Mini Roubo bench build

[Bill Bixby]

I'm starting my first attempt at a real workbench and decided to go with a mini roubo since my 'workshop' is a one car garage :mad: I'm using a mix of two designs...the look from Popular woodworking 179 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Nov09_Page_22_Image_0001.jpg

but I'm using the double tenon and knock down wedged half dovetail design on the stretchers/legs from John Tetrault: http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/56999/build-a-hybrid-roubo-workbench

I went with Euro steamed beech which I found for 2.96 a board foot at Reed lumber in Orange county, CA. Most guys in the San Diego area wanted 3.80 to 4.20 for it.

The downside is that they only had 8 footers and I seem to have a lot of waste....like 30%. Is that normal for hardwood project? I wasnt willing to compromise the dimensions to fit the wood.

I'm starting the top now...is there any good reason to make it a split top?
http://i.imgur.com/Rad4Jl.jpg

[Kurt Cady]

Looking forward to seeing your progress! Just last night I tried to modify Schwarz's sketchup model for a mini bench myself. Need to brush up on my skills I guess. My bench will also serve as outfeed for my TS.

What are your dimensions?

[Paul Saffold]

Bill,
I made a split-top for 2 reasons. First, I work alone and don't have the strength to manhandle an 8 ft x 2ft x 3 inch slab. And surprisingly, I don't expect to be able to do it 10 or 20 years either ;-). In the process of making a bench you will be moving and flipping the top several times. If or when I move, it will be easier too.
Second, if you leave a gap between the tops, it makes clamping things to the top easier. If you have a filler strip between the tops that sticks up a bit (1/2 inch), you have a planing stop. If you make that filler strip such that it lays flat when it is turned over, you have a solid top. If the strip is wide enough to leave a small gap, 3/8 to 1/2", you have a place to put a few tools like chisels and backsaw etc. Bob Lang's bench on the Popular Woodworking web-site and the Benchcrafted bench on their website are two places to look for ideas. My bench is somewhere in the Neanderthal Wisdom FAQ sticky. There a lot of other benches there as well that have some great features to give you ideas for your bench. Have fun building it and keep us posted.
Paul

[Alan Schwabacher]

Advantages of the split top include access to the middle for clamping, smaller parts for moving, and simplicity of stops for planing as mentioned. If you use both western and Japanese saws, you can also turn around the same bench hook for use with either. If it matters to you, it's easier to make the legs flush with the top on both sides while keeping the legs square to the top, as you can direct expansion to the gap.

Disadvantages of the split top are primarily structural: you need cross members to help support the top, rather than using the top itself to anchor the legs. If you want to use a leg vise, it can be simpler to forgo the upper cross stretchers. If you plan on having cross members anyway (as in a Nicholson bench) my opinion is that you might as well split the top. If your construction is solid, there is no problem planing the top flat. Just remember to chamfer more edges before you traverse, to keep from blowing out the middle.

[Bill Bixby]

Everything I read seems to say a split top is the way to go...I was planning on using top stretchers anyway since the bench can be broken down. Another idea I had was instead of a complete split, just cut out sections of the middle strip and create about 4 long gaps. Then I get the strength of a solid top with the benefits of a split top..... right???

[Bill Bixby]

So here is the final top design...solid with a hole in it...I'm thinking its the best of both worlds and hoping it doesnt turn out to be not enough of either....Since my jointer has a chipped tooth I decided to skip it and do it by hand. I found these planes at a swap meet this weekend for $40...the small one works great but the big one I'm told has to be re-flattened and I havent had time. First time I've used a plane that required two hands. Its a lot of fun so far.

Does the top have to be DEAD flat? there is probably 1/16 variation now.

http://i.imgur.com/n9NH6l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Dw2jZl.jpg

[Jim Becker]

The latest issue of Fine Woodworking has a very nice Roubo article...the piece you might be interested in checking out is the vice system.

[Joe Angrisani]

.....Does the top have to be DEAD flat? there is probably 1/16 variation now....

In my opinion, you are going to want it a little flatter than that. Spend the time now. This is going to be a reference surface for everything else you make on it.

[Bill Bixby]

I got the legs on and immediately piled as much junk on it as I could find...LOL

http://i.imgur.com/MFIcEl.jpg

I'm trying to get the wooden vise screw finished so I can complete the leg vise. At that point I will go back and finish the details. One thing I noticed is that about three inches from the end, two diagonal corners drop off slightly...Here is a top view

http://i.imgur.com/vOKJgl.png

Its only about 1/16 and it only occurs at the ends.

http://i.imgur.com/a3E87l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/uin3bl.jpg

if I move the straight edge away from the edge, it disappears.

http://i.imgur.com/COovtl.jpg

Lengthwise, it doesnt show up at all...

http://i.imgur.com/eSuSal.jpg



DO I NEED TO PLANE THE ENTIRE TOP DOWN TO GET THESE CORNERS LEVEL? The rest of the top is fine.

Thanks!

[Jim Foster]

Planing the top? I would. But over time it will need planing again, so you could wait and see if this imperfection is noticed when your working on projects.

[Bill Bixby]

Planing the top? I would. But over time it will need planing again, so you could wait and see if this imperfection is noticed when your working on projects.

Yes, I planed the top but it would probably take a couple of hours to get everything down to the level of these corners.

