planning, finishing, etc, but rather lots of manual labor. I lost count of how many times I flipped that top over and dragged the thing around. I'm actually tired after working on this thing!

I flattened the top (and bottom) with a #5 and #7. I got to know my planes during that process. Intimately. Plus I gave my neighbor something like 5 trash bags of shavings for his garden. Also, plane shavings make great BBQ firestarters. Note to self: pay more attention on lamination glue ups. The top had something like a 1/4" cup on one end and was all wonkey on the other. I started crying when I realized how much work it was going to be to flatten it.

The worst part of building this bench has been that it's so good even half completed, it puts my other "workbenches" to shame and quickly accretes most of the tools in my shop. Every time I need to work on it I have to clear a bunch of junk off it. Not really such a bad problem I guess.

[Michael Sobik]

Some more pictures.



Sliding leg vice minus front chop. Is it really a leg vice if it's not in that position? Whatever, it's a sliding vice.



Ash parallel guides. Through motices of this size are somewhat difficult for me.





The tenon on the back chop is removable and fits into a groove in the top that's been reinforced with 1 1/4" angle iron.

[Justin Green]

That's a nice looking bench!

[george wilson]

I really like to make workbenches !!! But,in my condition,I'd need help. My bench is beechwood 4" thick,about 26" wide by 8' long. At a country lumber mill,I saw a huge slab of beech at least 5"+ thick,abt. 10' long,and abt. 30" wide laying there. I bought it for a few dollars. Sure enough,it had a piece of barbed wire near 1 edge. I drilled it out,and plugged it tight with a boat shaped plug. Let it dry for several years in the shop.Finally,made a bench top from it. The legs are 4"X6".

New benches are really too nice to work on,aren't they? Yours is very nice. Recommend only using NERF tols on it!!!

[Billy Chambless]

Very nice!

[Zahid Naqvi]

very nice, hopefully mine comes out half as nice as this (if it ever gets started)

[Chuck Nickerson]

Great bench! You folks who can get SYP that looks like that at a BORG are very lucky. Here on the left coast, there is no SYP, only DF; and it's only that clear for 6" - 12" at a stretch. 8/4 hardwood starts at $4.50/bf.

[Jameel Abraham]

Nice bench, nice pics. Cool!

[Jim Becker]

That's really coming along wonderfully. Great project!

[Steve Pirrelli]

Nice Bench! When I build my 1st real bench it's gonna be a
roubo.

[Thomas Kila]

Michael,
I'm sure I am not the only person who enjoys these types of threads. And since "a picture is worth a thousand words", your photos are worth their weight in gold. (Especially for those looking to build something similar.) Mahalo!

[Dewey Torres]

Nice craftsmanship and no one will ever ask you if the dove tails where done with a router jig!

[Berl Mendenhall]

Where did the term wagon vice come from? I wish I'd used one on my big bench I built many years ago. I really like how they work, they're so stable. I always thought my tail vice worked fine until I saw one of these.

Berl

[Bob Easton]

Dang! That's a great looking bench! Fine work.

Truth be told, I'm drooling over the quality of your SYP. Compared to the DF I used for my bench, it's gorgeous.

[Michael Sobik]

Finally finished up the front vices on the bench last night. These things are crazy powerful. I can actually bend the 5/4 x 8" Ash tenon on the sliding vice's rear chop...and that's without a vice handle. I'm going to need to be careful.

Used wedged tenons on for the parallel guides for the first time. Pretty neat joint. I like bashing the wedges in. Gives me a real feeling of...well bashing

I discovered my first miscalulation on this project. I forgot to take into account the parallel guide on the sliding vice when removing/installing it. It won't tilt forward and out because the guide hits the front stretcher and you can't tilt it back because the front chop extends down past the front stretcher. I have to wind the front chop all the way out, then take the vice out. Not a huge deal since it's going to stay in 90% of the time, but I still smacked myself when I realized it.

Pictures...