Not another Roubo Build? Sorry, but yes.

[Biggus]

Jumped on the bandwagon and decided to build a Roubo. Given that I've only been into this 'proper' woodworking lark for about eighteen months I'm following the Benchcrafted plans pretty much exactly although I think the top will be an inch or two short of the 87" in the plans. Thus far I've made the base and am freaking out over getting the approx 2.2 meter beams for the top straightened. I only have a smallish combo planer thicknesser which struggles to flatten such long pieces so I'm doing a lot of secondary flattening with a jack plane.

I wasn't going to post about this given the plethora of more funky Roubos currently being made by far more experienced woodworkers here but what the hell, no guts no glory.

Pictures of the base below. The maple I got for the top can be seen in the background of one of the photos.

[Biggus]

Much anxiety about my ability to get these tops right. The rear section will be about 285mm wide and I only have a 250mm planer/thicknesser. At this stage the plan is to glue six of the seven sections that will make it up together and send them through the thicknesser together so if there ends up being a mismatch when the final section is glued on I only have to plane one board to match, as long as that board is the one sitting proud of the rest. To that end I intend to leave that board about millimeter taller than the rest.
494468

Now how to keep everything lined up for the glue up. I don't have a Domino or a biscuit joiner so I've knocked up a dowelling jig to handle this. The results from the first test are encouraging, using 10mm dowels.
494469

All of this is moot at the moment since I'm waiting for some new clamps to make their way to me here in the deep south of WA as I'm not entirely comfortable with the number I currently have. When I ordered them online a couple of weeks ago they were showing as in stock, then I'm informed that they're on back order expected 13/5, then it's 19/5, then it's 25/5. Not entirely happy about this but I need the clamps, so all I can do is set up the glue ups ready to go and busy myself with other stuff I have to do around the property, burning off, spraying weeds and clearing a line at the back of my property where I need to put some new fencing in. Such is life, I'm getting too old to stress about that sort of stuff.

[delbs]

Awesome work Biggus,

Yes there's a few Roubo bench threads getting around (mine being one of them that hasn't had much attention recently) but its still worth capturing your build and posting it if possible.

Looks like its coming along nicely. What material are you making it out of? looks like you've done a great job of the vice install.

Mate i hear ya about taking such a large, long length to a thicknesser, im flattening two large Oregon sections as mine is a split top and im doing it all by hand. Regardless of it being Oregon or another material id still be doing it by hand firstly with the jack No 4 then the HNT jointer and HNT smoother.

Lots of work but in this instance id much prefer bringing the tool to the work piece and take my time checking my work than expecting the machine to do it for me in a few passes.

Something of this size is all worth it in the end. will last a life time. So if your following the bench crafted kit exactly, did you also buy the bolt and screw assembly?

https://www.timbecon.com.au/benchcrafted-roubo-split-top-benchmaker-s-hardware-package?gclid=CjwKCAjwv_iEBhASEiwARoemvKfSeB2d2GWtk90skzGFLmMLWl1hCWYnuIpX_JTxUxCIVjMUxYD80RoCYoEQAvD_BwE

Does this mean your legs are detachable from either each other or from the top so you can move it in the future?

This is what im considering because im making progress on all my pieces but don't want to build it using my dowel-max as i may need to move it later this year so im considering having the base pull apart.

Cheers
Nathan

[Biggus]

Awesome work Biggus,

~snip~

Cheers
Nathan


Thanks for the encouragement mate, this build is stretching my only very modest woodworking skills to the very limit. I'm usually a pretty relaxed guy but this is stressing me out a fair bit to be honest. Still, as I said above, no guts no glory, I've always been one to jump into the deep end just to see what happens.

