# Roubo bench project - WIP (UPDATE No 3 )



## Escudo (1 Mar 2011)

Hello fellas,

Here are some pictures of a new project, to build a Roubo bench for the new workshop. I will take some pictures of my new workshop for another thread when it is not wet, covered in snow or fog, or so upside down it would be  .

A new bench has been a priority for the last six months when I took delivery of a load of Ash boards, 8 x 2 (for the top) and 6 x 2 (for the legs) some posts for the long stretchers.

Here is a picture of the timber pile stacked in the corner where it has been for the last five months.





Sitting on the top of the wood stack is Chris Schwartz excellent workbench book a must read for anyone thinking of making a bench. I also would like to credit the excellent Benchcrafted website, lots of very useful guidance regarding leg and wagon vices also some design ideas.

The first job was to get started on the legs. The plan to laminate three pieces and at the same time form a tenon as a means to attach the legs to the top. The legs turned out just over 5” square. I carefully selected the best pieces for the fronts and backs of the legs and made good two very knotty pieces by laminating the edges with some offcuts.
Here you can see how the grotty bit is hidden in the middle.





I then made a start on the short stretchers, using the same dimensions for the legs only two sections here, it was easy to form a tenon on the end of these pieces. The first testing job was to cut the mortises in the legs, pictures as follows;













Remove most of the waste with a forstner bit and then tidy up with mortiser and chisel/file, taking care not to go over the lines!

The long stretchers presented more of a challenge. I also did not have much stock to play with. I was not working to any precise dimensions, trying to work as the material allowed. The post were only just over 4ft long and I decided to keep these as long as possible and ended up with a 50” length. 

I came up with the idea of adding a tenon to the end using my domino machine pictures as follows;









The advantage of this approach became apparent when I set about drilling a long hole through the leg for the bolt used to hold the stretcher to the leg. This design feature would mean that the bench could be knocked down if needed to be moved. Gawd knows how heavy it will be. Can't lift two legs on my own!  

I could now drill the hole in small stages using my pillar drill for the leg section from both sides, the tenon and my hand drill for the stretcher. A hole in the side would provide access to attach a nut.

Here is a picture of the bolt appearing through the mortise.





Next job is to glue up the legs, I have some work to do on the leg which will hold a leg vice as this needs another mortise for a parallel guide. I also need to drill a hole for the vice screw.

Once glued up I can tidy up the faces, reduce the dimensions a little and re fit the stretchers. These should finish flush with the legs when complete.

Here is how she sits just now;





This has been an enjoyable project so far, look out for another update as work proceeds.

Cheers, Tony.


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## mtr1 (1 Mar 2011)

That looks like a great bench build Tony, I see that you mentioned benchcrafted vices, I ask because I'm thinking about using said vices in my bench build, so will be following this with great interest. Good luck, it looks like a cracker.


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## Paul Chapman (1 Mar 2011)

Looking good, Tony.

Cheers 

Paul


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## Chems (1 Mar 2011)

Looks great, love the Roubo builds.

What style of vices are you going to have overall leg and wagon? I guess not leg as you haven't made the runner for it?


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## Escudo (2 Mar 2011)

Thanks fellas,

Chems, On the subject of vices I really wanted to use the benchcrafted leg and wagon vices. Here is a link to the package;

http://benchcrafted.com/plans.htm#Package

At $750 plus another $250 for delivery, not to mention duty and VAT it was just too expensive.

I am going to try and make my own version of the set-up using a pair of veritas screws, I have sourced two wheels for the parallel guide and also bought a small piece of acetal plate for the bushing, I have the fixings organised and so far I have only spent about £80. I am working on organising a couple of cast iron handwheels and have also thought about turning a couple of wheels - now that would be a challenge!

Tony.


