Roubo Workbench Top Is Flat and Square!

I have nearly finished the planing on my workbench top, and I timed the ends off with a hand saw to bring it down to 6 feet long and square up the ends. The top is now flat, but still has some marks I need to plane out.

I was quite careful about sawing off the ends of the bench top, even using a speed square to check the saw blade. The results were OK, but not perfect. The over all bench in now square with in 1/32" and I am quite happy with that. However, the ends, while square across the width of the top are not very square in the thickness because the saw blade wanted to wonder despite my best efforts to keep it straight. Damn! It's not the end of the world but it will make mounting a end vise more difficult.

The photo above should clear up what I was saying about the ends being out of square through the thickness of the top. The line across the top however is nice and square.

So there it is 6 foot long and 20 1/2 inches wide. The next step is to start constructing the legs. I am unable to find any beam or post 6" X 6" at a local lumber yard. So, I have decided to laminate the legs using 2 x 6 pine boards. What a hassle, but it must get done so I can begin to cut the tenon and dovetail that secure the legs to the top. Once the legs are attached to the top, I will do a little more planing to remove saw marks from the top of the bench. I'm not going to do to much work on the top because the grain is not straight, and is very difficult to plane. I have been getting lots and lots of tear out on the top that I don't like, but there is not much I can do about it. Lucky 4 me, this is a workbench not a dining room table so some roughness on the surface is acceptable. 

Whats A Roubo Workbench You Say?

I suppose  by now at least some of you will be wondering exactly what the hell it is am talking about. Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so take a look below.

Both photos are of the same bench which was built by Christopher Schwarz editor of Popular Woodworking magazine. 

So, looks pretty simple right?  Well it is really, but the sleek design and well placed hardware are what makes it so great. The legs are even with the edge of the bench and there is no skirt around the bench like you see in many European workbench designs. This means you can use a simple clamp to secure your workpiece down at any point on the bench. 

People who have built their own Roubo have historically put there own "spin" on the design adding features or changing things up in one way or another to make it their own so to speak and that's fine. But all TRUE Roubo benches have one thing in common, the leg vise. With a leg vise on one end and a simple holdfast on the other end you can clamp and support a board of any length to this bench to work on it.

The biggest challenge in building this bench is cutting the mortise   and tenons needed to mount the legs on the top and the stretchers to the legs. The jointary for the legs to top are unique because they involve a 30 degree dovetail and a tenon for each leg. The dovetail helps eliminate twisting of the joint while the tenon gives you lateral stability. The drawing below gives a better visual of what this joint looks like from the top.

 Please leave your comments, questions, and criticisms I would love to hear from all of you.