A new bench is the first project of '23

[mike stenson]

After thinking about building a new bench for years now; making a move, buying vise hardware in 2020 and letting it age to perfection in my home office, the final straw was the credenza last year. The shortcomings of my work methods with my old bench became pretty apparent (ok, irritant), as did it's 5' length (sized for my last shop). I finally did something about it. As you can see, it's a roubo. I found that I never used my end vise, I didn't like storage under my old bench (things were always in the vise when I wanted something from the drawers), and I wanted a simple bench with a solid planing stop. So I found that red oak was currently the cheapest option I had locally, and went and bought a hundred and fifty(ish) bd ft of it and a gallon of PVA glue.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Woodworking/Shop/Roubo-Bench-/i-DGvSxr4/0/13392979/L/IMG_8009-L.jpg

The whole thing is pretty much just half-thickness draw bored mortise and tenons. I didn't bother with glue (after the laminations of the top and the legs).


https://photos.smugmug.com/Woodworking/Shop/Roubo-Bench-/i-jzjRBWf/0/e3cad251/L/IMG_7948-L.jpg



So that's what I have. So far, I'm very happy with it. At least while dimensioning the shelf boards. I'm very happy to have two benches, and I think I'll make a low bench next.

Oh, and it's so much easier to build a bench, when you already have a bench.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Woodworking/Shop/Roubo-Bench-/i-4mJfD5r/0/6deba34f/L/IMG_7935-L.jpg

Things I did differently than my last bench build? Last time I was overly concerned about flattening the bottom of the top and actually broke out the jointer plane. This time, I just traversed with a jack, got it all flat, then just hit the sections where the legs mount. The same is kind of true of the top of the bench. I really only focused on getting the front half flat. The back just went along for the ride (although, as a consequence it's pretty flat). Basically, I've gotten better about where I spend my time and efforts. At least, I think so.

Now I get to rearrange the shop, again.

[Mike Manning]

Nice bench(es), Mike!

Mike

[Matthew Eason]

I built my first bench last year, also a roubo. I find I'm always using the BC tail vise though.

[Frederick Skelly]

Mighty nice work Mike!

[Jim Koepke]

Looks great.

jtk

[Nathan Johnson]

Nice.
Can certainly relate to having parts and plans around for a long time before getting around to it.

[Ben Ellenberger]

That looks good! My bench is just under 5’ and something like this is pretty high on my list when I move to a place that will accommodate a bigger bench.

I’m also bouncing back and forth regarding end vises. I don’t have one now, sometimes they seem like they would be nice, but other times they seem like a lot of hassle to build for only marginal convenience.

Hope you enjoy this - I’d be interested in hearing how you like it after you’ve used it a bit.

Also, do you ride a Canfield mountain bike? I got one last year and am really liking it.

[mike stenson]

Thanks everyone! If I were to have gone with a tail vise, it would have been a wagon type. Probably a benchcrafted one, their hardware is always really nice. There's certainly no down side other than cost and some time during the build. I will say though that the leg vise is a wonderful thing compared to having to deal with racking of my old face vise.

Good catch Ben! It was bike upgrade time over the past couple years.. so I took advantage of pre-sales and have a Lithium and a Tilt at the moment. Pretty much covers everything in the southwest that my hardtail doesn't. I am sold on CBF, after years of DW Link bikes.

[David Zor]

That bench looks great. Is it out of the AWB book? If so, did you make any changes to the plans/guidelines set forth in the book? A new bench is on my priority list once my shop is consistently above freezing and I can get back to back evenings out there again. I’m likely looking at doug fir since I’m surrounded by it and have a mill a few miles up the road. I know it’s not the conventional choice, but the per pound price can’t be beat.

[mike stenson]

That bench looks great. Is it out of the AWB book? If so, did you make any changes to the plans/guidelines set forth in the book? A new bench is on my priority list once my shop is consistently above freezing and I can get back to back evenings out there again. I’m likely looking at doug fir since I’m surrounded by it and have a mill a few miles up the road. I know it’s not the conventional choice, but the per pound price can’t be beat.

It's not. It's also really pretty close to a benchmade classic I think. I looked at softwoods as well, and doug fir would have been a good choice. Had I gone that route, I'd have simply gone to thicker everything. If I had a mill local I'd have been all over that! I think that the book was really a good read and that the over all design in the book is solid. There's really nothing I'd change.

[Graham Haydon]

A very practical workbench, Mike! May you have a happy partnership!