This is not a roubo workbench...:)


shaneymack

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I feel like the odd man out by not building a roubo like so many others on here but time and budget just does not allow me to build a roubo right now. This is meant to be a functional solid workbench and a practical storage solution as well to fit within my budget and time constraints. On one side will be festool storage. I will have 9 pull out drawers for easy acces to 9 systainers. Kind of like a sys port only i dont need to re mortgage my home to own this. On the other side i will have 6 drawers on either side and a shelf in the middle. Having such a small shop it is on casters so i can roll it around as needed.

The base is made from 3/4" baltic birch all dado construction;

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Here is the base fully assembled

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The top is a torsion box with 20mm holes every 96mm square. Exactly like a festool mft table minus hundreds of dollars.

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I built the torsion box on the granit island which is dead flat. I did my assembly table the same way....the wife loved that.

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I marked out my top on a full sheet of mdf. With my router, festool rail and lr32 system i made a row of holes parallel to each long edge of the mdf.

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I then used rail dogs attached to the rail and turned the rail 90 degrees. I followed the holes i just did and bored 20 mm holes across the workbench top 96mm oc being sure to keep them centered within my lines that i had marked out representing my workbench top. post-16857-143147299066_thumb.jpg

This is it finished. I checked it with a square and some dogs and the holes are perfectly square.

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Here is the bench assembled

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This stack of cherry is for the face frame of both sides. The festool side will have a 3/4" face frame. The other side will have a 1 3/4" face frame. The reason for the thick face frame is to install a t track in the top and front of the upper piece of face frame which i will use in conjuction with the festool quick clamps to be able to clamp boards to the top and front of the bench and work an edge. I will run domino holes vertically up and down the vertical pieces of the face frame to put a domino in to support longer board when clamped to the front of the bench. Kind like the thing a ma jiggy on the front of the roubo that slides back and forth. Not sure if this is making any sense but i will post pics as I progress.

I just rough milled the cherry and re stickered for a few days. Will work on face frames and hopefully some drawers this weekend.

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Very nice job! A Roubo is nice but, isn't the always the answer in everyone's shop. In the end the bench has to work for you and your work flow.

Hats off, well executed!

Thanks! I agree with you. My dream bench is a roubo though. So hopefully i will enjoy this bench untill im able to build the roubo. I dont see that happening in the next 10 years though. Too many kids, too many needs....lol
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Roubo style doesn't make a lot of sense in a power tool shop. I think the route you have chosen is an excellent idea, and the execution looks superb! If you want to do some light hand work, maybe a smaller joinery bench like Shannon Rogers' would fit the bill.

I guess i will see how it goes with this bench. All joinery is normally done with power tools and finessed with hand tools. The only joinery i do entirely by hand is dovetails and i think this bench can handle that. Who knows maybe i will love it after all. Time will tell
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That's not a workbench, that's an MFT that either got the radioactive Godzilla treatment or was sprinkled with some Monsanto GMO fairy dust.  But nicely done...looks very useful.  Wish I had the space to build something like that.  I'd consider wrapping the sides of the top with some hardwood...will last a lot longer that way.

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That's not a workbench, that's an MFT that either got the radioactive Godzilla treatment or was sprinkled with some Monsanto GMO fairy dust. But nicely done...looks very useful. Wish I had the space to build something like that. I'd consider wrapping the sides of the top with some hardwood...will last a lot longer that way.

Thanks Eric. I am making a face frame either side out of cherry. The side of the mdf will be wrapped all the way around to protect it. I just hope the top holds up over time. I wont be making through cuts with my track saw like some do on their mfts thats for sure....
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Thanks Eric. I am making a face frame either side out of cherry. The side of the mdf will be wrapped all the way around to protect it. I just hope the top holds up over time. I wont be making through cuts with my track saw like some do on their mfts thats for sure....

 

Should last a good long while if it's not misused.  Not sure how you secured the top to the grid but you could probably replace it if needed.  I would keep any and all liquids away from that surface...moisture is MDF's biggest enemy, which I'm sure you know.

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Should last a good long while if it's not misused. Not sure how you secured the top to the grid but you could probably replace it if needed. I would keep any and all liquids away from that surface...moisture is MDF's biggest enemy, which I'm sure you know.

I screwed it up through the stretcher that spans the top on either side.

As for moisture and mdf i was thinking of shooting everything with a water bourne pre cat but i dont want to mess with my dog holes. Im worried the finish might make them smaller. Although i could sand them all out after which sounds like alot of fun.....maybe just a coat of wax on the top? Or ARS?

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I screwed it up through the stretcher that spans the top on either side.

As for moisture and mdf i was thinking of shooting everything with a water bourne pre cat but i dont want to mess with my dog holes. Im worried the finish might make them smaller. Although i could sand them all out after which sounds like alot of fun.....maybe just a coat of wax on the top? Or ARS?

 

Or put some blue tape in them

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I made my bench top out of two layers of MDF about 8 years ago and wrapped it with red oak and it is holding up well. I finished it with several coats of polyurethane and then waxed the heck out of it. Glue and finish doesn't stick to it very well and water is not a problem. I scrape the wax off every 6 months or a year and re-wax right away.

The only thing that I see that I think that I would not like about your bench is that being a torsion box top with all of the dog holes it will build up a lot of saw dust inside the top over time. If you had left some holes or space through each rib and hooked up a shop vac or dust collector to one side or end to pull out the dust out it would help some.

Or is the bottom open or have matching holes to the top? If so, the dust will fall right through and land on top of your tools below.

Anyway it is a nice bench and is bigger than mine. :)

 

Rog

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I made my bench top out of two layers of MDF about 8 years ago and wrapped it with red oak and it is holding up well. I finished it with several coats of polyurethane and then waxed the heck out of it. Glue and finish doesn't stick to it very well and water is not a problem. I scrape the wax off every 6 months or a year and re-wax right away.

The only thing that I see that I think that I would not like about your bench is that being a torsion box top with all of the dog holes it will build up a lot of saw dust inside the top over time. If you had left some holes or space through each rib and hooked up a shop vac or dust collector to one side or end to pull out the dust out it would help some.

Or is the bottom open or have matching holes to the top? If so, the dust will fall right through and land on top of your tools below.

Anyway it is a nice bench and is bigger than mine. :)

Rog

Hey rog, thanks for the comments. You are right about the sawdust. That is one part of the design i did not take into consideration. There are no holes for dust collection. I think it will take a long time to fill with sawdust but i guess if it gets very full I could suck it out through the dog holes on top. I dont foresee it being problematic though..........i hope
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I got a chance spend 10 hours in the shop today! I never thought id say this but im glad my mom in law was here because she watched the kids with my wife and i got a shop day! I got the festool side of the workbench complete.

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Was in ottawa yesterday and got a chance to go to mecca!! post-16857-143191233813_thumb.jpgpost-16857-143191234453_thumb.jpg

Great woodworking weekend. With young kids the stars dont always align this way for me to spend this kind of time doing what i love.

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