Not quite a Roubo work bench

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RobNichols

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I am in the process of making my first workbench. I've started doing woodwork as a hobby (rather than just doing bits of DIY) in the last year or so. I have found that not having a solid platform to work on is limiting. So I decided to get myself a workbench. After some research I decided that I really should make it myself as I'd learn a lot from doing it, and I'd be able to make something that I hope will suit my needs. My garage is my workshop so I don't have acres of space to work in, so I wanted something reasonably small. I also wanted to do as much as possible by hand. What I've been building is influenced by Christopher Schwarz and other builders of Roubo style work benches, I also purchased Richard Maguire's Build a French Workbench series.

My starting point was purchasing a couple of thick oak boards, one of which I cut in half to form the workbench top. The other has been set aside to become the outer jaw of the leg vice. In hindsight, the boards are a little too thin for a Roubo style bench. They are approximately two inches thick, and I note that C. Schwartz recommends four inch as a minimum which I read after starting the build. I don't think it will be until I start using the bench that I will discover if I have made a serious mistake here.

I started by planing the top of the boards to get them flat. That took me a few days working with a number of hand planes. A wooden block plane turning out to be particular good for this purpose.

flattening_top.jpg


I then jointed the sides of the boards so that they could be glued together. I started with a jack plane, then the block plane and finally a jointing plane to get the edges flat. Following R. Maguire's example, I decided to us loose tenons for this main joint. I cut the mortises using a hand held 1/2" router. I had recently purchase a Trend hinge cutting jig second hand which turned out to be perfect for this job. I cut the loose tenons and shaped them by hand (unfortunately I didn't take photos of them).

routing_loose_tenons.jpg


It was then a fairly simple job to glue the two boards together. I used Gorilla PVA.

joining_top_halves.jpg

I left the boards over night in the clamps.

The next task I stared was to start flattening the lower surface of the worktop in the area where I wanted the legs to be. A jack plane I'd bought for £4 at a house reclamation centre proved to be excellent for this task.

flatten_bottom.jpg


At this point I also decided I needed to fill some small cavities in the oak which I did using some toughened G-Flex epoxy. I used an ecopoxy pigment to colour the epox black.

I started by taping over the cracks in the top surface using Gorilla Crystal Clear tape to prevent the epoxy running out through the work top. I then flipped the top over and poured the epoxy into the cracks and knots in the underside of the work top. The tape worked well and I only had one very small leak at one of the edges.

Once dry, I then turned the worktop over, removed the clear tape and poured epoxy in the cracks from the top. As the cracks had already been filled from the bottom, I didn't need to use tape on the lower surface to prevent run out.


epoxy_crack_filling.jpg

Once that was dry I then used a knife to remove the excess epoxy from the work top and sanded it flat.

filled_cracks.jpg

The next task was to cut the mortises for the legs, but I'll leave that for another post.
 
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Nice to see you are going the hand tool road. 2'' of oak will make a good enough bench top but will need a more supporting under carrage than the usual Roubo plan of the legs morticed into the top. A couple of cross members at the top will do that. Something along this design.
P1010001.JPG
The tops of the cross rails sit up slightly proud of the leg tops so final leveling is just a few quick swipes with a plane to get the top sitting flat without rocking.
Regards
John
 
Nice to see you are going the hand tool road. 2'' of oak will make a good enough bench top but will need a more supporting under carrage than the usual Roubo plan of the legs morticed into the top. A couple of cross members at the top will do that. Something along this design.

The tops of the cross rails sit up slightly proud of the leg tops so final leveling is just a few quick swipes with a plane to get the top sitting flat without rocking.
Regards
John
Thanks for the suggestion, but the project is a little further on that the current posting might suggest. It was getting quite late by the time I got to where I had with the first post. This is a more up to date photo which I thinks gives a better idea of where I am currently.
IMG_20221016_143001431.jpg
 
Robo
just an observation.....
next time when glueing up have 1/2 the clamps on top as is and the other 1/2 from underneath....
It helps to keep the 2 boards/joint flat......esp on thinner stuff.....
Thanks clogs. The top is very heavy and the boards are thick. The joint contains loose tenons. My assessment that gluing up on the relatively flat workmate top would keep the top aligned and was worth the disadvantage of not allow clamps to be fitted under the board. I think I would have struggle to rest the top on the clamps that I have. Perhaps a mistake but it seems to have worked OK
 
After some research I decided that I really should make it myself as I'd learn a lot from doing it, and I'd be able to make something that I hope will suit my needs.
Exactly the right approach!
In hindsight, the boards are a little too thin for a Roubo style bench. They are approximately two inches thick
There are two aspects to this - one is the possibility of bounce, say if you're doing heavy chopping work with a chisel & mallet, and the other is a general stabilty against movement that comes from weight. Experience will guide you further.

