making ruobo style bench

[Nameloc]

Hi , I have been building a ruobo style split top bench (no tail vive)using timber my Dad was given years ago. I am new to woodwork and assumed the timber was oak as it was heavy, however after working with it I started having doubts as it had a waxy feel and after some googling suspected it was teak.
I posted a question here about advice on what finish to use when it was done and received very helpful answers (BLO) and also that teak was super expensive and a bit to good for a bench.
Unfortunately the project is already well under way so there is no turning back.
I thought I may as well document this heinous crime.
here is where Im up to. sorry no photos of early stuff, jointing and thicknessing.
also sorry that the order of photos is bottom to top and that a lot of the photos require looking with your head cocked to one side I couldn't work out how to turn them or move them into order, so start at the bottom and get a water bottle for your neck

 

[Tom.D]

Wow, that looks fantastic. I do worry about the use of exotic woods now as they are going to become increasingly scarce. In your case however I don't think this is an issue, it's not like you've actively tried to buy this wood for this purpose.

That'll be a lovely bench to work at once you're done for sure !!

 

[Nameloc]

Thanks Tom
Yes the wood has been in the garage since befor I was even born and I'm 46 .
I hope it does turn out well , I'm really enjoying making it

 

[NickM]

It looks great. Good work.

 

[Max Power]

When I was a youth of seventeen at college doing my c&g carpentry and joinery, I built a traditional English bench using wood my dad gave me.
The base was secondhand 6x3 construction timber and the tops were teak from a shipwrights yard that had closed down.
I remember with great fondness Mr Robson who maintained all the machinery at college and very kindly dimensioned and dressed it all
I had it about 30 years then left it in a building that I rented out where it disappeared. I have a much better no expense spared bench now, but wish I still had the one my dad (who died quite young when I was twenty four) gave me the wood for

 

[Nameloc]

What a shame, I know what you mean though I still use a little metal toolbox my dad bought me for my 16th birthday

 

[Nameloc]

Its been a while, as Ive been waiting on some thicknesser blades to get the two tops flat before attaching them to the frame.

 

[Nigel Burden]

That's very nice. I really am in awe of the work that is posted on the forum. However, are you actually going to use it. I don't think I could. If you saw the state of my bench in the shed, you'd be appalled.

Nigel.

 

[MikeG.]

I really have never understood the cantilever on this style of bench. Why the huge overhang? It produces an area of bench top unsupported, and therefore out of the equation when chiseling or otherwise belting anything.

......are you actually going to use it. I don't think I could. ....

Et moi aussie.

 

[Blackswanwood]

I really have never understood the cantilever on this style of bench. Why the huge overhang? It produces an area of bench top unsupported, and therefore out of the equation when chiseling or otherwise belting anything.

That's an interesting point - most Roubo benches I have seen have a tail or wagon vice and I wonder if it is because the leg would be in the way of the vice mechanism?

EDIT - a bit of Googling found this https://blog.lostartpress.com/2014/11/1 ... -overhang/

 

[MusicMan]

I really have never understood the cantilever on this style of bench. Why the huge overhang? It produces an area of bench top unsupported, and therefore out of the equation when chiseling or otherwise belting anything.

......are you actually going to use it. I don't think I could. ....

Et moi aussie.

My bench is not the Ruobo design but is also built with a big overhang. The original purpose was to give room for the end vice (Continental design self built). The attached pic shows that you need a good overhang to fit this kind of vice. Agreed I don't belt on that part, but do that over the legs. But it comes in very handy for storing my lunchbox thicknesser, which is mounted on a folding base with gas strut support (there's a thread on here somewhere about it).

Oh and my bench legs and vice jaws are Indian Rosewood, not cheap stuff like teak. The timber yard guy who sold us a huge filthy slab that had been there for 90 years didn't know what it was either. To be honest, it was full of shakes which would have made it very difficult to use for furniture.

Keith

 

[MikeG.]

.....EDIT - a bit of Googling found this https://blog.lostartpress.com/2014/11/1 ... -overhang/

Interesting. Thanks.

 

[Nameloc]

:lol: It hadn't uccured to me the reason of the overhang was to accommodate a tail vice.
I left out the tailvice as I'm new to woodwork and not sure what kind of things I will be making on it , with the idea that I would add one later if I felt I needed one.
I've made a ukulele so I think I will be going in the direction of making instruments.
I followed ruobo PDF plans online.
I assumed the overhang would add many more clamping options , but I can't think of any :lol:
The overhang looks quite large on the photo, but that is mostly due to camera angle the bench is as stable as an anvilm (hammer) I'll maybe not hit it with a hammer though :shock:

 

[MikeG.]

........ I'll maybe not hit it with a hammer though :shock:

....nor sit on it!

 

[Trigs]

nice work, I put a leg vice on my new bench using a an old tail vice screw. Works well but not particulary smooth operation. The vids Ive seen of the benchcrafted vice look really well made and smoothly operated, maybe in future bench.

 

[Nameloc]

Thanks Trigs ,Benchcraft stuff is so expensive though, I used the criss cross by benchcraft because I couldn't find anybody else selling anything like it.
I used a veritas screw and a cast iron hand wheel , I'm sure it's not as smooth as a fully benchcraft vice , but it still closes with a spin of the wheel