A Hand Built Roubo, and the Education of a Woodworker

[David Wadstrup]

Thanks for the advice, David. Is ash not a suitable choice?

[David Keller NC]

I really couldn't say, because I live in the Southern US, and ash is not common around here. Presuming that it rives OK, I can't see why it wouldn't work.

[Michael Peet]

I made my drawbore pins from ash, so it can be done.

Mike

[David Wadstrup]

Hi,

It's been quite a while since my last post. I've largely been dealing with cutting the rails' tenons. I'm really enjoying learning how to join wood. It's been a little frustrating, though, too. I had a total of 12 mortise and tenons to fit. A good number of them came out quite nicely. Especially for a novice. Four of them, however, required a little extra work. Specifically, I had ended up taking too much off of the tenons which gave me joints that were just a bit too loose. Even considering that I'll be drawboring them. I fixed two of them by gluing a block on to the edge of tenon, paring it back down so the width of the tenon was about an 1/8" thicker than its original size, and then widening the mortise to accomodate. Both came out really, really good, and I'm very happy I took the time and ended up with a tight joint. The other two were only moderately loose, and probably wouldn't have caused any kind of problem once the drawbores were in. I was feeling pretty good after my earlier success, so I tried my hand at getting a tighter fit with these as well. All I did was glue a thick plane shaving on each side of the tenon. It gave the joint just the right amount of snug and was no trouble at all. Is this an acceptable solution? Can any of you think of why this method would not be a good idea?

Now that I have them all together, I have a concern and question. As I mentioned, the joints are tight. They are square. Everything came together nicely. There are, however, some slight gaps in the edges of two or three of the joints. Perhaps gap is too strong a word -- the largest is just a little under a 32nd. They don't run all four sides. In most cases it's just one or one and a half sides. It doesn't seem to me that these gaps mechanically fault the integrity of the base. They are, however, a little unsightly to a perfectionist's eye. What do you think I should do? I have already fiddled with them quite a bit. I'm afraid, though, that I'll be opening a can of worms if I continue -- that I'll end up opening up other seams in my efforts to close the current ones. Part of me just wants to call it good enough. It is a workbench after all. And, I imagine that the seams will most likely open up a bit anyways in the dry winter months. What would you recommend? Should I worry about closing them up?

Thanks for all of your help.

David

PS I haven't posted any photos recently. I've been taking them, though, and will get them up as soon as I find the time.

[David Keller NC]

All I did was glue a thick plane shaving on each side of the tenon. It gave the joint just the right amount of snug and was no trouble at all. Is this an acceptable solution? Can any of you think of why this method would not be a good idea?

Many of us will fix an occasional "whoops" on a tenon by gluing on a piece of veneer. So long as the grain direction is the same, it should present no issues (and even if the grain direction's not the same, think of it as a really thin wedge)

There are, however, some slight gaps in the edges of two or three of the joints. Perhaps gap is too strong a word -- the largest is just a little under a 32nd. They don't run all four sides.

This defect isn't all that uncommon. THe way to avoid it is to knife your tenon baselines and scrupulously avoid removing them while sawing. That's easier said than done in some cases, though, and that's what a shoulder plane is made for. However, your caution is well taken. You can quite easily wind up "adjusting" 16 tenon shoulders because you cut one down to "perfect", and now that rail is shorter than the rest.

But - you will be quite surprised how much of this defect will disappear when you drawbore it together. Essentially what happens is that the face grain of the frame member with the mortise will crush slightly under the force of the drawbore, and much of the non-square shoulder will be buried in the face. It may not come out cosmetically perfect, but it will be close.

And the old adage of "If it jams, force it. If it breaks, it probably needed replacing anyway" comes to mind - don't do it!

[Andy Margeson]

I live in Brooklyn, cannot afford separate shop space, and have a very understanding wife.

David

Ya think? Perhaps you do the housework? I would be killed. "Woodworker dies impaled on mortise chisel"

Andy

[Ashwini Kaul]

You Sir (OP), have a lot of courage and probably lots of Sertoli and Leydig cells!

