Ripping 2x12s

[Todd Roseberry]

Greetings. I'm new to this forum. I'm looking to build a workbench and plan on laminating 2x6 pieces for the top. I don't have a lot of woodworking experience. Most of my woodworking experience has been with making bows and arrows, selfbows not laminated ones. So, I've worked with axes, froes, draw knives, Stanley Sureform, rasps and cabinet scrapers. My lumber has either been from trees I've felled or 1x2 red oak lumber from the home store.

What I don't know much about is dimensional lumber and how to prepare it. This is what I'm trying to learn. My question is about how to get to my 2x6s. I've read a few discussions on the website but I still remain uncertain what to do. Some information says rip 2x12s because it's better wood, perhaps more dry but comes from a larger tree. The lumber yard has 20' long 2x12s. They say 2x6s come from the same tree as the crappy 2x4s do. On the other side, I see recommendations to get the 2x6s because if I do rip the 2x12s they will go all crazy on me and I'll have a bunch of firewood.

I would appreciate some guidance on the best way to do this. The wood I'm choosing to use is Southern Yellow Pine and it's available at the local lumber yard. It's available at both the home store and the lumber yard but from what I'm reading on these forums I might get better wood from the lumber yards.

As you can tell, I'm quite confused. Thank you for your input.

Todd

[John Lankers]

Todd, if you have access to 2 x 12 x 20 lumber that's great. First thing I would do is take a moisture meter out and check for moisture content, everything over 11% is kind of dice IME. Next, be aware of the pith (the very center of a tree) which is a bomb and needs to be cut out. If the pith is right in the middle of the board that's great, it would possibly yield you 2 5" wide boards that are very stable (called vertical grain lumber for softwoods) . The safest way to remove the pith is with a bandsaw, not a table saw (a circular saw works too). The boards should be cut to rough length before ripping. After removing the pith it is crucial to let the lumber rest for several days before further milling, after that the process is straight forward as with any other lumber. It helps when you work with very sharp tools.
Hope this helps
Merry Christmas

[larry senen]

i would save the 2x pine for the legs and stretchers and use some sheet stock for the top. double up any 3/4 material for a stable work surface.

[Brian Holcombe]

Two pieces of 3/4 ply are not thick enough for use as a hand tool bench, which is what the OP seems to want to build.

Acclimatize the lumber before you start dimensioning, but you could likely rip to width without much grief. If you do not have tools available for dimensioning you will need to either borrow them or their use to dimension. You can work by hand or machine.

I've Dim'd work for light timber projects by hand, it can be done and doesn't really take very long.

Anywho the basic process is jointing, which means making one face straight and true then cutting the opposing face to 'thickness' using the jointed face as a reference. At that point you'll want to glue up the benchtop then repeat the process on the benchtop.

If you want better lumber then skip the home center and buy high quality wood from a specialty lumber yard. If you make a large enough order then you may be able to have them do the rough prep.

[Jim Dwight]

I usually buy lumber at the home center for two reasons. First, they are open when I have time. Second, I can pick through the pile. This time of year, their wood tends to be dryer. Because the air inside is dryer. There is probably also less usage in the winter so the wood may be on the rack longer.

When a sawmill cuts up a log, they get the biggest pieces of usable wood possible. That is just good economics. A 20 foot long 2x12 had to come from a relatively long piece of the trees trunk. I believe you will get better pieces of the 2x12 but not necessarily better than 2x6s picked out of a large pile at the home center.

The edges of dimensional lumber is rounded to give less splinters. So if you need unrounded edges for your workbench, you have some waste to deal with. That is less if you use the 2x12.

I don't know what tool you have to rip things up. I would use my track saw. By cutting a little large and then recutting, you can normally eliminate the bow that can happen when you cut down a bigger piece. The area around knots is often where this will happen. For instance, if you want 2 pieces 5 inches wide out of the 2x12, you could rip it into two pieces 5 1/2 or a little bigger then rip each edge again. The bowing will most likely happen on the first cut. The second and third will remove very little wood reducing the chance the piece will move.

I built a lot of furniture out of dimensional lumber when I started out. I may use some in the not too distant future to build a new fangled workbench (google it) for use with hand tools. It is meant to be built of dimensional lumber. The author used fir but that isn't readily available here so I would use southern yellow pine, obtained by sorting through the pile at the lumber center and quite possibly cutting down 2x12s or 2x10s.

