Wood selection for work bench

[Steven Mikes]

I was just reading Mr. Hutchinson's great thread on his SYP bench project and it got me thinking. I happened to be on CL earlier and found someone selling red oak at what I can only assume is a good price. Is a softwood workbench just as good as a hardwood workbench? Does it even matter?

My current bench is the first thing I built before even really having the necessary tools for doing it properly. It is made of cheap-o white pine. I find it too easy to push around when planing, and doesn't provide enough stiff resistance when sawing (too much give in the legs).

SYP is a lot cheaper than oak... by my very rough calculation based on the price in the CL ad I would be paying $400-$600 dollars for enough wood to build a similar-sized bench to what I have (slightly longer). That is a lot of money to sink on a work bench...

[Jim Koepke]

One of my long held wishes is that somehow a shipment of SYP gets misdirected to one of the suppliers in my area and there is plenty of cash in my account when it is presented to me.

One of the basic rules of bench building is to use wood that is available inexpensively in the area it is being built. SYP might be even better than oak for a bench not just on cost but also on the structure of the wood and the ease with which it can be worked.

A solid heavy base will help hold a bench still as much as a thick top.

jtk

[Steven Mikes]

Jim, does Home Depot not carry it in your area? I just bought an 8' 2x12 the other day to make a saw bench.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, does Home Depot not carry it in your area? I just bought an 8' 2x12 the other day to make a saw bench.

Home Depot mostly sells what comes from their store's local area. Otherwise they would have to charge a lot for the shipping. Here we have Douglas Fir, Hemlock Fir and various types of soft pine. A lot of our soft woods supplied here come from Canada.

jtk

[Ron Kellison]

You have probably read or heard this before, but a solid workbench is the most important tool in your shop if you're primarily using hand tools. Build it out of whatever is available in your area but (personal opinion) if there are choices make it from the heaviest wood available. Weight and mass are your friends. The next important step is to build it using joints that are strong to prevent your bench from racking when you do anything involving force e.g., planing, chopping a mortice, etc. My bench is built from 12/4 and 8/4 hard maple but that's primarily because it is cheaper than pine here in Eastern Ontario.

I would also recommend getting your lumber from a local sawyer rather than anything from a Big Box store! Even if you have to drive a little further, the price will almost certainly be much better and the quality will probably be higher. Personally, I would look for air dried lumber but that's just a personal preference because I think it planes easier and finishes better than kiln dried wood.

[Prashun Patel]

What is your current design?

Think of your design before the wood.

I have a small (60x24), not-so-thick (1.75") bench that is fairly solid because the legs are stout and the joinery is appropriate.

The wood can help, but the design's the thing.

[Joe Bradshaw]

My approach to building a workbench will probably cause the handtool guys and gals to have a fainting fit. I use solid core doors from the box stores. If I need extra thickness, I will glue two doors together. As someone stated above, a sturdy base is needed to provide support in all directions. YMMV.
Joe.

[Blake M Williams]

My bench was the first thing I built. I used 2x4s from home depot. It's roughly 3 x 5 feet, 3 1/4 inches thick. On each long side, I added 2x12. I sandwiched 3 slabs together, between them I have two 1/2 boards that can be popped up to act as stops the whole length.

Very heavy, it did move some, especially when blades got dull, but with a sharp blade and adding a shelf underneath( I store my small scraps there) to hold weight, it's awesome. If you have the cash to throw on a full hardwood bench, go for it. But I think a softwood bench works great as long you have got it thick enough.

[William Fretwell]

I'm with Prashun, the design is everything. Not saying you can't build a traditional Scandinavian bench in softwood but I've yet to see one. I have seen hardwood vises on a softwood top. How simple is your design? Is this the last bench you ever build or want to build?

Start with the dog holes in the bench top, how far in will they be, angled at 2 degrees? Will your end vise be captive or effectively lengthen your bench by a foot? Do you think expensive vise hardware will suffice or impose restrictive design limitations?

The work involved in a really good bench favours hardwood as it will last longer and be heavier for the same size.

I just visited the Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking (James Krenov's #1 choice) in B.C. Canada. All the benches were traditional Scandinavian built by one Scandinavian family. The oldest bench in use since the 1950's had the beech top recently flattened and it looked like new. They use softwood (Douglas Fir) legs which look a bit spindly for the mass of the top but they function very well.
I shoved very hard on the end and could get the bench to 'shimmy' a little but not move. Shimmy would be a slight vibration.

The sight of the bench room with 12 or so ultimate traditional benches was awesome. The students were all working around the tail vise massive jaws lined with white shiny very thick card.

