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Hello to all.
This is my first posting here, and really the first project that I have completed. I have started more than a few projects but none have turned out as finished, mostly due to my own procrastination and inexperience. So this is a big step for me. After over a month of working nights and most of the weekend I finally have something to show for my labor, and a useful something at that!
This is my own version of the Roubo from Chris Schwarz's book. I made some changes and allowances for the lumber I used, and for the equipment I plan to use on/with this bench.
The lumber all started as rough cut 8/4. I used air dried Larch for the top, 2×12's ripped to 3 3/4" wide and stood on end for the laminated top. The legs are air dried Hemlock 2×6's, squared, planed and laminated three pieces per leg for a 5 3/4" square legs. The stretchers are kiln dried pine 2×6's, laminated together for about 3" of thickness and 5" height. All the joints are drawbored mortise and tenon, and I am very impressed by their solidity.
I built this in the reverse order that Chris suggested and I regret that. Building the base first turned out to be a huge mistake. As the project started to come together I realized that it would be much more difficult to match the mortises in the top to the tenons than the other way around. The outcome of that is that I now have some gaps in the through mortise and I don't think that I will be able to fix them to look nice.
When I glued up the top I decided to leave all the boards full length (8' give or take a few inches), that way I now have a nice top piece for a kitchen butcher block island or other project in the future.
Overall this was an awesome learning experience, and I can't wait to start using it on my next project!

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I am SO jealous.
 

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Looks very good and I think that everybody except Chris has some gaps in the tenons. MY son took a router and a 1/4 upcut spiral bit and cut around the where the gaps were and filled them with a 1/4 strip of walnut, fitted them tightly in the cut and pounded them in and planed off the excess. Looks pretty good and like it was planned that way.
 

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This was a very big first step. No turning back now. Start a second project with your brand new bench.

I suspect you will surprise us a lot since you seem to make your own path on your journeys. Go for it…

Eventually, on some things I bet you will see the wisdom of woodworkers past that their time and true methods are the best since those methods have stood the test of time. However, keep the maverick part of you. I bet you will come up with some surprising and interesting projects.

Congratulations!
 

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Thats a fantastic looking bench and should last you a lifetime. Dont worry about the mistakes, because they happen to everybody. As Oltexasboy showed, the trick is how you recover from them.

Really nice looking bench!
 

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Beautiful bench, congrats!
 

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That looks great. Great job and look forward to your future project posting. Welcome to LJs
 

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Welcome aboard…

Your bench is built like a Sherman tank and should last for generations to come. Nicely done.

Do you have vices in mind?
 

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Good stuff. I just put a square inlay over the ends of the tenons to cover my mistake. Plus, it was a good excuse to get a router plane to replace my shop made one that worked just ok.

 

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my bench is the same, i don't mind having an old mistake staring me in the face. reminds me to do proper planning and layout on all the pieces that i do on top of it
 

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Great looking bench, you will be glad you built it as every future project you make will be the better for the superior stability of your Roubo. What kind of vises are you going to add?
 

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Thank you all for the encouraging words!
I think that you are right, the mistakes I made here will serve as a reminder to plan and carefully consider my next move.
Adding vises is really the next big step and I plan to use a benchcrafted tail vise first, which is why I included the cutout for it in the top. After that I think a leg vise, the sliding deadman is already laid out and just waiting to be cut and drilled.
I spent the last day traveling home for Christmas so it will be a few weeks before I can get started on my next project, but I definitely look forward to sharing it here and gaining more knowledge from the community!
 
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