Materials.....well the base is Jarrah, pretty standard for down here in the SW of WA. I got that direct from the sawmill about 40 kms from my place. Top as said above is Maple, acquired at great expense from a bloke up in Donnybrook, about three hours drive from here. And then yesterday I took a drive down to Djarilmari Timbers down in Denmark about 60 kms away to look for a nice piece of wood for the end cap for the tail vice and found this gorgeous piece of Western Sheoak (Allocasuarina fraseriana) which should look great when the time comes to install it.
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I am indeed using the Benchcrafted hardware kit so it all comes apart when needed. If you look at the first picture of the frame in the initial post you can see the barrel nuts a couple of inches from each end of the rear stretcher. They're in the front one as well but can only be seen from the other side. Inches....lol....the plans are in Imperial so rather than convert it all to Metric and dealing with the very funky resulting numbers I've been building this in Imperial, with all the usual buggering around adding fractions and converting them all to a common denominator. A hidden plus is there's nothing smaller than a sixteenth of an inch to deal with which is handy for my somewhat dodgy eyesight.

As I said above in an earlier post I'm stuck waiting for some more parallel clamps which probably won't get here for a couple of weeks and I don't want to start on the front top section until I've done the rear and dealt with any unexpected hiccups in the simpler part of the top. The sliding deadman has been made and needs just a little detail finishing, the frame is largely done, so that leaves the shelf which I've been at last night and this morning, cutting the ship laps roughly to size with the table saw and finessing them to the final dimension with a shoulder and router plane.
494520

If you're doing all your work with hand tools I'm bloody impressed, I don't have that much confidence in my skills with a hand plane. I've been getting mine close with my little 250mm planer/thicknesser and finishing them off with a low angle jack plane with a 38 degree blade. With the 12 degree bed angle that gives me a 50 degree angle of attack and has been working pretty well. It should glue up well enough when the time comes.

I'll be looking forward to using this bench, when I built my first one about a year ago I knew nothing about woodworking so for a first effort it wasn't too bad and is much better than nothing, but very soon it became clear that it was very limited in terms of workholding options.

Good luck with your build Nathan,
Cheers,
Richard AKA Biggus.

[KahoyKutter]

........no guts no glory, I've always been one to jump into the deep end just to see what happens.




That's exactly my woodworking philosophy. It's looking good, Richard. She's gonna be a beauty.

[Biggus]

That's exactly my woodworking philosophy. It's looking good, Richard. She's gonna be a beauty.


Thanks mate. I've been following your build which has some serious wow factor.

[delbs]

Wow, i wish Jarrah was as common over here in NSW i love it. its my favorite timber, i reached out to a timber supplier over there and he offered some really decent prices for what i was after and postage to get it over here but i discovered the Oregon was real close to come and workable for my hand tools. I might consider still adding some Jarrah at some point as im still building it but yes im doing all of mine with hand tools, i dont own a thicknesser or band saw etc anymore so don't really have a choice. i'm enjoying it regardless of the time its taking me.

Its looking fantastic so keep up the good work and the pictures :D ill be following this thread.

Cheers,
Nathan


Thanks for the encouragement mate,

~snip~

Good luck with your build Nathan,
Cheers,
Richard AKA Biggus.

[Biggus]

Nothing too exciting going on here, just applying some finish to the shelf planks. As with the rest of the base I'm using Danish Oil. When it comes to the top the plan is to go for the usual BLO and turps mix.
494796

[Biggus]

I still intend to give this all at least one more coat of Danish Oil but I'm feeling quite pleased with this, not looking too shabby.
494810

[Biggus]

Got tired of waiting for my parallel clamps so I cancelled the order and bought another four F-clamps from the local M10 store which I judged would suffice for the glue up. Looking good so far......
495217

Meanwhile I'm pulling the frame apart and giving it another coat of Danish Oil. When I first made the chop for the front vise I mis-drilled the holes (doh) and although the Jarrah coloured wood putty I used (after doweling the holes) was pretty convincing you could still tell when you got close, so I made a rosette of rib fruited mallee burl (Eucalyptus incrassata) and covered it with that instead.
495218

Getting there slowly. Once the glue up for the rear top is dry it will be on to the front section and all the funky work involved in installing the tail vise. Much anxiety likely.

[Heseblesen]

...When I first made the chop for the front vise I mis-drilled the holes (doh) and although the Jarrah coloured wood putty I used (after doweling the holes) was pretty convincing you could still tell when you got close, so I made a rosette of rib fruited mallee burl (Eucalyptus incrassata) and covered it with that instead...