Do some research before you build, spend your time & money once if possible.

[ernest dubois]

There is a hell of a lot of confusion surrounding workbenches. We've got in the first instance internet to thank for this state as well this traditionalist character who once made a bench based on an old French text, only he used Southern Yellow Pine, wrote an article about it and popularized a model that had long since been rejected in favor of the German and Nordic designs. What's needed to sort it out is going back to the basics and look at where the evolution of the workbench had gotten to prior to when all this craziness got going around the beginning of the 1990s. You will see the bench top was hardwood, in North America maple was typical most European benches from Beech. Even in Scandinavia (the height of workbench evolution if you ask me) where hardwood is scarce Beech is used. The two vices, fore and tail are in line with the bench-top, with its series of dog holes - 2dergees or not - the working surface, long and narrow and there is the sunk tool tray, the trestle supporting the bench is open and not cluttered with doors and drawers under there, and all the rest of that which is to be found with a little concentrated research, at your local library for example. Yes, spend your money once, but don't get ripped-off by, for example this one company selling a very sparse model for up to $3000.00 as I have seen. These benches William Fretwell mentions were some years back costing right in the neighborhood of $1000.00, a very fair price.

[William Fretwell]

If I could buy such a Scandinavian bench for $1000 today I would not be able to get the money out of my pocket fast enough!
The same family still make those benches but only 12 a year now as they are down to one person making them.
There were some very nice design features of those benches that were not lost on me having built one. The large wood screws turned from hard root wood were massive and long. The tail vise was very long, this is so important as it keeps it well guided and has no droop. I made mine 4 inches longer than theirs for the same reason.
The top of the tail vise insert is beautifully fitted with a half dovetail at each end. Reaching under the front of the bench there is a 1 inch apron to work with for clamping long stock. The shoulder vise was not huge, a few were almost square but mostly about 8 inches with a support under the shoulder the same length as the vice front, I'm still wondering why. The large wood screw for the shoulder vise has no flex with the vise jaw so making it small reduces the risk of racking damaging it.

I think making a traditional tail vise intimidates a lot of people, it's just a frame that slides. The front of the frame is large, the back small. A long frame creates minimal to no droop, the front of the frame runs on a rest, the back can run on the underside of the bench.
The position of the screw requires thought, so it is very close to the dog holes but no more so the force is as in line with the dog holes as possible. A simple steel screw is narrower than the wood screw and makes this easier. The inexpensive $40 sloppy metal screws do a great job as the precision comes from the frame and it's guides.

[ernest dubois]

Yes the supply is becoming more and more limited. When you are in Canada there is maybe a slim chance but dwindling chance, plus you pay on top of that for shipping, in USA, no way. He won't ship because of the restrictions imposed around 2001.
I was in the workshop one time and went through the large 3 ring binder of construction notes complied over the 100 years that's got all the secrets and details, but you know, all in Swedish, naturally, which I don't understand. In fact I don't think there is a fast price for the benches. The impression I got when picking mine up was he was just throwing out an idea. Very funny and I was pleasantly surprised.382450

[john jesseph]

Is that your bench, Ernest? I like those benches quite a lot, but I'm not sure how I would get along with the vise apparatus being so prominent. I find the laminated top interesting, and the wooden screws are great.

[Carlos Alvarez]

My workbench is made from a Kreg bench leg kit, three layers of 3/4" MDF, and a layer of white coated hardboard (may or may not be melamine, everyone argues about that). The first two layers are glued to each other. The top layer of MDF was not glued, in case I make it through the top and damage that layer. The top layer is screwed on so I can replace it very easily when it's all dinged up. I absolutely love it. Dead flat, and simply doesn't move or transmit any vibration at all when pounding on something. The "melamine" top surface doesn't really hold glue or finishes so it's easy to clean up.

I made up a holder for paper rolls and mounted it to one end so I can easily pull protective paper over it as needed. The other end holds a typical vise and a couple of power outlets (simply fed by an extension cord with the end cut and wired into the outlets). It really has worked fantastically. The only change I will make is to improve the under-bench storage, which currently is just a single, very messy shelf.

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[ernest dubois]

Is that your bench, Ernest? I like those benches quite a lot, but I'm not sure how I would get along with the vise apparatus being so prominent. I find the laminated top interesting, and the wooden screws are great.
It's my baby alright. I have grown accustom to the projection even when it restricts movement as it is with my bench-room arrangement. The make-up of the bench top only part of the secrets revealed in that big binder I mentioned above, so inaccessible.