After nearly 50 years of woodwork, I decided to build myself a bench!!

It was therefore a serious business that required a lot of research.

In the end I decided on recycled pitch pine (pinus rigida) my favourite timber, and a plan based on a bench built by Andre Roubo in the late 1700s.

The photos show the finished bench, and it being glued up in the kitchen!!

Roubo’s plans

Shows the bench being glued in the kitchen and shows clearly the sliding leg to support long planks in the vice.

Shows the loose plywood tongues used to join the top and the ebony inlay in the vice.

Shows the joints and the wooden shoulder vice made of apple, lignum vitae and hornbeam.