Show us your Bench

[Tony Shea]

Randy, that bench has truely come out to be beautiful. Especially given that the lumber was intially intended to go up in flames until you reclaimed it. Those are some of my favorite projects, reusing someone elses supposed trash wood and turning it into something beautiful and functional. I've followed your thread on your bench a bit and really enjoyed watching you go through the process. Nice work Randy and thanks for helping save some of that wonderful doug fir. BTW, that thing looks massive.

[Randy Bonella]

Randy, that bench has truely come out to be beautiful. Especially given that the lumber was intially intended to go up in flames until you reclaimed it. Those are some of my favorite projects, reusing someone elses supposed trash wood and turning it into something beautiful and functional. I've followed your thread on your bench a bit and really enjoyed watching you go through the process. Nice work Randy and thanks for helping save some of that wonderful doug fir. BTW, that thing looks massive.

Hi Tony,
Thanks for the kind words. I was truly amazed at how well that old beat up wood was transformed, checks and all. It took me two big piles to get enough decent wood to make the bench. It was difficult to appreciate what the bench looks like when it is in pieces laying all around the shop. It was very exciting to get it turned over and standing on all 4. Even though Doug Fir is relatively soft it is a real pain to work as it wants to splinter and tear out easily. No doubt that it will serve me my lifetime and hopefully someone else's after that.

Massive is an understatement. I let the wood dictate some of the dimensions most of which are a bit oversized: 5.75" sq on the legs and 4.5" thick top. Stretchers are also a bit oversized to match up better with the dimensions of the legs and top. Top is 24" deep and ~88" long counting the end cap. we almost dropped it when we were getting it off of the saw horses. it started slipping as we rotated it but thank goodness we didn't mess up our backs and the bench landed with a small thud. The saw horses on the other hand have a definite bow to them. I'm estimating that it is over 300 lbs. I certainly won't be chasing my work around the shop any more. Moving the bench a little bit is a chore. Still a lot to get done but now I have a bench to work on to get those items finished up.

Randy...

[george wilson]

Legs look too weak!

[Roger Benton]

randy that's reeeally nice looking!
i followed your posts during construction, glad to see it's up and running.

[David Myers]

Here she is. I left a more detailed description in another thread.

The wood is ash, the height is about 33" and the length is 8'.

Benchcrafted vises are the cherry on top.

[James Carmichael]

Don, that's not a bench.
That's fine furniture!

Yeah, I think he takes top honers for prettiest, heaviest, and toughest top.

[Chris True]

Currently under construction. The top is basically done, 97" long, 23.5 wide and 3" thick. Home made, commercial screw wagon vise. It'll have a leg vice as well and maybe a sliding leg vice.

[Zahid Naqvi]

Chris, I like what you did with the screw wagon vise. I might copy your approach

[Chris True]

Thanks, I thought about that a lot - looked at everything I could find around the net as well which wasn't all that much. I didn't want anything sticking below the bench top, thought about a groove down the center but in the end went with the rabbit to accept the dog block (it is a 1/2" on each side) and a much shallower 1/8"+ thick recess to accept the steel plates which hold the dog in place. It is very strong, less than $50 for the screw from Lee Valley+ the steel strip and 1" long 10-24 stainless screws from Lowes.

I love the Benchcrafted setup but $350 was beyond what I'm willing to spend. I think it is worth the price asked, I'm just not willing to go there at the moment. Still debating on the leg vise on which screw I'll use for that. It's between the $35 Lee Valley steel screw, the $120ish basic big wood screw and the Benchcrafted Glide vise. I'm leaning towards the wood screw for the leg vise due to it's 2 TPI speed and if I do the sliding leg vise maybe the cheaper steel screw for that. The slider would only be used occassionally as a poor moan's enormous twin screw vice for dovetailing big case sides or whatever.

[Michael Peet]

I just wrapped mine up this week. I posted a build thread here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...My-Roubo-Build

p1020439.20.jpg P1020414.20.jpg P1020415.20.jpg
P1020447.20.jpg P1020427.20.jpg P1020443.20.jpg

All ash except for the knobs that came with the Benchcrafted vises. I got one of the bundles from Horizon. The top is about 98" x 24" x 4.25", and the bench itself is 34" high. Weight estimate is 350 lbs.

Mike

[Brad Gobble]

Here she is. I left a more detailed description in another thread.

The wood is ash, the height is about 33" and the length is 8'.

Benchcrafted vises are the cherry on top.

Nice, first lefty here! Exactly what I plan to build soon

[Jeff Ranck]

Derek:

Those guys look like the woodworkers here in India! I found if there is a 'bench' is is generally used to hold things. The real work is done on the ground, maybe with a small something to sit on.

Jeff.

[Greg Millen]

It has taken a while but the bench is nearing completion. The leg vise is next. The top is just over 8' long, 26" wide and 5-1/2" thick. Weight is about 1,100lbs. I had some earlier posts in this thread a while back. Timber is an eclectic mix of Australian hardwoods: Jarrah, Marri, Redgum, Sydney Bluegum and a few others. The repairs in the top were to fill fractures and nail holes as the timber is recycled from an old factory roof.

Workbench, Top and Skirts Pt II - Dog holes 002.jpgWorkbench, Top and Skirts Pt II - Dog holes 011.jpg

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Greg

That is fantastic! I see you have spent a bit on the end vise The shipping alone must have been a killer.

Now, are you going to bring it along for Show-and-Tell at our next meeting?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tony Shea]

Oh my! What a serious looking bench. I bet that thing holds up for a few centuries of use. It must've been a killer on your plane blades to flatten that top. The small amount of Jarrah I;ve worked I def would dred flattening a top like that, more time at the sharpening station than actual planing. But I really like the deep red of your Austrailian hardwoods. Very nice bench Greg and extremely nice hardware.