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## adidat (2 Mar 2011)

:shock: wow i was interested in the bench crafted kits. but $250 delivery :? really puts me off. did not realize it was that much.

adidat


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## Escudo (3 Mar 2011)

Hello adidat,

I was also shocked by the freight charges, but accept that the package would be heavy and probably would need some insurance etc.

I have just checked the email I received from benchcrafted a few months ago and the precise figure for delivery was $165. 

I hope I haven't mislead you with my previous post when I mentioned $250, and on reflection from memory at the time of writing thought in total that the package would come to over $1000 when all the trimmings, duty VAT etc were added.

We seem to agree that this is just too much to pay.

Benchcrafted do not have a UK agent which is a pity, and somewhat of a surprise considering the potential UK based candidates - if I could speculate a little, CHT, Richard Maguire, WH, etc???

Lets hope my version of the leg vice will work and save the money!

Cheers, Tony.


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## Pvt_Ryan (3 Mar 2011)

Tony,

If it's not too cheeky to ask, I would be very interested in a material & cost breakdown when you are finished. I might have to bite the bullet and make a proper bench soon as the current chipboard PoS is not really up to it.

Ryan


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## Mcluma (3 Mar 2011)

I like the sturdy look of it, and also the use of the bolts, so you can knock it down.

did you use the domino to make holes to fit the nuts in?


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## woodbloke (3 Mar 2011)

Tony, coming on well...when do we get the full tour of the new 'shop? - Rob


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## John503 (5 Mar 2011)

Coming along nicely, Tony!


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## Escudo (4 Apr 2011)

Hello fellas,

Here is an update on my Roubo bench project, work completed over the last month;

I glued three of the legs together, made up of three laminations of the ash (45mm), I have not yet glued the vice leg, I decided to leave this until my work on the vice was complete. 

I shaped the chop following the benchcrafted design, and used a piece of oak for the parallel guide which is mortised into the chop and passes through the leg. Here is a picture of the guide and base of the chop;







The easiest way to fit the guide was to cut a simple slot in the bottom of the chop. Here you can see a large rebate to inlay a piece of rosewood to cover the front. I cut the rebate using my bandsaw and tidied up with a shoulder plane.






Pictures here of the chop with inlay at the bottom and the chop and guide passing through the leg. The through mortise was easy to cut using previous techniques on each lamination. This would be a much harder job if the leg was glued.











I drilled a hole through the leg to fit the Veritas tail vice screw and attached the nut part to the back of the leg. I drilled and tapped holes into the ash and used machine screws to fix the vice components.

Here you can see the screw from the inside. I also made some cross pieces to help support the top, keep the sides square, and enable a moveable section of the top to be made, part of my plans for the top, these pieces are held with large dominos. 






Here is a picture of how she sits now. 






I also drilled some holes into the other front leg for holdfasts etc. I have also already drilled holes in the legs to drawbore some ash dowels when finally assembling the sides.

Turning to my plans for the leg and tail vices here is a picture of the parts I have assembled to make my own version of the benchcrafted set-up.






Two nice cast handwheels 200mm and 125mm, I have handles on order for these and will have to reduce the diameter of the vice screws to fit the bore holes in the wheels. More on this later.

All from various sources on ebay - two little nylon wheels, and a brass rod - part of the guide supports, bolts to fix the guide supports and pieces of acetal bushing (hard black plastic) for the leg vice and to use in construction of the tail wagon vice.

Ash dowels, and a nice piece of rosewood, a small part of which I will use to make the guide supports.

Next jobs are to make the guide supports, get the vice working, tackle the big job of machining the timber for the top, and work out how to build in the tail wagon vice, dog holes etc. Lots left to do!

I will be at Yandles at the weekend, and will post another update as work proceeds.

Cheers, Tony.


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## mtr1 (4 Apr 2011)

Looks like good progress Tony, I'd be interested how those vices work, and a costing on all the hardware please.


