Workbench: Slabs or boards?

[Rick Prosser]

I am processing some Southern Yellow Pine on the sawmill, and I plan to make a workbench top. Could mill 4x10 slabs or 2x4 boards. Is there a benefit to using 10" wide slabs (maybe 3) instead of the usual glued up 2x4 boards? I have seen some solid slab tops, but never a 2 or 3 piece slab top. Slabs would take longer to dry in the kiln. Maybe 4x4 glue-ups? Suggestions?

[Terry Beadle]

Slabs used to be used a lot back in the day from what I've read. I've seen a few work benches made from slabs ( read wide thick boards ).
The problems with slabs is finding stock that has tight grain ( like old growth ) and stable enough. A slab built table top will need more flattening attention during the year but will be easier to keep flat than side/end grain boards.

Boards can be cut with the grain more vertical than most slab boards are now days IMO. Just look through the typical borg stack of 2 x 4's and see the opportunities as slim pickings. That's whey most folks recommend buying 2 x 12's or 2 x 10's and then ripping your own 2 x 4 table top pieces out of it. There are fewer knots in the larger 2 by stock and you can get more vertical grain opportunities.

IMO a slab board built work table is a definite option. It doesn't take a lot of work to keep it flat. You have a unique opportunity to control the stock you can select from. I'd say take advantage of it and enjoy the ease and strength of a slab topped table. By the way, I'm not trying to imply a board built top is any stronger or weaker than the slab since you can slice 4 inch thick slab boards in your situation. Normally, the board built top would be stronger than a layered slab built top. And...board built tops require more glue, squaring, and truing etc.

You should have a great deal of fun building the work bench you're thinking about. Enjoy it, keep us posted as most folks on SMC are bench freaks ! Hoot!

[Mark Roderick]

Man, if you have the opportunity I would use the slabs just to save all the time flattening and gluing-up the smaller boards. Otherwise, seems six-to-one-half-a-dozen-to-the-other.

[Tom McMahon]

The size of the boards or slabs used to make a bench top is not important. Whats important is the grain pattern of the top when you look at it from the end. It should be as close to quarter sawn as possible, that way it won't cup with seasonal humidity change. It will just get wider and narrower, which means less seasonal flattening. Use the largest pieces you can get to create this pattern.
223652

[Joe Fabbri]

I have two 10-11" birch slabs that I cut out of a tree myself. I plan use these for my bench top, which should give me 19-20 inches hopefully, when all is said and done. For the thickness, I hope to get 3.5", but it may end up down to 3". I had some problems in splitting the beam, which resulted in a loss of material.

Anyway, I think the slabs will be less work in the glue up. I guess a glue up is not too much trouble if you have a full workbench/workstation to build it on. For me, with nothing but a table saw top or sawhorses to work on (and limited power tools), the less laminations the better. But, I also like the idea of using as much solid wood as possible. You won't have as much quarter sawn grain on top probably, as you can fairly easily get with individual flat/rift sawn boards. But, I think the only real benefit that will give is ease of flattening. If you put the heart side of the slabs up, it should still be a very tough work surface.

In a single slab, Roubo style, construction, with the heart up, the cupping will tighten down on the leg joints. Although for multiple slabs (say three), it might be good to alternate the grain (with the middle slab heart down). For two pieces, though, I think I'd keep the cupping in the same direction, so that the cupping still tightens against the leg joints.

I've seen some two-slab bench tops with the heart apparently down (for instance, I think Schwarz's recent bench has both slabs oriented this way), but this might only have been to avoid major defects on that side of the wood.

[Rick Prosser]

Here is a sample of the log size I have to work with.

223653

[Jim Neeley]

Tom + 1.

I've known a couple of people who had wide flat sawn planks for boards and they swore they'd never do it again. They hated that all of the cupping for a wide expanse occurred in a single direction.

One mostly just "lived with it" and the other re-flattened his bench seasonally.

As for me, laminating boards isn't a big thing, and it's one-time.

[Joe Fabbri]

If you look at antique French style benches, they almost all utilize flat sawn slabs. Maybe they had access to thick slabs that were already very well dried, or they just dealt with it like Jims says.

That said, I'm sure it would be less of a headache to make use of rift/quarterd wood, since you have a mill to work with. If you already planned on three or so slabs, maybe you should consider sawing that log in a 3-4 inch thick cross-shape, and using all of the quartered sections. You will have narrower slabs, but with the best grain.

