I made some photos of the shop this AM, so I guess I'll post photos of the bench as well as the sharpening station.
I finished the basic build of the Roubo several months ago and have been slowly adding appliances, the base shelve, and holes as needed. The bench is close to perfect as a work bench, I've yet to find any function where I would change anything about the basic build and any special need has been easily fixed with a simple appliance. About the only problem I've had with the bench is occasionally with the holdfasts, because the bench's top is a little over 4 1/4" you will need to hold your mouth just right and stick your tongue out to get 'em to work . BTW, during the build I debated using a split top vs. solid and split won just because of ease of handling during the build. I'm glad it did, the split top adds greatly to the functionality of the bench.
I have less that $300 USD in the wood and almost a 1/4 of that was for the red oak chop and the maple tool holder/stop down the middle of the split. I expect if a person shopped around for vise screws the bench could be built for under $600 USD and it would last a lifetime. I'm still using a construction grade SYP bench I built 30 years ago, no reason to expect this one will not last at least that long.
I finished the basic build of the Roubo several months ago and have been slowly adding appliances, the base shelve, and holes as needed. The bench is close to perfect as a work bench, I've yet to find any function where I would change anything about the basic build and any special need has been easily fixed with a simple appliance. About the only problem I've had with the bench is occasionally with the holdfasts, because the bench's top is a little over 4 1/4" you will need to hold your mouth just right and stick your tongue out to get 'em to work . BTW, during the build I debated using a split top vs. solid and split won just because of ease of handling during the build. I'm glad it did, the split top adds greatly to the functionality of the bench.
I have less that $300 USD in the wood and almost a 1/4 of that was for the red oak chop and the maple tool holder/stop down the middle of the split. I expect if a person shopped around for vise screws the bench could be built for under $600 USD and it would last a lifetime. I'm still using a construction grade SYP bench I built 30 years ago, no reason to expect this one will not last at least that long.