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## markturner (5 Apr 2011)

That looks really nice, I love the leg vice. Was tossing up wether to do one on mine, but was unsure wether I would use it much. That means that your frame will be flush with the bench front I guess? I thought about this and decided it would not look right so shelved the idea. Would be interested to see how the design of your works as a unit. Also love the wheels, where did they come from? That benchcrafted stuff is simply gorgeous, but way too expensive.....

Cheers, Mark


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## Escudo (5 Apr 2011)

I am very happy with progress so far fellas, thanks for kind comments. On the subject of costings here is a run down to date;

*Timber*
Kiln dried American Ash £500 (Tim Collin timber merchant, Wroxham nr Norwich)
10 x Ash dowels 9mm £9 (ebay - The cross grain pellet co.)
Rosewood offcuts + from stock say £10

*Hardware for bench*
4 x Stainless steel cap head bolts (m10 x 150) + nuts washers £27 (Nuts & bolts)

*Vice components*
4 x Stainless steel cap head bolts (m10 x 75) £6 (Boltmeup.com)
Black acetal plate 12 x 85 x 150mm £7 (ebay - Davis industrial plastics)
2 x Veritas tail vice screws £67 (Axminster)
2 x nylon wheels with bearings £20 (MSA wheels and casters Ltd.)
Small peice of brass rod (from stock)
6 machine screws (from stock)
Cast iron handwheels 1 x 200mm 1 x 125mm + handles £150 (inc £40 for hole drilling and tapping) ( WDS Limited)

*Sundry*
2 x Titebond III glue pots £16 (Rutlands)
Veritas surface clamp £45 (Rutlands)
Finish not yet determined say £20

Total amounts to just over £800. :shock: + hours of fun and enjoyment.  

Cheers, Tony.


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## Benchwayze (7 Apr 2011)

What make are your sawtooth-Forstners Tony; if you wouldn't mind. 
I am watching with interest. My SYP is shop-ready and has settled nicely. I am due to start as soon as my knee has settled nicely too!

Am I correct in saying that the Benchcrafted tail-vice has a left-hand thread? 

I would hazard a guess that the wheel adjuster could be the next modification by Record, for their vices. 
It might be a bit awkward on Q/R models, but I reckon it would work well on a fixed pattern vice. No more clanking as the 'T' bar drops down! 


Cheers
John


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## noddy67 (8 Dec 2011)

Hi Tony. I was just looking at the bench crafted wagon vice and came across this thread. I was wondering how you've got on building your two vice from the components you listed. Would love to have an update, perhaps with some pics if you have time. Thanks


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## woodbloke (8 Dec 2011)

noddy67":jld742v0 said:


> Would love to have an update, perhaps with some pics if you have time. Thanks


Come on Tony :-" ...an update and 'shop tour is well overdue - Rob


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## the_g_ster (8 Dec 2011)

Update, this looks like it could be awesome.

The Roubo is a work of art, I would love to make one myself one day.


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## herdsman (13 Dec 2011)

A very inspirational WIP, I like the rethink on alternative vice hardware making the project more affordable.


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## Escudo (13 Dec 2011)

Hello fellas,

I feel bad that I have not got round to posting an update on the Roubo bench project which is finished.  

I have lots more pics of the build from the point above and promise to finish this thread, for the record.

My efforts to create a leg and wagon vice (based on the benchcrafted design) have worked, although I need to do some more work on the leg vice which is not quite providing enough clamping pressure.

I also must organise some pictures of my workshop which is pretty much completed, and in a bit of a messy state at the moment. I am going to have a tidy up over the Christmas holiday.

Thanks for continuing to show an interest in my efforts.

Cheers, Tony.


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## Tierney (14 Dec 2011)

I've been checking daily for updates to this thread, and then we get a little teaser saying it is finished; but, you can't see it yet! :wink: 

...oh well I'll keep on checking daily then.

DT


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## Escudo (28 Dec 2011)

Well fellas here is a further, much anticipated, instalment on the Roubo bench project, work undertaken last spring and summer.

