Carter’s Roubo Style Workbench

By: Carter (Jacksonville)
Experience: 0-2 Years
Woodworker Type: Hobbyist
Material(s): Solid Wood
Finish Type(s): Oil
Finishing Technique(s): Wiping

Building this bench was my first major project. It took about two months to build after I let the wood sit in my shop for a couple months. The entire bench is made of 2 x 10 southern yellow pine I bought from Home Depot, and the vise is made from a piece of hard maple I had lying around. The bench is 31″ tall, 5 1/2′ long, and 2′ wide. For me the most difficult part was jointing and laminating the massive top. Laminating all those boards really helped me fine tune my power joiner and planer skills. I did the large mortises with a forstner bit and mortise chisel. Surprisingly, creating the mortise and tenons was pretty easy. The tenons are held in place by dowels using the lessons from Marc’s drawboring episode. I flattened the top and bottom of the benchtop using a #5 and #8 handplane, which was a real workout. I applied two coats of boiled linseed oil for a finish.

I was lucky enough to order a pair of Phil Koontz holdfasts for the bench a few months before he quit making them. I have been using the bench for a few months now and it has made using my hand tools a real joy.