My workbench (yes, it's a Roubo)

[Immortan D]

That chop looks great!

[SawDustB]

I finally glued up the base and put in the draw bore pegs. I was expecting it to go poorly with using larger pegs, but it went pretty much perfectly.

 

 

I really like how the sapele pegs came out. I flushed them up with a saw then pared them with a chisel.

 

 

I also went around and did a chamfer on most parts. Other than finish sanding, the base is looking pretty good.

 

 

Next up is the ledger strip for the shelf, then it's on to attaching the top.

[..Kev]

You're getting closer!  Looking great!

[SawDustB]

I've now got the ledger strip for the shelf installed. I misread the dimensions, so they're a little deeper than specified (3/4 vs 1/2), but it won't negatively affect anything. They did require some planing to fit, although it was easier for me to plane the top of the strip with my smoother than to plane the rabbet.

 

The one issue I have is that if I tighten the bolt by the leg vise, the base is pulled slightly out of square (just barely enough to rock). I think what's happening is that the tenon shoulder is off by 1/32 or so on one side, so some twist gets introduced. I'd rather not have to recut the shoulders (since I'd have to do the other side too)... Can I get away with gluing a shim on beside the mortise to fix it? Or is there an easier fix?

[SawDustB]

 

So I checked the base to figure out what was happening. I used string to determine that it is twist free with the bolt backed off a little, as I suspected.

 

 

I checked, and one point is contacting first. This picture is of the front of the leg when everything's in line. Contacting at the top (down in the picture since it's still upside down) and close to 1/64 elsewhere.

 

 

 

On the back of the leg, there's a bigger gap. I think this is causing the trouble. It's a bit more than 1/32.

 

 

 

I'm starting to think I should try sticking a piece of veneer in the back. The alternative would be to try to plane the shoulders to be coplanar and see how it fits.

 

 

[Brendon_t]

If tightening the bolts is introducing twish, it sounds like you have done the needed steps to find the offending joint. Curious if it is introducing a complimentary gao to the other side as well. 

If you have a shoulder plane, it shouldn't be too much trouble to shave a bit from the bottom shoulder to help. If you're mentally just done talking it apart, use the veneer idea.  Depending on the width of your chop, that area will likey be covered. Mine is.

[SawDustB]

If tightening the bolts is introducing twish, it sounds like you have done the needed steps to find the offending joint. Curious if it is introducing a complimentary gao to the other side as well. 

If you have a shoulder plane, it shouldn't be too much trouble to shave a bit from the bottom shoulder to help. If you're mentally just done talking it apart, use the veneer idea.  Depending on the width of your chop, that area will likey be covered. Mine is.

The shoulder plane would be the tool for this, but I don't have one. I was going to get one but decided to buy a smoother instead. The only tool I've got that might work is an old #78 rabbet plane, but I've had inconsistent results with it for anything but coarse work.

 

I don't mind taking it apart, but I think I'll try the shim first because that's not a destructive operation. If it doesn't work, no harm done and I'll move on to using a plane. It's so close at this point I really don't want to end up making it worse.

[SawDustB]

I went with shims. I just glued these with CA glue and it now is perfectly aligned. I'll trim them once the glue dries.

[SawDustB]

I decided at this point I want to fit the tops to the base. After leveling my sawhorses, I got help to lift it on upside down. Getting this in exactly the right place was not my favorite part of the project. I spent over an hour getting it into place, and eventually resorted to clamping the individual legs as I got them placed correctly.

 

I was very confused that my gap was only 1 7/8... But it turned out my slabs had each expanded by 1/16 since the milling stage in November. It made sense once I thought about it. Unfortunately, my rear slab has also developed a twist, so I'll have to address that during flattening.

 

All mortises are marked, so next up is routing. After that I'm thinking I should sand through the grits on everything except the top bench surface and maybe apply finish to the base.

[Eric.]

16 minutes ago, SawDustB said:

Getting this in exactly the right place was not my favorite part of the project.

I remember that part not being my favorite either.  Ultimately I botched the process somehow and ended up with a little slop in the mortises.  Doesn't matter...the top is bolted down to the base so it stays put just fine.  I did find my error annoying though.  Years later I no longer care.

[SawDustB]

I remember that part not being my favorite either.  Ultimately I botched the process somehow and ended up with a little slop in the mortises.  Doesn't matter...the top is bolted down to the base so it stays put just fine.  I did find my error annoying though.  Years later I no longer care.

I'm just paranoid that I'll end up with it being 1/8" off or something. I've had my share of mistakes on this project (all fixable, thankfully) but that's one I'd like to avoid. A little slop in the mortises wouldn't​be too big a deal.

[SawDustB]

It's not perfect, but the mortises are there now. 3 of them fit pretty well, and the fourth can be forced into place with a dead blow hammer, but should probably be tweaked a bit more. With it seated as in the picture, all the legs are flush and the placement seems good. I'm not sure how the slabs are sitting until I flip it over, but I'm happy.

 

I only had one moment where things went awry, and that was routing the mortise with the dog hole in it. The bit grabbed at one point and the router buried itself in the wood at full depth. Fortunately, nothing broke, and the mortise wasn't drastically affected.

[SawDustB]

It's getting close now. I added the dead man track and routed the groove for it. I'm planning to use the thread taps to hold on the top, so I drilled the starter holes for them. Most of the parts are sanded to at least 120 (some to 220), and I cleaned up a number of other odds and ends. I've put the slabs on to check the fit. Slight twist in the front, but it looks like there's a pretty significant one in the back. I don't think I want to add 1/4" shims, so I've got more work to do. I still also need to take the tail vise apart to ease edges and apply finish.