:o Your work is at a level that some of us can only dream of. I would be VERY careful myself if I was to approach that bench with a sharp tool. A furniture to be proud of!

Keep up the good work!

[delbs]

Loving the contrast of the Jarrah base and the top. I have large Douglas fir beams that have come up nice for my split top. Considering replacing the Douglas fir base legs and vice etc with Jarrah.

Your bench is looking awesome. Bench crafted looks top notch.

[Biggus]

Over the last few days I've been gluing up the slabs for the top, the rear section completely and the front section minus the dog strip and the front laminate so the time has come to square off the ends and work out exactly how much I have to work with. Where's a 305mm sliding compound mitre saw when you need one? Not in my workshop sadly. I have a small and crappy circular saw that won't even cut at 90 degrees, and anyway trying to get the cuts from either side to match never seems to work even with one that will.

That leaves my El Cheapo Ryoba. My sawing technique is nothing to write home about, it's pretty poor actually, but you have to go with what you have, so in the interests of giving myself a fighting chance it's out with the marking knife and a chisel to create a knife wall.

Off we go, wax on, wax off.......
495494

This is time consuming stuff. My dog gives up on me and heads inside to sleep on the couch. Eventually I get it done and with the aid of a block plane and a random orbital sander it looks acceptable.
495495

Massive relief, I'm suffering from a serious case of imposter syndrome here. I feel like I'm skating on thin ice the whole time with this build. No disasters so far, but I've come close. The plus side of course is that it's a good way to skill up.

Next job is to mark out the cavity for the tail vise. More potential for disaster........eek!

[DomAU]

Great job mate - don't doubt yourself you're doing great. That looks like a good workout!

[Biggus]

Great job mate - don't doubt yourself you're doing great. That looks like a good workout!


Took heaps of time. Like I said my sawing technique is pretty ordinary, so it was a case of making a few strokes, blowing the dust away to check that I was still on line, and going at it again, and again. By the time I finished I was starting to get OK at it. Quite satisfying in the end.

[delbs]

This is my approach to my bench build as well. Essentially all by hand. I'm finding the list of dependencies grows though. If I pull out a saw I either haven't used for a while or the only suitable one available actually needs sharpening. Then I remember I hadn't finished the saw holding clamp jig, then the plane and chisel needs sharpening haha.

I think for all my hand tool obsessions and desires it would be a worthy investment for any future projects if I owned a tormek ;)

[Biggus]

Some progress with the build over the last couple of days. I've glued the dog strip to the rest of the top section and here is one of the few areas that I've deviated from the Benchcrafted plans in that I've gone for round holes in the dog strip rather than the much more labour intensive square ones specified with individually made dogs in each hole. I'll be using a couple of Veritas brass ones instead.

Flushing the dog strip with the rest of the slab
495659

On to the end cap. After machining it to size I routed out most of the mortise and cleaned the rest out with chisels. I bought a corner chisel a couple of months ago and this is the first time I've used it. Instantly I'm wondering how I ever did without it. Very useful thingie.
495660

Test fitting the end cap on the tenon. Close but still a little finessing to go.
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Tomorrow it's time to rout out the cavity for the tail vise screw. Not something I want to do when I'm a bit tired.

[Fergiz01]

The bench is looking really good, Richard. Maple is very impressive for the top - the North Americans obviously love it and they've got heaps of it over there but v pricey down here in Aus. It does makes sense to have a lighter coloured wood for the top for visibility, sighting down planes etc though. It will be interesting to see how you like the leg vise as your face vise. I had planned on adding one to my bench but opted for the HNT Gordon face vise instead. I'm sure the benchcrafted model will be a pleasure. Also interesting to see that you're in Kendenup. That was my hometown and my parents still live there. I'd love to have a look at the bench when it's done. Good luck with the rest of the build. Cheers, Zac Fergie.

