Benchcrafted Split-top Roubo

A fair number of people have asked why we bought another bench instead of simply making one – we do, after all, know how to make one. Or 10. The short answer is: We did the math.

Factoring in our time and all materials (including the vises, for which we almost always use Benchcrafted products), we could not build one for less than the price of the Benchcrafted Split-top Roubo. And we certainly couldn’t have had it up and running as quickly – even though we ordered a custom-height one, which added to the lead time.

The longer answer is that we didn’t have this style of bench in our shop, and people often ask what we think of it. So we decided to buy a bench, put it to use and do a review for the record. We talk about benches a lot, so we decided to do this review in she-said, he-said style, so you’ll know who likes what and why.

Megan: Both Chris and I like a simple, behemoth of a bench (we’re simple folk!) – a heavy top and thick legs (so the thing doesn’t move in use), a leg vise, a row of round dog holes in line with a planing stop (and perhaps a few more behind them placed to secure a doe’s foot and/or twin-screw vise), and we’re happy.

So the split-top Roubo is much fancier than we require … but it certainly is a sexy beast. It has a Crisscross leg vise (with a blinged-out tommy-bar hub courtesy of our friend Narayan), a slick tail vise, well-machined square dog holes and three dogs, two 1" dog holes on the front side of the split (their arrangement allows me to secure my twin-screw vise with Crucible holdfasts), and four 1" dog holes on the backside of the split, for all your various other holdfast needs.

Now I haven’t yet really done much work on this, my new bench (thanks to a pesky broken ankle). But both Chris and I have worked fairly often on an early BC split-top at the Woodworking School at Pine Croft and a newer one at the Florida School of Woodwork. And Chris has been using mine a lot here (yes, he reports his back hurts from leaning over my 31"-high top).

So collectively, we have a lot of time in on using this style of bench. (So why bring one in just to answer student questions? So they could answer for themselves by using it.)

And I have to say it is an excellent bench.

Chris: Agree. And before anyone starts s&%t-posting a comment, please read this. Because I’ve written four books on workbenches, people give me crap when I work on a commercial bench or even throw one a compliment. So I want to be clear about something: I wrote my workbench books because the benches available at the time were so spindly and awful.

My biggest hope was that commercial bench builders would improve their products (some have gotten much better; some have gotten worse). And for those who couldn’t afford a commercial bench, I had developed plans to make it an inexpensive and simple build.

Overall, the Benchcrafted bench is made better than most custom furniture I encounter. That means tight joints, beautifully finished surfaces and hardware that runs smoothly. If you are a beginning woodworker, this bench will give you something to aspire to. And if you already have 100 woodworking awards under your belt, this bench will suit your picky tastes.

Megan: But … we both dislike the split top. It seems designed to allow tools to drop through the slots not for hanging, but to the floor. I can drop things to the floor easily enough on my own; I don’t need any help with that. And on every one I’ve worked on, the gap stop insert binds (including this new one – which Chris will discuss in a moment).

Yes, I know you can flip the gap stop over and raise it to serve as a backstop while traversing. Almost nothing I work on is narrow enough to use it for that purpose.

The next time I go to the lumberyard, I’m buying a 1-1/2"-thick piece of maple to replace the slotted insert. Problem easily solved.

Chris: There are split-top benches out there in the historical record (check “Woodworking in Estonia” for photos. Wheelwrights would use them for assembling spokes into the hub). So this isn’t new gimcrackery.

My primary objection to the split top is that it complicates the construction process. But if you’re not building the bench, then problem solved.

But I also don’t like open slots in my benchtop. I already have problems with hardware rolling into my holdfast holes. Now I have to keep an eye on pencils and marking knives as well.

And – this is just me – it doesn’t suit how I work. I don’t want a tool well in the middle of the benchtop. And I don’t need the bench’s gap stop sticking up for traversing boards (the wagon vise/tail vise is quite adept at that).

Finally, we experienced some wood movement in the top about a month after the bench arrived. We couldn’t get the gap stop back into its gap. The ends of the bench at one end had swelled. I planed the gap stop down in about 10 minutes and that was problem solved.

Megan: And I, for one, would like to add a planing stop. Yes, I know that’s what a tail vise is for. But it takes longer (a little longer, anyway) to clamp up a piece than to simply jam it against a planing stop and get to work. I think Chris might disagree, so read on to find out. (And who knows – once I start really using this bench, I might change my mind … but I will have already added that stop, because why not?!)

Chris: I think you don’t need a planing stop if you have a tail vise (like this bench does). And – here’s the drop-my-pants admission of the review – I love the tail vise on this bench. It is the first tail vise I’ve ever loved.