[Zach Dillinger]

Remember that almost all glue joints, excepting hot hide glue, will have "creep". So, while your carefully selected quartersawn boards might not warp, they will slide around relative to each other. Since the front and back will be supported by the legs, the middle will slide down relative to the other boards, giving you a cupped surface that is no different than you'll get with a slab. I vote slab, since you'll have to flatten your benchtop either way and the non-existent glue joints will not creep.

[Joe Fabbri]

Zach,

What are your thoughts on grain orientation? Am I right to have both of the two slabs cup down toward the legs, rather than alternating the two?

Now, when it comes to three slabs like Rick might be doing, would you alternate the middle board? That wouldn't leave the heart up, but maybe that's not too vital.

Joe

[Sean Richards]

Sounds like you could make a nice split-top bench with 2 slabs- I think that is what I would be doing if I had the choice between 4x10 slabs or 2x4s.

[Rick Prosser]

Remember that almost all glue joints, excepting hot hide glue, will have "creep". ...

I had no idea that the glue joint would creep - after drying. I knew the joints tended to move around when clamping...



Sounds like you could make a nice split-top bench with 2 slabs...

That is a neat idea. I was planning for a solid top - but will consider the split top design with a tool tray/shavings collector in the middle.

rick

[Zahid Naqvi]

Gluing 2x4s and flattening them is not as much work as it is promoted to be. You can easily go the glue ups and flattening in one weekend, if you have enough clamps. Plus it's a one time activity. With 2x4s you will get really nice quartersawn lumber, which will require very little seasonal maintenance, and you can get a hefty 4" top.

With a couple of 12/14" wide boards you will require less upfront work but will need more seasonal maintenance, and chances are you will have to live with a 2-3" inch thick top which will require support under the top to prevent bending under load. If you have a shop like Bob Rozeiski you can probably get away with it (he has a slab top and loves it). My shop is in the garage and I will never do a slab top due to the extreme variations in temperature and humidity my bench has to suffer each year. After a very dry summer and a very wet winter (so far) my borg sourced 4x4 laminated bench top is still quiet flat. Not sure if any slab would have behaved the same.

[Zach Dillinger]

If I were doing a slab top, I'd probably orient it outside-of-the-tree-up. I know that some would say that the wood is harder on the heartwood side, but I have no experience with this. What I would prefer is a top that cups when warping, which sapwood up would do, as that would be easier to plane flat when it becomes necessary to do so. As for gluing two slabs together, I'd probably stick with sapwood up for both planks for the same reason. Planing across the grain to flatten across the width is easier to do with a cupped top.

But I'd be less than overly concerned with the seasonal movement. The bench is going to move, either through glue creep / warping or straight warping. An hour planing a bench every 6 or 12 months isn't a big deal. And you'd have to use that bench a long, long time to plane an inch or more off a 4" thick top to get to 2"... Once the plank settles down (i.e. 4 or 5 years down the road), you'll have only minor distortions to deal with. Again, not a big deal. I'd be doing a slab bench if I had it to do over again. In fact, I might... I've got 3 or 4 4" thick, 10 foot long planks of beech that have been drying for 3 or 4 years. Might make a slab bench at my new house instead of transporting my current 400 pound workbench there.

[whit richardson]

I highly recommed reading Christopher Schwartz's Workbench book before deciding on your bench. I'm on my third or fourth bench and have found what is wanting in standard designs or made for market benches. While I am not a wild fan of any particular Woodworking personailty his book is good in that a) it provides some balanced advice on workbenchs, b) has good plans using SYP and c) provides nice instructions on construction and flattening workbenchs. The French bench is massive but seems fairly straightforward to build. My personal choice is something like the English bench as I am more into furniture repair and refinishing rather than building from scratch.

[Joe Fabbri]

Zach,

It's interesting that you would say sapwood side up. Maybe Schwarz (from pictures, that what it looks like he did) and some others were thinking what you're thinking--rather than trying to hide defects as I thought. As far as the strength of the heartwood, that's a minor issue, granted, particularly when you're dealing with a hardwood anyway. But, I think my greater concern is that when it cups up, the slabs will be essentially lifting off the leg joints, don't you think (instead of bearing down even more tightly)? I'm not too concerned about having some more work flattening the top, so if we took that out of the equation, do you still think that cupping up is more beneficial?