[Todd Roseberry]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for the advice. John, you recommended not using a table saw to rip the 2x12's and suggested using a bandsaw or circular saw. Can you explain why one is better than another? Thank you.

Todd

[Steve Peterson]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for the advice. John, you recommended not using a table saw to rip the 2x12's and suggested using a bandsaw or circular saw. Can you explain why one is better than another? Thank you.

Todd

I don't think that it should be dangerous to rip a 2x12 on a tablesaw as long as you take the normal safety precautions. Cutting them a few inches longer than the final length is a good idea to help manage them easier. Infeed and outfeed support is helpful for anything longer than 4 feet. Stand to the side of the kickback path. etc.

The comment about a bandsaw being safer than a tablesaw might be because a tablesaw can kickback because the blade is spinning the wood towards you. A bandsaw pushes down on the wood as it cuts, so it is much harder to kick back. Ripping a 2x12 into two 2x6's does not seem like a very dangerous operation.

Steve

[Joe A Faulkner]

Todd, you might update your profile and let us know from where you call home. You might get some recommendations for other sources of lumber besides the usual retail outlets.

When ripping long stock, if there is any twist or tension in the wood, then the board can bind as you push it through the table saw. This can result in "kick back" which could result in an injury, marring the your work, damaging your saw or all three. Some times ripping a board under tension will simply pinch your saw blade to the point of it coming to a stop. If the wood is relatively straight and not under tension, this doesn't happen. If your table saw has a riving knife or a splitter then \it is less likely this will happening. On a band saw, you don't have to worry about kick-back and with a circular saw if the your blade starts to get pinched, you can stop sawing, put a shim in the kerf behind the saw and resume the cut.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Todd,

I tackled what you are embarking on when I built my Roubo. I opted for digging through the 2x12 piles at Home Depot until I found the best boards I could in terms of grain, regardless of moisture. This was for the entire bench, not just the top. I agree, you get better material from larger boards. I bought around twenty total, and only had one move so much during ripping that it was unusable for laminating into the top. The rest certainly moved, but not too much and I still wound up with 4+ inches of thickness in the top. I ripped them with a circular saw and agree the table saw isn't ideal. The potential for excessive movement during the rip is a kickback concern.

[Brian Holcombe]

Track saw is a good choice, you can straight line rip without a reference edge.

Conifers are stronger and more stable when they are slowly grown. Quality softwoods are also far easier to cut crisp joinery into. Gnarley Douglas Fir is really awful to work with and VG DF with tight growth rings is a pleasure to work with.

Consider that you will need to resurface this bench many times during its life, so line the grain up so that it all planes in the same direction.

This is how good DF planes:

https://brianholcombewoodworkerblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/img_5394.jpg

[Todd Roseberry]

Bob, I'm going for a Roubo style too all out of SYP. Did you like the way yours turned out? Any words of wisdom in dealing with the wood other than watch the kickback?

Thank again to all of you.

May it be blessed!
Todd

[Joe A Faulkner]

You are about a 90 minute drive to Series Hardwoods in Attica Indiana or Cassens Lumber in West Lafayette IN. Both are a small, family operated business. You would need to call Series for prices; Cassen has a web site: http://www.cassenslumber.com/lumber.pdf. Series is typically open Saturday mornings until noon, but if you are going to visit either place, I'd suggest calling ahead first. I've dealt with both - very nice people. Series has milling services - Cassens does not. Series is more of a wholesaler and custom milling outfit whereas Cassens is more of a tree to lumber to consumer outfit. Maybe someone will come through with recommendations closer to home. I'd strongly suggest poplar or hard maple over BORG construction lumber for your bench though I've seen lots of great benches made out of lumber from the big box lumber stores.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Bob, I'm going for a Roubo style too all out of SYP. Did you like the way yours turned out? Any words of wisdom in dealing with the wood other than watch the kickback?

Thank again to all of you.

May it be blessed!
Todd

I think you'll be happy with your material as long as you are picky and patient. Get the best stuff you can even if it takes several trips. It probably won't, though... I got everything I needed in two trips. I broke the stack down to rough sizes and let everything sit until it was about 8%. Also, I made my leg vice chop out of Ash and feel good about that. I think SYP would get beat up quickly there. It's really not a super difficult build. Depending on the vice choices you make, you may want to spend more on hardware than I did. I have a simple screw from Lee Valley in the leg vice and it's fine, no real regrets or complaints there. I used the veneer press screw from Rockler for a wagon vice and wouldn't do that again. Not saying I would immediately go Benchcrafted ($) but I'd check more options. I'd also make a practice build of the wagon vice to work out the kinks.

