Reclaimed Douglas Fir (bench) questions.

[Chris Harper]

I recently bought some re-claimed Douglas Fir at a good price. Needed it for our fireplace surround as well as some parts for my boys train table. There was a laminated 4 x 8 beam, long dimensional 6x6 as well as some already dressed 1x6 stock. I'm not 100% sure that the 1x6 stock was re-claimed.

The price was good and I think I could get more at the same price but I'm not not so sure I want to use it for a bench top. The beams are checking which is fine for our mantle but not so ideal for a bench top. I'm also seeing some tear out and snip when planing with power tools. I drilled pocket holes in the ends of the 1x6 for my boys train table and some of the ends are just crumbling into chunks.

Is this typical of older douglas fir? Should I avoid it for the top? Would it be okay to use it for the base? I wouldn't need much more for the base.

If I do use it for the top I have a question about the grain orientation. The 4x8 laminated beam was glued up vertical grain to vertical grain. If I just glued up the beams the same way I'd end up with plain sawn grain for the top. Assuming I use it, should I rip and re-glue so I have the vertical grain facing up for the top?

Related question. What is plain sawn grain called in softwoods?

Thanks for any advice. It's not a big deal for me to buy maple or something else to make a bench top or even for the base for that matter.

[David Keller NC]

I recently bought some re-claimed Douglas Fir at a good price. Needed it for our fireplace surround as well as some parts for my boys train table. There was a laminated 4 x 8 beam, long dimensional 6x6 as well as some already dressed 1x6 stock. I'm not 100% sure that the 1x6 stock was re-claimed.

The price was good and I think I could get more at the same price but I'm not not so sure I want to use it for a bench top. The beams are checking which is fine for our mantle but not so ideal for a bench top. I'm also seeing some tear out and snip when planing with power tools. I drilled pocket holes in the ends of the 1x6 for my boys train table and some of the ends are just crumbling into chunks.

I'd think twice about the choice of this particular wood - Douglas Fir is more than fine for a bench, someone just posted a link to a person's blog that made a spectacular bench out of it. But what you may have on your hands is dry-rotted material, or material that was in a location (such as the roof of a foundry) that was exposed to excessive heat for many years. You can certainly fill cracks in a bench top with epoxy or sawdust and glue and make a fine bench, but if there's a lot of cracks to fill, the epoxy may cost you more than just getting better material (not to mention the labor involved).


Related question. What is plain sawn grain called in softwoods?

Thanks for any advice. It's not a big deal for me to buy maple or something else to make a bench top or even for the base for that matter.

Plain sawn grain is "face grain" or "plain sawn" in any species. As for grain orientation in the bench-top, I wouldn't worry about it. You will have to occasionally flatten the top with an hand plane anyway, and unless your shop is subject to excessive heat and humidity changes, what will matter much more is whether the wood is sufficiently cured before you use it. All said and done, you're going to put a lot of labor into your bench, and then use it for at least several years before you decide to build another one. I'd factor that into your material choice....

[Rick Fisher]

I live in D-Fir country.. When fir gets really old, it kinda goes like concrete.. Its common for find older homes around here with 60 year old fir studs, you can barely hang a picture because the studs are so hard. Aged fir (like really old) will tear out no different than any really hardwood.. I have seen timbers come out of old barns that had to be pre-drilled before you could drive a spike into them ..

[Andrae Covington]

I recently bought some re-claimed Douglas Fir at a good price. Needed it for our fireplace surround as well as some parts for my boys train table. There was a laminated 4 x 8 beam, long dimensional 6x6 as well as some already dressed 1x6 stock. I'm not 100% sure that the 1x6 stock was re-claimed.

The price was good and I think I could get more at the same price but I'm not not so sure I want to use it for a bench top. The beams are checking which is fine for our mantle but not so ideal for a bench top. I'm also seeing some tear out and snip when planing with power tools. I drilled pocket holes in the ends of the 1x6 for my boys train table and some of the ends are just crumbling into chunks.

Is this typical of older douglas fir? Should I avoid it for the top? Would it be okay to use it for the base? I wouldn't need much more for the base.

The tearout and snipe doesn't surprise me, there's probably just grain-reversal due to a branch. You can usually tell when on one of the sides of the board the grain makes a wave, even if it ended up being cut behind the knot so that doesn't show up.

I agree with David Keller though that you might have some dry rot. It's not typical to crumble like that. As Rick Fisher said, the old tight-grain douglas-fir can be "like concrete", hard and dense. Not any more than maple or the like, but you do have that hard/soft/hard/soft grain situation of "softwoods". If you have some trouble trying to count the growth rings, that's tight-grained old-growth douglas-fir. But there were trees that grew in more open areas so the grain is not so tight, and it works about the same as what you would find at the home center. One thing that doesn't change between the old and the new: the edges and corners really like to splinter.

It probably sounds like I don't like it as a workbench material, but despite some frustrations, I've been happy with mine.


If I do use it for the top I have a question about the grain orientation. The 4x8 laminated beam was glued up vertical grain to vertical grain. If I just glued up the beams the same way I'd end up with plain sawn grain for the top. Assuming I use it, should I rip and re-glue so I have the vertical grain facing up for the top?

I don't know if you've read Chris Schwarz's book(s) on workbenches, but he has generally advised buying 2x12's, ripping the edges off and using those quartersawn pieces for the top. 2x12's with the pith in the middle will have pretty close to true quartersawn grain along the edges. In that configuration, using quartersawn 2x4's ripped out of 2x12's, the top of the workbench is face grain. Since I started with old 2x4's I had to use them as-is, and so my top is mostly riftsawn with some quartersawn; so I have a mix of rift and face grain on the top.

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