The Deluxe Roubo

I always liked the look of my yellow pine Roubo-style workbench. That is, until last week.

That's when I got a look at Jameel Abraham's version of a Roubo workbench in ash, which puts most workbenches that I've seen to shame. Honestly, it should come as no surprise that Jameel would go over the top. He's a luthier and builds stunning ouds. What's an oud? It's a proto-lute. Check this link.

So anyway, back to the bench. Jameel took the basic Roubo form and added a sliding leg vise, something Roubo also did in a later volume. He called that form a German bench. Then Jameel added a wagon vise using custom machined hardware that is similar to David Powell's tail vise shown in "The Workbench Book."

Jameel documented the construction of his bench with photos, text, drawings and even some movies on his blog. All in all, it's a great read and a great resource for anyone seeking to build a fine bench.

Here are links to the blog listings in the correct time order for your convenience:

• Introduction
• Rails and leg mortises
• Leg details and vises
• Vise chops
• Leg vise action
• Tail vise details
• Leg vise rollers
• Leg vise breakthrough
• Building the top
• Tail vise construction
• Attaching the top, leg vises
• Fin

Congratulations to Jameel on this impressive bench. We should all aspire to do such excellent work.

— Christopher Schwarz

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