Roubo: Almost Done

 Four months later, and I'm almost finished with this workbench.

I added a sliding deadman even though the span between the legs is only 27".

The top of the deadman has a 3/8" x 3/8" tongue that fits into a matching groove on the underside of the bench. The bottom skate of the deadman has a V-groove that slides along a V-shaped track that's glued to the front stretcher.

I shaped the wedges for the tusk tenons to match the wedge in one of my antique moulding planes. I still need to figure out what shape to make the ends of the long stretchers.

I may add holes to the front right leg, but will wait to see if I need them. I ran holes along the front edge of the benchtop in between the legs and added only one more opposite the front left leg.  I use that for a planing stop.

I'm finding all sorts of benefits to having a removable split top. For one, I can remove the back half of the benchtop if I need to clamp a board on both sides of the bench.  It's similar to a thinner, Japanese-style bench.

Also, I only need to lift it about 5/8" in order to remove the sliding deadman.

I still need to add a removable shelf, sand the base and apply finish, in addition to shaping the ends of the long stretchers, but that's nothing compared to the work that's behind me.

Oh, and the parallel guide works now without having to enlarge the mortise. I slathered it with wax and no longer jams.

Planing stop uses only one hole.