[SawDustB]

I had a few minutes to look at the bench today. It turns out that part of the problem with the slabs sitting funny was because the front left mortise was binding. I removed 1/32" of material and about 1/16" of rock I was getting in the base went away.

 

To level the slabs, I think I'm going to shim. The reasoning is that by doing this, the front of the bench is already perfect and I don't need to take it down around the end vise. That end is sitting flat for the front slab, and needed a small shim for the rear.

 

 

At the leg vise end, both slabs needed to be shimmed. This corner of the rear slab was the worst, but it's still only 3/16" or so. The front slab needed about half that. With these shims in place, everything is sitting still, no rocking.

 

 

I did consider planing the underside of the slabs, but that would mean needing to take material off the flat part of the front slab, including the end vise and dog holes. I want to stay as thick as possible, so this seems easier.

 

The other task I quickly took care of was the dog access hole. I had to be pretty careful chopping it out, since I ended up a little thin on the legs so I only had 1/4 or so from the hole to the edge of the leg.

 

Next up is trimming the shims and gluing them in, then I think it's sanding and finishing. I still have to make my shelf too, so that may come next, but I think I need more wood. I haven't picked my flattening method yet, but I'm leaning toward getting out my #6 and #7 again and doing it by hand.

[SawDustB]

I hit that point where I felt like the bench needed to be flattened. I glued the shims on one side to the slab so they wouldn't fall out, and got to work. I considered the router method, but that seemed a bit wrong since I built this to be able to plane boards properly. It's also not exactly the first thing I've flattened with a plane on this project.

 

I did the bulk of it last night, and had to remove up to 1/4" on one corner. All of the rest was 1/8" or less, and the middle section was all about 1/16". My problems were all twist. I didn't realize until halfway through that my #5 needed to be sharpened (because I had NEVER sharpened it after buying it used), so things sped up at that point. I tend to use the #6 for bulk removal, the #5 for getting things closer with less tear out, and the #7 for blending it all together on a lighter cut.

 

At this stage I'm not done, but it's down to about 1/32" of variation in most places. My remaining problems are mostly due to unevenness across the split. It's proving to be a pain to get it properly jointed across the gap.

 

Next up I'm thinking I'll tackle the gap stop. I ordered suede today, so I'll have what I need soon to finish off the vises. I still need to take apart the wagon vise, so I'll apply finish while I'm at it.

[SawDustB]

Minor progress tonight. I planed down and glued up the gap stop. With my shorter bench, it'll span everything except the last 2 7/8" on each end (the width of the end cap). It's clamped up using the split, which my parallel clamps don't fit through because of seasonal expansion and some variation in the inner face of the back slab. Anyway, it's looking good, so the only pieces really left to make are the shelf and dead man. I'm​ procrastinating and putting off the rest of the sanding, since this is more fun.

[SawDustB]

It would appear I made the fit too tight with my twisted slabs. I guess I'll be planing this to fit.

[Tpt life]

Hey man, planing to fit is better than too loose. 

[SawDustB]

After a little more looking at it, I think I should pull off the slab and plane it. Have a look at it with a square on it. It's sticking out about 3/32" further at the bottom, causing the gap stop to not fit.

 

 

I'm also considering using a pattern bit to square up the first couple inches of height, and give me a reference to plane to. Or I could just haul the slab off and go at it with the fore plane. It fits up to the right leg, but not beyond it.

 

 

I also discovered a maple board on my track I forgot about, so I now have enough for the shelf. I'm getting very excited to complete construction and move on to finishing.

[pkinneb]

That is turning out great! Almost there. If it were me I would fix it now or it would bug me forever but I can be just a tad anal retentive

[SawDustB]

That is turning out great! Almost there. If it were me I would fix it now or it would bug me forever but I can be just a tad anal retentive

I did, this afternoon ☺️. I had to square up the slab with my jointer plane and also plane the gap stop. It fits great now, slides in easily but there's basically no slop.

[SawDustB]

I was able to clean up the gap stop and fit the notches over the upper stretchers. Other than sanding and easing edges, it's done. I put the leg vise chop back on to mark for length, then cut it at the table saw. I added a pretty significant bevel at the top, so the remaining flat portion is only about 1 1/8". I'm pretty happy with how things are looking. At this rate, I think I may get to applying finish this weekend.

[shaneymack]

Looks amazing, Brian! Great job with the bench and great job with the journal as well.

 

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

 

 

[SawDustB]

7 hours ago, shaneymack said:

Looks amazing, Brian! Great job with the bench and great job with the journal as well.

 

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

 

 

Thanks Shane! It's been a fun build, but I can't wait to actually use it on something other than building bench parts.

 

On another note, for those of you with a criss cross, how much toe in do you have on your vise? I'm measuring a 3/8" gap at the bottom of the chop when the top is making contact (and it doesn't flex much upon tightening, with being over 2 3/4" thick). The Benchcrafted instructions seem to indicate it should be 1/8-1/4" based on how it comes from the factory. I'm debating whether I should use my router to recess the bearing plates in a little, maybe 1/16" to get it down to 1/4" of toe in.

[Alan G]

Looks awesome. Quite a journey to get to this point. Must be very satisfying to see it nearly done!!