Project Update: The Saga of the Bench Continues

As you know, I've completely halted production on the instrument until I have the shop rearranged and the Roubo-style bench finished. Well, I went and caught a pretty horrible cold that began to make itself apparent Friday night and I'm still sicker than an old Tortuga. As a result, the tenons I planned to cut into the legs over the weekend never happened. What did happen, though, was the arrival of the crisscross and handwheel for the leg vise.

While I would like to have purchased a cast iron handwheel, cost and prudence dictated a polished aluminum model. Should I find it too light for my purposes, I can always replace it at a later date.

You may have seen the update to my last post in which I included a photo of the bench top cut to size as it sat in Random Roger Green's enormous van.

Roger continues to be my savior on this project. As he loans me tools and gives me advice, I realize a little more every day that I was a bit foolish to think I could complete the workbench on my lonesome. Sort of like making a harpsichord from scratch on my own. I am so thankful for Roger's friendship and guidance - he is a man among men.

One example of Random Rog going above an beyond is the help he has given me with cutting the bench top to size. He and I loaded the 300-pound piece into his van and he ran it to Creative Woodworking NW where they used their table saw with a 22" blade to first rip it.

Then, they threw it on their huge jointer to clean up the cut side in preparation for the final rip to 22" in width.

When they finished with the width cuts, Random told them to just trim up the ends.

I had been planning on the top coming back at 7' long based on some damage to the piece that was, fortunately, cut out when they ripped it to width. When they were done cleaning up the ends, I ended up with a piece 4" x 22" x 98 5/8". Yeah, that's over eight feet long. This falls directly in line with Owen Daly's advice to make the bench "as long as you can fit in your shop." Fortunately, it will fit just fine.

I'm still pretty sick, so I don't anticipate getting back out into the shop for a few more days. When I do, I will work on flattening the legs on one end and cutting the tenons. More on that later.

Until next time...