Joe

[Sean Richards]

That is a neat idea. I was planning for a solid top - but will consider the split top design with a tool tray/shavings collector in the middle.rick

When I put a new top on my bench a while back - I used a split top with an 1 3/4" gap down the middle. This is a large enough so you can fit a big F-clamp bar in the gap and clamp stuff - that plus some holdfasts covers most clamping needs. I also have a batten that sits in the gap that is about 3/8" higher than the bench top and acts as a planing stop - this is a real good feature of a split top.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Don't take any short cuts. Glued up 2 x 4" sized boards will be much more stable than a slab and will dry faster too. You're building a bench that could last generations. Take your time.

[Zach Dillinger]

Funny you mention that Jim... there's lot of benches made from slabs that have lasted generations. Using a slab is far from a shortcut, and gluing the top together is far from traditional. Not a bad way to go, but most definitely not the only "right" way.

Joe, it certainly is possible that the bench will cup up away from the legs. Depending on the style of joint used, it might cause a gap. Perhaps thats the reason for the Roubo rising dovetail that's been so popular lately. I'm not sure I see it as a problem. If we take flattening out of the equation, I'm not sure I see the cupping as any more beneficial than crowning.

[Joe Fabbri]

Zach, I agree. I'd say slab benches are very prevalent in antique workbenches. If you look at antique French workbenches, I don't think I've seen any that aren't slabs, and practically all single slabs--they often made pretty narrow tops, with 18-20" being the norm. These benches are often from the 1800s. Sure they have their checks and crowning issues, but I'm sure they're still very sturdy. I suspect with many of these benches they didn't fuss too much about being dead flat.

Anyway, Zach, I plan on using the Roubo dovetail and tenon (I'm not sure if that's what you're referring to, or if you're referring to what some call the impossible joint). I'm not sure, but with traditional dovetail and tenon joint, I don't see much keeping the top from separating, and I wasn't planning on gluing the joint. For me, I'm in the habit of orienting boards bark side down, or against a joint/surface. I'm interested in hearing what others have to say, though.

Joe

[Justin Green]

If it cups, your round tools roll to the center of the workbench. If it crowns, they roll off the edge. Just kidding.

[Aaron Rappaport]

Say Zahid,

Did you flatten the 4 x 4 s for your workbench by hand or machine? I find it is taking me well over an hour per 4 x 4 as I work on mine by hand.

Thanks, Aaron

[Russell Sansom]

You ask a good question. I've always been a slab guy. So was my grandfather and his father. I think they were because they could be with the availability of big lumber in their times. The laminated pine concept makes it possible for almost anybody to own a big, beefy bench these days. That's really cool. But I just have to have my slab.
A couple points to consider if you haven't:

Big slabs are tedious to work on and dangerous to handle. Really dangerous. If you have two or three in your shop at once, it's a recipe for disaster with all that potential energy.

Trying to run a 12/4 slab of maple 8" wide through a home woodworking machine is an adventure. When I didn't have those machines, I did it all by hand. Now that I do have an 8" jointer and a 12" planer I still do it by hand.
Flattening has never been a huge issue for me except once when the bench sat idle for a couple years. I count on my bench as The primary flatness reference in my shop so I tend to be finicky about how flat it is. I check it every other month or so. These touch ups only take a few minutes.

[Zahid Naqvi]

All hand planes. I was very diligent with the glue up and used alignment sticks to make sure the top was as flat as possible while clamped. I also jointed three sides of the 2x4s before the glue up (didn't care about the bottom). As a result I had to do very little flattening after the glue up. The first thing I did was, using two winding sticks, found and marked all the humps and hollows on the top. The first round was with a scrub plane to get everything flat, after that I went through a jack and then to a jointer. I didn't want a slick top so didn't follow up the jointer with a smoother.
Post glue up I got all the planing done in one weekend. I think the biggest time/effort saver was using the scrub to remove the bulk of the material, the rest was just getting rid of the ridges. If you include the time spent on getting the 4x4s prepped pre-glueup then I spent a couple of days on that too. These two weekends I probably got about 6/7 hours of shop time each day. Also try to do the flattening from 2-3 different angles, i.e. plane in an X pattern (45 degree from each side of the bench) on the top and then at the end plane in line with the length. But if you start with a jointer it is certainly going to take a long time, you need a rough to gradually smooth process.


Say Zahid,

Did you flatten the 4 x 4 s for your workbench by hand or machine? I find it is taking me well over an hour per 4 x 4 as I work on mine by hand.

