Oak workbench?

[cecil dean]

We have several Amish & Mennonite' saw mill in this area. Oak, Sycamore, & Hickory are reasonable cheap. I have never seen anyone using Oak for a workbench top. Is there a reason? Would Sycamore or Hickory be a better choice?
Cecil

[harry strasil]

I am using Pin Oak and dunnage from steel deliveries, because I have it, Pin Oak was sawn by a miniature sawmill powered by a miniature steam engine at a living history show then air dried in a metal building for 8 years.


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=76185&highlight=bench

[Bill White]

No real reason other than the fact that the oak has a more open grain. It will certainly be sturdy enough. If the hickory is the same price, ya might wanna consider that. Heavier than heck, and very tough.
Seal and finish well. you'll have an heirloom bench for sure.
Bill

[Brian Coe]

I have seen many original workbenches from the 18th and 19th centuries that had oak tops, and worked on several reproductions of them myself. No problems, other than the more open grain can collect dust/dirt easier than the closer grain woods like maple or beech. The hickory may work well too, but hickory has a tendency to warp more than other woods, so keeping a thick/wide benchtop flat might be an ongoing problem.

[harry strasil]

FWIW, the Pin Oak I used for my bench top is rather close grained unlike most oak, I attempted a close up of it in a place I scraped.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/nu%20bench/pinoakcu.jpg

[Tom Hargrove]

I built my bench out of reclaimed oak. The grain is somewhat open, but it works great as a workbench. I have no regrets not using another wood.

I would use either oak or hickory, whatever is cheaper. Hickory may be more dense, but given the mass of a typical bench, I don't think it will matter when in use.

[Pat Germain]

My workbench top is hickory. It's almost like granite. I love it. :)

[cecil dean]

Thanks for the information. I will most likely go with oak as I have several feet of it in stored in my barn.
Cecil

[george wilson]

The workbenches used in the cabinetmaker's shop in Williamsburg when I first came there were all oak.Thay were German style. They stayed there until the late 80's,when Mack Headley decided to make English style benches out of maple.

I noticed that the oak got pretty rough in places where stray saw cuts or years of chisel cuts cut the tops a bit. The oak would seem to break in splinters with the grain from one stray cut to the next.It's a little hard to describe,but the oak tops got fairly rough. Beech and maple do not do that.Their grains seem to hold together better. I hope this makes sense. At any rate,it took years for the tops to get rough.