Split top Roubo bench on a budget

[Farmer Giles]

Thanks Dave, I've just ordered the thrust bearings, I also ordered a new V belt for the meddings radial arm drill from the same supplier. I think its a SPZ937 if my measurement of the remains of the old one is anything to go by, now I must wipe the grease off my wife's sewing tape measure before sneaking it back into her sewing room or I will be singing castrato! I should have used string and a standard tape but I think the kids have nicked my string.

 

[Farmer Giles]

A bit more progress today, I have nearly finished with the PT so I can have a good clean up. First I glued up the second half of the bench top. I used a mini paint roller, worked a treat, just the right amount of glue, enough so there is a small amount of consistent seepage, but not vast quantities of glue dripping out.

I stacked the six laminations on top of each other, roughly clamped them together, turned them through 90 degrees so the top was face down on a pair of level pipe clamps, then made sure all the laminations were in contact with the clamp pipes. This way there will be less to remove from the face as that side is virtually knot free, I think I have two tiny knots. There are a few knots around 20mm under the surface, the rest are on the under side.

It took a while to sort the laminations into internal and external timbers, try to get grain direction all going the same way, hide as many knots as possible and try and balance the end grain cupping. Here's the incomplete stack of glued timbers in progress with arrows attempting to show grain direction.

Last job was to laminate the sliding deadman as that will mirror the vice chop being walnut and Douglas Fir. I shoved a piece of walnut through the PT, then I resawed a Douglas fir board down the middle and shoved them through the PT. The plans stipulated a thickness of 1-7/16" for the deadman, after removing the saw marks from the timber it came out at just over 37mm which is 0.5mm over the required thickness so I left it at that and glued them up. Here's the bit of walnut I'm using for the deadman, I can work around the knot and have a bit left over for the cover on the tail vice.

That's it for today, big tidy up tomorrow. I will leave the tops for a few days before getting them planed and sanded to size at the local joiners shop so probably early next week. So in the mean time I will get on with mortising the legs.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Farmer Giles]

This morning I finally cut to size and planed all the timber so the big tidy up begins. One issue I had was an outfeed table for the band saw, the tall roller stand I had just didn't cut the mustard for resawing some of the wood so I found a bit of veneered chipboard for the table about to go to the tip, this will be replaced with something more substantial later. However I had been clamping this to the bandsaw table with g clamps and these were getting in the way of some of the bigger lumps of timber so I cut a piece of ply and screwed it to the underside of the table where there are conveniently 4 x M8 tapped holes.

I then shimmed up the chipboard table with a 15mm thick piece of ply screwed to it and held the table in place with some fence clamps so they don't get it in the way.

I'll make a better job of this later but it allowed me to finish of the resawing for the project in hand.

So, I started the tidy up and in the back of my mind was tomorrow where I am entertaining our youngest while the eldest goes to Harry Pottter world with mum. My youngest wants to do some woodwork and wants to make a sword and a work bench. I was thinking of making a mini-roubo with her, however I found these during the tidy up. The green one is an Axminster quick release vice I bought back in 2003 and was still in the box, it was for a bench I never got around to make

This big old record 53E was given to me by my uncle who was a joiner after I had bought the Axminster vice. It needs a bit of TLC, a bit rusty on the slides.

I think the record would ideal in the downstairs barn for general joinery and the Axminster may be OK for the daughter's bench if she doesn't want a mini roubo

Right, dog walk time then I'll continue the big tidy up so that the daughter can see the workshop floor tomorrow.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Farmer Giles]

The tail vice arrived today from Australia after finally being released by customs. Terry Gordon always answered emails and was as helpful as he could be given that it is largely out of his control when it goes into Parcel Force land. It actually wasn't too bad time wise from a postal perspective, it was customs that took the time, I just wanted instant shiny tool gratification, I need to be more patient

It was worth waiting for, if Terry's planes are anything like the vice then they will be a thing of beauty!

 

[Farmer Giles]

A neighbour ran me and the bench tops down to our local woodworking shop yesterday, and we picked them up this afternoon. They couldn't stick them through the sander or cut them to length but the hard work of planing and thicknessing has been done.

The tops need a couple of inches taking off each end so the slight gaps you see will go.

the timber to the left on the floor in the picture below is the rest of the timber for the bench, all thicknessed, and the cardboard box has all the hardware in it so now the interesting bit can start.

There are a couple of minor sound knots but more than acceptable to me.

They are square and the right width, and depth wise they are 4-1/2", the plans say 4" but I couldn't see any good reason to take it down the extra 1/2" given the stock it came from. I will adjust either the legs and sliding deadman down 1/2" or the vice chop size up 1/2" in length. I'm 5' 10" so probably don't need the extra height.

I'll leave the top until I have finished the base, once I have it mortised and I've done a dry fit I'll cut it to length on the RAS.