I agree with the comments about cramping, even more given the flimsy cramps used. You could have done the glue up with the boards vertical against a wall, turning it to cramp from each side.

I'm not keen on the epoxy - I'd rather that you'd kept it rustic!
 
yes with the clamps, it can actually cause twist in some cases if it's not evenly clamped from both sides, looks like it didn't matter this time though but something to bear in mind for future.
 
Part 2.
I next started cutting the legs to size and added an offset (half lap?) tenon to the top of each leg. I then cut the matching mortises in the worktop. I cut most of the waste out with a router, the Trend jig working well again. And then squared and took the holes out to size using chisels.
IMG_20220919_140849177.jpg
partially_router_cut_mortise.jpg
leg_holes_cut_in_top.jpg


The screw I have for the leg vice is long and would foul the opposite leg. So I doubled up the leg that would take the vice, and used a double mortise for that leg as it is very wide. I also rebated the lower surface between the edge of the top and the mortise hole to try to give a better fit as I've left the bottom of the worktop rough. With that done the bench could stand on its legs for the first time.

IMG_20220924_171532169.jpg
double_mortise.jpg


Next job was making the stretchers. I used regular tenon and mortise joints for these. As these mortises were smaller and blind, and I had a chisel that was just the right size, I cut them by hand using chisels.
IMG_20221009_124603534.jpg
cross_members.jpg

Today I've cut dowel holes in all the stretchers joints (offsetting the hole in the tenon by a millimetre or so). And ... I've taken the plunge and glued (with Titebond Hide glue) and doweled all the joints.
IMG_20221023_140916999.jpg
 
Part 2.
I next started cutting the legs to size and added an offset (half lap?) tenon to the top of each leg. I then cut the matching mortises in the worktop. I cut most of the waste out with a router, the Trend jig working well again. And then squared and took the holes out to size using chisels.
View attachment 145875View attachment 145872View attachment 145873

The screw I have for the leg vice is long and would foul the opposite leg. So I doubled up the leg that would take the vice, and used a double mortise for that leg as it is very wide. I also rebated the lower surface between the edge of the top and the mortise hole to try to give a better fit as I've left the bottom of the worktop rough. With that done the bench could stand on its legs for the first time.

View attachment 145876View attachment 145874

Next job was making the stretchers. I used regular tenon and mortise joints for these. As these mortises were smaller and blind, and I had a chisel that was just the right size, I cut them by hand using chisels.
View attachment 145877View attachment 145878
Today I've cut dowel holes in all the stretchers joints (offsetting the hole in the tenon by a millimetre or so). And ... I've taken the plunge and glued (with Titebond Hide glue) and doweled all the joints.
View attachment 145879
Why hide glue over PVA or polyurethane glue?

Seems solid does it feel it?
 
Why hide glue over PVA or polyurethane glue?

Seems solid does it feel it?
It's what Richard Maguire (link in first post) uses in his tutorial which is one of my main inspirations for this build. I presume because the longer cure time gives you more time to get all the joints together. In my build I needed to get eight doweled joints fitted and then fit the worktop on with it's four further tenon joints connecting into the legs. It really need to all be glued up as one. However, it didn't actually take that long to get everything together, so in hindsight I could have used PVA. It was another learning experience as I've not used hide glue before. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd be in a hurry to use it again in preference to a good PVA.

The bench is really solid. I think I'm reaping the benefit of the bench being so small. That's allowed me to compromise without overly lose too much strength. However, I think I'll only really get to know how successful I've been when I start to use it in anger.
 
PVA and PU glues come with various open times that aren't always very prominently stated in the rambling novelettes that pass for the product descriptions of anything these days ...
And also vary with temperature, pertinent at this time of year!
 
The bench is looking good and that thickness top looks quite suitable to the scale of it. I also think that with those big tenons it will likely be solid enough.
Regards
John
 
It has been a fun build. I have learnt a lot doing it and I'm really looking forward to using it.

I'm putting the build on hold now as I have some things I want to make as Christmas presents and I can use the bench as is for those. After Christmas I'll fit the vices and do a little tidying up.
 
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