Cherry Workbench...

[Peter Scoma]

In PA, 8/4 hard maple is the same price as 8/4 cherry (at most places). I'm planning to build my first real cabinetmakers bench and am throwing around the idea of using cherry. I dont see cherry used very often for workbenches and assume there is a reason why. Just wanted to get some feedback regarding the suitability of cherry as a workbench material.
Thanks
PS

[Chris Tsutsui]

Probably the main reason people use hard maple is because it's a lot harder than Cherry and is more dense. It is stiffer and has more bending strength.

I am not sure if soft maple is more comparable to cherry though...

I know Cherry is decently strong enough to be used as flooring so I don't see why it would be OK as a work bench if you can get it for cheaper but if your bench is designed with function in mind, then hard maple is the way to go.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Pete

One of the reasons that is isn't used much is the density of the wood. Maple is at least 2x harder than cherry. It should take the impacts a lot better than cherry can. It will last longer too.

Hope that helps.

Quinn

[David Keller NC]

"I dont see cherry used very often for workbenches and assume there is a reason why."

For most of us (not in the Northeast), cherry, even crappy cherry, is roughly twice the price of utility maple, and roughly 4 times the price of a strong softwood, like Southern Yellow Pine or Doug Fir.

Obviously, this is a personal question, but I don't want my bench to be a piece of furniture - there are times when I decide I need another dog hole, and I don't want to have to think twice about getting out the drill and making a new one.

[Chris Padilla]

IMO, make your bench out of the cheapest most plentiful wood close to you...within reason. Chris Schwarz has popularized SYP (southern yellow pine) but Douglas fir can work....

While we all want pretty benches, if they are used like they are supposed to be used, they will be somewhat mangled up and get discolored over time anyway. I managed to pick up $4/bf 10/4 maple one time. It was on sale...I picked up 120 bf of it! :D

[Peter Scoma]

Thanks for the feedback guys. It sounds like maple is the way to go. I hear what you are saying Chris. I dont doubt a utility bench made from SYP would serve me any better than a maple bench with fancy walnut inlays, but as you said its a personal decision. I'm also planning on a large wall mounted case for my handtools and want to match the bench material but ill cross that road when I come to it.

I'll save the cherry for furniture.

thanks
PS

[Andrew Long]

Why not White Oak, not quite as hard as Maple, but is harder than Cherry. In PA, you should be able to get White Oak for decent prices... doesn't need to be quarter sawn for a work bench.

[Peter Quinn]

Funny story. My boss makes flooring, custom widths and a lot of exotics and such. His office is a showroom of sorts, one room in 12" wide rustic white oak, the next where his desk sits in cherry. A female customer with VERY TALL POINTY stiletto heels walks into the office to meet him, walks across the almost new floors, leaves no marks on the oak but perfect imprints of her heels every where she stepped on the cherry! Not a large woman either mind you. They were there for years until recently repaired.

IMO cherry makes a beautiful but not very durable floor in a high traffic area, so if you hope to have a bench top on which you do much heavy hand work and pounding, cherry might not be a great choice. If you do less pounding and more with power tools, it may be fine. Either way the maintenance will be greater than with maple but easier to scrape or sand when required.

[Mark Maleski]

I think a lighter wood is also generally preferable as it provides a better visual background when visually aligning surfaces,joints, etc. For example, when sighting along the sole of a plane to align the blade, a cherry background (especially if aged and oiled) will likely be too dark.

It'd be pretty though. There's no finer wood in my opinion.

[Chris Padilla]

There's no finer wood in my opinion.

...except walnut! :eek:

:cool: :p ;) :D

[Mark Boyette]

glue laminate over plywood and save the cherry for a real project.

[Peter Scoma]

Ok, i wont use the cherry but lets not lose our heads here :eek:



glue laminate over plywood and save the cherry for a real project.

[Casey Gooding]

I made a workbench out of cherry a few years ago. It works fine. I don't however care for the darkness on the top.
If I were in your shoes, I'd make the top out of maple and the base of cherry. It would be functional and look great.

[Steve Griffin]

glue laminate over plywood and save the cherry for a real project.

HAH,
I'm a fan of 4' x 8' plywood with a replaceable white melamine top sheet. Structure is floor joists I beams, 4x4 legs and 3" casters. A bottom shelf holds clamps and all manner tools, jigs and junk. Have two of them and never once have I thought, "gee wish I had a small pretty workbench".:)

-Steve

[Dave Anderson NH]

I'm with Mark Maleski on this one. A bench top should be light in color to maximize reflection of light. I would stay away from walnut, cherry, and any other dark colored wood. I think maple, ash, red or white oak, and even poplar would be suitable. Of course you will get less denting and fewer and shallower cuts, gouges, and scrapes with the harder woods. In the new bench I build last fall I chose ash since it was roughly half the price of hard maple and it is just fine.

[Mark Boyette]

yep.. got two of those myself. I'd hate to make a workbench that I'd be scared to scratch.




HAH,
I'm a fan of 4' x 8' plywood with a replaceable white melamine top sheet. Structure is floor joists I beams, 4x4 legs and 3" casters. A bottom shelf holds clamps and all manner tools, jigs and junk. Have two of them and never once have I thought, "gee wish I had a small pretty workbench".:)

-Steve

[Frank Drew]

Peter,

I like a heavy, traditional bench, which I think is best if you do a lot of handwork; I made mine out of maple with a piece or two of birch to fill out the width I wanted. Those two plus beech would be my woods of choice.

One feature I'm glad I didn't include was the tool trough you often find at the rear of a lot of benches.

[Verne Skagerberg]

Density and hardness aren't the only desirable characteristics for your bench. One of the benefits of using a dense wood like maple is that it is also heavier. If I had unlimited space and resources, I'd pour, and attach my bench top to a solid concrete block. A 4" thick laminated maple top is as close as I can come to that with any practicality, but it's close enough.

Good luck, and save the cherry for something that shows -- or send it to me ;)