While building the third leg of the bench, I had an epiphany. This is gonna be one big b***h! Of course I could tell by the plans but getting that physical conformation made me realize I may be a little in over my head. Each leg was taking in total of about 1-1/2 – 2 hours from start to finish. Working on the floor sucks by the way. Rather than convert to the dark side on my goal of building my bench with only hand tools, I’ve decided to change the bench.
At first I was gonna completely change the plans. There was another one in an old issue of Popular Woodworking that I was looking at. Not what I wanted but would do none the less. It was smaller which really is better in my case, and it had storage, which is always good to have. Except as I kept looking at it, the more I wanted to build the roubo. I’ve had my mind set on this bench for so long that I just couldn’t get myself to deviate. Soooo, I’m combining the best of both. The design and joinery of the roubo with the size and storage of the “power-tool workbench.” I’ve aptly named it The Hybridized-Hybrid Roubo.
Dimensionally, the length was taken down from 91-1/2″ to 60″ and the depth from 26″ to 24″. I couldn’t keep the beast of legs on this little guys so those are going from 5″ square to 2-3/4″ square. All other measurements were adjusted accordingly. The cabinet’s outer dimensions are 18-1/2″ x 32″. This of course doesn’t have the dog holes or vise details but it will follow the layout of the power-tool workbench. It’ll have an end vise on the right side and holes drilled in both the face and top of the bench for versatility.
This time I’ll be starting on the bench top first…
The Fameless Woodworker 