[Biggus]

The bench is looking really good, Richard. Maple is very impressive for the top - the North Americans obviously love it and they've got heaps of it over there but v pricey down here in Aus. It does makes sense to have a lighter coloured wood for the top for visibility, sighting down planes etc though. It will be interesting to see how you like the leg vise as your face vise. I had planned on adding one to my bench but opted for the HNT Gordon face vise instead. I'm sure the benchcrafted model will be a pleasure. Also interesting to see that you're in Kendenup. That was my hometown and my parents still live there. I'd love to have a look at the bench when it's done. Good luck with the rest of the build. Cheers, Zac Fergie.


Yeah, the maple was pricey but my aging eyes will appreciate it. When I was thinking about the build the HNT Gordon vises were the other option I considered but I felt the Benchcrafted stuff was more in keeping with the Roubo style. Next time you head off down here to see your parents send me a PM and I'll give you my details so you can drop by and have a look.

[Biggus]

Today's task has been to rout out the cavity for the tail vise. It turned out to be pretty stress free.
495735

Still some fine tuning to go but mostly there....
495736

I must be nuts for trying to cut houndstooth dovetails in the front laminate instead of the standard ones shown in the plans but it seems if I don't I'll regret it later. I just hope I don't regret it soon. Messed up the marking on this side a bit and went over the lines a bit so this face will have to go on the inside.
495737

Once again I think I'll leave the cutting of these for a new day and a fresh mind.

[Biggus]

Well, I tried........but after one effort that looked like a dog's breakfast at the houndstooth dovetails (pun intended) I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and went with the standard dovetails instead since I couldn't really afford more than one failed attempt. A bit deflating but better to accept it and move on. A little beyond my meagre skill levels at present, such is life.
496087

Time to flatten the tops. This could take a while......
496088

It's all good, I reckon I've learnt more about using a plane over the last two days than in the preceding 18 months of my woodworking journey, scribbling all over the slab with a pencil, planing away, checking with a square, going at it again. It's slow, patient work, but the results are good.

[KahoyKutter]

It's better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all. I'm sure if you had enough material for another attempt you would have got there in the end. Which part of the process did you struggle with (marking out, sawing, chiselling, etc) ? It's still a good looking bench and regular dovetails are probably much stronger anyway. Good luck with the rest of the build.

[Biggus]

It's better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all. I'm sure if you had enough material for another attempt you would have got there in the end. Which part of the process did you struggle with (marking out, sawing, chiselling, etc) ? It's still a good looking bench and regular dovetails are probably much stronger anyway. Good luck with the rest of the build.


Mostly poor sawing. I probably could have rescued the tails in the end but three quarters of the way through making those I made the call that I didn't think I had a chance of cutting the pins in the end cap and started again. Not so surprising really, I've never cut half blind dovetails before let alone houndstooth ones to the depth of 1 1/2". I'm glad I had a go at it but I'm also glad I pulled out when I did.

[KahoyKutter]

Mostly poor sawing. I probably could have rescued the tails in the end but three quarters of the way through making those I made the call that I didn't think I had a chance of cutting the pins in the end cap and started again. Not so surprising really, I've never cut half blind dovetails before let alone houndstooth ones to the depth of 1 1/2". I'm glad I had a go at it but I'm also glad I pulled out when I did.


Sawing is my Achilles Heel as well. It's not too bad for typical dovetails, which are usually only around 15~20mm long (e.g. drawers etc), but the ones on my bench are almost 70mm long. That's why I cheated and used my bandsaw when cutting mine.

[Biggus]

Sawing is my Achilles Heel as well. It's not too bad for typical dovetails, which are usually only around 15~20mm long (e.g. drawers etc), but the ones on my bench are almost 70mm long. That's why I cheated and used my bandsaw when cutting mine.


Yeah, look I have trouble cutting nice slices from a loaf of bread and these dovetails are 2 1/8" long and 1 1/2" deep (sorry about the Imperial stuff, they're American plans and I've been thinking in the old stuff for a couple of months now after deciding at the outset it was better to do that than convert everything to Metric). This rock maple is surprisingly hard as well and I still have much to learn about sharpening.

Now that I have the end of this build in sight (sort of) I really have to restrain myself from making a dash to the finish line and instead refocus and continue slogging along being as fastidious and accurate as I was for the first half. Sometimes I just have to walk away from the work and give my brain a rest for a day or two and I feel one of those moments coming on. I reckon I'll take a couple of weeks flattening the tops as this is probably the most critical part of the build. After that it's pretty clear sailing, fitting the tops to the frame and making the gap stop, then finishing the top with BLO and turps.

