Well here goes with my entry - I’ve started the journey into hand tool woodworking and this Roubo style bench is the most ambitious yet. There are a few final touches that I need to do such as lining the vice jaws and making some more bench dogs - but I think that it will be one of those projects that’s never going to be classed as finished as there will always be tweaks and modifications that could be added!!
The hardest and most time consuming job was flattening the top with Jack and smoothing planes, the leg vice was quite a challenge to fit and hang so that it operated smoothly.
Here’s my offering - a English walnut chest of drawers with ash drawer pulls and cherry drawer sides. It is made from a log that a friend gave me for turning a bowl about 30 years ago but it was getting worm-eaten so I sliced it with my Axminster bandsaw to show the figure. This is my first time using walnut and it has been a joy to work.
I made it just because I wanted to use the walnut, I have no clear purpose for it. It is the first time I have cut half-blind dovetails and half-lap mitres for the the walnut back panel frame so I have the project itself and I have learned a lot in the building of it.
Now I am keeping my eye on a stack of walnut in my workshop from a branch off the tree in my garden - waiting for the germ of a project to form in my mind.
Thanks Paul, much appreciated. It just seemed the obvious thing to put in the space, didn’t chuck lots of money at it, I really enjoy building useful stuff and having recently moved home it has presented lots of opportunity.
