Door Construction on a Roubo workbench?

[patriot]

I have several exterior door projects in my near future and am looking VERY hard at building a Roubo workbench based on the Benchcrafted plans.  Fact is, I'd love to have that workbench in my shop.

My 'issue' is that I have never worked on a narrow 24-inch wide workbench.  All of my workbenches have been at least 30-inches wide.  Perhaps the truth to building 80"x36" doors is that the only time a wide surface is required is during glue-up.  The rest of the door construction is plunging domino mortises, planing, etc. on individual members. 

Perhaps I just answered my own question?

Someone is probably going to say, 'Well, why don't you just make the top wider?'  Great question, but as I understand it the 4-inch x 87-inch top (as shown in the plans) weighs - from what I have read- nearly two-hundred pounds or so.  So adding 6-inches more  to the width of the top? [scared]  Ok, so I'll order a couple of cranes and I should be good to go. Yes? [wink]

I like some feedback on those who construct doors on narrow workbenches.

Thanks!

 

[butzla]

My .02, if you're often constructing doors that wide...and you have the floor space, you should alter the plans and make it that wide.  On the downside, it's a lot of material to buy and then the weight of the extra width is considerable.  When I built mine, the weight and width of the standard size was just about all I could handle by myself.  Also, the standard width minimizes the risk of wrenching your lower back reaching across the bench top.

Alternatively, you could make some swing-out, or removable brackets for the backside to get you the extra width.  It doesn't need to be made from iron.  Functioning something along the lines of Jameel's new "Swing-Away Seat".
On another note, the roubo bench is also great for clamping a door to the front side for mortising lock sets.  You made a great choice in bench types.  You're going to love it!

 

[patriot]

[member=3220]Jim Kirkpatrick[/member]

Thanks for your very informative post.

The swing out brackets is a great idea.  Thinking about this a bit, I think that 'slide-in' supports may also work via wooden 'mortises' beneath the bench top.  They would not have to be overly strong because the bench itself would support the weight of the door.

I have heard of door builder's laying a full sheet of plywood on their too narrow workbenches to support doors safely, but that concept never appealed to me. I would much rather have a light 'folding' melamine-top table that could be used for door assembly and glue up and spare my workbench from glue spills. 

(Note. I know melamine is a heavy sheet good, but my plan would be to cut it lengthwise to reduce its weight and lay these sheets over the fold-up table which would have supporting cross-members to help keep the melamine relatively flat.  I will post this when I build it.)

And you also hit on another aspect of door construction that I have not given sufficent thought to: mortising in the lock sets.  I had not overlooked this, but your comment (and photo) made the point perfectly.  IMHO, nothing ruins a well made door quicker than poor lockset installation.  Thanks for pointing that out.

Off topic:  I understand that the tail-vise is the most difficult aspect of the Roubo workbench construction.  That said, did you get some help with this installation?  I understand that there is a website that offers detailed (or so I read) videos that help construct the entire workbench.  I have the Roubo Benchcrafted plans, but am thinking that getting all the help I can before I get started may be a wise thing to do.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[butzla]

[member=49475]patriot[/member] ,

I'm sure you'll come up with the solution.  Be sure to post pictures here.  When you're talking about the tail vise being difficult, you must mean the giant dovetails.  I made a feeble attempt at making the pins  with a router going the full depth freehand.  There was a bit of a blip in them so I scrapped them and went with a mortise and tenon.

Looking back at them I probably could have come up with a fix, but I was pressed for time and started over using a simple mortise and tenon.  The dovetails are purely for aesthetics.  A Domino 700 would be great for this task.
After I completed my bench, Jameel published an article in PWW on his method for making "condor dovetails  It's genius, I wish I thought of this earlier. He only freehands the first 1/4" or so, sharpens the edges with a chisel, then switches to a flush trim bit to complete the deep pins.

You can read about my trials and tribulations over on TalkFestool.  I used a fair amount of Festools for many of the tasks.

 

[patriot]

[member=3220]Jim Kirkpatrick[/member]

Wow!!!  That is one BA workbench!!  I'm green with envy.  You did a great job, but I have no doubt you worked very hard to make it happen.  I'm sure you are very proud of your accomplishment and you should be ... in spades!  Great job! [thumbs up]

What I meant by the tail-vise remark was the installation of the BC tail-vise hardware.  From what I can tell that seems one installation whose instructions should be followed very closely.  The dovetails look challenging as well.

Thanks for the links.  I know they will come in very handy for me.  I used to hang out @ TalkFestool a few years back.  I have very little spare time so prefer to hang out at one WWing site if I can.

When I do begin the bench build I will post all of my progress on my website for anyone who wishes to visit.

Question for you:  Is there anything you would change on your bench now that you have used it for some time?

I worry about its length, but I'm sure those wiser than I will ever be have a very good reason for making it 87-inches long.

Thanks again for all of your comments and images. 

 

[rvieceli]

[member=49475]patriot[/member] you might also want to take a look at Luke's (iamnothim) Roubo build documented here:
http://festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/split-top-roubo-bench-build/

He used plans from the Wood Whisperer.

Ron

 

[butzla]

Installing the tail vise hardware is not a big thing.  It was harder when I built mine because the inside of the mortise or rabbet was curved.  But even then it wasn't no thang.  I cut out the full sized diagram then glued it to the end of the slab and followed along with many passes with the router.  Just a lot of repetition.  They have since changed their hardware to allow for a square bottomed mortise/rabbett.  I wouldn't really have done anything different other than give those big ole dovetails another go round.

 

[patriot]

[member=49475]patriot[/member] you might also want to take a look at Luke's (iamnothim) Roubo build documented here:
http://festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/split-top-roubo-bench-build/

He used plans from the Wood Whisperer.

Ron
[/quote]

Thanks for the link, Ron.

I came across that thread the other day and will go over it carefully very soon.  That's a heck of a long thread.

I appreciate your help.

P.S.  Here is another link on the subject:
Renaissance Woodworker

 

[patriot]

[member=3220]Jim Kirkpatrick[/member]

Thanks for the feedback on my question. 

Good to know you're happy with the bench as it is.  This is encouraging to me because as I noted earlier, I have never worked on a narrow workbench, but am willing to do so.

I see in your photo how you pasted up the diagram and cut out the excess.  Great idea!

I appreciate all of your help.