It’s time to get some legs on this baby. My son and I started my milling the mostly oak stock I am using for the legs.
I glued them up and dressed them up until they came in at a finished dimension of 3 5/8” by 4 5/8”. They are beefy but I want this to be a sturdy bench that’s not going to move and has enough size for whatever project I want to tackle. The top is 23 5/8” wide and looks to finsh up about 9’ 2” long. I settled on 1 1/2” by 3” tenon size and layed them out.
Then I made a simple jig that I could clamp to the bench and rout the tenons. I must confess that I did want to chop these out by hand, but after I had chopped one tenon to a depth of 1/4”, I wised up and went to the router.
It took a few passes and the bit a little bit of flare on it that caused some burning on the last pass, but I got to the 2” depth I wanted. Next I cleaned up the corners with my chisels and here is a finished mortise.
You know what needs done now, make the tenon. I chose to cut them by hand.
They didn’t take long before the legs looked like this.
Here is a test fit, we’re getting close on this one.
My oldest daughter wanted to give me some help so I put her to work undercutting the shoulders. She likes using the chisels and carving.
After all of that, here’s a leg fitted into its mortise.
Once that leg was in place, I had to get three more to fit into their mortises. Here’s the proud lumberjock with his legs in place.
My helper wanted to keep working, so we decided to make the parallel guide that will fit onto the bottom of the leg vise. This is simple piece of wood with equally spaced holes so first I layed them out.
Then I had them drilled while I took a break, had a soda…
A little dressing up for looks, cut a slot in the leg and here is the result of our efforts.
Next up is to mortise and tenon the strechers in place. Thanks for checking out my progress. I’d be interested to hear if this is too many pictures.
-- Every cloud has a silver lining
15 comments so far
sIKE
home | projects | blog
1094 posts in 650 days
posted 232 days ago
Looking good, I really want to build me a Roubo for my shop.
-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"
lew
home | projects | blog
4490 posts in 651 days
posted 232 days ago
Kenn,
Looking Good!!!
Not too many pictures for me. I like being able to see the many steps in the progression of the project.
Lew
Craftsman on the lake
home | projects | blog
818 posts in 334 days
posted 232 days ago
I love watching this stuff. Lots of picts. Thanks… you’re nominated for an oscar!
-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html
spanky46
home | projects | blog
737 posts in 286 days
posted 232 days ago
Great job so far! The more pics the better for me!
-- spanky46 -- Never enough clamps...Never enough tools...Never enough time.
PurpLev
home | projects | blog
2759 posts in 544 days
posted 232 days ago
nice project! pretty cool how everyone chipped in to help and make it happen – quality time together!
-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
treeman
home | projects | blog
149 posts in 345 days
posted 232 days ago
Never too many pictures. I am researching workbenches mysef and will have to consider the Roubo design. Great progress!!
Roger Gaborski
home | projects | blog
29 posts in 644 days
posted 232 days ago
Never too many picture –
Roger
-- Roger Gaborski, http://www.gaborski.com
Karson
home | projects | blog
25802 posts in 1296 days
posted 232 days ago
Great job and not too many pictures. keep it comming.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
Scott Bryan
home | projects | blog
20707 posts in 718 days
posted 232 days ago
Kenn, this is looking really good. I have one of these in mind as well so your posts are certainly an inspiration to get started. And it is nice to see you getting your assistant involved in the action as well.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
Todd A. Clippinger
home | projects | blog
5648 posts in 995 days
posted 232 days ago
Great progress photos. Thanks for sharing!
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Brad_Nailor
home | projects | blog
1218 posts in 853 days
posted 232 days ago
Never too many pictures! We eat that up like candy around here. Great looking bench so far….Motivates me to make one. Are you making it all from oak or just the legs?
-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"
kenn
home | projects | blog
218 posts in 616 days
posted 232 days ago
The top is hard maple, the legs are mostly oak, and the strechers are a mystery wood I’m looking for help identifing in my next blog ( there’s a little tease for you), and the leg vise will be ash. Thanks for the comments and I won’t feel like I’m overloading with pictures.
-- Every cloud has a silver lining
FJDIII
home | projects | blog
168 posts in 706 days
posted 231 days ago
Ken,
Who’s going to lift it?
-- Fred.... Poconos, PA ---- Chairwright in the making ----
Jim
home | projects | blog
67 posts in 894 days
posted 231 days ago
looks good. But you need to get your helper some safety glasses.
-- Jim in Cushing Oklahoma
Jon3
home | projects | blog
439 posts in 1001 days
posted 230 days ago
Looking good Ken! My legs are going good too. I hope to have the first dry fit of all the legs and stretchers either tonight or tomorrow.
Just as a tip, if you create a ‘series’ for this blog, all of your roubo posts can be placed in that series, and people will be able to follow them easily, and distinguish the roubo series as a separate group. (also lets you favorite the series, so you don’t miss new posts!)