Slab top bench

[Ellis Anderson]

I'm wondering if any Creekers could provide input on my plan for a slab top workbench I'm planning to build. I had a large silver maple cut down last year and the crew saved me a couple logs. One is 6' the other 5' and both are about 16" in diameter.

There are two main issues I'm concerned with. One is that I didn't split the logs and I don't know how hard it's going to be when I'm ready to start working on them after they're mostly dried out. I left them in the yard for most of last year and moved them in the garage for winter but they were already noticeably lighter. The other issue is that this was a big tree with the main trunk 4.5' in diameter. These logs come from branches and I don't know how close to vertical they were on the tree. Am I going to have a lot of issues with reaction wood moving around on me when it comes time to slab them up and flatten them? Will a thicker slab help minimize this problem? I'm aiming for 4" for right now.

My plan for the bench design is to have a top with a tool tray (yes I can keep it clean) in the middle of two different size solid slabs. One will be as wide as I get it to form a primary work surface at least 13" wide. The other slab will be sized to keep the tray and itself around 11" wide so the total width comes out to somewhere around 24". I'm going to take advantage of the tray to handle the expansion of the slabs. My idea is to anchor their outside corners into breadboard ends and allow the slabs to only expand inward toward tray opening on floating tongue and groove joints. Because of the tray and independent slabs I'm going to need more substructure than a Roubo style bench. With the slabs floating in this way I hope to be able to keep their faces flush to the legs despite different expansion characteristics of the top and the base. Are there any potential snafus with this arrangement that come to mind? Am I going to have some severe cupping issues with slabs this wide coming from a relatively small log?

[David Gendron]

Ellis, first welcome to the creek. as for using slabs to make a bench, there is no real issus, other than if you keep the pit in the slab. To bad you didn't keep the trunk part!!
The other issus you might is by using branch wood, I,m not sure but I think it is more troublesome than wood from the trunk of the tree, I'm sure other will talk about that.
The way you are planning the floting top sound good, and anchor the front corners seem a good idea! You could still use a Roubo style bench, the only difference would be strechers inbetween the front and back legs, have a look at bench craft web site, they have a split top Roubo design(http://www.benchcrafted.com/) And I even think you can get plans of it!
Let see what others have to say!

[Darnell Hagen]

Your plan is fine, in fact it's almost the same as my bench, a single plank with a dovetailed frame that acts as breadboard ends with expansion absorption by the tool tray. I use strongbacks as well to try to control cupping.

Your wood is no where near dry. The rule of thumb is a year per inch, but over three or four inches and that's no longer valid. Have it milled, seal the ends, and wait. Limb wood is different from trunk wood, although at 16" you may be ok.

[David Gendron]

One more thing, I was thinking, is if the bark is still on the wood and the wood still in its round forme, it might have heated up in the summer and some parts of it might be "spalted"(started to rot), so like Darnell suggested, get it milled, sealed and stickered!
And keep us updated on your progress!

[Robert Rozaieski]

Slab top is fine, however, I'd be concerned with the pieces you have because they are branch wood (reaction wood). I've tried using wood from branches a few times and typically, as soon as you split it open, it starts to do crazy things. This is because you relieve some of the built up stresses inside the branch when you open it up. I've found that branch wood really is useless for anything larger than tool handles and the like. There's certainly no harm in trying though. The worst that happens is that you split it up and it turns into a pretzel and you can't use it for a bench top. As long as you go into it expecting that to happen in the first place, you won't be disappointed when it does . All you lose is time since the wood didn't cost you anything.

On the other hand, you could get lucky and it might work. Try it out and let us know how it turns out.

[Henry Ambrose]

I'd take the logs to someone with a bandsaw mill and have them cut quarter sawed lumber at least 4 inches wide by 4/4 thick. Wait for the boards to dry (not too long for 4/4 maple, maybe a couple of months if they are in a dry place and they are already a bit dry now) then glue up the top and plane and/or sand to the finish thickness. Your bench will be stable. It'll likely take both logs but you already have them so no cost other than the sawing.

[David DeCristoforo]

If you leave logs "in the round", regardless of which part of the tree they are from, you are very likely to see serious radial checking long before the wood is dry enough to be useable. You need to get your logs slabbed ASAP after they are cut. Be sure to have them cut "fat" so you can have some "wiggle room" if the slabs don't stay flat as they dry. Then it's about a year per inch of thickness average but longer for thicker pieces. I hope you don't need that bench soon!

[David Gendron]

Henry, I'm not sure but 4/4 stock for a bench top looks like a lot of work ... And does not make a slab top bench...

[Henry Ambrose]

Henry, I'm not sure but 4/4 stock for a bench top looks like a lot of work ... And does not make a slab top bench...

Maybe I wasn't clear when I wrote "4 inches wide by 4/4 thick".

The 4/4 part lets the wood dry faster. The 4 inch wide part gives a 4" thick top (glue them 4" face to 4" face). The boards glue like this --

()()()()()()()()() -- end grain growth ring view

The end result is a big chunk of wood that won't twist, warp or split and stays flat. How is that a problem?

[David Gendron]

Got lost in translation... I tought that the "slab" the OP was talking about was one piece or two of wood, not a laminated top/slab.

[Darnell Hagen]

I thought that the "slab" the OP was talking about was one piece or two of wood

Ya, me too.

[Henry Ambrose]

Yes, the question is about a "slab" workbench top. The concerns expressed by the OP are exactly the problems that are addressed by sawing and gluing the wood. If there is some magic in having a solid slab of wood as it came from the tree then my answer is not the answer he's looking for. On the other hand, if he wants a stable and flat workbench top my answer is a good one. As stated in the OP, its not going to work to make a flat stable top.

Having cut and dried a large number of slabs and thick timbers I can tell you that using them as is for a bench top is going to be frustrating for years to come. