It matters more than most people admit. The Solid Beech Roubo is built from European beech — dense, stable, and forgiving under a hand plane. The Hard Maple Cabinetmaker's Bench uses hard maple throughout, which is harder still and better for fine work where you need the bench to stay put. The Nicholson uses pine for the top and ash for the legs — lighter, more affordable, still solid enough for a working shop.

Most benches ship within ten to fourteen working days. The Roubo and Maple benches are built to order, so allow three weeks if you're ordering in a busy period. We'll email you a dispatch date when your order goes to the workshop. Freight delivery to your door — you won't be asked to meet a pallet at a depot.

Yes, we ship across the EU, Switzerland, and the EU. Customs duties on solid timber furniture vary by country — we declare accurately on all paperwork, so there are no surprises at the border from our end. What we can't do is predict exactly what your local customs office will charge. Most EU customers receive their bench without additional fees, but it does happen occasionally.

You have fourteen days from delivery to request a return. The bench needs to be unassembled and in the original packaging — a used bench with sawdust in the vise screw isn't something we can resell. If there's a defect or damage in transit, that's on us completely and we'll sort it fast. Contact us through the Contacts page and we'll walk you through the process.

For a Roubo, the Cast Iron Leg Vise is the natural choice — it's what the design was built around. Heavy, wide-opening, and it grips without racking. If you do a lot of panel work or need to hold wide boards on end, add the Twin-Screw End Vise as well. The Quick-Release Face Vise suits the Cabinetmaker's Bench better — faster to operate when you're cycling through lots of small pieces.

We machine the top flat before dispatch. That said, solid timber moves — especially in the first weeks after delivery as it adjusts to your shop's humidity. A light pass with a hand plane after it's settled is normal and expected. It's not a defect; it's wood. If the top arrives with visible twist or cupping beyond a millimetre or two, that's a problem and we want to know about it.

Two years on materials and construction. Structural failures — bad joints, failing hardware, cracked tops from a manufacturing defect — we fix or replace. Normal wear, tool marks, and seasonal wood movement aren't covered because they're not failures. The benches are built to last decades. If something goes wrong in the first two years that isn't your doing, get in touch and we'll make it right.

All benches ship partially assembled — legs and stretchers come as a sub-assembly, the top ships separately. Assembly takes most people ninety minutes to two hours with basic tools. Instructions are included and written by someone who has actually built one, not a technical writer working from photographs. If you get stuck, call us — we'd rather spend ten minutes on the phone than have you wrestling with it alone.