Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Roubo Bench Build Part 1

     I think it is somewhat fitting that the first post on this log is the creation of a workbench.  The bench is a variant of a workbench attributed to a Andre Roubo, dating to the 18th century.  The design is thoroughly reviewed in what I consider a must read book "Workbenches: from Design & Theory to Construction & Use", Schwarz; and I highly recommend it to anyone remotely interested in workbench design.

    I am endeavoring to fit an old-school work bench, in a 8' x 15' workshop, along with a few other machines; thus, there are a few restrictions on size and assembly. I decided to model the bench after a travel bench that Jameel at benchcrafted.com built. 

So to the meat, or the SYP in this case:


14 boards at 4 1/4" x 61", thickness planed down to 1 1/4" will comprise the split top.  The boards were quite a chore to rip, due to the warp even in 16' 2 x12's.   You will notice some cup, that I had to take care of using the clamps and glue.













Digging deep into the clamp selection and keeping the gallon of glue nearby, I started gluing up pairs.












Here we are coming out of the clamps, got the grain direction marked on all the boards, as I did not want the grain reversing on me when I did the finally flattening and benchtop maintenance. 










Here is where I will leave it. top planed and ready to be crosscut square.




3 comments:

  1. Nabil,

    So far so good my friend, coming along nicely, can't wait to see the rest of it come to life.

    Handi

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  2. This is great. I have been debating this kind of workbench for the shop. Can't wait to see it completed.

    Grover
    groverwoodworks.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nabil.

    It's looking great. Did you use your bench top planer or hand planes to flatten the top?

    Bruce

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