[Kurt Cady]

DO I NEED TO PLANE THE ENTIRE TOP DOWN TO GET THESE CORNERS LEVEL? The rest of the top is fine.

Thanks!

I dont see any other way to get a flat/true reference surface

[Carl Beckett]

over time it will need planing again, so you could wait and see if this imperfection is noticed when your working on projects.

This would be my approach. Use it for a while, and see if this particular spot of the surface hinders the functionality that you tend to need. Work it down when/if it bother you (and by bothering you, this could be any number of reasons, including that you just 'know' it rolls off on the corners so want it flat).

Of course as a surface to pile junk on, it might not matter so much how flat...... ;) (I say this in jest since you brought it up!)

[Paul Lyons]

Marc over at the Wood Whisperer has a good article (http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/roubo-the-base-top-flattening/) and a good video (http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/flattening-workbenches-and-wide-boards-with-a-router/) on how he flattened his top.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/flattening-workbenches-and-wide-boards-with-a-router/
http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/roubo-the-base-top-flattening/

Hope this helps!

Regards!

Paul

[Bill Bixby]

I finally got the threads cut for the leg vise... I made four just in case. One will be sacrificed to make the jig for the screw. I think I will glue two together for the vise so the screw has a lot of threads to grip.
These took about 3 hours to tap but I think I could have made these in 15 mins with a metal lathe that could turn the workpiece slowly and advance the cutter at the same time. The really time consuming part is stopping to advance the cutter and making sure it sticks out less than 1/32 from the previous cut. Otherwise it jams up.

http://i.imgur.com/CrZGNl.jpg

[Paul Murphy]

Bill, is it possible that your top would flatter if you shimmed under the NE and SW legs of your bench? Perhaps by doing so you wouldn't have to plane as much material to get the top "perfectly" flat.

As others have said you want your top flat, otherwise you transfer that error to your glue-ups such as doors and your thin items that you try to hand-plane.

[Bill Bixby]

FLAWLESS VICTORY!!

http://i.imgur.com/MZOrul.jpg

This turned out extremely well! I'm going to make a few more and see if I can sell them to recoup the cost.... I could probably get $50-$75 for the set?? Overall this screw cost me about $400 with the lathe, router & drill bits and materials. It was really fun but really time consuming.

Here is the screw jig.

http://i.imgur.com/8Lmxvl.jpg

I'm sooo glad I went with the split top! I'm using that area almost exclusively for clamping by straddling the split. Even though the bench isnt complete, its already changing the way that I work. I'm starting to do alot more with hand tools and realizing that most things dont take much longer if at all and screw ups arent as costly.

I still have my problem of the corners not being level and its looking like those areas are getting the most use (of course). I'm going to push that chore out as long as I can.

Next step is to drill holes in the leg to accept the vice screw.

[Jim Matthews]

You need a dead flat assembly table.

You're bench needs to be solid enough to hold the work.
If it's steady, and out of level - so what?

I wouldn't do anything more than put this together and start working for awhile.
Odds are that low corner won't be the only part that moves.

I would build an auxiliary top for assembly, torsion box style if you MUST have a flat surface.
http://www.djmarks.com/stories/djm/torsion_box_assembly_table_94697.asp

If your bench had a pronounced twist, bow or sag in the middle that would merit some worry.
It's just fine, as is - this is a woodworking tool, not a laser alignment table.

[Bill Bixby]

You need a dead flat assembly table.... this is a woodworking tool, not a laser alignment table.

This seems to sum up my gut feeling about it in addition to the comments about the top continuing to move and need replaning. I'm going to give it a month or two and see what happens...who knows, the top could move in my favor!

[Floyd Mah]

Very nice. The way that I would take care of the slightly low areas is to glue a thin piece of wood there to build it up, and then plane it down to be level with the rest of the top. Over time, as you use the table, you will discover how much work actually takes place over that area and may discover that the small patch is adequate. If you consider the rest of the top, it is already made up from laminated pieces of wood anyway, and you are building a work area, not living room furniture. Also, since part of the maintenance of a workbench is periodic planing, there's no need to start trimming the top until the wood has settled down. I recall building up the top of my bench and planing it down, only to discover overnight that the wood had shifted. I had to cut the top in half and flip one side to get back to being flat (and then another round of planing).

[Bill Bixby]

almost got the screw finished! What kind of finish should I put on it?

http://i.imgur.com/05szyl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jSw5rl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3m7Dpl.jpg

[Keith Weber]

Looks good! BTW, where did you buy that aluminum extrusion?

Keith

[Bill Bixby]

Looks good! BTW, where did you buy that aluminum extrusion?

Keith

Its called 80/20 extruded aluminum. They have every size and attachment you can imagine... you can find a retailer here: http://www.8020.net/PostalLookup.asp

or you can get it on ebay if you dont have a local retailer: http://stores.ebay.com/8020incgaragesale

Not exactly cheap but I've replaced table saw, router and jointer fences with it. Makes great jigs.

[Bill Bixby]

Well folks...I think I'm going to call it done. I finished the base with polyurethane...the only thing left is to apply finish the top. I keep seeing recommendations for linseed oil but is there any reason I cant finish it with wipe on poly? I have tons of it and I like it.

http://i.imgur.com/FUIIHl.jpg

[Jim Becker]

Bill, I use BLO on my bench top because it's easily, cheaply and quickly renewable. I don't like a film finish on something that's going to take a beating and get cut like a bench top will.