[Sam Murdoch]

Todd, if you have access to 2 x 12 x 20 lumber that's great. First thing I would do is take a moisture meter out and check for moisture content, everything over 11% is kind of dice IME. Next, be aware of the pith (the very center of a tree) which is a bomb and needs to be cut out. If the pith is right in the middle of the board that's great, it would possibly yield you 2 5" wide boards that are very stable (called vertical grain lumber for softwoods) . The safest way to remove the pith is with a bandsaw, not a table saw (a circular saw works too). The boards should be cut to rough length before ripping. After removing the pith it is crucial to let the lumber rest for several days before further milling, after that the process is straight forward as with any other lumber. It helps when you work with very sharp tools.
Hope this helps
Merry Christmas

My experience with 2 X lumber for projects that you intend to be free standing - square - and straight leads me to say - stay away from 2X lumber. All well and good to use 2x stock for buildings and porches when the end product is part of a system that will have load and be secured to earth or other building bulk but for furniture - even rough furniture such as a shop bench - UNLESS you are bolting this to your walls I recommend stay away. I don't think that the average Joe can pick 2Xs off a pile with any degree of certainty that they won't twist and turn even though they "seem" perfectly straight in the moment.

If you must use 2 x, I quoted John's reply above because he provides some appropriate caution. 2xs can explode out of your hand when released by ripping. Bandsaw or some circular saw system that has the cut piece securely held is FAR SAFER than ripping on a table saw.

You can tell that without my saying any more :) that I would recommend purchasing some kiln dried lumber, flatten and joint straight and build a bench with the potential to remain flat and solid for your life time. Cheap money in the long run.

[sebastian phillips]

Todd, use a circular saw with a rip guide, way quicker, more accurate, and safer than trying to wrestle a heavy board that probably isn't flat thru a table saw.
I routinely freehand to scribe lines on tablesaws, and cope trim with them on occasion, but there is no way I would send a 20' board thru a typical tablesaw.
I also wouldn't send a board of any length that was twisted/ badly cupped etc thru a tablesaw...

[David M Peters]

In my workbench build I first used 2x10s (https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/lumber-boards/dimensional-lumber/2-x-10-1-syp-lumber/p-1444422750208-c-13125.htm?tid=4447361581151520547) ripped down the middle and I can confirm that they will likely want to bow on you. A few of mine pinched the riving knife badly enough to need wedging. And then they continued to bow after cutting making for a pretty uneven glueup. I scrapped those top sections and used 2x6s (https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/lumber-boards/dimensional-lumber/2-x-6-1-syp-lumber/p-1444422366853-c-13125.htm?tid=2929298408092430643) instead which made the glueup a lot more uneventful. And I did special order "#1" wood so it was quite straight with each piece only having a few knots.

[Bobby O'Neal]

I think acclimation and planning is key. Let things stabilize with plenty of room for any movement that will occur and you'll be good. I have a 9 foot long Roubo that weighs well over 400lbs made from SYP...no fuss, no headaches, no sticky glue ups. It can be done.

[Jim Dwight]

The reason I would use a track saw is safety, ease, and precision. Track saws are realtively safe because your hands should be well away from the blade, most have riving knives and mine (DeWalt) also has a separate anti-kickback system. The blade retracts as soon as you stop pushing it down too.

It is easier to push a ~10 lb saw through a heavy board than it is to guide a heavy board through a stationary saw blade.

The long track will straighten the edge of a board and the saw will make glue ready cuts (at least glue ready in my shop).

A guided circular saw lacks kickback protection but shares the advantage of moving the lighter saw instead of the heavier board. Mine never gave me close to glue ready cuts regardless of blade (but I understand others may have better results). It also requires more skill because you have to push the saw against the guide. The track is captured by a dado in the baseplate of the track saw so less skill is needed.

[Todd Roseberry]

Well, you've all given me quite a bit to think about. The lumber yard is not going to be accessible to a week or so; I've got some time to think about things. Merry Christmas1

[David Eisenhauer]

You can successfully build a workbench out of construction grade, Borg supplied 2X SYP. I used 2x12 and 2x10 pieces in 10' and 12' lengths after looking at my various width and length requirements. I feel the key to the thing is let the wood sit in your shop for a few months to let it air dry as much as it is going to and also to let it stabilize. Pick the straightest ones, do not pick the "heavy" (wetter) ones and avoid the ones that look like they were cut from the center of the tree. Cut to rough (a few inches over-length) length and stack the results with stickers between the layers so they can get air flow around all sides. A bandsaw is nice, a hand-held circ saw works and you can safely rip them with a table saw if you pay attention to your body positioning and watch for the cut pinching closed behind the blade. I used my 3 hp TS and had no problems. After the initial rough length cut, I stacked/let dry for a few months, then ripped the pieces down the middle. I then let them sit another week or two (not a planned time frame, just worked on other stuff meanwhile) before ripping the original rounded edges off to get closer to my final width.

