A Roubo from beams?


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I may have an opportunity for some reasonably priced 4"x6" white oak beams.  How difficult would it be to modify the plans to give it a go?  I'm assuming the 4" would have to come down to 3-3.5" for flatness, so I'd probably have to bring that 6" down to close to 4".  It could be a lot of waste, or I may be able to rip off an inch and salvage some 4/4+ boards.

I'm mostly concerned with the dog hole strip, the outer top laminate that the end cap ties into, and vise installation, since I'll stick with BC.

Random thoughts?

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Danger of a lot of movement if I mill too much off?

Ideally I would keep the 4" dimension close to 4" and glue them up "face" down.  That could mean I might use as few as four beams for the whole bench top.  I just don't know if I can keep them close to the 4".

There's a strong potential that this will be more trouble/risk than it's worth.

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BC covers using tops thinner than 4" thick so it is possible to use them even if you get down to 3.5" though you have to make some changes or modifications Most notably the end cap still needs to be 4" and will hang lower than the main bench. You could solve that by making the front piece taller and from a milled down beam on edge.

How much are these beams that you found? If they are super cheap snap them up and try and turn them around for a farmhouse table or fireplace mantles? That whole rustic thing is still trendy no?

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Dog Hole strip is a non issue if you're going round dog holes. 

And the vise installation (at least tail vise , haven't gotten to the Main vise stage yet) , is also a non issue , as the plans call for building the full slab first , and then routing out a ton for the rails / screw cavity.

 

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I don't see any problem using them.  I'd mill the 6" width to 4" (and as you said, you'd likely get some decent 4/4 boards as waste, which could then be laminated together to get your side rails).  Once you flatten them, you will probably end up with 3 1/2 wide boards, so there's that much less gluing to do to get your tops.  In order to keep construction simple, I would aim to keep the dimensions of the dog hole strip and front laminate as per the plans.  I'm just finishing my tops now, and starting with 4" thick tops makes all the math much simpler.  Obviously it can be done with a thinner top, but why not aim for 4" if you can?

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A typical hold fast like the Grammercy has a minimum top thickness listed at 1 3/4".  After around 4" they seem to loose effectiveness and the bottom of the bores need to be counter bored.  

The top I have built is under 4".  I can't remember the exact number.  I haven't used it yet as I am still building.

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4 minutes ago, Jim DaddyO said:

A typical hold fast like the Grammercy has a minimum top thickness listed at 1 3/4".  After around 4" they seem to loose effectiveness and the bottom of the bores need to be counter bored.  

The top I have built is under 4".  I can't remember the exact number.  I haven't used it yet as I am still building.

I learned today that 4" is the lower limit for Benchcrafted hardware without plan modifications. So shooting for 4" is key i guess.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Those look like some great beams. Look fairly straight and no pith that I can see. By the looks of the faces, you're going to have to mill them some, so I would go with your original plan. Rip a 4/4+ strip off the width and mill down to 3½ x 4 boards for your 4" thick top. Use some of the strips for the dog hole and front laminate strips. You even have some good sized stock for the endcap.

What are your plans for the legs? Most would have to laminate 8/4, but your beams are pretty close to the final dimensions.

Chris

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood"

 

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I just got the wood home and moved around to the back of the house.  It was a lot more wood than it looks like in the pictures, gave my little Colorado...and my back... a workout.  The 12 footers were HEAVY.

There's quite a bit of red oak mixed in...maybe even more red oak than white.  It's hard to be sure in the rough state.  Not my first choice, but I'm not complaining in the least.  It may mean some dyeing and will mean some design choices and strategy.  Not a bad thing really.

I am pretty sure I can get each leg out of a 4x6 "blank."  I may end up slightly smaller than the plans, but it will be close enough to not matter.

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1 hour ago, bleedinblue said:

It may mean some dyeing and will mean some design choices and strategy.

Just remember that is a workbench and as pretty as it may look when finished, eventually it is going to end up looking like a work bench.;)

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1 hour ago, bleedinblue said:

I just got the wood home and moved around to the back of the house.  It was a lot more wood than it looks like in the pictures, gave my little Colorado...and my back... a workout.  The 12 footers were HEAVY.

There's quite a bit of red oak mixed in...maybe even more red oak than white.  It's hard to be sure in the rough state.  Not my first choice, but I'm not complaining in the least.  It may mean some dyeing and will mean some design choices and strategy.  Not a bad thing really.

I am pretty sure I can get each leg out of a 4x6 "blank."  I may end up slightly smaller than the plans, but it will be close enough to not matter.

The leg dimensions weren't all that critical, as long as you adjust for any discrepancy. I ended up 1/4" smaller in one dimension and 3/8" smaller the other way because of movement after I glued them. It didn't cause me any real grief.

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6 hours ago, Chet said:

Just remember that is a workbench and as pretty as it may look when finished, eventually it is going to end up looking like a work bench.;)

Aaah no! Its a roubo and you need to treat it like a fine piece of machinery right? I mean 3 years in I might have a couple nicks in mine but other than that looks like the day I finished it :) 

 

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Milling these is going to be fun.  One of the small beams is 90 inches.  I threw it on a scale, it weighs 60 pounds.  

I left all of the ten and twelve footers on the back patio.  When it warms up a little I will take a hand plane to them to figure out species.  I need to decide what needs to come into the basement to spend some time in dry air.  They've spent five years stickered outside, but I dont know what the MC is.

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