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Thread: Benchcrafted Split-Top Roubo

  1. #1

    Benchcrafted Split-Top Roubo

    Hello,

    I finally got moving on the bench that has been calling me for many years. Also finally sat down to post the build.


    The bench is currently in one of the many glue-ups. The base is done or near done because I still need to shape the chop for the leg vise. The top has been milled and glued and milled and glued. It is a tad under 4 1/4" thick at the moment. The slab for the front is out of the clamps and the rear section went in the clamps a few minutes ago.

    For those who aren't familiar with the benchcrafted plans....the top is done in pieces. The rear section glue up is straight forward. The front section has the wagon/tail vise in it so it is initially smaller than the rear plus the dog hole strip plus the front laminate. 1 3/4" and 1 1/2" respectively. The last two pieces are added as the vise is installed. I haven't made the dog hole strip yet. These pieces are milled to thickness but I still have to make the template and route the dog holes per the plan. And glue up the end-cap that I just remembered.

    The plan for the top has been to get the best yield for the overall thickness of the bench. If all the stars align it should be just at the 4" mark in the end.

    Trying not to go too long here, I know there were many questions that I had prior to buying ($$$$$) the package and lumber so I will try to answer the questions that I had and now am on the other side of some of them.

    1. Species? this ended up being more about what was available than what I was intending. Hard maple! 3rd choice. 1st choice was soft maple then ash. It wasn't just because SM is cheaper. I made a moxon bench with an ash base and soft maple top and love it. What was available in the quantity and sizes ultimately decided the species.

    2. How much to buy? I left the lumber yard with 138 BF of hard maple most 9-10" wide and 8ft long straight 8/4. that may or may not include some 6/4 shorts I bought for the side rails and stretchers that I milled and glued up as 8/4 lumber cores because they were cheaper and looked like a good idea at the time(they look good and it worked out well). on top of the 138bf I knew that I had a bunch of cherry including some 12/4 and 8/4 that I could add in if the situation called for it. Either way I knew I was cutting it close. AGAIN...it is what they had the day I was there. When the plans came a month later and I started marking up and laying out it became very clear that I under bought.

    I have all of the scraps from the milling and I have very little wood that could've been spared if any and I still had to use a piece of 8/4 soft maple for the rear lower stretcher (+12bf) and the chop is cherry 12/4(add at least another 12bf). So far, I have been able to limit the parts that aren't hard maple to parts that can be replaced later if it ever occurs to me. At first I wanted to make this a really nice looking bench and it will be but it is a bench and I am building a tool not a piece of living room furniture. Besides, everyone knows that you don't build one of these to be beautiful, you build one to make other woodworkers jealous! just sort of kidding I really hope the leg vise holds wood like the videos I have seen. I love their moxon vise and use that all the time.

    3. Tools and tooling? The tooling wasn't a question at the beginning but after the plans arrived I quickly learned that there are several forstner bits over the 1" that are used and a wood tap for the machine screws that hold the leg vise handle on the chop....and some long auger bits. Nothing crazy just not in my original thinking. I used the bandsaw to brake down the wide boards and then I used (still using) the hell out of an 8" jointer and 15" planer, TS of course and the drill press. A router and mortiser too. All have been used regularly and at different times except the band saw and mortiser. I am just now putting the tops together so I don't know yet if a 12" jointer is really a big deal for this yet or just that I NEED a 12" jointer just because "why not?". After I glued up 3 boards at a time for the top, I used the jointer again for a flat and 90* corner and per benchcrafted reccomondations i used 5 biscuits to keep the flat bottoms flat. The front section can still go over the jointer but the rear would need the number 7. When all of the glue-ups are done for the top I will flatten the bottoms again by machine or hand and finish with the planer for all parts at one time. The bottoms look pretty flat so I am not concerned about the potential need for hand planes, it wouldn't be a huge deal.

    I am waiting to have all of the top components ready prior to chasing the final 4" thickness....man I hope I get very close!

    Those are the big questions that I had before the start.

    Pictures will come when I re-figure that out. I have been taking them. There really isn't much to see. I mill, I glue, I mill, I glue....

