Roubo Bench

I finally finished my Roubo bench, more than a year after I started buying lumber for it. It’s made primarily from southern yellow pine, plus maple for the leg vise and ash for the shelf. The top is 8 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 4-3/8” thick. The work surface is 33” above the floor. Overall weight is close to 300 pounds.

The bench is a close approximation of Christopher Schwarz’s Roubo bench. I used a different leg vise shape, plus I made the stretchers closer to the ground so I could put the parallel guide above the shelf (which means less bending to adjust the pin). The end vise is by Jorgensen, to which I added a 2-3/4”-thick chop. Dog holes in the chop and along the front of the work surface are used to clamp boards for hand planing.

I love the size and weight of the bench. It’s rock-solid when I use hand tools on it, but I can still scoot the bench across the garage floor when I need to (when taking pictures for Lumberjocks, for example; or when the bench is commandeered for displaying stuff at a garage sale). The total cost of materials is probably well under $500, including the vise and vise screw.

-- More tools, fewer machines.