cypress or cherry for work bench top

[Robert gree]

I can get my hands on a 6" thick 30" wide slab of dead head cypress 10 feet long or a 5" thick slab 33" wide 9 feet long piece of cherry laurel (florida cherry).

which would be best suited for a workbench top?

[William Duffer]

I use plywood so I am guessing either would be better than that. I would have a lot of better things to make with either of those. If I had to choose I would use the cherry and only because of the width.

[Joe Spear]

Cypress seems a little too soft for a workbench top. I guess it depends on what work you're going to do on the workbench.

[Nathan Callender]

I wouldn't use either for a workbench. The cypress is probably too soft - it's one of the fastest growing softwoods in the south. I would be hesitant to use a solid slab of anything because of potential for warping. I'd rather go with a lamination to help minimize that. Plus, those two pieces really belong in a very beautiful piece of fine furniture instead of a workbench. How much are you paying for that slab of cherry?

[Jose Morales-Wade]

Check Chris Schwarz latest workbench. The top is made out of cherry.
He will have an article next month.

[Terry Beadle]

I vote for cherry over cypress. Cypress is too soft and will fish eye on you. Splinters are not popular. The cherry is not ideal but certainly not far from rock maple or ash. Cherry is a little soft but with proper sun hardening can be tough. It will be easier to keep flat than SYP would be. They both will take dings more deeply than rock maple or ash.

The price is right....pun intended ! Hoot!

[Howard Acheson]

bald cypress is very soft wood so it will be easily damaged if any type of abuse or pounding is performed on its surface. The best claim to fame for cypress is it durability in an outdoor environment.

I don't know anything about "cherry laurel". As far as I know, it's really a shrub. I didn't know you could get boards from it.

[David Thompson 27577]

I can get my hands on a 6" thick 30" wide slab of dead head cypress 10 feet long or a 5" thick slab 33" wide 9 feet long piece of cherry laurel (florida cherry).

which would be best suited for a workbench top?


Neither -- the cypress will move too much, and the cherry is best used in another application.

[Chip Lindley]

As others have said, I don't think I could bring myself to "waste" thick cherry on a workbench. Any workbench made of wide slabs will move and warp. I am afraid you would forever be hand-planing the top to try and keep it flat.

Wood was choosen for Old World workbench tops for it's density. Beech is often mentioned as a preferred wood, although hard maple, white oak and ash are fine alternatives. Tauton Press has a book full of ideas in The Workbench Book. Quite interesting reading.

[Lee Schierer]

Cherry Laurel (Prunus caroliniana) appears to have little if any commercial value as wood. I could find no site listing a use for eh wood. Probably because it grows mostly as a shrublike tree. Large trees appear to be rare. The twigs, leaves and bark are toxic. It is a fast growing evergreen tree so the wood is likely to be soft unlike Northern or Black Cherry which is a true hardwood.

[Robert gree]

Check Chris Schwarz latest workbench. The top is made out of cherry.
He will have an article next month.

paying 230 for the cypress 340 for the cherry. Requardless i think i will get both slabs for future projects. Would love the cypress for my island counter top.

Cherry will get saved maybe sawed into 4/4 or 5/4 stock

[Howard Acheson]

Cherry Laurel (Prunus caroliniana) appears to have little if any commercial value as wood. I could find no site listing a use for eh wood. Probably because it grows mostly as a shrublike tree. Large trees appear to be rare. The twigs, leaves and bark are toxic. It is a fast growing evergreen tree so the wood is likely to be soft unlike Northern or Black Cherry which is a true hardwood.

My thoughts exactly. It's a long way from the traditional black cherry that is the furniture wood.

[Robert gree]

My thoughts exactly. It's a long way from the traditional black cherry that is the furniture wood.

Scientific name is Prunus serotina. I thought all florida cherry was cherry laurel i was wrong.

[Jim Holman]

Very hard when dried and works well. Tends to be smaller in size. I have never seen a laurel cherry over 15" OD. If you can get it dry and stable, should make a great bench.

[Kevin Begos]

I have to respectfully disagree with many of the other posts.

I use a lot of cypress, and to me, the key word in your question was "deadhead" cypress.

In other words, old old growth cypress that was cut about 100 years ago, which means it was probably a tree about 300 to 500 years old when cut.
(i.e. - the tree may have been growing when Columbus arrived in 1492...)
And for those not familiar, these old growth logs have stayed at the bottom
of local rivers, away from oxygen, since being lost from lumber rafts).

The deadhead lumber is a whole different story from standard new growth cypress. The deadhead is much, much harder, usually with a very fine grain.

That said, even deadhead cypress is not as hard as maple or true cherry.

But I think the deadhead slab would make a heck of a workbench.
And if you don't want to buy that slab, I will! Sounds like a great buy,
no matter what you use it for.

[Lee Schierer]

Scientific name is Prunus serotina. I thought all florida cherry was cherry laurel i was wrong.

Unless I had no other choice I would use the cherry for a nice piece of furniture and not my workbench.