Mark's Roubo By Hand

Here is my finished bench and I am very happy with it! I’m pretty new at this and don’t own a power jointer or planer - so - I had plenty of hand planing to complete this. At the end of the day, I’m thankful because I am very comfortable with four squaring large pieces as well as flattening a large top with only hand tools. I used 2 x 12 SYP construction lumber. I tried to end up with primarily rift sawn lumber to avoid the large “cathedral grain” flat sawn boards and no knots. I did pretty well with this except for the sliding deadman. That was my last part and I was out of lumber...LOL

 

My first project on my bench was the gap stop. Oh what a blessing it is to use such a fine bench. I didn’t even know what I was missing.

 

Thanks John and Jameel - I appreciate your products. I hope to make many fine pieces of furniture for my family and friends. And also make plenty of memories next to my new bench. Love it!!!!

 

Mark Ortiz

 

Nate's STR

Dear Benchcrafted,

Last winter I purchased your "bench makers" package and built myself a splittop Roubo. The plans you provided were excellent and the hardware is prettydarn sweet.

I am a joiner producing a full spectrum of work - furniture to architecturalelements. I specialize in exterior living spaces (ie, historic porches,fences, decks). Since building the bench I've had plenty of time to test itin a variety of ways. I won't bore you with the normal holding prowless theleg and tail vices exhibit over furniture components. This is obvious.

However, I have run into a couple of interesting scenarios with curves thatthe leg vice excelled at holding. The ease of use and rapidity in which Icould move components around on the bench brought a smile to my face. Thisis getting long winded. The Roubo is awesome. The vises kick ass. Keep upthe good work!

Nate
__

Nate Plasha owns and operates Black Locust Craftsmen in Burlington, VT.

Ramon's Roubo

Hey Benchcrafted......I discovered your amazing vises (after very little searching actually) and ordered sometime in February 2014. What an incredible build....I am in love with this workbench....truly a fantastic design with the best-in-the-world hardware.

I just wanted to thank you and your team for all the effort and hard work that you all obviously put into creating the ultimate workbench.  I've sent some pics of mine.....completed in 74 hours (literally a few here and there,

six hours at the most at one time)  The bench is made of Wormy Maple and Bubinga with an Ash and Bubinga tool chest (not part of the 74 hours)

Thanks again....I could not be more pleased with a company like

Benchcrafted.....simply,  extraordinary......ciao, Ramon.

You can see more of Ramon's work at his website: www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com

Spagnuolo's Glide M

Video link

Late last night we received the following email from Marc Spagnuolo:

Finished up the final part of the retrofit today, including both the new Glide and the Crisscross. All I can say is wow!! I am able to close the vise from a full open position with a quick flick of the wrist. And the hold is strong enough for me to lift the bench with the workpiece. That's without the suede on the chop! Incredible. 

Just wanted to let you guys know you once again impress the heck out of me with the quality of the hardware! 

marc

In case you've been sleeping under a rock for the past few years (and we feel ridiculous even saying this) Marc owns and operates the online woodworking community/school The Wood Whisperer. Marc built our Split Top Roubo as one of the Guild builds a few years ago. Until we get time (and develop a personal relationship with Francis Ford Coppola) Marc's video series is still the best option for building our bench if you need visual step by step instructions. Marc covers all the bases in minute detail, and gives you more info than you need (the good kind of more.) We imagine Marc will be covering his retrofit on the Wood Whisperer website in the future.

Ten Feet Of Beech

Customer benches. We love them. Especially when people put their guts into them. If the word awesome hadn't been ruined by generation X, I'd use it here. Cody, your bench is succinct.

Dear Benchcrafted, 

I just wanted to say thanks for your advice and how much I like the vise hardware. The vises are awesome.

I finished the bench a few days ago and I love it. I must say it was quite the project and am glad to be able to say it is finished.

I've got over 300 hrs in time on the build.

The finished dimensions of the top are 10' in length 5" in thickness and 28" wide.

I stuck by the plans where I needed but as you can see sized a few things up.

Many thanks for providing high quality vise hardware to the woodworking community.

Sincerely,

Cody Armstrong

Tuck's Benchtop Moxon

Tuck of Spaghetti, California sent in these pictures and description of his Moxon benchtop joinery vise. Tuck's Moxon came out quite nice. His bench ain't too shabby either.

