Roubo Bench Build Part 2

  Scale affects technique and the logistics of completing a project.  When the thickness of your parts hover around 4-5", normal rip and cut dimensioning is not so easily accomplished.

    Take for instance the tops, at 9 1/2" x 60" x 4",  there was no safe way to run these across the table saw.  Taking cues from Chris Schwarz I got the circular saw out and with the aid of a straight guide I was able to crosscut the tops square.

   When it came to the legs, I used their shorter length as an excuse to abuse my crosscut sled. Although the work still had to be flipped over, referencing the cut line was much easier than using a circular saw


     With the legs accurately cut to final length, I turned to the joinery of the leg assemblies.  Assembly meaning a pair of legs with one end stretcher and one end apron.  Here is where the bench begins to stray from Roubo's design.  This bench is meant to fully knockdown, and following in Jameel's footsteps, the bench's design would have to change to accommodate bolts.  It only made sense to break down the base into a pair of leg assemblies connected together using the front and rear stretchers ( more on this later).




When dealing with any kind of Mortise & Tenon project, I find ganging the parts together and laying out the joinery for all the pieces at once essential to accurate assembly.

Line them up, clamp tight and using your favorite rule and square layout all your mortises.

I fired up the drill press and started boring:

And here were the results:

Its time to sharpen a chisel and square up the corners.  I look forward to getting the stretcher tenons cut shortly and moving on to some actual assembly.