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It's been a long time in the making but this Roubo has finally crossed the finish line.
I obtained the materials for the bench a couple years ago. My previous bench was destroyed in 2011 when serious flooding occurred in North Dakota. The water level got to 4" over the top of the doors, (a little over 7' deep), and remained for nearly a month. The old bench top literally went to pieces.
The new bench is primarily constructed of hard maple and Jatoba. The hardware all came from Benchcrafted and I used the criss-cross on the leg vise. Pricy stuff, but oh so nice in use. I also used some red oak that went through the flood for the shelf boards. I'm not a big fan of red oak but these ended up having some nice staining which gives them some additional character. I used the Jatoba for the dog hole strip, the wagon vice block, the leg vise chop and the sliding deadman. I also used soft maple for the gap stop.
I started on the bench top shortly after receiving my parts and materials. Work got pretty hectic and shop time became scarce and it was a year later before I was able to work on the base. Last fall both rotator cuffs decided to act up and I was lucky to be able to lift my arms, much less lift the pieces of a Roubo.
Doctor visits, a few injections, rest and therapy and I was finally able to get my arms back into commission, (thankfully avoiding surgery.) Nights and weekends gave me enough time to complete what you see here. It'll be nice to finally clamp a piece to something rock solid and be able to chisel, saw and plane with impunity.
Now if I can just keep it clear enough to use. Space is at a premium in my shop and it took a lot of rearranging to just get these pictures. One of these days I'll get the new shop done where I can hopefully give this a dedicated location.
I did get the Benchcrafted hardware for a Moxon vise as well so that will hopefully occur this winter after I get a few other projects done.
Thanks for looking.
Clint