SYP: A rant and a question

[Robert Dunaway]

I'm building a laminated top for a work bench out of Southern Yellow Pine. I took a looong time picking straight lumber, etc.

The stuff warps 5 seconds after running it through the saw. I kid you not, I cut the stuff, went to cut the next board, and I had a 1/4" deflection in the piece I cut.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH.

Makes glue ups a treat. I had to toss about 4 boards as completely unusuable. The other 5 that were crap were used in the shop for various (short) needs.

My questions are:

Is this typical of SYP?
Is this Home Despot's lumber not being dry/quality/good?

Next time I'll just use rock maple.

Grrrrrrr.

[Chuck Wintle]

I'm building a laminated top for a work bench out of Southern Yellow Pine. I took a looong time picking straight lumber, etc.

The stuff warps 5 seconds after running it through the saw. I kid you not, I cut the stuff, went to cut the next board, and I had a 1/4" deflection in the piece I cut.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH.

Makes glue ups a treat. I had to toss about 4 boards as completely unusuable. The other 5 that were crap were used in the shop for various (short) needs.

My questions are:

Is this typical of SYP?
Is this Home Despot's lumber not being dry/quality/good?

Next time I'll just use rock maple.

Grrrrrrr.

I'd say stick with maple or other hard wood like beech or birch.

[Steve Clardy]

With pine, rip extra wide, then joint one side flat. Then rip to width again.

[Paul Simmel]

With pine, rip extra wide, then joint one side flat. Then rip to width again.

Exactly... Hold true for other species as well.

[Alex Yeilding]

What Steve said. I had a similar experience -- the first board I send through (luckily through a bandsaw, not a table saw) had a cutoff that you could almost use as a shepherd's crook. (okay, so I exagerate a little, but it was bad.) I think that it was more a problem with reaction wood rather than drying, alhough I did give it several more months to acclimate to my shop.

After final milling and glue-up, the bench has been very stable. 2 years old, and just gave it a light planing to freshen the surface, but no flattening was needed.

[Tom Veatch]

...Is this typical of SYP?
No more than any other wood, in my experience.


Is this Home Despot's lumber not being dry/quality/good?...
Could be.

I built my bench top several years ago from SYP 2x4 material, jointed, planed, and glued up in face to face laminations so that the top is about 3" thick. No problems. I might expect some wood movement if you're ripping strips out of 2x8, 2x10, etc.

I plan to use SYP for the next iteration workbench also.

[Matt Meiser]

Chris Schwarz talks about buying Home Depot SYP in his book. He says he lets it acclimate for the tops while he uses the wetter stuff to build the base. I bought some from a local lumber yard and didn't have much trouble with it. Here, you can't get it at Lowes or Home Depot for some reason.

[Wilbur Pan]

Is this Home Despot's lumber not being dry/quality/good?

Yes/no/no.

Probably has more to do with the moisture content of the wood than anything else. I've built a worktable with borg green Douglas fir 2x material without much problem, but I let the wood sit around for a good while before starting to work with it.

The other thing that I thought of is that for 2x material that you are going to cut for a bench, how the grain runs in that board is probably as important as how straight the board is to start with.

[Wilbur Pan]

I bought some [SYP] from a local lumber yard and didn't have much trouble with it. Here, you can't get it at Lowes or Home Depot for some reason.

The borgs contract for 2x material, and borgs in different areas will have different suppliers. Here all the borg 2x material is green Douglas fir, and the only SYP is pressure treated. Go into Delaware, and all of a sudden the 2x material is hemlock fir instead.

The borgs in Cincinnati must contract with a supplier that deals in SYP 2x material.

[John Thompson]

I have built 2 from SYP and on the verge of building another. I check moisture content at the Borg and I have never seen under 16% that was supposely kiln-dryed. But.. I don't let that stop me as I pride myself in taking what is available and making it work.

I will check the 2 x 8 SYP every time I am at the Borg. If I find a straight piece or two from a new batch on the shelf with a pith more of less dead center.. I purchase it. Once I accumulate enough to do a top.. it sits another 3 months to acclimate until the moisture goes below 11%.

At that point it gets ripped into 3" pieces and the pith is thown away. I now have growth rings that look like / with the pith discarded. There has never been a problem with it warping as far as I know. One of those tops is 8 years old an in my BIL's shop. I would have heard about the other also as it is at a friends shop for the last 4 years.

What I have discoverd is being stamped kiln-dryed is not a ticket to automatic success IMO. Once you chose the best you can.. the rest falls into your hands with a few tricks up your sleeve. :)

Sarge..

[harry strasil]

only SYP I can get here comes from packing crates from the local implement dealer and some from heating and AC shops. I take it apart, check for metal with my lil Wizard and put it on the shelf stickered for future use. No matter what you buy, let it set in your shop for a minimum of one month or more stickered well to let it aclimate to your shop environement before use. I have seen bales (the large banded bundles) that come in, when the employees cut the bands theyalways stay back and get ready to run, sometimes pieces fly several feet when they are unbanded and the warping is free to expand, and occassionally even with kiln dried stuff, if the ones in the center hit the floor they leave a wet mark on the floor from the moisture captured in the middle.

In my opinion a bench made from SYP should be salvaged lumber from an old house being torn down. That is the Best SYP you will ever find, but it is hard, hard and is hard on planers and saws.

my 2 cents

[Curt Harms]

Isn't SYP considered a softwood? If so, I think "Kiln Dried" softwood is dried to 19% only like framing lumber, not 5-6% as with hardwood.

[Roger Lance]

In Michigan, I've seen SYP used primarily in roof trusses to form the top board of the truss...and yes it is very hard compared to other construction grade lumber...and as was stated, construction grade lumber that is kiln dried is not dried to the same standard as furniture grade hardwoods...and construction grade materials do move a bunch...house framers up here literally do not want the sun to get to their framing stock before it is nailed up and sheated just to prevent this uncontrollable movement that can render boards unusable or unsuitable for framing...can SYP be used to make a ww bench?...absolutely...but the trade off is more problems for the lower cost...while with hard maple the trade off is less problems but less bucks in your wallet...decissions...decissions.