Roubo Completed

Beautiful bench!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Fabulous! Exactly what I want to make some day. Great job.

-- "I asked my wife if I look dorky in the video below where I'm planing that long piece of wood. Her reply: "It's all dorky."" - Mitch Roberson from his blog Furnitude

wonderful bench, I really like the square dog holes.
now you just need a new shooting board and bench hook to match.
did you flatten the top with that LN #7?
great work

-- Junior -Quality is never an accident-it is the reward for the effort involved.

I already have a bench hook from my previous bench. It is underneath, though you can’t see it in the pictures. A shooting board is on the todo list.

I did a lot of flattening with the #7, but I had some power tool help too. =)

That’s a great bench! It will be with you for a long time!

-- Rich

That is a beautiful bench. It should be a nice addition to your shop and be one of your most used tools.

I enjoyed following the construction of this. Thanks for taking the time and effort to document the process. I know it is difficult to take time out for pictures when you “are on a roll” with the construction process but your blog will be a great help to those of us who decide to build one of these.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Great Job its a winner made to last.

Brilliant!

-- Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain" Frank Lloyd Wright

Me likes.
-d

-- Dave Durham - California - see me at http://www.DaveDurham.com

Beautiful job Jon! I don’t know that I would use it in the shop. I would rather have it in the dining room. It’s way too nice to work on. Thanks for sharing.

-- Brad, Oregon- The things that come to those who wait, may be the things left by those who got there first.

What is your honest assessment of the press(leg vise)? I love the Roubo but when I get around to building my bench I don’t know if I am going to use it. I might just go with a big twin screw. Nice work man.

-- My philosophy: Somewhere between Norm and Roy

How in the heck did I miss this when you first posted this? I was beginning to wunder…. It is a beaut, grats on getting it done. I very very much plan on making myself one of these and will live vicariously through yours for now!

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

Skeeter,

There’s 2 weaknesses, in my book. Speed and adjustment time.

Speed:
As it is designed know, it is slower than a quick release face vise. Once I finish a couple of projects that piled up while I was building the bench, I intend to retrofit a cross mechanism which will significantly speed up the use of the vise, and remove the need to adjust it to stock size. I may also choose to shrink the length of the vise handle, or replace the vise handle with a wheel, like my tail vise, and Jameel’s new leg vise system.

Adjustment:
Mostly, I just leave it in the same hole I use for 3/4 to 1” stock. I think I’ve only moved it once or twice a month. The St. Andrew’s cross mechanism I’m working on should make this a non-issue.