Bench design?

[James Williams 007]

I am almost done gluing the top of my SYP bench together and I want to add walnut as the perimeter layer all the way around the top. My first thought was to add it just to the front and use it for the vise but I think that it might look off. I don't want to use SYP for the front and vise because its a softer wood and the reason I turned to walnut is I have extra laying around. I would like to glue 1.5 x 4, 4" is the how thick the SYP top is, to the front and back then on the ends my thought is to do a tongue and groove or bread board ends with pins or dowels. The final dimension of the top would be 82"x30"x4". My biggest concern is wood movement being different between SYP and walnut. Should I just keep it simple and just use the walnut or a piece of maple for the vise and stick with a solid SYP top? Another reason I would like to add walnut on the ends too is the hope that I might add a veritas twin screw at a later date!?:confused:

Oh ya this is off topic but I added a Hock set to my #7 and it was a whole new plane, I had a blast planing the SYP top I cant wait until I can to the final leveling!

[Joe McMahon]

Since the walnut would be just the outside face & back boards, wood movement wouldn't be a factor. Make certain that the end boards, no matter what species, are bolted on rather than glued and you are good to go.