First successful report of a Roubo-style veneer saw

I have been considering building one of these for ages, but this is the first time I've heard a positive story associated with one.

Image and design are from Ryan Mails blog. He only made a few posts, but I hope he resumes blogging.

Back saw repair

I picked this saw up on jimbodetools.com and there was a slight wave to the blade. Matt Cianci diagnosed from a photo that the saw back merely needed removal and reinstallation. There is an excellent video from Logan Cabinet Shoppe on the process of removing and reinstalling a saw back.


Reinstallation is funny. After reinstalling the blade in the back and seeing it straight, it warped terribly (albeit temporarily) from the saw nuts going in under tension. It's a finicky process, but one getting down, if only for the treasure trove of used saws it makes accessible to you and few others.

TV console

Installed the knife hinges today on the TV console.





I was concerned that we had made the sides appear too thick with the three-inch mitered returns. Three inch returns ensured a lot more structural integrity against racking, but seemed massive next to glass doors with thin frames.


Once the doors were installed, however, I was really happy with the look. I think I'll do smaller returns next time, but for this project the proportions don't seem too heavy.


Also had some fun prepping stock for another workbench.

BambiDaddy starts Childcare

Well after a fine breakfast served up by Jo, designs for the left side of the airstream were finalized and demolition began.


The Mickey Mouse cabinets above came out in about two hours. Whatever weight was saved using 1/4" plywood was lost with the 400 screws the builders used to Gerry-rig this set together.



New divider is baked amber plyboo. Amazing stuff. It's not green, but it is a great building material. It's bamboo the whole way through, so no edge banding needed and it's hard as hell. (read: only suited for carbide)

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Location:Tebbs

Now we're cooking with gas

Well the bench is standing and the leg vise is everything I hoped it would be.


I didn't understand all the fuss over leg vices while I was building one, but now that it's in place I can understand: having the screw 15" from the clamping point produces a huge amount of leverage compared with a shoulder vise or face vise where the pressure is directly on or only 3" below the clamping point.

I'm pretty happy with the old acme screw currently on place, but I now have a 2" coarse tap and am looking forward to adding a wooden wagon vise in the weeks ahead.

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Bench and TV console

Made good progress on the bench and secured some 3x12 for for the top at Urban Ore. $15 for the pair.


The mortises are all cut on the base. Now to add cut the tenons on the remaining stretchers and once again have a bench I can wail on!


Derek's TV console is coming together nicely as well.


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Location:Grandma's Haus

Designing a Workbench (around available scrap)

The design of my last bench was heavily influenced by Scott Landis's The Workbench Book. It is an inspiring read to see how work tables evolve to suit the needs of different traditions or different individuals. It gives good insight into how to anticipate your own needs from a bench.

Before starting my next bench, I read Chris Scwarz's Workbenches. This book focusses on two different styles of workbenches, and takes a vey different approach than the Landis book. The piece I love about Schwarz's book is the emphasis on building with locally available and inexpensive materials. Well in San Francisco that means sidewalk shopping.

This junker yielded 15 - 2x6x8' boards of (surprisingly) dry Doug Fir. I'm now committed to spending less than $40 for the whole bench so I'm keeping my design very flexible. There will be some stripping and planing this weekend for sure and I'm looking forward to using my latest Alameda Flea Market purchase to remove some of the nails.