Thanks, Aaron

[Joe Fabbri]

Hi Russell,

I'm glad you mentioned the jointer and planer. I have these slabs which are 3.5-4" thick, and 10-11" wide. They're over 8 feet long. Well, I'm trying to decide the best way to mill them. I figured I could get one side flat and buy a planer to get them even thickness. But I can't figure out how the heck I'd run them through it without a whole team of people! So I'm also thinking doing it by hand might be best. I'm still undecided, though.

Anyway, this is a point to keep in mind when deciding slab vs lamination. If you want a big slab, I guess, you have to make sure you either have heavy duty equipment, or don't mind doing it by hand. With a laminated top, everything could be done, it seems, on light-duty machines (lunchbox planers, etc.). Although I think I still prefer slabs if you have them, this is worth considering nevertheless.

Joe

[Zach Dillinger]

Joe, I don't think I'd worry about making them an even thickness. Far too much work. The only concern in this regard is that the area where the legs will rest are all in the same plane. Easy way to do that is to flatten the top, then use a sash filletster or similar tool to describe the plane referenced from the flat top only in the areas where the legs will meet the bottom of the top. After that, you can chisel / plane / adze / whatever the wood out to fit the legs in all four spots. Any more than this is wasted effort. In fact, leaving the bottom rough will add thickness to the bench in the areas that need it most.

Working with hand tools on such a project is, to me, the far better option. I don't like planers / etc. but I can't imagine using one on a piece of wood this heavy. With hand tools, you could even flatten the top while it is sitting on the floor. Don't do any more heavy lifting than is absolutely necessary.

With regards to the dovetail joint, I was talking about the impossitail version that Roy used on his Roubo.

[Joe Fabbri]

Thanks for the information, Zach. The wood I'm using (black birch) planes very nicely anyway. In particular, roughing down across the grain with my 5 1/4 jack is pretty easy, with the tight grain. So, I'll probably use all hand tools on it, and save the money anyway.

I'm making some heavy duty (hopefully heavy-duty enough) sawhorses right now, in order to get the pieces up to a better height. I've done quite a bit of work on the floor already, but it's a little annoying to do, and I think it's roughed out enough to move them onto horses. (I actually did quite a bit of roughing down with a skil saw- to kerf down to a certain depth and avoid tearing out- and chipped away with an simple adze I made from an old pick axe. It worked pretty well, though my wrists were killing me. That might be due to the bad ergonomics of the straight handle.)

Anyway, I like the idea of only squaring/flattening the areas for the legs. I wasn't going to try to get all of the rough hewing out of the bottoms anyway, just a rough flattening, but maybe like you say, I will barely do that. I suppose it really is better to treat it like a timber framing project, where only the joints are squared and true.

One place I figured a planer would be particularly helpful was in getting the legs equal thickness. Since these would only be at most 3' pieces, it wouldn't be too hard. But maybe that's not too important either, if they're a little off in thickness, so so long as they're square.

I guess with slabs, you simply have to prepare yourself for a good deal of handwork. That or bring it to some larger machinery with a bunch of people. On a boat project I was volunteering on, we were beveling big pieces (16 plus inches wide by up to probably 7, 8 feet) of 12/4 White Oak on an 18 Rikon bandsaw for the boat's frames. That was quite a job, even with a team of 3-4 people. It was interesting when we had to put pretty steep bevels on some.

[Jim Neeley]

I work in a large engineering office (Electrical Engineer) and took the issue of creep to a series of structural engineers. We talked about how the laminates run lengthwise and are supported by cross-supports towards each end. They explained that creep, if any, would be negligible in that configuration however they explained that creep is a real phenomena in wood, of you are looking for a *precisely* flat surface. Again, not a biggie in a benchtop but that it may at least be a measureable phemonema.

Glue creep, they explained, *might* be an issue if you were to cantelever the bench from a wall with no legs, such that the glue joint nearest the wall must take the full weight and torsion of the slab. Even then, they said it may not be an issue.

FWIW.. This was "water cooler" conversation, so your mileage may vary.

Jim

[Zach Dillinger]

Jim,

I agree that creep would be negligible if you have cross supports. But for a Roubo, without such supports, I can assure you its quite real and measurable. Lacking proper slabs, I built my Roubo by laminating a large number of scrap birch drawer sides (cost me $45 to buy a pallet load, which was more than enough). They are 3/4" thick, 4" wide and 16 1/2" long. I lface-laminated enough of these together to make a 24" wide, 4" thick, 8 foot long bench. It took me the better part of a summer and a gallon or so of Titebond. In the years since I've made it, the center of the bench (between the legs where there is no support) has crept downwards about 3/16". I've flattened it out but the problem has made me consider putting a secondary brace in place to shore up the center. This is an extreme example, of course, given my choice of material, but any large glue-up without support will suffer a similar fate. It's just too heavy, with too little support. Its like an overloaded bookshelf. Nothing can be done unless the shelf is stiffer or you add a central support.