[Biggus]

Some progress with the build, after much planing to get it all level (apart from some minor work post fitting to the frame) and cutting the mortises in the underside of the slabs a quick test fit. Much relief and the slabs are very close to level with each other. Now to disassemble the whole lot for final cleaning up and finishing also to mount the retracting casters to the legs so I can move this baby around. After that whack it all back together and make the gap stop.
497155

[Biggus]

It's been slow going for the last couple of weeks due to me doing myself a wee bit of an injury, a torn gluteal muscle says the doctor, with expected six week recovery time. So I've got a bum bum (or is that a dud bum?), sounds funny but hurts like you wouldn't believe. Spent about a week on my back unable to move except to go to the dunny or to drag myself into the kitchen to grab something from the fridge. After about ten days with the aid of some painkillers and a walking stick I've been able to get back into the workshop to do some light stuff, sanding off corners, throwing some BLO and turps onto the tops, dismantling the frame for a last coat of Danish oil and today fitting the retracting casters on to the legs and putting the frame all back together.
498076

498077
498078

Tomorrow I'll start doing some last detail finishing to the tops, mostly cleaning up the ends of the slabs which are still a little uneven in places and I need to make the dog block for the wagon vise, then it's time to fit these to the frame, exciting times!

[AndrewPatrol]

Hi Biggus, sorry to hear about your injury, hopefully it’ll be better soon. Don’t exert yourself as it’s trying to repair.

I have the BC kit stowed in my shed but there’s no room at present for building the bench unfortunately. So I’m following your build keenly.
Im taking it, from a few comments you’ve made lately that you’d recommend making the top first? I’m a member of “the wood whisperer” and he says it could go either way. I’m thinking while still keen and fresh on big project that I’ll start with the more visible top, when I get around to it!

[Biggus]

Hi Biggus, sorry to hear about your injury, hopefully it’ll be better soon. Don’t exert yourself as it’s trying to repair.

I have the BC kit stowed in my shed but there’s no room at present for building the bench unfortunately. So I’m following your build keenly.
Im taking it, from a few comments you’ve made lately that you’d recommend making the top first? I’m a member of “the wood whisperer” and he says it could go either way. I’m thinking while still keen and fresh on big project that I’ll start with the more visible top, when I get around to it!


I built the base first actually and that's what I'd recommend as long as you already have a workbench to do it on. I found the base fairly easy to make as long as you work accurately and take your time, double and triple checking your marking before you cut. The top on the other hand really stretched my only limited woodworking abilities and fairly entry level equipment. I don't have a long bed jointer and my combo planer/thicknesser was really only capable of getting the boards for the top reasonably close to straight and flat with the rest being done with hand planes. If you do make the tops first don't cut the mortises in the underside (the ones that mate with the tenons in the top of the legs) until you've made the frame.

You'll need plenty of space in the shop to make this bench. The first thing I'll have to do once I finish this is to do a major clean up as this project has completely taken over my work space for about three months now and I have tools out and lying around needing to be put away and all that, the place is a mess and I need to do some winter maintenance on my machines to head of any winter rust on the cast iron tops. I should have the bench minus the gap stop finished in maybe a weeks time, then it will be time to push it into the corner and down tools for a major clean up.

Cheers, Richard.

[Mountain Ash]

Hi B. As long as the bench is not a PITA!! Looking better with each photo you post. Thanks for keeping us updated

[Biggus]

Things are starting to move quickly now, made the dog block and fitted it to the front slab.....
498193498194

Then whacking it all together....
498195

Feeling mildly chuffed with myself at this stage, what an odyssey this has been for an inexperienced woodworker like myself, so much to learn, much stressing out about messing up, but here we are largely successful with minimal disasters. Just the gap stop and some final detailing to do now as well as some more coats of BLO and turps to apply, which should be done by mid next week. Once I have that all done I'll post some more shots with close ups of some of the more interesting parts of the bench.

