Softwood Bench Top

[Ron Humphrey]

I am designing my first & last workbench for making small cabinets, cases, boxes, and perhaps some furniture. I have received a lot of good input in another post regarding the basic frame construction.


There have been several comments on this site about using a softwood for the top. Virtually all of the commercial bench tops I have seen for the last 50 years were made from a very hard wood. I have always assumed this was a given and the best way to go. However some of the comments made here have me wondering if this may be more of a tradition than a requirement. I expect to make the frame from draw bored mortise & tennoned hardwood to avoid any compression in the joinery, but this would not be an issue for the top. I would appreciate hearing the pros and cons, from experience, about a softwood bench top. The obvious cost difference is not a factor. I am interested in function more than appearance.

[Jim Koepke]

The selection of wood for a bench top may have a lot to do with what is available locally at low cost.

There have been a few posts about using Douglas Fir for bench tops.

Something to consider is what kind of wood is less likely to split when using hold fasts and other bench accessories. Some softwoods have a tendency to splinter after being dinged by tools hitting it.

Of comments in favor of softwood benches one is that it is less likely for a work piece to be marred by the bench. My work is mostly with soft woods and this hasn't been a problem for me.

My own preference is for a hardwood bench top.

jtk

[Adam Cruea]

I mulled over the different wood species for my bench before settling on hickory, solely for the heft factor and price factor.

I've yet to have my benchtop ding anything, but I try to take care not to drop my work, also.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Cheap and easy to work is my big priorities. I ended up going with maple because a really good price made dealing with working the stuff worth it. If you've got powered equipment to deal with it (a power planer or jointer so you can flatten sections before you mill the top) than the choices open up more.

Around here maple and birch are pretty easy to come by, and ash seems to be quite available and cheap, too, even at the pricer lumber yard.

I didn't worry too much about dinging up my work - when I get far enough along in a project that it starts to matter, I just put some cardboard or something over the bench. I try not to drop things, too. I'm clumsy, but I'm starting to wonder how many folks are so butter-fingered that it becomes a real issue to plan around?

[Curt Putnam]

A while ago, I asked about using poplar for a bench top and was quickly dissuaded. CS maintains that it is the stiffness that counts. Doug fir & SYP are both very stiff woods. Here, in SoCal hardwoods are pricier than most places because it all has to be imported. Doug Fir is very common and quite inexpensive. So naturally I resisted and finally came up with a good deal on mixed maple rough sawn stuff. I may buy a couple sticks of hard maple for the front edge where the dog holes will be.

[Prashun Patel]

I think a harder wood stands a better chance at keeping dog holes true and round. A harder bench may be better at resisting dents, but my bench always has sawdust on it, and I'm not sure it's ever smooth. Flatness is the only thing that really matters for me.

In theory, denser, harder woods make for more mass to resist planing better. My bench is only 5ft long and about 2" deep. It resists just fine. IMHO, the key is building a sound, stout base. I learned that when building a lathe stand. A properly balanced base does wonders for stability. Something a lot of people also overlook is frictioning the feet with something if you're on a wood or finished floor.

The part of the bench that does the most denting to my pieces is the rear jaw. Especially if you're working irregular parts, it's unfortunately easy to dig in. So, if you do hardwood, consider a softer jaw or a liner.

[Jim Foster]

I used Fir. If I built another Roubo, I'd use softwood again (maybe 6x6 Fir timbers for the top :) ). It's holding up very well. I've been working with Q-Sawn White Oak on a lot of larger boards and paneled sections and pediment type pieces that are long & heavy. things have slipped from my hands a number of times and fallen to the bench and the work has always remained bruise-free. It was a bit of a pain the get fir where I live. The borg seems to have a better stock of it now, but if I were to do it again, I'd use whatever premuim construction 2x12 material the Borg has (unless I used Fir 6x6 timbers for the top :) ) and be picky about which pieces I selected. Southern Yellow Pine, Hemlock Fir, Douglas Fir all seem like good softwood materials for a bench. I would not use the quick growth "balsa" type construction lumber at the borg.

Chris Schwarz has contributed greatly to the re-mainstreaming of the Roubo with his writing and blogging over the last ten years and his workbench book might be a good read if you don't already have it.

Alternatively, if I was going to make a Klausz style European bench, I'd probably use Maple with lower quality Oak for the base.

[Jim Matthews]

You could use any substrate you like, if you put a sacrificial top layer over it all.

I like Josh Finn's torsion box "bench" which is just particle board with melamine applied,
covered in the insulating material known as homasote. Dimensionally stable, flexible and inexpensive too.

http://www.modernwoodworkersassociation.com/2012/12/jeffs-josh-finn-workbench-update.html

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

The biggest issue for bruising my pieces has not been the top, but rather not brushing off chips and such before laying a piece down. Chips from mortising getting caught under a piece being held to the bench are the worst culprits.