My next bench will be rather more rustic in composition and will be made from two large slabs of 16/4 beech that were still dead green when I made my current Roubo.

[Joe Fabbri]

Zach, with two large slabs, do you think you would put a stretcher between the legs also? Or is it supported enough, to prevent the creeping you describe, since each slab is resting on a leg?

I wondered about people building unsupported Roubo benches with laminated (2x, etc.) tops, and whether it was necessary to add a stretcher. I recall some saying it would be overkill, but with lamination, you are straying from the original design of Roubo's (with the single slab). There seems to be a lot of laminated top Roubo's out there, so I wonder if other have had similar issues

Joe

[Zach Dillinger]

Joe, I wouldn't be surprised if others have had creep issues with laminated Roubos, but I suppose it could be written off as seasonal movement / wear and not considered glue creep. I don't have top-of-the-leg stretchers on my bench. If I had them, I suspect that the creep would have been minimized / avoided. On my next bench, I'll probably use hot hide glue, which to my knowledge doesn't creep like PVA glue, to glue the two slabs together. I'm not planning on a top stretcher, but I may make provisions for one just in case.

[Jim Neeley]

Zach,

I took your post back to the structural engineering team and they said:

From the front to the back of the bench, if you are seeing "steps" between the boards, that would be glue creep. If not, it's wood creep. Any sagging between the ends of the board (end to end) would also be wood creep.

Which are you seeing?

According to them, wood creep is a real phenomena and varies significantly between species... I'd never thought it would be measureable but apparently it is. I'm also not trying to tell you what you have.. but am curious to learn! :)

Jim


Jim,

I agree that creep would be negligible if you have cross supports. But for a Roubo, without such supports, I can assure you its quite real and measurable. Lacking proper slabs, I built my Roubo by laminating a large number of scrap birch drawer sides (cost me $45 to buy a pallet load, which was more than enough). They are 3/4" thick, 4" wide and 16 1/2" long. I lface-laminated enough of these together to make a 24" wide, 4" thick, 8 foot long bench. It took me the better part of a summer and a gallon or so of Titebond. In the years since I've made it, the center of the bench (between the legs where there is no support) has crept downwards about 3/16". I've flattened it out but the problem has made me consider putting a secondary brace in place to shore up the center. This is an extreme example, of course, given my choice of material, but any large glue-up without support will suffer a similar fate. It's just too heavy, with too little support. Its like an overloaded bookshelf. Nothing can be done unless the shelf is stiffer or you add a central support.

My next bench will be rather more rustic in composition and will be made from two large slabs of 16/4 beech that were still dead green when I made my current Roubo.

[Zach Dillinger]

Jim,

My bench has a slope towards the middle and I could definitely see some "steps" between the boards, especially in the middle few boards where there is the least support from the legs. I always assumed it was glue creep, given the sheer number of glue joints in the top. Of course, I've flattened it out a couple of times so I don't have pics of what I'm talking about.

Thanks for the info! I find this fascinating, as you do.

[Sean Richards]

Hi Rick,

Did you make a decision? Slabs or a glued up top?

[Rick Prosser]

Gonna go with glue up top. Probably 4x4-ish glue ups. I cut the boards 4" thick on the sawmill. Once they are jointed and thru the planer, they will vary in thickness from board to board - but I will saw into 4" strips to have consistent top thickness with varying lamination thickness glued together.
Been very busy with no time for shop. I have the yellow pine out of my kiln now and ready to start - waiting for some free time...

[Scott T Smith]

Remember that almost all glue joints, excepting hot hide glue, will have "creep". So, while your carefully selected quartersawn boards might not warp, they will slide around relative to each other.

Zach, I'm not following the logic about creep (and would like to learn more), could you please elaborate about this?

The reason that I'm not following is that quartersawn boards glued together should have consistent expansion and contraction in all three directions; ie width, thickness and length (presuming that they are the same species and from the same log). What is the cause of the creep?

Thanks.

