Not another Roubo bench

Tom Bussey

Member
Messages
145
Location
Nashua Iowa
I posted a while back in the design section about laying out for my new bench, I have been busy building so I haven't posted much. I did post in the jigs and fixture section on a couple things I had to build just to build the bench.

My new bench is 34 1/2 inches high, just under 8 foot long. I wanted to be able to get the top in my pick up truck, And the split top with a tool tray is 36 inches wide. My bench was inspired by a picture that was taken of a 12 foot long shaker bench found in a museum at Hancock Village in Hancock Ma.

I prefer a tail and a shoulder vise verses a leg vise, and that is what I made on the front side of my bench. Since my bench is wide I decided to do a wagon vise and a leg vise on the back side. I prefer to work all around my benches and there are times that a left handed bench would come in handy so what I have pictured is a leg vise on the right side and the wagon vise hardware in setting on top.

I have found it harder and harder to bend over or get down on my hands and knees to get things that drop on or roll under the bench. I have also found that things tend to go under the bench and can end up with a big layer of dust after a while so I put in drawers all the way to the floor, just like the shaker bench. Although my bench was inspired by the shaker bench I made the drawers the sizes that fit my needs. I like to keep the tools I use at the bench, and things I do not use as often at the bench I put on the back side. There is some duplication though like hammers and chisels.

Anyway the leg screw hardware, although I can spin it with a finger, does not spin like the vise hardware from Bench Crafted, the cost to me of $2 at an auction off set that inconvenience. I don't remember the cost of the three long bolts I used for pins. I got them long enough to cut the heads and threads off. . The wagon vise hardware is actually a vise screw for a shoulder vise and it came from Lee Valley. I waited for a free Shipping deal. If I remember correctly it was about $29.

Anyway pictures, the first two are when I did my research and development on the cris-cross.

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And the rest at of the present. I want to note that the leg vise does not go all the way to the floor and that a broom fits under it nicely. Also the vise hardware is not yet fastened to the chop. and the piece of cherry leaning against the bench is for the sliding board jack.

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Quite an undertaking. That looks to be a very solid bench and I like the vice design. I agree that too many things find their way underneath the bench and the added storage you gained in taking the drawers to the floor is a good way to tackle that issue. Have you found yourself with your toes up against the bench? Normally the open area under the bench serves as a toe kick.
 
I do not know how to quit answer your question about the toe kick. Actually I wrapped the whole bench so I didn't have to do any cleaning under it. At 72 and some arthritics especially in the hands I found it difficult to get down and clean under the bench and since I can't grasp like I used to I found I didn't enjoy getting down again to find items that I dropped that went under the bench. Having said that I just got to the point of taking pictures of where I am at this point, so I haven't had a lot of time to use it yet. I am going to take both pieces of the top to the local cabinet shop and have them sanded flat and the exact thickness some time in the next couple of days. That is why the screw is not fastened to the chop yet, change in thickness changes height of the chop.

As I stated above, I prefer a tail and a shoulder vise verses a leg vise, and that is what I made on the front side of my bench. The top of the front of the bench sticks out far enough so that a toe kick is not necessary. I am left handed but I was forced to work in a right hander world. I can use both hand equally well and some times it is easier for me to use my right hand, hence a right handed bench on the front side. but there is always a time when a left handed bench would be better so what the pictures I posted are is from the back side.

Because of the way my shop is laid out most of the bench work will be on the opposite side not picture. I guess only time will tell about the toe kick area.

And I just plane liked the shaker style and to a degree copied it. I gave my reasons for doing what and how I did. but I will have to use it for a while to really answer your questions.
 
Since I posted about the back side I thought I would show as much of the front as I can.

The first picture is of me taking the not completed shoulder vise for a spin. Someone, a while back on a different forum said they didn't like a shoulder vise for cutting dovetails because a person had to stand to far back from the work because of the length of the screw. I had a different bench at the time and I checked out his comment. and I decided I could live with a smaller clamping area so I shortened the screw 2 1/2 inches. One ever knows what they can pick up in a forum if one keeps an open mind. I could have thought mine works fine and moved on. Or even disagreed with him. Anyway personally I do prefer a shoulder vise over some of the others and I really like it 2 1/2 inches shorter.

I also had trouble seeing what was in the drawer directly under the screw and making the vise shorter helped that also. Although the drawers are full extension the top drawer still is a little difficult so I arranged the drawer to hold my chisels, each one its own spot and that solved the seeing problem. I only had sight problems on the left side top drawer.

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The others are of the top being constructed. And so one can get an idea of the size of the bench, the right side drawers are 27 inches wide.

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Actually I am quite surprised that that there are not a lot more questions about the crisscross. My top is made out of Hickory and so is my crisscross as well as my bench dogs will be, so the cost was all but non existent except for the 3 bolts and 3 small screws to lock the pins in place
 
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