Phew......

[AndrewPatrol]

Job well done Richard , just like in high jump you have to set the bar higher now! Do the BC wheels spin like in the vid’s?

[Biggus]

Job well done Richard , just like in high jump you have to set the bar higher now! Do the BC wheels spin like in the vid’s?


The leg vise one does. There's not enough weight in the wagon vise wheel to do that. Give it the leg vise wheel a good flick and.....wheeeee.....in she goes. Most satisfying.

[yoboseyo]

wow! that is an unbelievably good looking workbench! Can I ask why you chose maple?

Also, can I ask what the dimensions of the legs are? how deep are the blind mortises? Did you feel like pinned mortises are sufficiently strong to resist racking from the heavy top?

[Biggus]

wow! that is an unbelievably good looking workbench! Can I ask why you chose maple?

Also, can I ask what the dimensions of the legs are? how deep are the blind mortises? Did you feel like pinned mortises are sufficiently strong to resist racking from the heavy top?


OK, I chose maple for the top as it's nice and light coloured and my aging eyes will appreciate it as a dark coloured top tends to suck up the light (actually it just doesn't reflect as much light as a pale wood).

The bench was built from plans sold by the same company that sells the vise hardware, Benchcrafted and I've largely stuck to those with a few exceptions, the bench is six inches shorter than in the plan, 6' 9" instead of 7' 3", the dog holes in my bench are round rather than the square ones in the plan with individually made retracting dogs in each hole (I'll be using a pair of brass Veritas round ones), and the chop for the leg vise is one inch narrower than in the plan, 8" vs 9". The plans are all in Imperial so apologies for the 'freedom units'.

The short stretchers (front to back) have 2" blind tenons pinned with Tasmanian Oak 9.5mm dowels as well as glue of course, and the long stretchers that connect the two sides of the base are not glued but are held in place by bolts and barrel nuts, the tenon in the large front stretcher is only 3/4" while the tenons in the rear long stretcher are 2". This arrangement with the barrel nuts means of course you can take the bench apart if needed.

Each end of the top has a mortise on the underside that mates with a tenon in the top of the leg as well as a large coach bolt that fits from the underside of the short top stretcher into the top so that the top acts as a structural member.

The legs measure 5 3/8" x 3 1/2" in cross section.

There is no discernible wracking of any sort no matter how hard I push on the top. I reckon the bench weighs between 180-200 kg in total.

As for whether I feel the design will hold up I've put my faith in the plans from Benchcrafted. I reckon they know more than I do.

Cheers, Richard.

[Biggus]

Just the gap stop and some final detailing to do, so onwards......
498392498394

And there we have it, all done.
498396498395

What a trip it's been, can't wait to use it.

[Fergiz01]

It looks fantastic! And you'll appreciate all the work that went into it every time you use it. Great job, Zac.

Sent from my SM-A115F using Tapatalk

[delbs]

You should be proud of your efforts, looks fantastic

Can I ask, what are the dimensions of your top in total but then each split top depth and the tool holder down the middle?

Cheers
Nathan

[Biggus]

You should be proud of your efforts, looks fantastic

Can I ask, what are the dimensions of your top in total but then each split top depth and the tool holder down the middle?

Cheers
Nathan


The dimensions of the top in total are about 81" (approx 2060mm) long and 24" (approx 610mm) deep. The plans called for a top 87" (approx 2210mm) long but I felt than was excessive, so no entry into the enormous Roubo hall of fame for me!

Each section of the top is 11 3/16" (approx 284mm) deep and the gap stop is 1 5/8" (approx 41mm) deep. The actual length of the gap stop is irrelevant, I just made it such a length that when you lift it and move it sideways (so the rebates in the bottom don't sit over the top stretchers and the stop sits proud of the top) to use as a planing stop the gap stop doesn't overhang the ends of the top.

The top sections are about 4" thick, or about 101mm.

[orraloon]

A bench to be proud of.
Regards
John

[lyricnz]

Looks great!

[Mr Brush]

A bench to be proud of.
Regards
John

A bench to shelter under if there's ever an earthquake in your area !

Very nicely done :2tsup: