Ash vs maple for workbench top

[Joern T Larsen]

How well would a workbench top made of ash do compared to one made of maple? I am thinking about using ash for a top since I can get it for 1/2 price of hard maple. Would ash be more stable, or similar properties?

Thanks!

[Gary Keedwell]

Somebody recently posted about making their entire bench, top and all, from ash. There is nothing really wrong with it , but I would think maple would be more preferable for it's tighter grain.
Gary K.

[mike holden]

Joern,
Had a chance to pet and fondle Chris Schwarz's latest workbench - the Holzapfel. The top is ash and looks good. Chris said that the only domestic wood better would be maple, but the cost was too high. Given all the banging done on it by strangers, and the fact that it has been moved around the country to be shown off (I saw it in Edwardsburg, MI), I dont think I would hesitate to have an ash bench at all.
Mike

[Don Bullock]

I've decided that when I make a bench that ash is definately going to be my choice. I've made furniture, including a dining table, out of it and it is definately dense enough for a workbench. Now that I've replaced the dining table, the old table is going to become my assembly table when ever I'm able to set up a more permenent shop. The only possible reason ash may not be as good as maple is splintering. Due the the more open grain pattern, ash can splinter. If built right, this shouldn't be a problem with a workbench.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

My top was made of common ash I picked up from Hearne Hardwood. I have been very happy with it. The open grain is the only issue you may have.

[Jim O'Dell]

Don stated what I was going to say, re: splintering. But if you use some sort of finish in multiple coats that will fill the pores, I think that it would be a very minimal problem, if any at all. I love the look of ash. When I built the kitchen cabinets at our first house, I went looking for oak. The guy at the hardwood company I found locally talked me into ash. Barney Robinson Hardwoods. Motto? "Best ash in town" :D I had a couple pieces with a small amount of really nice figure in it. You'd swear looking at it that the surface was wavey, but it was smooth as glass. Jim.

[Jeff Raymond]

My wife, (doesn't this sound like the beginning of a bad joke) picked up a 2" former butcher block square 48" x 48" at a yard sale last weekend for $10. It looked pretty funky, so we at first thought it would be a suitable workbench/work table.

Took the belt sander to it, and it is looking very good! Now she is going to get a nifty kitchen work table out of it.

Having worked with pine all the way through woods including coca bola, I'd strongly suggest getting a hard maple work bench top. Ash, very similar to oak in workability and appearance, is pretty sturdy, but with the open grain and a tendency to splinter, doesn't hold a candle to maple.

That being said, I use plywood benches and occasionally replace them. Kinda weird, but I like the idea of a forgiving surface that won't wreck my work.

[steve tompkins]

i agree with jeff. my benches are plywood with 1" mdf, not trupan but real heavy mdf. dirt cheap and use that saved money for more tools.

[Alfred Clem]

I made the top layer of my workbench of tempered hardboard. It rests on 1" thick mdf which rests on a framework of Doug fir. When the hardboard gets too cruddy, I flip it over. Or replace it. Call me cheap, but there are no splinters or open grain to worry about. Sure, maple would be great, but I have other ways to waste money.

[James Carmichael]

I suspect maple is "traditional" simply because it was plentiful and available in New England, when cabinet makers started setting up shop in the New World. In Europe, beech is the norm, again, not because of any special qualities, just because it was cheap and available. Maple is also, IMO, easier to work with hand tools than common ring porus hardwoods of comparable strength like oak, ash, hickory.

Factors such as grain orientation (quarter, rift, flat), straightness of grain, drying/acclimation of the lumber, glue up, and finishing are, I think, much more important factors in the stability of your benchtop than maple vs ash.