Here's Tuck's description.
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This is a Joinery bench. It is designed as such utilizing the hardware from Benchcrafted for the double-screw vise based on Joseph Moxon. Why a bench on a bench? The behemoth upon which it sits is perfectly-situated for planing and a host of other activities. However, to cut and chop out material at a comfortable height it’s simply too low. It quickly gets uncomfortable hunching over to measure, mark, and make a saw cut. Worse, it doesn’t allow me to comfortably grasp the saw with the delicacy of holding the hand of a toddler; a much-needed technique for myself for smooth sawing. Ditto for chiseling.
I’ve seen some great solutions to this problem. One of the simplest (and best, having tried it) is Jim Tolpin’s clamping support shown here and here. However, there are a lot of other operations that are made easier with a raised platform. Sketching, carving, anything that needs closer examination. Too many to mention.
This version was designed with some consideration. The pinch-points for the support of the bench were specifically sized so that they would be squeezed into place between two dogs. Further, a small pad was added to sit just in front of the dogs, pushing the plane of the fixed jaw surface flush with the front of the bench surface upon which it sits – thereby supporting the work at the front of the stationary bench. Adding work between the jaws is aided here because that work is also pushed into the front of the larger bench’s 4-inch top. When putting the bench in place, a slight tap with the palm lines it up perfectly flush. No holdfasts needed.
Both jaws were lined with suede for gripping and to protect against marring the work – though one alone would’ve been fine there. The movable chop was made thicker – to deal with any possibility of racking – and laminated so that the strength of the grain direction would aid in this endeavor. Its component stock is turned perpendicular. Finally, the benchtop and fixed chop were also laminated for added strength and rigidity. The entire thing was made from leftover parts from the planing bench.
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Unsolicited - Shaker Bench in Beech

Hi Guys,

 

First - thank you thank you thank you for great products and being able to ship to me in Australia. I have made your Shaker Bench with a few mods - thought you might like a photo or two. It is made from Euro Beech and looks (and works!) great in my workshop.

I hope to make more of these for sale, so hopefully, I'll be buying more of your vises.

Kind regards,

Russ Meacham

 

 

A couple nice kudos

We've had our fair share of nice comments but these two are especially nice and we thought we'd share them.

"My Mag Blok just came in the mail and I must say that I am completely astonished at the beautiful craftsmanship and the strength of this thing. 

I debated getting it for some time, even though the price was more than reasonable, considering what knife blocks generally cost. I was concerned that it wouldn’t hold my heavy cleaver and round steel in spite of the wondrous photos of it holding all sorts of heavy tools. Finally, after months of searching for the right knife holder, I decided the Mag Blok was my best bet. I am not the least bit sorry! I’ll wager I could pull a car out of a ditch with this Mag Blok, if the car bumper wasn’t made of cheap plastic. Well maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but holding my cleaver and steel is not going to be a problem at all.

And the craftsmanship is nothing short of remarkable. Yes, it’s a straight block of wood, but honestly, I can’t remember when I’ve bought anything for myself that was this nicely made or this beautiful to look at. You simply don’t see that sort of work today. I will be proud to show it off to all my friends and family. I may even drag all my other kitchen utensils out of the drawers, just so I can purchase another Mag Blok! 

Thank you so much for putting quality and value into your product! It is everything it’s said to be!

Happy, grateful customer

Jane K

Kansas"

And, maybe not strictly unsolicited, we were happy to help out these guys with a Crisscross Solo:

"Thank you for your donation to the Peach State Chapter of SAPFM. Needless to say this was the most sought after gift, saved until the last give-a-way, and much appreciated by its recipient. Your gift really make the donation program a big hit and for that I am indebted to you.

Thanks again,

Dale Bullock

SAPFM

Peach State Chapter

Planning Committee"

 

Camil's Roubo

 A year ago we shared Camil Milincu's Moxon build. This time around it's Camil's Roubo in Beech with twin tail vises.

Have a look at Camil's build gallery for all the details. We especially like Camil's nameplate. How did you do that Camil? Awesome work!

"Thanks again for the hardware, support and the "nudge" to evolve. I'm sure that if it was not for your bench hardware, I would have missed all this experience. Best regards, Camil"

Jeff Gives His Stamp

Furnituremaker Jeff Miller has voiced his opinion on our new handwheels at his Chairs and More blog.

"I’ve been working with the vises on a newly completed bench for a couple of weeks now. I’m thoroughly impressed."  

Follow the link to read more.

Thanks Jeff!

The Three Best Woodworking Vises

"...Benchcrafted, a family company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa makes the three best woodworking vises I have ever used. And, just to be clear, Benchcrafted makes only three vises."

Chris Schwarz

in the Fine Tool Journal, Winter 2012

Unsolicited

Dear Benchcrafted,

 

Just thought I would drop you a note to let you know that I have completed my Shaker style bench All of the bencrafted items were outstanding in their finish and operation. From the great set of plans and 3D drawings, to the awesome Leg and Tail vise assemblies, everything was first class.

 

It took me about 5 months from the time I started work on my bench until completion, and the process was quite a learning experience.

Thanks again for all your help along the way....Here are some pictures of the finished product..

Joe Black