Picking up the thread from the previous post;

I completed work on the leg vice front inlaying a piece of Rosewood at the bottom to cover the tenon for the guide, here is a picture of the leg vice in position. The leg vice was made to be a little taller than needed, final adjustments to be made once the top had been made.





A view from the side which shows the legs glued at the sides and holes ready for two dowels, and the larger hole for the long bolt to hold the frame together, this approach means the bench can be knocked down if needed to be moved.





Here is a picture of the opposite side showing the leg with holes already drilled for dogs, holdfasts etc. You can also see a large hole in the long stretcher (bottom corner) this is for access to position the nut for the long bolt, coming from the other side.





It was a good strategy to drill holes and cut mortices etc before gluing the legs together. They were so heavy it would be difficult to manage this afterwards. Also if a boob was made a component could be remade without too much trouble.

The frame was completed at this stage. Although, further work was required to complete the leg vice leg. The inlay of the acetal plate, and installation of the guide runners more on this later.

The next job was to start work on top. Here you can see the big job of splitting the 8" boards in half. Some of the boards were a little shy of this measurement and I seem to remember working to the smallest width which gave me 3 3/4" widths.

Here is a picture of the operation in progress using my trusty bandsaw.









When I made the little stand for my bobbin sander I made sure the finished height matched that of my bandsaw. A very handy support for this job. I did not have a roller stand so made one which clamped into my workmate. This was also an effective solution on the outfeed side.

Once I had cut the boards I used my PT to square these up. I was not to worried about the thickness which varied a little from one length to the next. Although, it was important to ensure I had six pieces the same thickness as the leg laminations as this would make fitting the top easy. I selected the best pieces for the front and back and tried to match the grain where possible. Any grotty pieces were made good with a thick veneer. An approach I used earlier on the leg construction.

The width of the top was now just over 3 1/2" the lengths were odd but all 7ft +. Here is a first picture of the top coming together.









You can see two lengths sticking up in the above picture, well they were sitting on the leg mortices. The next job was to cut the mortices for these. Very easy as the thicknesses were the same just a simple cut out on the bandsaw.

I had plans for a stop near the leg vice and this was easy to create just by cutting a length and leaving a gap when gluing together.





I glued the top together in stages. Glue everywhere, the most nerve racking part trying to get all the clamps on and keep things level. I decided at this stage to keep the top in four sections, approx width 8". This meant I could run the glued board through the PT and also meant I could handle lifting these heavy chunks around. The picture above shows a gap in the top this was to accommodate a removable section. An idea I had seen on one of Richard Maguire's benches.

The removable piece enables clamps to be passed through the top for clamping and also to create a long stop the length of the bench, another useful feature.

Here is a good place to stop on update number two. More to follow, including;

The fitting of the bottom shelf. 
The issues with the wagon vice. leg and top.
The metalwork for the vice screws and wheels.
Making the little guides for the leg vice and fitting the acetal plate.

Thanks for continued interest. If I can be of any help with my experience of making this bench please give me a shout.

Cheers, Tony.


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## marcros (31 Dec 2011)

Tony, 

Brilliant WIP. I am just looking at the options for handwheels for a leg vice- I much prefer them to the "normal" wooden handles. Was it a big job to reduce the diameter of the screws to fit your wheels? 8" wheels seem less readily available. There are some 5" ones on ebay at the moment which seem like sensible money, but will need a bit of modifying. This should do for a wagon vice. I would also like to make a moxon vice, based on the benchcrafted one whilst I am at it, but that would involve tapping 2 of the 5"- at least the wagon vice does not seem to require that being done. How come did you have to tap the handwheels?

TIA
Mark


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## Escudo (2 Jan 2012)

Hello Mark,

I used Veritas vice screw threads for both the leg and wagon vices on my bench. The diameter of the screws were too large to fit both handwheel centre holes and I looked everywhere for handwheels the correct size, to no avail. The job of reducing the diameter was beyond my skills or nerve on my little metal working lathe so I out sourced this job to my engineering mate.