[Will Boulware]

I built an English style bench out of Southern yellow pine. It's cheap and it is relatively easy to work. Bench is around 200 lbs as it sits, and it does not walk, wobble, or rack under planing or other normal use. I like the pine top and have had zero trouble out of it for the past year and a half. If you build furniture for a living, you might wear it out a little faster or have trouble with it, but for hobbyist use (even active hobbyist use - mine sees 10+ hours a week), I wouldn't nitpick the materials issue. Use what's available and affordable.

This is my first bench, but I'd be kidding myself if I thought it would be my last. I have no intentions of replacing it or discarding it, but I'm definitely finding uses for additional benches. Build one, enjoy building it, but don't obsess over "last one ever" kind of stuff. You build it right and it will undoubtedly last multiple lifetimes, but there's no harm in eventually building another one. :D

[Steve Voigt]

I built my whole bench out of SYP and am really glad I did. My projects never get dented or marred by the bench or vise. But I'm fine with my bench looking like it's been through a war; it's for work, and I'm not interested in keeping it pristine.
I don't mean to be a downer, but I'm deeply skeptical that anyone could build a "first and last bench." It's hard to know what you really want in a bench until you already have one that you are pushing to the limit of its capabilities. For that reason, if I were you I would build the bench out of softwood because it's cheap. My bench is 24 x 88, 4-inch thick top, and I only spent about $150 on materials. That way you won't feel bad if in 2 years, you want to do major surgery on it or replace it entirely.

[Paul Saffold]

I used douglas fir 4x4s but I also have white oak for the front edge where my dog holes are. I recently added a second set of dog holes towards the middle of the bench, actually towards the back of the front half. I have a split-top and love it. I would use softwood again.

[george wilson]

I bought a beech log at a country sawmill and had it custom cut into 4"X6"'s. I let it dry inside the toolmaker's shop. Later on,when I was making the big cider press,I got lucky at another country sawmill and found a huge slab of beech about 6" x 24" x 8'. It was just laying around. Sure enough,it had a piece of barbed wire running through one end. I drilled that out. After letting it dry for years,I planed the big plank to 4",flattening it and getting the twist out. With the 4x6's for legs and the front plank for dog holes,it has made a very fine and extremely heavy bench. Subsequently I made large drawers with beech fronts for it,filling up the area between the legs. Outside the legs,the top hangs over beyond the legs by about 18" on each end. I built smaller storage shelves that hang beneath the legs for sandpaper and other smaller stuff. I made the steel parts for the end vise from steel for the tracks and the screw and its parts. On the other end,there is a clone of a Record type vise which works just fine.

[Frank Drew]

I'm deeply skeptical that anyone could build a "first and last bench."

In twenty-five years I upgraded my table saw once, but stuck with the bench I made when I opened my shop; I had worked at other benches before I went on my own, and knew pretty much what I wanted. If you have plenty of free time in the shop and like the idea of making new benches every now and then, as woodworking projects, you should do just that; I didn't, so didn't.

My bench had a maple top and I don't remember any dings from dropping furniture parts on it, but I did get to like using those various "router" pads when I needed a soft surface on the bench. And no bench is complete without a bench brush, as Joshua points out.

[Caleb James]

My bench is 24 x 88, 4-inch thick top, and I only spent about $150 on materials.

Mr. Voigt, I noticed you live in Virginia also. Did you have a specific source for your lumber other than the box stores. I am looking to source SYP for my bench build in the near future. Thanks

[Frederick Skelly]

I used standard 2x4s and laminated them for a top thats 3.5 " thick with dog holes and vise. Its 8 yrs old now.

Pros: Inexpensive. Very solid. Easy to flatten. Looks great. Never had a problem with the dog holes.

Cons: Edges tend to get nicked (just campher them). I dont have any bragging rights (its just plain old pine) but I dont mind that.

Fred

[Paul Saffold]

"84 Lumber" in our area stocks SYP as their construction lumber. All the others carry SPF.

[glenn bradley]

I wrapped my top with a fir "frame". The top holds the dogs fine, the frame gets the occasional ding (as opposed to the part that I was careless with) which, if deep enough, I patch with leftover epoxy when I am using it. There are as many different benches as people, make yours your own and work happy.

[Kevin Hampshire]

Finally, a VA source for SYP! I've been looking for years without any luck. It looks like 84 Lumber in Fredericksburg, VA is as far North as they go with SYP. Any further North is HFP