Thread: Roubo workbench planning

oh and a 5th question is if i did buy rough sawn its coming from northern NSW and i live in southern so do i buy it from there rough then bring it home to acclimatize for a year or so then take it somewhere to get it dressed rather than having it dressed up there for it to potentially warp and crack once down here.

Or comparing the $ per linear meter locally vs northern nsw is the final option for having DAR and delivered instead of 7 hours away and different climate

Nathan, I documented the build of my Roubo here (scan down to Building a Roubo Bench): Shop Made Tools

The bench is a 3 1/2" thick European Oak top with a Jarrah base. I build my own leg vise and added the BC wagon vise. The wagon vise is a killer and I would do it again. The leg vise I would now go a metal thread, so look at McJings for a cut-price version of the BC.

While much of my bench was hand made, I used machines for the donkey work - so does Chris Schwarz. If you have machines to use, then do so - the bench will not know and neither will the furniture you later build on it care. If you do not have machines, then choose softer timbers!






Chain adjuster ...








Yell out if you want input.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Love the contrasts in your choices there mate.

Yeah right now I literally don't have any machinery. Coming from a hammer c3 31 and full workshop setup years ago im coming up with a variety of ways to build what I need but without the extensive power tool and associated flow on costs.

Really want to try do everything aside from resizing stock done with hand tools. Hand saws. Augers. Dovetail because this time is on my side and I dont have materials yet.

Literally quoting up Tasmanian oak from bunnings vs what I can get up north for cost comparisons and wherever I can find jarrah

I dont have a lathe yet either to make my own vice screw. Fantastic job on yours. Ill need look into the cost difference to BC


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Hello
So you're wanting to make a refined nice Roubo bench.
I recommend free standing as a Roubo will be hefty enough to fit up against the wall if you want.

I personally like having the ability to work on both sides of long material, like tenons on long strechers on a table (fancy bench) for example.

Quartersawn planks on edge if you can get it, if its dry then it shouldn't take long to acclimatise.
Hand planing is no issue whatsoever, but I wouldn't want to be doing so without a flat bench shorter than the stock is.

Flatten the bench your using now with shims,
by jointing two perfectly parallel planks on edge, (which are longer than the finished length of the bench to be)
Having these two parallel jointed straight edges, you can ensure that you have a reference that is straight, and you can check them against each other by flipping one around to make sure both timbers aren't following the same curve, like a stack of spoons.

With a flat bench, you can hand plane with precision, not waste any stock, and be much faster than any demonstration that you will find on youtube.

You sound like you are looking up nice benches on here, once you've looked at all you can find, then another good place to find more benches on is
this thread with about 200 benches to glean some more inspiration from.
Better to see things and make up your own mind regarding asthenics regarding timber choices.

Type this into google...
all replies on workbench smackdown @ lumber ....

I'll not finish off that website's name, there are some very nice lookin Roubo's there.

Matt Cremona might have a build series on his Roubo to look for something in video format, or just to glean something from maybe.
Ben Prowell has a nice build video also.

More power to your elbow!
Tom

This is my first ever free standing bench iade purposeful for woodworking. I still like it and it was useful for certain long pieces as I could rest long boards in the nook of the extra width on the top but I sold it apart of my package of power tools machinery etc.

Was heavy also which I enjoyed but a few things have changed. My workshop space is smaller so its a 6x 3.3mx 2.7m space and no machinery so having the material DAR or nearly DAR would be useful.

I agree about it being free-standing it will be more versatile in the long run.

Ill take a look at those resources thanks! Still not settled on the face vice. I can't make my own I know I have to buy one. Even the H n T face vice is nice but its probably hitting the budget that I'd like to allocate to a vice and doesn't really fit with roubo style. Think ill go for the tail vice though from them

Cheers
Nathan

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What is the purpose of the recesses? It would hamper clamping long boards to the side of the bench.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by delbs

Hi all,

first few questions are when someone says they building a Roubo bench by hand

1.) Has anyone taken ownership of rough sawn and dry stock and planed by hand through to finish for a project of this size aside from Chris in his youtube video
2.) given the versatility provided in clamping and size options from the vice face has anyone mounted the back side to a wall if space was an issue? did you come into limiting factors whilst working i might not be thinking of? it seems id still be able to do everything id like to in terms of stock planing
3.) Any preference aside from visuals for species in use when considering large % of hand tool work for Black butt, Iron bark, Tallow wood, blue gum ,grey gym ,bloodwood, camphor as my options i have available
4.) quartersawn stock is preferred for the top pieces?

Hi Nathan,,
I built a split-top roubo about 6 years ago, just using handtools (with a tiny bit of circular saw and bandsaw usage, but these were more for convenience than necessary). But, in answering your questions:

1/Yes, it was all handplaned, but my wood was construction pine (90x35) as that fit my budget. The top was laminated from the 90x35 and these had to be flattened and the softened corners taken off before gluing up, and then the top flattened. The split-top design was to allow for this to be done more easily and to fit the maximum depth of the clamps I had at the time, as much as it was to take advantage of the benefits of a split-top.

