Roubo with a Veritas sliding tail vise

[Ben West]

Finally. This project has taken me entirely too long, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Nothing really new or different here from the many other split-top Roubo benches that have been posted here -- it is all SYP, except a strip of white oak for the front lamination and hickory for the leg vise chop. Except, this one features one of the new Veritas sliding tail vises. I have not seen this particular vise used on a Roubo style bench, so I thought I'd post it here for those of you that are thinking of building a Roubo and considering which end vise to select.

I had originally thought I would install a Benchcrafted wagon vise, and that is undoubtedly a fantastic vise and would be an excellent choice. But, when Lee Valley announced this vise, I was intrigued by the quick release sliding feature.

This Veritas vise is robust, smooth, and easy to install. Those who wondered whether it would be strong enough need not worry -- it is many, many times stronger than anyone would ever need it to be. If you cranked and cranked on it, I suspect the wooden vise chop would split and break off before the vise itself would be damaged.

With this vise, the Veritas twin screw, and the Benchcrafted wagon vise, we really have some incredibly good choices for our end vises. I thought of all 3 of those options, and am glad I finally settled on this one.

Oh, one other thing. I also had originally planned to build this with a solid top ala Schwarz. But, I really liked the idea of the split top. If nothing else, I think the split top is worthy of consideration because it makes certain aspects of construction much easier. For example, because each half of my bench is about 11" wide, I was able to pass them through my planer prior to final assembly, which made flattening the assembled top a breeze.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Great looking bench. How thick is your top? Did you use 8/4 SYP from a lumber yard, or 2xsomethings from the borg?

[Ben West]

The top is 4". The top and everything else was was made using 2x dimensional SYP from the borg. Over several trips picking through the stack to find clear stock. After getting several strange looks and questions, I started going first thing on Sunday morning. I often was the only customer in the store, literally.

[David Wong]

Thanks for sharing. I have been interested in this vice as well, also because of the quick release. Did you give any thought to making the vice apron thicker than 2", so it would look more like a traditional tail vice? Is there any limitation for doing so?

[Ben West]

I thought about this myself. I see no reason why this shouldn't be possible. The only limitation would be the bolt length that attaches the chop to the vise itself. Of course, you can buy longer bolts.

As the vise chop gets thicker, there would be more and more leverage and force applied to the vise mechanism. At some point, that could cause problems, but I am not sure what that point may be. I would speculate that you could make the vise chop 4-6 inches thick with no problems.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Nice job Ben. How about a few more pictures.

[Andrew Gibson]

Looks great! I had a chance to play with one of those vises at a show and was very impressed. It really made me want one.

[Terry Beadle]

That's a great bench. I think the split is a good idea especially when you get into needing additional clamping scenarios.

What finish did you put on it? BLO?

Count me down as +1 on more photo's.

[Rob Fisher]

I'll be #3 for more pics. Looks great!

[Erik France]

Nice looking bench and design. How did you end up fastening down your top?


After getting several strange looks and questions, I started going first thing on Sunday morning. I often was the only customer in the store, literally.I found that early mornings are the best for picking too. I went very early one weekend morning when doing my bench build, mainly because It was too early to wake up the neighbors with my thickness planer. I try to go early all the time now if I have a lot of sorting to do.

[David Keller NC]

Nice job Ben. How about a few more pictures.

Yeah, I'd be particularly interested in a shot of the underneath. Since a "Roubo" is partially defined by legs mortised directly into the top, I'm scratching my head as to how that works with a split top - I would think that the cantilevered part near the middle would flex too much to plane on if it's just the legs mortised into the outside edges.

[Erik France]

Yeah, I'd be particularly interested in a shot of the underneath. Since a "Roubo" is partially defined by legs mortised directly into the top, I'm scratching my head as to how that works with a split top - I would think that the cantilevered part near the middle would flex too much to plane on if it's just the legs mortised into the outside edges.I would bet that there are stretchers right under the top. We'll have to wait to see what Ben says. It looks like his tool holder is sitting proud of the top in the photo too.

On my Roubo inspired bench I only mortised the front two legs into the top. I also did stretchers between the front and back legs flush to the underside of the top. Gravity holds it in place very well. The front edge of the top is always in line with my legs leaving the back edge to move as the wood and weather sees fit.

[Ben West]

More pictures???? You guys ask that like it is an easy thing. Don't you understand that about 15 minutes after the picture above was taken, one couldn't see the top of this bench because of scattering of hand planes, chisels, wood shavings, a cup of coffee, sketches of my next project, a cell phone??? Sheesh :D

On second thought, maybe you all should ask for a picture of my shop everyday. That would be some motivation to clean it!

Responses to questions and a few thoughts about this design:

The finish was a simple oil/varnish with a coat of wax on top. I know, some don't like this on benches as it makes the top slippery. But, with the vises and stops, I don't see that as a big deal. While I don't see using this as my primary assembly area, it will see some glue, so I wanted a little lubrication up on top.

This design uses an stretcher of sorts between the front and back. Each top section is indeed mortised into each leg, but is additionally secured with a Spax lag screw in a slot of this cross apron. And here's something I found: I have the tops mounted with loose tenons. During a dry fit, after I drilled and tightened the lag screws, and the assembly was rock solid -- without gluing the mortises. So, I decided to leave them that way. If I ever have a problem, I can always glue and clamp the mortise and tenon joint, but I don't think that will ever happen. As it is, I can easily remove the top, which could come in handy.

The spacer in the middle serves 3 functions. The first is simply as a spacer and to fill in the 2-inch gap, when it sets level with the benchtop. Second, because of the 2 grooves in the bottom of the spacer, I can pick it up, move it in either direction a couple inches, and I have a 1/4 inch proud stop, which comes in really handy for planing. Third, in either position, it makes a great chisel and saw holder.

Were I to do this again, I would consider doing 2 things differently. First, I would price some 8/4 Ash for the top. Although it would have been more expensive, it would have saved me several trip to to Borg. I see no reason to spend much money on wood for the base, unless you just really want a show bench. Second, I would consider a Benchcrafted leg vise. That's a lot of coin for a simple vise, but, oh, it looks cool. I bought the screw for the leg vise 2 years ago, before Benchcrafted came out with theirs.

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

Excellent job, Ben. I am designing and building my own bench and was wondering how the Veritas vise worked. Your input may sway me in favor of the Veritas.