Category Archives: Workbench

Tools Series – Part 7 – Workbenches

My mostly complete Roubo Split-Top Workbench with Benchcrafted vises

Workbenches

No workshop tool discussion is complete without discussing workbenches and chests and other ways to safely secure and protect your tools. This week we will be focusing on workbenches. Workbenches are, to some, considered workshop furniture. I think this is incorrect; workbenches are a tool, and in my opinion, the most important tool in your shop.

Without a workbench, you cannot properly hold your project pieces to do basic operations. Oh sure, you can put pieces on saw horses and I have, but a nice bench makes a world of difference when it comes to comfort and efficiency. I can say after finishing my bench, all operations have become 100% better than my old bench. It stays put and does not “walk” all around my shop when doing simple planing and it is very stout when chopping mortices and hammering over a leg. Long boards are a breeze. I can work on small pieces and thin pieces too.

Disclaimer: I will be referencing Chris Schwarz of Lost Art Press and Roy underhill of “The Woodwright’s Shop” a lot in this and the upcoming blogs. Chris and Roy have heavily influenced me and countless others during this renaissance of hand-tool wood working. Chris and his team at LAP have propelled this craft to levels not seen since at least the early 20th Century. Roy with his three decades of woodworking shown on PBS’ “The Woodwright’s Shop” had a very early influence on me personally. I also want to thank the many YouTube content creators (links below) who have also given new life into the craft.

I started my seriously fun woodworking adventure late in life (I’ve been dabbling all my life, but really went all-in around age 50) and with very little knowledge of the craft (more on my lack of knowledge later). I mainly knew about power tools and didn’t fully digest Roy’s show content until I actually took a class at his Woodwright’s School.

Published in 2011, LAP’s “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” was truly a turning point in my understanding of the craft and reinforced my ideals about hand-tool woodworking, self-reliance and the state of todays furniture industry (it sucks by the way). I just finished re-reading “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” and it is just as fresh and relevant today, 10 as it was ten years ago when it was published. The good news is the state of hand-tool working today is much more widely accepted than a decade ago. There are also more tool makers today that recognize that woodworkers demand quality products and are actually making them.

Crappy 1st workbench

My first workbench was purchased with an abundance of enthusiasm and ignorance. Those are a bad combination because the ignorance can lead you to a purchase an item that can kill your enthusiasm. Fortunately, this did not happen in my case. I just realized I just spent too much money (money that could be spent on materials for a real workbench) on a crappy and poorly designed workbench-shaped object. Okay, so now you know, so please don’t make the same mistake I did. Curb your enthusiasm a bit, and do your research before laying out big bucks for anything. Flashy ads and marketing hype are designed to tap into our lizard brains and trick us into wasting our hard-earned cash. Lesson learned; now let’s talk about real workbenches.

The famous Roubo Plate 11 – Figure 1 – 18th Century Workbench

The Great Roubo

I have detailed my Split-Top Roubo Workbench journey on several earlier posts, just click on the Workbench tag under Categories on the right to read more on those.

The Roubo Workbench above is from A-J Roubo’s – L’Art du Menuisier – Planche 011 published in 1769. This is what a workbench should look like. Heavy, really heavy, stout legs, and rock-solid joinery.

I chose the Split-Top design to make the bench easier to move. It can be broken down into 6 major pieces and easily transported. You do sacrifice some joint rigidity using breakdown barrel nuts and bolts in the legs and securing the top to the base, but so far I have not had an issue with rigidity and fasteners coming loose.

There are many different workbench designs out there, but I found the Split-Top Roubo design perfect for my needs. I choose the BenchCrafted vises as they are the best metal vises made today. They’re not cheap, but they’re very nice and I love using them. They have smooth action and work with little effort. Do not cheap out on bench hardware, you will regret it if you do.

Here is a picture of my new bench stop made by Master Blacksmith, Peter Ross. This has yet to be installed on the bench but it’s a beautifully crafted piece and I look forward to installing it (soon) and using it.

Links

Books and Supplies
o Andre Roubo’s – With All the Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture – Translation published by Lost Art Press)
o Roy Underhill – The Woodwright’s Shop – Publications
o Lost Art Press – The Anarchist’s Workbench – Chris Schwarz 2020
o Lost Art Press – The Workbench Book – Scott Landis 1987
o BenchCrafted – Vises and Hardware
o Peter Ross – Master Blacksmith

Video and Blogs
o Roy Underhill – Woodwright’s Shop – PBS
o Chris Schwarz – Blog Search “Workbench”
o Paul Sellers – Paul Sellers Woodwork
o James Wright – Wood by Wright
o Matt Estlea – Matt Estlea
o Joshua Farnsworth – Wood and Shop
o Rex Krueger – Rex Krueger

Please subscribe (on right hand side on computer and very bottom on phone) to the mailing list to get future blog updates.

