Sending one half of the (heavy) workbench top over the jointer

During my five day Roubo workbench building marathon with Jacob, I didn’t take much time to pick up the camera. But I did snap a few photos when I could. The days were rather long. Now that we’re home and the workbench is painfully close to completion, I thought I would share a few from our recent expedition.

I’ll admit, we used quite a few machines to build this beast. The first photo above shows Jacob and I pushing some 100+ pounds of ash over Greg’s 12″ jointer to create a smooth face. It was a real thrill to get the laminated top all smooth, uniform, and shiny. And flatter than we could probably ever achieve by hand.

Super clear, planed ash… almost too nice

We’re using air dried ash, most of much was exceptionally clear. We bought the wood locally here in Kentucky, and were pleased to see the finished quality of the planed wood. The wood had some borer damage here and there, but overall… goodness gracious. Beautiful stuff. Almost too nice for us lackeys.

Using some contortionist skills to install a vise scew

The workbench construction was a physical affair, and my shoulders are still a bit stiff as I hunch over this keyboard. What’s the reward without at least a little bit of suffering or lack of sleep?

The finishing touches are going in place now. No doubt you’ll see some evidence of the completed workbench here shortly. Until then, check out the rest of the photos here.