    The plans and instructions provided are very good. It was sailing along until I started putting the leg vise together.....it worked smooth but wouldn't close(I am an idiot). I emailed Jameel and he was quick to get back to me. I put the criss cross in backwards. He was nice and helpful. Because the top isn't done I haven't been able to use the leg vise but with the base glue up complete, I put the left side up on my soon to be old bench and clamped it down to operate the chop and it is smooth. Not hard to install but I would say it takes some playing around with. All covered in the instructions and not a big deal.

    Making the base is just carefully laying out the measurements from the drawing and cutting mortise and tenons. There is a ton of layout work. This is where all of the planning comes into play and gets real. The criss cross mortise in the leg is not hard to do, very simple after its done and I look back at it, but where it goes on your bench and how that location plays into the mortises and rails needs to be addressed>>>>tons of lay out. Again, not hard, just be ready for some time with a pencil, a starret and a 4' ruler helped.

    Milling:
    First I used the bandsaw and ripped the wide boards down. after some layout, I didn't just cut anything. Then I let that sit for a couple of days, the top parts for a week while I worked on the base. The milling for the base was simple.

    The milling for the top was a lot more work. I was feeling fine until about half way through the rough mill. Then I knew I would be sore. At the end I didn't want to sweep up. There are some things that would have made my life easier and less sore. I could have used more in and outfeed support, moved more things out of my way so moving around was easier, taken a slightly bigger cut on some of the boards. That said, take a motrin before and after you rough mill and you will whine less than me.

    If I were buying the lumber to build one of these for someone else....I would buy all 10 footers and all 10" wide plus I would like to have the lumber yard pull a lift and I would go through the lift piece by piece and get the 200bf recommended. I know it is more money but that is what I would do having made it this far into the build. This way getting a bench top right at 4 " will be much easier, less stress.

    I would also recommend that you start buying parallel jaw clamps every time they are on sale as soon as you think you "might" build one. I have been using glue and clamps for just the top for 5-6 days in a row with more to come, just for the top. 15-20 clamps and 24 hours per section.

    Oh, Dust collection!!!!! I have a trash can type 2 stage and I couldn't believe how often I had to empty that, and still do. The bag still filled up. It is good size pile of mulch now.

    -David

  2. #2
    Pictures.

    The base in clamps:




    The lumber core I made from 6/4:









    Here is the latest, the 4 pieces of the top getting ready for the wagon/tail vise install that will complete the top. The top is flat and somewhere just shy of 4 1/16".



    everything is over length and the dog hole strip also has the moving block for the vise at one end.

  3. #3
    Looking good, David! Looking forward to seeing the process and how you like it after you finished!

  4. #4
    I built the same bench in beech ~2-3yrs ago. BC hardware is SLICK!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    South West Ontario
    Posts
    1,502
    Is the dog hole strip 1/2” from the edge or have you not finished laminating?
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  6. #6
    The front laminate is 1 1/2"

    That is added after the dog hole strip to finish the bench width. I took the clamps off today and routed the bottom for the tail vise.

    I will post more pics soon.

    After spending much time on the end cap i drilled a hole in the wrong spot. Boo yeah. So i have been delayed in the finished bench.

  7. #7
    I have the bench mostly done. I haven't bolted the tops to the base yet but everything is so heavy and fits well so it is usable with no issues. Slightly out of flat but better still than any bench I have used to this point so I am stoked.

    The Benchcrafted vises are insanely smooth and hold work perfectly. The leg vise is smooth and powerful. Not to mention quiet and fast. The tail vise is smooth and makes holding the work piece so easy...so easy! I am so glad I have it. Now I am sure my No. 4 will get used more as it should.

    "Slick" is correct.




    I need more lumber now. Still left to do is the shelf that will have a shorter, wider version of Matt Wajda's North Bennet street tool box most of the width and as high as I can go and still use the holdfasts. Plus the deadman, shape the chop and make the gap stop.

    The bench is everything they advertise and I am glad I made it. I think the expense will even out with less frustration with holding work pieces.

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