My lords, ladies and gentlemen, after much ado, I present the Ambidextrous Grizz-ubo Workbench. (A Roubo inspired workbench with four Grizzly vises)
The Ambidextrous Grizz-ubo Workbench.
The tree that was used to make this bench, was felled in October 2012. It was sawn into lumber and stacked to dry the same day.
I first started work on the bench by milling the lumber on March 8, 2014. The bench was finished on April 17, 2015.
I wanted to take some pictures of the finished bench, so I put it on moving dollies and managed to get it out onto the driveway.
I’m pleased with the overall design and proportions of the various elements.
Ignore the giant mess in the background.
The sapele “pin striping” adds some character to the benchtop.
This side is technically the front, and the side I’ll most often work from.
I love the wavy grain in the sapele.
OK, who want’s to lift this back into my shop?
The oak drawbore pegs have darkened up nicely with the finish and add an interesting visual element.
I bought two Veritas planing stops and a vise rack stop from Lee Valley.
Some Veritas goodies that I bought to outfit the bench.
Some Stats:
I thought I would pull some interesting statistics from my blog over the past year. If I restrict my search to only posts concerning the workbench build (and not including this post), here are the numbers:
- Total number of posts – 62
- Total number of images – 1,058
- Words written – 69,694 (wow… that’s a novel)
- Time spent building the bench – 1 year, 1 month, and 9 days.
- Tools broken – 1 (and I really liked that router)
- Tools lost – 1 (I still can’t find that stanley folding knife)
- Dog holes drilled – 84 (132, if you count the holes in the deadmen)
- Christopher Schwarz’ workbench rules broken – all of them.
More Gratuitous Images:
Here are some more photos showing some of the details of the bench.
The wedged through tenons.
The tail vise mating up with the dovetailed breadboard end.
The wavy grain in the Sapele edge.
The sliding deadman with V-notch that rides on the stretcher.
The re-finished Grizzly H7788 vise hardware.
A Lee Valley Vise Rack Stop.
After the bench’s glamour shots, I put it back on the moving dollies and wrestled it back into the workshop. So here it sits in its final home:
I moved the workbench back into the shop.
I feel as though I should mark the bench some how with a makers mark. I don’t have a brand yet. A small brass plate engraved with name and dates made might be a good thing to add (so long as I install it somewhere inconspicuous). I’ll have to look into where I could get one made.
Ready for 100 years of service?
Thank-You’s:
I would like to thank all of you who have commented on my posts over the past year and shared your thoughts, suggestions, and opinions. Many of them have made me reconsider ideas that I was planning and several of them sent me in wholly new directions. My bench, and my skill set are undoubtedly better off for your assistance.
Where Next:
Well, I really want to set up my dust collection system properly with rigid ducting; I have some bench planes that still need restoring; And, I still need to make a shooting board and bench hook for the bench. Also, the kids want a tree house and the wife wants a chicken coop. So much for making furniture!
Stay tuned.
– Jonathan White
