Workbench

[Donny Lawson]

Has anyone made a nice Workbench from regular #2 common pine 2x4's ? I know the frame can be made from pine but I'm talking about the "TOP" of the bench. I know it's suppose to be hardwood like "Maple" but would pine work?
Donny

[Joe A Faulkner]

Don't do it. At least step up to yellow southern pine. You could rip 2x8's or 2x12's from the borg. You might also check Craig's List for some old barn beams.

[Josh Rudolph]

Donny,

I agree with Joe...I would try to get SYP and rip the pieces from bigger stock. The bigger stock has a greater chance of being clearer. Rip your stock for the top from them and I think you will have a better end product. This is the advice that is given in the ever popular book by Christopher Schwarz - "Workbenches." I would suggest picking the book up or getting the "Workbench Design book" also by Chris if you are considering a bench build. They are both relatively quick reads and packed with a ton of useful things to consider when building a bench.

[Ben Arnott]

I've done it. Works great. I recommend Workbenches from Theory to Design by Christopher Schwartz. As far as the top goes, you may have better results if you buy 2x10's and rip them to the thickness of your bench top. The material in 2x10's is typically better quality, less warping, cupping and knots. I laminated mine using 1 3/4 by 4 on their sides so the end thickness of the bench is 4 inches thick.

[glenn bradley]

Obviously opinions differ and we all speak from our personal experiences. I made my base out of KD 2x fir which I milled down myself to make my straight, square boards. Despite being kiln dried and aclimated in my shop for months the material continued to move and shrink causing grief. Go to the yard and pick up some SY Pine or properly dried poplar at the least. The slight increase in cost will more than be made up for in the greater amount of usable lumber. There was so much spoil in the 2x lumber I bought that I could have used poplar and come out ahead.

[lowell holmes]

The school at Homstead Heritage made their benches from pine bought at the local borg.

http://www.homesteadheritage-woodworking.com/gallery.html

You can see the a bit of the benches at the site shown here.

Paul Sellers did an article in Woodwork magazine using such wood. It was the joiners bench shown in the site above.

[Donny Lawson]

I may just make the frame work out of pine and try to find some nice 2x maple for the top.
Donny

[Stephen Cherry]

Don't do it. At least step up to yellow southern pine. You could rip 2x8's or 2x12's from the borg. You might also check Craig's List for some old barn beams.

I'll say the same thing I always say, BUY USED. Either the recycled hardwood barn material, or an old bench. I have three benches, and none of them were new. One looks like a recycled piece of bowling alley, the second is a modern bench with dogs and two vises from craigslist, and the third is an antique bench with wooden vises also from craigslist. If you keep your eyes open, these will just pop up and the price is usually right. No reason to buy anything that is not substantial- good benches sell every once in a while.

[Bill Bukovec]

I made my entire bench out of pine salvaged from shipping crates.

The crate was made for a very heavy piece of equipment. The crates were made from 2x6's and 4 x 4's.

The top is about 3" thick. The bench plans are from an article Frank Klauz did for Fine Woodworking. I didn't cut the nice dovetails like most benches have. I didn't want to spent to much time on my "Practice Bench."

I admit that a hardwood top is better. Maybe I'll get to a hardwood version some day.

Good Luck,

Bill

[Neil Brooks]

2x8 doug fir, bought at the BORG.

Happy as a clam !

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_WVVYjLCNo2w/TS8bljfLWLI/AAAAAAAABho/lH5ONSzGK9A/s512/P1050096.JPG

Whole bench ... about $175. Plans are here (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/175_Workbench/), if interested.

And ... it was after looking through the Christopher Schwarz book, and seeing that doug fir ranks VERY high on the metrics that HE thinks a bench species needs to ....

My $0.02. YMMV ;)

[John Sanford]

Something for folks answering to keep in mind is that others are reading these responses as well, and availability of lumber and used stuff varies significantly by geography. Buying used is a complete non-starter here. There are no old barns. There are no antique benches (that stuff gets sold BEFORE people come here), etc. There also isn't any SYP, 'tis Douglas Fir territory. Now, the OP is in Georgia, so the used advice may be useful, and the SYP definitely is.

Last consideration: some folks just want to build their own benches.

[Don Jarvie]

Donny, I'm in the process of building one myself out of 2x4.

Got the "Premium" 2x4s at the Depot. The premium ones are a little more expensive 2.25 and are straighter than the crapper ones.

I only want my bench to be 46 by 24 so I bought 8 2x4s, cut them in half, planed and jointed them into 2 sections. Sent each section though the planer and glued it up. I do have a slight bow that I have to handplane out but so far so good.

For the base I doubled up 2x4s and used 2x6s for the stretchers across the front and back. Just going to screw the top to it. I'm going to add draws to the bottom.

I just want something I can have some vises on with some bench dogs. I do all of my work on my assembly table so it doesn't have to be perfect just hold the wood so I can plane it.

[Erik France]

Like others have mentioned, using larger 2x material is usually better than 2x4s. I did mine out of ripped SYP 2x12s and a couple 2x10s. I found them to be straighter and much more clearer than any 2x4s that the Borg had. I also found that the longer boards were a lot straighter than the short ones they had too. Sorting through the 16' 2x12s wasn't exactly easy. I had the store crosscut them in half so I could get them home. Using the larger boards and ripping them can give you a more consistant grain pattern too.

My SYP bench:

[Russell Smallwood]

Hey Donny,

It's been mentioned already but is worth repeating. You should pick up Chris Schwarz's workbench book, he has two very nice plans and he advocates using southern yellow pine bought from home centers and shows you step by step how to make them and why SYP is a perfectly acceptable material.

[John Cavanaugh]

Donny, I'm in the process of building one myself out of 2x4.

Got the "Premium" 2x4s at the Depot. The premium ones are a little more expensive 2.25 and are straighter than the crapper ones.

I only want my bench to be 46 by 24 so I bought 8 2x4s, cut them in half, planed and jointed them into 2 sections. Sent each section though the planer and glued it up. I do have a slight bow that I have to handplane out but so far so good.

For the base I doubled up 2x4s and used 2x6s for the stretchers across the front and back. Just going to screw the top to it. I'm going to add draws to the bottom.

I just want something I can have some vises on with some bench dogs. I do all of my work on my assembly table so it doesn't have to be perfect just hold the wood so I can plane it.

One thing to check is if the "Premium" 2x4s are still douglas fir. I know at the Lowes near me, the premium 2x4's are a different wood, hem-fir.

I still use them for stuff all the time, but I dont think they are as strong as douglas fir for a bench top.

[John Cavanaugh]

Thats a nice bench!! I wish I had done the legs on mine with 2x6's like yours. Oh well...

[Erik France]

Thats a nice bench!! I wish I had done the legs on mine with 2x6's like yours. Oh well...
Thanks. There's some more info on it in this thread if you're intrested. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?153448-Large-boards-for-a-bench-top/page2
as well as some more discussion on pine bench material.

[Larry Heflin]

For a unique take on this topic check out Bob Rozaieski's videos at logancabinetshoppe dot com episodes 20, 21, 22. 22 is the benchtop. If I recall, he got his materials from the borg. I don't remember if he posts here, but there was a creeker interview of him.