I would recommend this approach, if you can find a little engineering shop. On a big lathe with the skills it is an easy job. It is also very important for the wheel to accurately fit the screw. The wheels were simply pressed on to the screws with some sort of heavy pressing machine. 

I have plans to take some more pictures for this thread of the wagon vice set-up, including a bit of commentary on the above.

One small issue worth mentioning with regard to the diameter of the smaller wagon vice wheel. My bench has a 3 1/2" thick top and as I centered the screw in the top of bench end the wheel at 5" diameter just protrudes above the bench top. An issue I completely overlooked. It is a small point, but as the wagon vice only travels 6" I would go for a smaller wheel with a diameter of less than the bench top thickness. I couldn't fit the vice any lower in to the top due to the position of the leg!

Hope these comments help. I must organise a few more pictures to supplement those I already have to explain matters.

Cheers for now. Tony.


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## Andy RV (3 Jan 2012)

Looks really good! Is the top going to feature any dog holes? If you go for drilled holes I really recomend Richard T's holdfasts, they're fantastic!


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## Escudo (8 Jan 2012)

Hello fellas, here is a further update to this thread.

Mark, I have included some pictures of the wagon vice set-up, and Andy you might just spot one of Richard's holdfast sitting in a dog hole keep a look out.

Firstly, I would like to show some pictures of the shelf I fitted to the bottom of the bench. It was just easier to make and fit this before continuing with work on the top. 





Using some offcuts I simply screwed some batons inside the stretchers, it was easy to cut and fit some planks to sit nicely on these batons. The picture also shows the two brackets I made to support the leg vice guide. More on this later.

To provide more support and structural strength to the long stretchers I fitted a piece in the middle glued with two large dominos in each end. That domino machine really is excellent. It is also very handy to have a little person to crawl around and do the fitting. Young Tom in action









In this picture you can see the bench frame completed, notice the acetal plate fitted in the leg vice leg to support the screw, held in place with some cap head bolts. 





Here is a picture showing my approach to making the two leg guide brackets.





I made the pair from one piece of timber. It was easy to cut the space for the little nylon wheel and mortice for the bolts using my bandsaw, then gluing the two sides back together. The wheel held in place with a small metal rod.

Here you can see an action shot of tapping the leg for the cap head bolts





Now back to the top and in particular the wagon vice

This picture shows the cuts I made in the underside of the top to fit the wagon vice, all were made before gluing up. I didn't have a plan only figured out where I need spaces for the mechanism to work. I could also clamp and hold the top together and dry fit the screw to test and refine matters before gluing all together. A bit of trial and error.





You can see in the picture three sections which make up the front apron of the bench top. The furthest section away is the underside of the front of the bench. I cut a groove in this with my router while I had the chance, as I thought it might come in handy if at a later stage I wanted to make a sliding deadman. 

The middle section shows the mortise which fits onto the tenon on the leg. I wanted to install the wagon vice as far into the bench as possible, and to the left of the right front leg. I thought it would be better to maintain the strength from keeping this mortice intact, a major part of holding and locating the top in place. The gap to the left is where the vice dog moves.

The front section shows the cut away for the screw to sit in. The hole on the left houses the end of the screw.

Here is a picture of the vice component.





I used a piece of the acetal plate to attach the vice to the bracket which came with the vice screw. This is simply bolted and screwed together.

The vice screw is bolted to a bread board type (I think that is the right term) end piece. The screw passes through this and locates in the hole.





Here you can see the small handwheel and the sleeve made to fit the wheel. This work was carried out by my mate who has a small light engineering shop. The screw thread had to be reduced to fit the wheel. The screw was simply pressed on to the wheel using a heavy press.