I started a Roubo build about a year back. The legs/top have been ready for 8 months! I am stuck on the mortises. I have chiselled out 2, each 2"deep, with the help of an Auger and Chisels. 10 more to go! I have been unable to get myself to do anymore! One of these years....

All the best to you!

[David Wadstrup]

Hello Everyone,

Well, I've finally got the whole base put together. All the joinery is done, the grooves in the rails for the ledgers are plowed, the leg's tenons are cut, and the knockdown hardware installed and working properly. Everything is square, sturdy, and looking pretty impressive(to me, anyways). The next step is installing the Benchcrafted leg vise -- I'm really excited! Here are a few photos of some of the steps along the way.

Marking out, cutting, and fitting my first tenons. These Bad Axe saws are an absolute pleasure to use.

[David Wadstrup]

Installing the knockdown hardware was pretty fun. I was a little nervous that my bolt holes wouldn't meet the holes for the barrel nuts where they needed to. 2 of them met up perfectly right off the bat, and the other to were easy enough to fix after enlarging the hole by a 32nd.


IMG_0930.jpg IMG_0926.jpg IMG_0936.jpg IMG_0919.jpg

Thanks for following!

[Harlan Barnhart]

Lookin' good David. You use the same face vice I use. (hand screw clamped to work top)

[David Wadstrup]

Someone suggested the idea when I first started this post. Maybe it was you!

[David Wadstrup]

Help!!!

As you all know, I've finally completed the entire base of my Benchcrafted Roubo. I thought I was looking good until last night when I discovered a problem. Perhaps a MAJOR one. I've been following Benchcrafted's plans pretty faithfully. The only alteration I made was to the height of the bench. The plans call for 35", but I figured 33" would be better suited to my planing needs. To shorten it, I had chosen to take the 2" from between the rails rather then below the bottom one. Does this make sense? I didn't think this change would have any repercussions, but I was wrong. It turns out that I may have compromised the strength of my leg vise. It turns out that there is a desirable balance to be maintained when determining the screws placement in relation to the top of the chop/jaw and the parallel guide. Specifically, you want the distance between the screw and the top of the chop to be about half of the distance between the screw and the parallel guide. Because I shorted the length between the rails, and because the rails limit where I can place the screw and the parallel guide, I've made it impossible to achieve the 1 to 2 balance. Here's what I'll have: 9" from the screw to the top of the chop and 11.25" from the screw down to the top of the parallel guide. Benchcrafted has said that I should be ok, but I wanted to hear from anyone else who has experience with this sort of build/issue. Have I significantly weakened the holding power of my vise? Are there any changes you would suggest? Can you help put my mind at ease? I'd really appreciate your help.

Thanks,

David

[Salem Ganzhorn]

David,
I did something very similar. My bench is 33 tall and I left the lower stretcher 5" off the ground. The screw is 8" from the top of the bench. The parallel guide is 20" from the top of the bench. The vise grips like a pit bull .
http://photos.ganzhorn.org/album872
The pictures don't show it but I did use suede on both the chop and the front of the bench. It increases grip but I don't love how it sticks out from the front of the bench.
Salem

[David Wadstrup]

HI Salem,

Thanks so much for sharing the photos. Your bench looks great! Are those ebony drawbores? It's really good to hear that your placement didn't affect the strength of the vise!!! It sets my mind at ease. Were you following the Benchcrafted plans too? You really don't notice a difference in the strength of the vise?

Thanks!,

David

[Salem Ganzhorn]

David,
yes I roughly followed the benchcrafted plans. I did adjust the height the same as you. And I also drawbored the long stretchers instead of using bench bolts. My benchtop is only 3" thick as that is all the wood I had . The pegs are walnut, no glue. Time will tell if that was a good decision!

With the suede I have yet to have the vise slip. Just a light turn of the handle and you are good to go!

Good luck!
Salem