Cheers
Andy

 

[memzey]

Looking good! If you plan to use holdfasts then the depth might be a bit of an issue as some struggle with a bench more than 4” thick. Try them with a piece of scrap I’d say. I made a similar bench at the turn of the year (WIP thread is on this board) which was about 3 1/2” thick and my holdfasts work brilliantly. Good luck whatever you do!

 

[Farmer Giles]

Looking good! If you plan to use holdfasts then the depth might be a bit of an issue as some struggle with a bench more than 4” thick. Try them with a piece of scrap I’d say. I made a similar bench at the turn of the year (WIP thread is on this board) which was about 3 1/2” thick and my holdfasts work brilliantly. Good luck whatever you do!

Thanks for the tip memzey I guess I could drill larger holes underneath the bench, say 1" diameter 1" deep so from a holdfast perspective the 3/4" hole is only 3-1/2" deep. I have both the hammer down and screw down holdfasts ready to go, requested many moons ago for various birthday/Christmas gifts and waiting until I eventually made the bench.

As my 3/4" forstner bit won't go 4-1/2" deep and I don't like the extension bars, the intention was to use the radial arm drill to go as deep as it can, then us a small diameter but long drill to go through the bench as a pilot, then use a 3/4" auger bit in the radial arm drill, but the screw won't drag it through as the pilot hole stops it. Matt Estlea does something similar on his Roubo build on youtube.

So when I put the pilot hole through, I can then flip the top and drill the 1" hole underneath before flipping it again to put the auger through, also avoid break out underneath.

Cheers
Andy

 

[memzey]

Yes that or deeply countersinking from underneath should work. My WIP thread has been photobucketed but if you click on the links you can still see the pictures (my bench is very similar to what you are building but I used different vices). I found the thread here:

workbench-build-t102325.html

 

[Farmer Giles]

Thanks Memzey, the images aren't visible to others, only yourself, at least not to me, even if i click on them. There's probably a photoshop cookie on your PC so Photobucket knows it's your account so lets you view them.

Nothing much done today on the bench, still tidying the workshop but made leaps and bounds today, should have it finished over the weekend if the ankle biters give me a couple of hours. Then I shall get into the interesting part.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As said try your holdfasts in a hole of that depth - you might need to relieve the underside in which case you might need a pilot or at least to somehow bore it before the main hole (you won't have a centre), but otherwise the bit doesn't need guiding all the way through - once the hole is an inch or two deep and accurate an auger can then only follow it.

 

[Farmer Giles]

It's been hard going for the last couple of days, my pa died about 10 days ago and it only really hit me the end of last week, I think it was selecting poems for the service with the kids and writing a few words for his eulogy that set me off.

However I have tried to keep busy tidying the workshop and fiddling with the big Meddings radial arm saw I bought a while ago and doing a bit of fencing to keep the neighbour's cows off our willow saplings.

I started to mark up the legs a couple of days ago, but didn't get far. Fortunately it made me read the Benchcrafted criss-cross notes again, and I realised that the front stretcher needed to be altered to allow the barrel nut to go behind the recess for the criss-cross. It needed thickening up to 3" from 1-7/8". So I laminated that yesterday and put it through the PT today.

That bit of PT work galvanised me into action and I put the chop through the PT as I had forgotten to do that, then I started to cut out the recess for the criss-cross in both the front left leg and the vice chop.

First the leg, I don't have a spiral bit but I do have a long trimming router bit with a plunge tip. The slot is 1-7/16" deep, 3/4" wide and 19-1/2" long. I plunged to the full depth in a few passes then move the router bit towards the farthest pencil mark then turned the work around and did it again, I used stops at each end and used the router fence fine adjustment to take off about 1.5mm at a time.

I think this is close enough to 1-3/4"

Getting the end stops right meant very little tidy up, just the corners, I had a play with a few chisels just for the hell of it. I bought a corner chisel years ago, also tried my new Narex mortise chisel and I used a bevel edge chisel on a small patch in the middle of the recess that needed a bit of TLC. The Narex is lovely, not sure I need a corner chisel, it works ok I guess.

I have completed about 80% of the opposite recess on the chop when dinner and kids stopped play, I have a day tomorrow to repair any wind damage and hopefully make a start on the mortises on the legs for the stretchers then off to North Yorkshire for my dad's funeral Wednesday and Thursday.

Cheers
Andy

 

[MusicMan]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your father. It's a hard time.

Keith

 

[Farmer Giles]

Thanks Keith.
Remembering the good times, keeping busy in the workshop, family and home brewed stout is the remedy that softens the blow.
Cheers
Andy

 

[Farmer Giles]

I've had another spell away from the workshop, house DIY, work around the farm, my day job and looking after kids mainly. I've got the extension on the house finished, just needs fitting out. So it's utility and kitchen cabinets next, but I have a special dispensation to build the work bench first as I need that to help build the kitchen don't I

I've also got heating in the barn now, so very cosy

First job was to dust off the pile of timber I had cut roughly to size, go back through the drawings and notes and try to work out what I was doing 15 month ago.