Scott

[Mel Fulks]

The only commonly used glue I know of that creeps is "white glue".Before yellow glue it was widely used for good made to order furniture. A perfectly surfaced mortise and tenon joint would sometimes shift a few thousandths over night and have to be sanded again. Usually when I see something about creep these days it is in an old book. Anyone seeing creeps (other than in old teen movies)? After the white glue cured or dried a little more it was fine. Incidentily, we had a policy in shops around here that the finisher did no sanding on anything but finish. A small defect in the wood surface was sanded by the guy who made it.Yes , that meant the piece was moved two more times. Today many employers will let woodworkers export their duties to the finishing room.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Rick,

Check out this split top from an English benchmaker - Mark McGuire. Pretty nice looking bench.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiqG8w_ktXs

His web site is at: http://www.maguireworkbenches.com/

[Christopher Charles]

Hello Rick,

Having milled some slabs for a workbench with a friend's mill, I'd recommend going the 4x4 route- a good middle road, and for the flatsawn slabs, you'll get a reasonable number of "quartersawn" pieces once cut to width.

Good luck in finding time, a familiar problem!

Cheers,
Chris C.

[Scott T Smith]

Russell, one trick that timberframers use for planing large beams is to set the beams across a couple of saw horses, and run a lunchbox planer across the beam (instead of running the beam through the planer). The way this works is that you leave about 3' of beam sticking out past a sawhorse, and start the planer from one end. As it gets closer to the sawhorse, lift up the end of the beam and then move the sawhorse to the other side of the planer.

Works like a champ!

[Scott T Smith]

All - thanks for the education regarding glue creep. Wouldn't this problem be prevented by using dowels, biscuits or domino’s between the slabs?

[Mel Fulks]

Wood expands and contracts. Heavy spans can sag .Certainly I do not deny his bench has changed. I am skeptical of glue creep except when white glue is used. Anybody have any current test results or related information?

[Charlie Stanford]

Remember that almost all glue joints, excepting hot hide glue, will have "creep". So, while your carefully selected quartersawn boards might not warp, they will slide around relative to each other. Since the front and back will be supported by the legs, the middle will slide down relative to the other boards, giving you a cupped surface that is no different than you'll get with a slab. I vote slab, since you'll have to flatten your benchtop either way and the non-existent glue joints will not creep.

A face-laminated bench top moves through its thickness and not its width so the formation of 'steps' is not necessarily indicative of creep. PVAs creep, especially when glued edge-to-edge, but when gluing boards face-to-face there is a huge amount of gluing surface and step formation is most likely just the boards expanding in width (remember how they're oriented here) and not the PVA creeping.

[Zach Dillinger]

A face-laminated bench top moves through its thickness and not its width so the formation of 'steps' is not necessarily indicative of creep. PVAs creep, especially when glued edge-to-edge, but when gluing boards face-to-face there is a huge amount of gluing surface and step formation is most likely just the boards expanding in width (remember how they're oriented here) and not the PVA creeping.

Each of the boards I used is quartersawn, dry, stable birch drawer-side scraps used in a factory cabinet shop. There are a couple of steps, but the main thrust of the problem is that the center of the bench has slid down about 3/16" or so since the glue-up, which just so happens to be toward the unsupported area of the bench. I sincerely doubt that it is the boards changing in width. But I could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time and it won't be the last.

It won't matter soon, anway. I scored two 4" thick, 18" wide, 10 foot long oak timbers from an old falling down barn (my cost, $0.00). According to the barn's 70+ year old owner, they've been in that barn for as long as he can remember. So those will soon be my new top, and I can escape the creeping birch top.

[Rick Prosser]

240126
So, here are my rough boards (SYP). Should I joint and plane before or after ripping to 4 inches?

EDIT: Oh - I cut them 2"+ on the sawmill - not 4. (I was planning 4", but I wanted to be sure they dried completely - and quicker)

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

If there's any cup, you're more apt to get thicker stock in the end if you rip it to width first before planing. Jointing I'm not sure if it matters, but I suppose you'd want to plane first and then joint?

Of course, that depends on how you plan on ripping it and if you can safely rip to width while the stock is in the rough. ( i have no idea what's safe if you're using a tablesaw since I don't have / use one. I've always ripped by hand or with a bandsaw since that's what I've had access to. )

[Rick Prosser]

I have a Sawstop cabinet saw. I am thinking it would be easier if I rip out the quarter sawn sections from the wide boards before starting the joint and plane. I think I should be able to get enough QS pieces for a good top - but I have not decided on total width yet. Currently, I plan to follow the plans of the split Roubo that Woodwhisperer has on his site.