A Hand Built Roubo, and the Education of a Woodworker

[john brenton]

I think that's a valid point Jim and it's been my consolation since Saturday...but I would add "Good enough if you can't do any better." And by that I don't mean skill level, but by what's already been done. For example, if your leg wasn't square when you marked your tenon, and your tenon shoulder is caddwhompus across the length when you test fit, with the high point being the desired height, is it better to level it out and lose the height and then have to adjust all the legs, or just live with it? I chose to live with it, and living with it I shall. I'll be putting some filler in there though...I don't want a gap staring me in the face.

But it sounds like the OP is at the stage where he can fix it.

Another Opinion... Good enough when you consider that fact that this is a cut-to-fit piece of work that is a bench and the annual changes in dimensions due to climate will cause variations more than you mention. As an example, when you get the four legs assemble to the stretchers, you transfer locations to the top from the leg tenons, not via a shop drawing.

[george wilson]

When I first got into a school shop,and had decent tools to work with for the first time,I was already pretty skillful from previous years of woodwork. My biggest problem was to learn to be more patient,and do the work in proper sequences. Every boy wants to do his project in 1 shop hour! If you learn to be patient,and are good at organizing processes correctly,you can learn to do good accurate work. Whether it is artistic is another whole realm!

[Chris Fournier]

I'm glad that my input may be of use to you! As George has pointed out, figure out the proper process and be slavish to perfection and you'll be one fine woodworker who produces fine pieces. I have been at this junction that you are at many times and I have gone both ways depending on the project. Your current project demands you take the high road and I'm glad taht you are. Stepping away from the bench for a couple of days is often a good strategy in the woodshop.

It's pretty funny but likely the most important personal attribute that I have found while in the shop is perseverance. Being able to break down a complicated long build into it's constituent steps and processes and having the perseverance to complete each step well and in the right order (even when the horse sees the barn and wants some instant gratification) is really the key to becoming competent.

Now I know what is meant by the crazy decisions made in a 100 degree 80 percent RH shop. I am a time bomb in that environment!

[David Wadstrup]

You aren't far from Maurice Condon Boat Lumber Co.. It is a great place in White Plains. They have a huge variety of woods. I went there years ago,and picked out a lit of quartered Sitka spruce 2"X8" 's. They cut the wood into 5' lengths so I could get it into my station wagon. Nice people to deal with.

Out in the street,in this relatively unpopulated little area,I found .25 cal. empty cartridge cases,but that's the big city for you! So,go there in the DAYTIME!!

George,

Thanks for the recommendation. Looks like a great place. I'll definitely check them out soon.

Thanks,

David

[David Wadstrup]

Chris,

Thanks again. I just finished re-squaring all 4 legs. It took about 5-6 hours(they are massive legs and I'm still really slow), but I was finally able to get them PERFECTLY square and their dimensions perfectly matched. It was really worth the extra effort, and I'm grateful that I was pushed to do it. It also gave me the opportunity to try out a 6-squaring technique that I just read about in Jim Tolpin's new book. You are probably familiar with it, but it was new to me and I found it really helpful... He suggests bevelling down to the marking gauge marks before bringing the board down to final width or thickness. It provides a really great visual reference and I don't think I could have done such a good job without it.

Anyways, thanks for the encouragement.

David

[Salem Ganzhorn]

David, I just finished assembling my split top roubo yesterday. More than once I was thankful that I spent extra time to get the legs perfectly square. So many pieces are referenced off the legs. Same goes for the tenon shoulders. If they are square everything else will be square.

It took me much longer then I expected. And that was with using a mixture of hand and power tools. Good luck and enjoy the process.
Salem

[Chris Fournier]

Chris,

Thanks again. I just finished re-squaring all 4 legs. It took about 5-6 hours(they are massive legs and I'm still really slow), but I was finally able to get them PERFECTLY square and their dimensions perfectly matched. It was really worth the extra effort, and I'm grateful that I was pushed to do it. It also gave me the opportunity to try out a 6-squaring technique that I just read about in Jim Tolpin's new book. You are probably familiar with it, but it was new to me and I found it really helpful... He suggests bevelling down to the marking gauge marks before bringing the board down to final width or thickness. It provides a really great visual reference and I don't think I could have done such a good job without it.

Anyways, thanks for the encouragement.

David

That's great news! Now that you have made four square, four times and to dimension it will be much easier the next time. The cause of this big battle will be confusing in the years to come as you do this kind of work without really struggling or thinking about it; you will be scratching your head in the future as you make hand cut sliding dovetails...

[Hans Braul]

I've first saw this thread on Friday and have been thinking about it all weekend. I can't believe you can be doing all this in your living room with just hand tools! I am in the process of building my Roubo bench. Today and yesterday, I converted a huge pile of 8/4 stock into perfectly dimensioned and squared stock. I also cut all the top pieces to exact length, and I cut the leg top dovetails. All this took me 9 hours. I can't even begin to imagine how long it would take to do with hand tools. You must be an incredibly determined person and my hat's off to you.
Here are pictures of my progress to date:
Attachment 201308
Since all stock is dimensioned exactly the same, I will laminate the legs into the top with dovetails going in two directions. These pictures give an idea:
Bench dovetails.jpgBench leg.jpg
Regards,
Hans

[Harlan Barnhart]

Hi David, how's the bench coming along?

[David Wadstrup]

Hey Harlan,

It's going really well. I've taken a few days off since I finished getting the legs square. I've marked out all of the leg joinery and am planning on digging out the mortises tomorrow. I've been doing nothing but milling since I've started and am ready and excited to start the joinery.

Thanks for asking!

[greg Forster]

I'm more than a little baffled at how the leg intersects the top?

[Bob Winkler]

I'm more than a little baffled at how the leg intersects the top?

I'm with Greg- I don't get it.

Bob

[David Wadstrup]

Are you confused by my sawhorse/torsion box set-up, or Hans' bench's legs?

[David Wadstrup]

I finally began working on the legs' joinery. I've dug out the 4 largest mortises(there are 12 total) so far. This was my first experience with digging mortises, and I feel like it went well, although slowly. These are enormous -- 1" x 3.5" x 2"deep -- and the first one took me a good hour and a half to complete. My Ray Iles 1/2" mortise chisel is the largest I could find, so the digging wasn't very efficient. I ended up removing most of the waste of the other 3 using my drill press and a forstner bit... MUCH quicker. I felt guilty for about a second, but decided it would be ok to use a power drill in this case if I promised myself that I would dig the other 8 with just the chisel. They will be 1/2" wide, and thus much easier.

Thanks for reading,

David

[Harlan Barnhart]

Sounds good David. Could you document this progress with some pictures? Mortise chisels are for mortises the width of the chisel. Don't feel guilty about wasting out large mortises with a drill, its much faster. Like you, I work in my kitchen so power tool dust is not cool. I use a brace and auger bit to waste out mortises. It's nearly as fast a power drill.