Until next time, keep making shavings and sawdust.

Peace,

Aaron

Copyright 2021 © W. A. Henderson

Roubo Workbench – Update 5 – The Home Stretch

Split-Top Roubo in all it's glory
Cat on Roubo Workbench

This project has taken way too long to finish (my first post was on Sep. 15, 2015). This bench deserved better from me. I am on the home stretch now and only have a few tasks left. I have made a commitment to myself to finish this project before the New Year (to be exact, New Year’s Day 2021, there are some members on my family that need that specific of a date declaration.) Here is a casual non-exhaustive, non-binding list of things to finish:

o Make and install deadman
o Level the tops, make sure they are shimmed and ready for mounting to base
o Install barrel nuts on the top slabs
o This is embarrassing, but put front dovetailed veneer piece to cover trim sawing disaster (more on this later)
o Install a Roubo-style bench stop made by Peter Ross. This was a late addition after careful consideration and desire to have more work holding options
o Pre-finish cleanup of all surfaces
o Make a new center board as the old one was just temporary  
o Finish the bench
o Enjoy!

All in all, not that much work remaining considering all I have put into this project. I have used and continue to use this bench. I LOVE IT!  Best thing I have ever built by a long shot. My second workbench (if I build another) will not take nearly as long.

This is one of the truly good things to come out of the Covid-19 lockdown. 

I will write a lessons learned post after I have finished the workbench. I wish I had gotten a copy of the “Anarchists Workbench” (The PDF is free to download “And it’s covered by a creative commons license that allows you to use the material however you like for non-commercial purposes.”) before building this bench, but I am very happy with the workbench I have built and it will serve me well for the rest of my life. One thing I do regret is buying a commercial workbench for $500. I bought that bench before I “knew better” but that is a cop out. I should have done more research, even back then before laying out that much money. Also, I had seen Roy Underhill build his workbench on the “Woodwright’s Shop” years before, but did not think I had the skills to build one myself. 

Never underestimate your abilities! You can do it. Yes, you will make mistakes, I made LOTS of them.

Build
Fail
Try Again
Fail
Build Some More
SUCCEED!

This the way.

You will figure out how to fix mistakes and you can complete the project if you stick to it. I love to work on problems, and this build gave me no shortage of them. I love to innovate and my solution for the right front bench dog ejector “Teaching a New Dog Old Tricks” was  particularly satisfying. 

Here are some adjectives to describe this project in no particular order – Fun, Strenuous, Challenging, Frustrating, Satisfying, Educational, Joy, Sorrow, Ingenious.

Peace,

Aaron 

Roubo Workbench – update 4 – Roubo to the Rescue

You know the the saying, “Everything old is new again?” As you may or may not know, I have been in the process of building my workbench for over a year now and I have been struggling with the benchtop glue-up as I have fewer clamps than I would like and my boards for the top were slightly bowed.  Well, after getting my copy of “Roubo on Furniture” from Lost Art Press a few months ago, something I saw in the plates, specifically plate 18 had my subconscious mind working. Specifically the “straightener” that Roubo talks about for edge gluing boards in figure 19 of that plate.

roubo_straightener

Suddenly a few weeks ago, It came to me, I could use straighteners to face join my benchtop boards and solve several problems at once. First and foremost, it would solve my clamping issue as 2x4s are cheap and would be sufficient for the task. Second, it will help straighten the bow out of my boards as gravity will do most of the work. Also, as a side benefit the top will be mostly flattened up against the upright boards called “twins” (some flattening work is always needed after glue-up).

I need to slightly modify the design to accommodate the wider face of the boards, so I would need to make wider wedges to ensure pressure is applied to the full width of the boards being clamped. The benchtops I am gluing up are only 11 inches in width so the twins do not need to be very long, in my case I am using 24 inch long boards. I am also going to apply paste wax to the twins inner surface to keep the glue squeeze out from sticking to them.

Below is my test setup with some narrower wedges, but sighting down the boards, they look very straight and no bow at all. I have looked for examples of this procedure for face gluing boards and I could not find any.

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Thanks to Andre Roubo and Lost Art Press, I am back in the workbench building business and hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have a fully functional and beautiful workbench (not like the pathetic one seen in the background).