Here you can see the screw located into the hole. This stays in place as it is attached to the end of the bench and cannot move.





Here a view from the top, all in place





Hope this instalment is of interest, keep watching still a bit more to come.

Cheers, Tony.

PS - here are a few more pictures which may add to the above commentary;


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## Chems (9 Jan 2012)

Beautiful build, I'd be scared to work on it, looks so crisply made!


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## Paul Chapman (9 Jan 2012)

Looking really nice, Tony.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## marcros (9 Jan 2012)

Tony, 

How much Acetal did you use on the leg vice- something like 2 1/2" square?

Cheers
Mark


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## Tierney (9 Jan 2012)

very nice


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## Benchwayze (10 Jan 2012)

Tony...

You keep setting the 'Benchmark' here (Excuse the pun) :mrgreen: 
I am making a smaller 5' 6" version in pine, and I think I'll reconsider my intention to post a WIP. Either that, or up my game! 

Smooth work indeed. You have to be inspired with a bench like that. 

Nice one.

Regards
John


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## addendum (10 Jan 2012)

Nice looking bench! A few questions:

- Do you find that acetal plate is helpful? Necessary? Bottom rollers should hold up the leg on their own. What is the function of the plate? To relieve just a bit of pressure from nut so weight of the screw wouldn't be resting on bottom of the nut, to give you less friction while turning the crew? Was it hard to balance the plate it so it isn't carrying too much or too little weight?
- What diameter was required for hand wheel bore?
- Perhaps I missed it, but how are you securing the top to legs, aside from M&T? I am considering knockdown bench that will allow me to also pick it up by the top so it can be moved around the shop. My thinking is unglued M&T plus a 1/2" bolt through the top on each leg.


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## Escudo (10 Jan 2012)

Thanks fellas for the kind comments.

To respond to a few points raised;

Chems, I agree with your thought in away. I do think twice about drilling into the bench or wacking it with my hammer, and have a mat for my coffee mug!  Although, as the bench gets used, I suppose it will age nicely with the scars and wounds from honest use. I also think that making a bench is a sort of right of passage. It's a bit like Waka's lovely tool cabinet. Overkill, probably but an opportunity to learn a few new skills and to tackle something big. The construction is fairly basic joinery. 

I have another bench in my workshop which I made with an mdf top, just like Paul's, and my old bench had this. An excellent choice of material, easy, simple and can be replaced from time to time. Just as serviceable as my solid Ash top and I suppose a fraction of the cost and effort. 

Mark, I think the acetal plate is about 3" square. It is an 18mm piece. I used my router with a bearing guided cutter and made a little jig witch I clamped to the leg to accurately remove the timber to inlay this, held in place with four cap head bolts tapped into the leg. 

John, I look forward to seeing your bench. I am sure you can keep up the standard!

Addendum. Welcome to the forum, I see this is your first post. 
The jury is still out on the acetal plate. I must confess, I took the idea from the benchcrafted leg vice kit. I think the purpose is to help align and centre the screw which passes through the five inch leg. In order for this to run smoothly it is important for the screw not to touch the inside of the leg. Careful tweaking of the plate helps to set this up. It seems to work as I have the vice moving very freely.

You definitely need both guides top and bottom as this helps to support the guide which also passes through the leg. Again, it is important for a smooth action that the guide does not touch the inside of the leg. The leg mortise for this is a little oversize, but not enough to make the leg vice too sloppy (wiggle from side to side too much).
The roller guides also help to support the vice and take the strain from the screw. All help to ensure a smooth action.

The guide is very important as this helps to stop the vice racking. The holes in the guide are used with a pin or screwdriver to roughly keep the vice open at approximately the thickness of the timber being clamped, this allows much more pressure to be applied to clamp the item. The two roller guides also seem to take up some of the strain in holding the vice in place.

