Wakened Hands

I’ve been building this bench for so long that I’m a little sad to see it come to an end. It strange, usually projects tend to drag towards the end but this one really accelerated, so apologies for cramming a lot into this last update.

It’s been a challenging build but also a rewarding one. What i’ve liked most is that some elements have just fallen into place. The asymmetry in the top was dictated by the size of stock I had on hand. The two piece top was made of 4 beams, one was a good 7” wide and the rest were a little smaller. I used the 7” piece for the front as it was widest and it didn’t make sense to rip them all to a common width just to have the centre gap land right in the middle. I actually really like the fact that the work surface at the front totals 13” at the front and just over 8” at the rear. I also really like the fact that the 7” beam worked out to be exactly the same width as my sheldon vise. This really helped with the installation. The material for the legs had its fair share of structural defects, but all were addressed through epoxy reinforcement. It worked out to be kinda neat that I had enough material for 4 gnarled legs and 1 clear top. Without getting too mystical, in some ways i feel the bench build itself. Or at least dictated its final form. Anyways, on to the picture show.

The top was a bear to trim. I was able to make a kerf cut with my track saw but i still had 3” or so to hack through.

Man this was tough work. I nicked my fingers several times with this Ryoba, should have taped the edges….

I used miller dowels to secure the ledgers for the bottom shelf. Didn’t have to but if anyone ever looks up my skirt they’ll see a craftsman.

Next, on to the shelf boards. The veritas small plow is a finicky beast, can’t say i’ve mastered it but i was able to fiddle with it enough to get it plow an acceptable tongue and groove.

I find this type of work to be some of the most pleasurable. Light chamfering with an apron plane and a chisel.

Here she is, in the raw. Still needs a good danish oil bath and a few dog holes.

Made a quick jig to drill the dog holes straight and true. Lee valley sells this 3/4” brad point bit and 1” bushing, they make things easy.

On to flattening. You can see here the front beam lamination was slightly proud. All in all everything was sitting relatively well and it didn’t take too long to get things dead flat.

Full length shavings tell me I’ve found true flatness.

And when everything’s said and done here she is.

Another roubo workbench enters the world, built with wakened hands & built for a lifetime or two.

I’ve neglected updating for some time but the pace has picked up and I’ve made substantial progress. I’ve also made a few big decisions… I was going back and forth between on whether to go with a split or solid slab for the top, each has pros and cons but ultimately an asymmetrical split top design won out. A few considerations came into play, number one being mobility. Having just moved to a small town with my family, I have very few people to help out in a pinch, especially with a giant slab of walnut. There’s also an air of self sufficiency around these parts, which I guess will be reflected in this work. I’ll go it alone and manhandle it across the finish line myself. The second has to do with design itself, I figure there’s no real need for a sliding deadman if I can simply put a clamp in the split and secure the end of the board against the front of the bench top. Not having a sliding deadman will cut down on the complexity (and time) of this build substantially. Especially since my front stretcher is inset an inch and is not flush with the front legs. My original idea was to use a cam clap and a sliding block design for the deadman, the block would take up the 1” gap and would be a pretty elegant solution to this problem… but hey a clamp and the split is cleaner and simpler. Often the simplest solutions are best and the more elegant a solution the more beautiful. Maybe the deadman would just be clutter? I still like the idea of the cam clamp and I think I’ll use it with the gap stop and tail vise for a sliding batten system. Anyways, on to the pictures.

These sheldon vices are pretty nifty, the sliding bolt style action reminds me of a rifle. Though i’ve never touched a gun so I don’t know how accurate that statement is.

Of course it’s not 90 degrees, what fun would it be if it were easy?

There’s a hump on the bottom which requires a mortise, the hole is for a casting mark.

Skipped a few steps here but I’m sure you get the drift. There was a bit of serendipity here as my widest beam ended up being the exact width of the sheldon vice.

Top front glued and in the clamps. I used titebond 3 if anyone’s wondering.

Back half of the split is about 9”, front is about 13” and the gapstop is about 1.3”.