2/ I had it against a wall when I built a dining table, and didn't find any problems with access or ease of building. Now, I have it as an island bench, which makes the 3rd vise on the back corner more useable, and means that my 2 daughters can work on the bench at the same time as I am. For solo work, I don't think I've accessed the bench from the rear more than a couple of times over the last 5 years.

3/ I went pine for cost and availability. It's held up fine to 5 years of use so far. Go for what floats your boat as far as wood is concerned. One thing I would add is that I haven't worried about scratches, drillholes, spills etc..., and it's been pretty easy to drill new dogholes as occasion demands (both in terms of effort and in terms of worrying about damaging the precious surface)

4/ I laminated mine, so grain direction was all over the shop.

You can see my build here

Thanks Michael

See this is exactly my approach of what I have to worm with. I think fundamentally it comes down to how much I spend on it and the time it takes for me to do it by hand is all based around the material and where I get it.

So if I go up north to pick it up I have to get it rough sawn and air dry once home. Or if locally sourced DAR and possibly no air drying but increased cost.

But as you mentioned with pine and warping and nots you think its worth digging through the racks to find the better quality pine? What dimensions pine did you use again and can you remember cost for the timber bot including vices? Just wondering roughly how many LM worth of stock you used

Im considering the Tasmanian oak also simply because its DAR and locally sourced and easy enough to work with but no nots and minimal warping

Loving your post thanks for the write up. I really need a stanley no7 jointer again

Cheers
Nathan

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Originally Posted by derekcohen

What is the purpose of the recesses? It would hamper clamping long boards to the side of the bench.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Yeah dont think too much into it. I was just using materials I had on hand and I had these two left over DARs and thought I could use the extra dog capacity for the tail vice. So yeah came in handy but didn't provide too much additional functionality. Built it off the cuff and didn't research too much.

I sold that bench so I put that design into the "lessons learnt " pile and now I see how having flush face for tops and legs important are

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I was eyeballing this for the new bench, as Ive dragged on about for the last 3 years.... now a "mini bench"

https://www.pinussawmills.com.au/product-group/7400-blackbutt/category/527-kilndried

BLACKBUTT 90*45 DAR F27 @3.6M $75.34inc GST
BLACKBUTT 90*45 DAR F27 @5.4M $113.02inc GST
BLACKBUTT 140*45 DAR F27 @3.6M $118.92inc GST
BLACKBUTT 140*45 DAR F27 @5.4M $178.38inc GST
BLACKBUTT 190*45 DAR F27 @3.6M $168.19inc GST
BLACKBUTT 190*45 DAR F27 @3.9M $182.21inc GST
BLACKBUTT 190*45 DAR F27 @5.4M $252.85inc GST
BLACKBUTT 240*45 DAR F27 @3.6M $259.71inc GST
BLACKBUTT 240*45 DAR F27 @5.4M $389.56inc GST
BLACKBUTT 290*45 DAR F27 @3.6M $400.25inc GST
BLACKBUTT 290*45 DAR F27 @5.4M $600.37inc GST

Not sure how F27 would be for a bench, but Ern Smith seems to be very cheap right now... I emailed them to enquire if they are correct...

https://www.ernsmith.com.au/Products/KDF17Hardwood.aspx

K / D F17 Hardwood 90X45 / 5.4m - $39.00
K / D F17 Hardwood 140X45 / 5.4m - $58.00
K / D F17 Hardwood190X45 / 5.4m - $91.00
K / D F17 Hardwood 240X45 / 5.4m - $125.00
K / D F17 Hardwood 290X45 / 5.4m - $165.00

Originally Posted by woodPixel

I was eyeballing this for the new bench, as Ive dragged on about for the last 3 years.... now a "mini bench"

BLACKBUTT

Oh you shouldn't have shown mr this haha.

HBB1404536 - BLACKBUTT 140*45 DAR F27 @3.6M

I plan on a 1.8. Top and would be very happy with that DAR for the top

Hmm this is very good



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Nathan, Woodpixel
Don't get carried away by the relative cost of the material.

Neither of you need F27 hardwood
Nor, for that matter, do you need F17 hardwood either

F8 hardwood is roughly equivalent in strength to MGP12 pine.


Mr Schwarz recommends you build your bench(es) using whatever is the cheapest locally available wood.
MGP10 or even MGP8 would be more than strong and stiff enough for a bench.


my advice is to look for 4 x 2 sticks -- which when used on edge would finish at about 80 to 85 mm thick.

If you need additional mass, use bagged dry sand to add weight to the bottom of the tool tray.

All valid points Ian absolutely

At this stage im considering any material aside from mgp10 radiata including long list of timber recycled from Thor's hammer.

I do want cheap or recycled or Australian hardwood but rough sawn or semi dressed to help me a little but just for this research phase im trying to ignore radiata.

Have built benches in the past using it understand it can be great and fit for purpose im just looking at that next option, if it wasn't that then what would the species be.

Cheers
Nathan

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