It is not to difficult to set-up. Once I had the vice in place I fitted the bottom roller guide pushing the vice up so it did not to touch the inside of the leg mortise making sure the screw was running smoothly. I then fitted the top roller pushing down to square the vice up. The aim to get the guide running on both rollers and not touching the inside of the leg. It sounds difficult, but was made easy as I could slide the roller guides up and down to get the best fit and bolt this in place once in position.

The bench top is in five pieces and can easily be knocked down. It is enough to carry one of these on your own.The top simply sits on the leg tenons, the weight holds the top in place, it cannot move in any direction. You should not need to use the bolts you mention. 

I have one more update to make on this thread. I will provide a bit more commentary on the leg vice.

The vice is not quite perfect yet, I am mulling over fitting a crochet to the front and may also line the inside with some suede to see if this helps with holding items tightly

Hope the above comments are helpful.

Cheers, Tony.


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## addendum (10 Jan 2012)

Escudo":xqen6vl6 said:


> The top simply sits on the leg tenons, the weight holds the top in place, it cannot move in any direction. You should not need to use the bolts you mention.
> 
> I have one more update to make on this thread. I will provide a bit more commentary on the leg vice.
> 
> ...



Thank you, Tony, these details are very useful. In my case, I need to have access to some storage that is between my bench and the wall, so it will be necessary to move the bench away from the wall by a foot or two once every few weeks. This is why I want bolts, so bench top can be lifted (and bench with it) and dragged around my workshop. I guess I could try to grab it around a leg and drag it around like that, but not sure I'd have a comfortable enough grip for the weight.

Please also remember to tell us diameter of LV screw where hand wheel goes, if you have it recorded. I have not been able to find this information anywhere, and I don't have the screw yet.


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## Escudo (11 Jan 2012)

Addendum,

I just found the email reply from Veritas when I enquired about the screw thread diameter. I will check the diameter of the forstner bit I used, can't remember if this was 28mm or 30mm.



> Thank you for contacting Veritas Tools Inc.
> 
> The main screws are metric screw threads, the specification is Tr 28 X 5 in accordance with DIN 103 (ISO 2903) with the major diameter restricted to between 27.665-27.800 mm.
> 
> ...



I have been able, with some effort, to drag my bench away from the wall, the top lifts a little but cannot come away if you move from one end to the other in a tacking motion. My floor is quite smooth which helps.

When I made the laminations for the legs I carefully noted the thickness of the middle section (the tenon) and made sure the lamination of the top matched so my mortise fitted tightly. It cannot move north to south or west to east and has to be removed from the middle, straight-up even lift.

Good luck with your bench, hope you will make a WIP. It is time consuming, but worthwhile and rewarding to document construction for the record.

Cheers, Tony.


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## addendum (11 Jan 2012)

Escudo":1hjsat9w said:


> The main screws are metric screw threads, the specification is Tr 28 X 5 in accordance with DIN 103 (ISO 2903) with the major diameter restricted to between 27.665-27.800 mm.



I wasn't clear - what I mean is not the threaded part, but the end of it where it goes into the... thing that accepts wooden handle - I am assuming that end is not threaded and that it is smaller diameter than the threaded part. If this is to be replaced with a hand wheel, I wanted to know what would be diameter of opening required in the hand wheel so it could be mounted (that is, I want to further explore the option of getting a large enough hand wheel to fit, or perhaps even make one out of wood+metal).


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## Escudo (11 Jan 2012)

I am with it, although I am not sure I know the answer. I am sure the end did not have a thread part. I think it was the same diameter. I had to have the screw machined down at the end to fit the diameter of the hole in the hand wheel.

This will vary depending on your wheel. If you could make a wheel, it maybe best to wait until you get the screw. 

Lee Valley are very helpful you could always send them an email.

Tony.


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## marcros (11 Jan 2012)

worth also noting that it is advised to use cast iron wheels, because their mass helps to move the vice in. I am not sure where I read this, possibly benchcrafted, possibly elsewhere.


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