The Workbench Part I - Rough Cutting the Legs

We moved into a new house back in August and for the first time I have my own woodshop space.  After taking some time to get the tools set up (including a new Saw Stop table saw from my wife Lola) I'm ready to start my first major project.  And what better first project for the new woodshop then a genuine workbench.  For the design I've chosen a modification of 18th century French cabinetmaker Andre Roubo's classic design which pairs beefy legs with a massive top and plenty of work holding capability. 

There are many different blogs on building one of these benches which have become very popular so I figure I'll have plenty of resources.  My ultimate dream is to pair the bench with some of the amazing woodworking vises made by the Benchcrafted company(http://benchcrafted.com/str.html) but for now I'll just start working on the foundation.

I had inherited a couple old wood beams from my brother years ago and used one to build the chicken coop at our old house.  The other one came over in the move and it is the perfect length for the legs.  I started by rough cutting the beam into (4) 36" lengths, not worrying too much about the ends being straight as this will all be fine tuned later.  There are some pretty decent checks, random cuts, etc in the beam so I'll need to think about patching some areas or cutting around them.  For now it's cool to see the tight end grain in the Douglas Fir legs and think of what will be.  More later...