Peace,
-Aaron

Roubo Workbench – update 3 – Tail Vise Puzzle

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Tail Vise Rails resting on the bottom of the bench top for a test fitting

At long last,  I am back working on my workbench.  There was a brief delay because life happens.  For reasons I won’t bore you with (cat fostering), I was unable to work in my garage for the past 2 weeks and I was not able to make any workbench progress.  Fortunately,  I am back in business and I made a major step forward yesterday.  I finished the cavity for the tail vise to be installed in.  I have the pictures showing the “finished” cavity below.  Suffice it to say,  I am glad to get that part completed so I can get on with the rest of  the workbench.  As you can see in the photos, I have not glued the boards together for the front part of my bench.   I will probably do this tomorrow.  Then I can start gluing the remainder of the boards together  to finish assembling the top.  Right now the exact dimensions of the cavity is not important.  I will need to finish the top surface of the workbench before making any precision cuts to mount the tail vise.  In the following pictures you will see the boards clamped together and then expanded to show how each one is individually cut to form the whole. I did purchase some soft maple to attach to the front of the bench because it will get the most abuse from clamping and other activities,  so I decided to make it out of maple.  Also, it will be dovetailed into the side maple piece which the tail vise will be attached.

-Aaron

 

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Clamped without the Tail Vise Rails

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Expanded to show each board

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Roubo Workbench – update 1- Stock prep

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BenchCrafted Classic Leg Vise – Unfinished

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3x5x22 Maple End Cap – Cat Inspected

I have almost all the materials on hand for my workbench.  I am still waiting for my new Benchcrafted Traditional Classic Vise to get here, but I finished surfacing my hard maple end cap that secures the tail vise to the end of the bench.  As you can see my shop cat is inspecting my work with aloof approval. It started out as a rough log and now it is surfaced on 4 sides, square and flat 3″x5″x22″ board. As you can also see, the benchtop boards are now acclimating in my shop.  I will start laminating them soon.

 

 

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2x5x6 Leg and Stretcher Stock

I was waiting for my “Southern Yellow Pine” SYP lumber to dry some more.  I checked them with a moisture meter and it read 10%, that is dry enough to start processing them so I  have ripped them to width from 6 2″x12″x6′ boards, down to 12 2″x5.25″x6′ boards that will be used for the legs and stretchers.  I still have a LOT of surface planing yet to do on these boards.  If I had a power surface planer I would use it.  I do have 2 nice joiner hand planes that can do the job, albeit a bit slower and a with a bit more muscle power.

 

 

The only parts for the bench I have left to buy are the bolt hardware (used to secure the end cap to the bench) and the chop board for my leg vise.  The chop board is going to be a 8/4 x 8″ x 36″ piece of hard maple.  I will need to get that at the local lumbar yard. Depending on price, I may also  get a 6/4 x 5″ x  6′ hard maple board for the front on the workbench.  That will make a stronger front edge that I will be clamping to all the time and also will look nice dovetailed into the end cap.

I know this project is progressing a bit slowly,  but I have never built a workbench before and I like to think about projects as I build them so I do not make as many mistakes.  This workbench has some complications that have me really putting my engineering hat on.  I am loving every minute of it.  This bench will serve me well for many, many years and I can’t wait to build my first project on it.

-Aaron

And so it begins – My Roubo inspired 18th Century Workbench

 

IMG_2778This is a project that is way overdue. I’ve been working with my lightweight commercial workbench for way too many years. Last Friday I purchased 10 beautiful 5/4 x 5″ x 12′ boards of southern yellow Pine. I had already purchased my Benchcrafted tail vice about a year and a half ago. This tail vise is quite an expensive piece of machinery to have just laying around not earning it’s keep. So I have decided to go ahead and build my very own Roubo Workbench.  In these pictures you’ll see the boards have already been cut in half and resting nicely on my two saw benches. I will be following Chris Schwarz’s  plans for a 18th century Roubo workbench, modified as to fit incorporate my Benchcrafted tail vise. The finished Bench top should be 5″ thick, 20″ wide and 72″ long.  This is going to be one heavy workbench.  The overall workbench dimensions will be H 34″ x W 20″ X L 72″.  I am using Chris Schwarz’s book “Workbenches – From Design & Theory to Construction & Use” as my primary source for plans and instructions.  I also have Chris’s other workbench book “The Workbench Design Book – The Art and Philosophy of Building Better Benches”.  He has republished his “Workbenches” book and it is available on his website at Lost Art Press.


 

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My biggest conundrum at this point this how to mount the Benchcrafted tail vise.  The issue at hand is, I have not glued up all my boards yet because I want to cut them out before laminating them so that I don’t have to hog out a lot of material later. It’s kind of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together in 3-D before you’ve even seeing the pieces. Not only that, the pieces don’t exist yet, and I will have to fabricate them correctly, so when it does go together, everything will fit perfectly.

I’ve been toying with the idea of making a 1/2 scale model, just so I know how everything will fit together. This is one of those projects I have to sleep on and think about for a few days before the solution comes to me. In the meanwhile I’m studying the plans, and I’m looking at my boards in the garage longing to have this bench finished.


 

Here is what the tail vise will look like when it is installed.TailVise_250pxTail-Vise

 

 

 

 

 

 

This will not be a very long journey, I want this workbench finished before the ghouls and goblins come out on Halloween.

-Aaron