It took a while but after a couple of days I'm back up to speed. The main issue was installing the Benchcrafted criss-cross for the leg vice and using barrel nuts so the bench could be taken apart. It isn't a major issue, it just means the front stretcher has to be 80mm deep or greater compared with the back stretcher which is 45m deep. This is so that the bolt that attaches the frame to the stretcher can pass behind the slot in the leg that the criss-cross runs in while still keeping the stretcher flush with the front of the leg so that the sliding deadman is almost flush with the front of the bench.

I had laminated the front stretcher out of two 37.5mm thick lengths of Douglas fir so I was still at least 5mm shy of the 80mm needed. I was trying to think what I had planned, I gave up in the end and added a 10mm thick lamination I had hanging around. I cut it 28mm shy of the full height of the stretcher so it will form the ledge for the boards under the workbench.

Next job was to remark all the mortices to make sure I haven't cocked up. I have decided to use the metric instructions that was written by Guido Henn on the Fine-tools website rather than the imperial plans I bought ages ago so this makes sense as previously I was going to use imperial. I have only cut the slots for the criss-cross in the leg and vice chop so far and I'm more comfortable with metric so less likely to make a mistake.

This time I will keep a log of decisions as I go along in case I have to leave it again, however I'm hoping to keep up the momentum now I have heating and permission from SWMBO

Cheers
Andy

 

[Farmer Giles]

I spoke too soon about the warm workshop, the boiler broke down yesterday, we are still in the middle of installing it and it's been going for about 3 weeks. I'll take a look on Monday, too busy on the bench at the moment so a couple of fan heaters and an extra t-shirt and some gloves are called for.

I thought I would start on the front stretcher, there is only a lower front and back stretcher, no need for an upper with 115mm of timber top The front stretcher is double the thickness of the other stretchers as it has to avoid the slot in the leg for the Benchcrafted criss-cross and still take a bolt. The remaining stretchers are very similar tenon wise, the rear stretcher has a meatier tenon than the rest but the upper and lower end stretchers are almost identical.

After cutting to size on the mitre saw, I decided to cross cut the tenons on the table saw as the stretcher was too thick to use the depth stop on the mitre saw. I miss my RAS for this as my table saw is only one step up from a site saw, I would love a Wadkin at some point. I only used the clamps for the first couple of cuts, more belt and braces until I got my confidence in the saw, the sliding table isn't the best of tools and took some adjustment.

Then took out the bulk of the waste on the bandsaw, I put a stop on the fence so there is no chance of cutting too deep.

I plan to cut the rest of the stretcher tenons tomorrow then tidy them up on the router table. Not much progress but it's taking me a while to get back into it, I'm a bit rusty and I keep finding things that need fixing along the way.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Bm101]

Andy!

If I'm going to get beaten on length of time to build a bench I will be honoured if it's by you. (Let's not compare build quality... :-" )
Routed out the vice housing today. Again. I moved it because despite all expert knowledge I really can't face a left sided end vice. It makes no sense to me despite all the proper advice. I'm right handed and I need a right handed vice. For the life of me I can't cut to the left of a line.
So there you are.
Enough about my nonsense. Look forward to more updates.

Great to see you back on (this) track and having some time 'off'. Lmao.

All the best.
Chris

 

[Farmer Giles]

Thanks Chris, I am making it a bit of an epic. I must admit I have never questioned the placement of the vice. I still have time to change, maybe I shall put it in the middle

I am having problems with the squareness of stock. Possibly due to not using the planer on the legs and stretchers and getting a reference face first before going through the planer thicknesser, or it could be a bit of shrinkage as its been over a year since I touched it. When cutting the tenons, although it is tiny, I have noticed the cuts are not following the lines I expect and make you question the accuracy of your squares. I can work with it but I'm certainly learning about wood a lot. I also need to true up the mitre saw, it seems to have moved a bit, again tiny but enough to notice on big chunks like the stretchers.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I actually use a mark on basic joinery that doesn't mark the square edges but marks the squarest - the ones I measure and gauge from. At least then I don't end up with mortices and tenons etc. offset from one end to the other.

 

[Farmer Giles]

I'm trying to do something similar however I'm just marking up the back stretcher tenons, one end is nigh on square, the other is distinctly trapezoidal.

I'm not going to take it out but work with it, I'm pretty sure this is normal wood movement and if I had assembled it straight away rather than wait 15 months then it would have been fine.

I did cut the timber roughly to size and leave it for a year before the last dimensioning on the PT so shows you how much wood continues to move. The tenons will be square and as long as the face of the stretcher lines up with the legs then you won't notice it and I'm after a functional bench rather than a coffee table so not too worried

 

[AndyT]

With a top four and a half inches thick, if anything doesn't line up perfectly I reckon you can afford a few swipes with a smoothing plane once it's finished. :wink: