Finally completed my split top Roubo-style bench

[Hasin Haroon]

I decided to set up a hand tool workshop in my basement, so I needed a bench. Initially I planned on making a small Paul Sellers style workbench, but as I started I decided I really wanted a Roubo bench.

The bench is built mostly of pine, the front 'apron' is maple, the end cap is mahogany and the vise chop is oak. The joinery is all drawbored mortise and tenons. The vise at the end is a quick release bench vise.

I've only been woodworking since last summer, and a lot of the techniques I attempted were new to me, so I'm really pleased with how it turned out. If I could change anything I would add a couple feet to the length of the top; since I started I ended up moving the shop to a different larger room.

If anyone is interested in build photos, please let me know.
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[Jebediah Eckert]

Wow, really nice. I like the dovetails and diamond details on the end. I always love build photos!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Wow! I am impressed even if I didn't know you were new to woodworking. Well done, especially those dovetails.

[Hasin Haroon]

Thanks! Malcolm I was pretty nervous trying those dovetails, but decided to go for it anyways.

Jebediah, I'm trying to upload photos here but I seem to be struggling. I do have a detailed build album up on imgur: https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/4bz8ux/two_months_and_a_sore_back_later_splittop_roubo/

[John Kananis]

Nicely done; would love to see the build pics.

[David Eisenhauer]

Outstanding.

[Jim Koepke]

Great bench. An impressive job for a short timer.

jtk

[Chris Hachet]

Highly impressive. I use a split top roubo of roughly this size. It is more than adaquate for everything I do. Your bench is gorgeous!

[Phil Mueller]

Very well done Hasin. Enjoyed looking through the build pics. Whoever you live with is a gem. Not sure I'd get away with that!

[Joe A Faulkner]

Great job on your bench. You are going to enjoy it for years to come. The design is unique. Is it your own design?

[Barry Dima]

Outstanding--and, for a fellow beginner, absolutely inspiring.



If anyone is interested in build photos, please let me know.


Do bears relieve themselves in the woods? Thanks for sharing the imgur album!

[george wilson]

A VERY nice job! Your details are beautifully designed. I hope you save your pennies up and later on will build a longer one from hardwoods. To build mine(which is always too cluttered to take pictures of,) I found a small country sawmill,selected some beech wood logs,and had them custom saw some 4" x 6" pieces,and others to build my massive bench(the 4x6"'s were just for the legs. I brought them inside the Toolmaker's Shop,and let the wet lumber dry for several years before I made my bench. Where I lived at that time,I had no space for a really large bench anyway. You can get by cheap doing what I did. But you have to wait years for the wood to air dry. For the top,at another sawmill,I found a LARGE slab of beechwood about 5+ inches thick and over 2' wide and 8' long,laying on the ground. Sure enough,it had a piece of barbed wire near one end,so they did not try sawing it up. I drilled out the barbed wire and made a tight fitting boat shaped plug which is hard to see. I let that slab dry for years,too,inside the shop. A long process,but fruitful in the end.

This bench is like a large piece of granite! It won't move no matter what I do.

[Hasin Haroon]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I haven't built anything on the bench yet - I need to take a break and focus on some household duties I have been neglecting, lol. But every time I see the bench it makes me smile, so that's a good thing.

John, the build pics are in the link I posted earlier. Sorry, to put it all up here I would have to resize each of the photos.

Phil, she sure is! I did have to spend a good 2 hours that evening cleaning up every room I worked in in the house.

Joe, I suppose you could call it my own design. I started off planning to build a Paul Sellers style bench, but decided it wasn't quite what I wanted, functionally or aesthetically. So I switched over to a split top Roubo style bench. The end caps are on the opposite side of what they usually are, this is because they are purely decorative as I did not add a tail vise.

George, that is the plan eventually. I haven't been able to find a local sawmill that does hardwoods, but I have a good 5 years at least to look for one! Your bench sounds amazing, if you could share a photo or direct me somewhere I could see it that would be great!

[Stew Denton]

Hi Hasin,

+1 on the great job. I also really like the dovetails.

Stew

[Robert Hazelwood]

That's a great bench! Love the houndstooth dovetails.

[John Kananis]

Oh, missed the link. Thanks.

[Paul Saffold]

Outstanding!! Thanks for the build pictures. You should be proud of that bench.

[Dale Murray]

I really wanted to make tails like those on my bench but chickened out in the end. I will kick myself till the end of time, I am sure. Nicely done.

[Kirby Krieger]

I do have a detailed build album up on imgur: https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/4bz8ux/two_months_and_a_sore_back_later_splittop_roubo/

Enjoyed your progress, admire the striking result, and learned things: thanks for the long illustrated write-up :) .

[Marty Schlosser]

Hey, Hasin,

Great job on your bench - regardless of your experience level. I'm sure you learned a lot about woodworking as well as yourself as you went along.

I noticed others have commented on your selection of softwood rather than hardwood. Well, you should know that several of my friends whose workmanship far outstrips mine, have their benches made from softwood... and they're standing up well even after several years of very serious usage. I'm sure yours will, too.

Congratualtions, again!

Marty Schlosser
Kingston, Ontario, Canada

[Brent Cutshall]

It's about time!:p