[Jim Andrew]

Lumberyards here in Kansas do not handle SYP
so I built my bench from some 2" burr oak. Only had enough wood to make the top 3" thick, but find it sufficient. Used threaded rods to help glue it up, marked where the dogs go, and put the rods between the dog holes. Left the rods in the finished bench.

[larry senen]

Two pieces of 3/4 ply are not thick enough for use as a hand tool bench, which is what the OP seems to want to build.

Acclimatize the lumber before you start dimensioning, but you could likely rip to width without much grief. If you do not have tools available for dimensioning you will need to either borrow them or their use to dimension. You can work by hand or machine.

I've Dim'd work for light timber projects by hand, it can be done and doesn't really take very long.

Anywho the basic process is jointing, which means making one face straight and true then cutting the opposing face to 'thickness' using the jointed face as a reference. At that point you'll want to glue up the benchtop then repeat the process on the benchtop.

If you want better lumber then skip the home center and buy high quality wood from a specialty lumber yard. If you make a large enough order then you may be able to have them do the rough prep.
i didn't say ply specifically. 2, 3 as many sheets as he thinks of particle or mdf is more stable and flater than 2 by.

[Dan Rude]

$175 Workbench By: Christopher Schwarz (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/author/christopher-schwarz)r http://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/175_workbench may give you insight on this build. The Plans for the New Fangled bench by FWW are on sale today too.Dan

[Art Mann]

I try to keep some 2 X 6 and larger white pine on hand to build jigs, shelves and other shop projects. I hand pick the lumber for straightness and lack of knots. I have an attic over my shop in which I store lumber, among other things. In the summer, the temperature will get up to 125 or more degrees F for most of the day. I dry the lumber under these conditions for a couple of months before I use it. I have very few problems with warping or twisting. I always machine the wood down to a precise dimension - say 1-3/8" thick and 5-3/8" wide - before using it because sawmills aren't able to accurately dimension partially damp material. I need better precision than that.

[Robert Engel]

1) 6" is WAY too thick for a bench top. It may be massive but there will be drawbacks like trying to use bench hooks, which is integral to most benches.

2) I would give it a try to look for some straight 2x4's. I usually have better luck in the 16' rack. If you're looking for the vertical grain lumber , then you can go 2x10 or 2x12 but just rip 4" off each end leaving the pith in the middle. Knots are a big issue in SYP.

3) Generally speaking, construction lumber is not the best choice for any kind of furniture making because of the moisture and tension in the wood from kiln drying. You have to sticker the lumber for at least 2-3 months before even thinking about using them.

4) If there is a local saw mill around you I would see what they have for hardwoods like maple. You may be surprised buying rough lumber may not cost that much more.

I made a bench from a section of SYP bowling alley lane a friend of mine gave me. Apparently they infuse the wood with a hardener and boy does it work!

[Thomas Canfield]

I did not see anyone mention that when ripping you often release some internal stresses that cause the wood to bow and can bind the blade against the fence. I have often needed to go to jointer to true up edge on a longer (3' even) to get a straight edge to work with in resizing lumber. The round edges and often pith in center of the 2x lumber often eliminate almost 2" of original board actual width or 2-1/2" off the nominal width, but you can end up with some better quality boards approaching quarter sawn often.

[Brian Holcombe]

i didn't say ply specifically. 2, 3 as many sheets as he thinks of particle or mdf is more stable and flater than 2 by.

Larry traditionally one uses a solid wood bench for hand tools. There are key advantages, the major one being that it ensures your mallet or hammer swings are efficient. Similar to using a dolly bar or anvil when working iron, a solid foundation is very important and allows for effective hammer blows when chopping.

[Ole Anderson]

While ripping dimensional lumber is a always a crap shoot, (can I say that?), because the lumber is heavy (2x12's) you are much less likely to get a fast kickback rather than just stalling the blade. Light smaller pieces are more likely to kickback, not that it can't happen with big pieces...just get a firm grip on it.