Completed French Oak Roubo Project Bench

It’s been only 8 months since a group of us got together in Barnesville, Georgia to build reasonably close replicas of the workbench described and illustrated in A.J. Roubo’s L’Art du Menusier. And I can finally report that my bench is now complete. It would have been finished much sooner, but… well, there were lots of reasons. I did decide that I wanted a tail vise (a wagon vise, actually), and I needed to design it as a suitable complement to the massive leg vise with a vise screw from Lake Erie Toolworks and ironwork from Peter Ross.

I went back to both of these craftsmen and had Nick at Lake Erie make a somewhat smaller (2” diameter, 3 ½ tpi, reverse threaded) vise screw and traveling dog block, and commissioned Peter to forge a smaller ring and handle. After a little bit of fitting my sliding dog block to the bench, I’ve gotten the wagon-style vise to work perfectly.

The reverse threading on the vise screw means that with clockwise rotation of the handle, the dog block travels away from the end of the bench and tightens against whatever you’re clamping on the bench-top,

Underside of Wagon Vise

Thanks to Jameel at Benchcrafted for pointing this out before I ordered the screw! I devised a hidden garter to secure the vise screw in place; it bolts on from the inside of the end-cap and is completely hidden under the end of the vise hub.

Other details: I’ve set too much of a precedent to not use hounds-tooth dovetails on the end cap of the bench. This now makes four benches with that detail (I think I can stop now). I also shortened up the vise handle for the leg vise. I felt that it was a little long in use, and then I noticed that on Roubo’s Plate 11 it seemed much shorter than what I had, so I went ahead and cut it down.

The bench functions beautifully, and looks great. It’s exciting to add this to my collection of great benches. Will it stay perfectly flat? Probably not. But I’ll just flatten it again when it needs it.  I’ll have more information after another couple changes of season.

Now that I’ve got yet another killer bench, I’ve actually got some spare bench stuff available for sale. I made rock-solid a trestle-style workbench base out of ash a couple of years back. The base is 28” by 59” and 33” high. It bolts together, and is easy to transport. No top. $250

I also have a bench that I purchased from Garrett Wade many years ago. The vise is a little wonky, but the bench 16¼” by 53” by 34¾” high) is in decent shape. Base also unbolts for easier transport. $150

I’ve also got what is essentially a butcher block top with two Jorgenson vises on it, with a row of ¾”dog holes drilled in it. 30” by 60” by 1¾” thick). (not pictured) $425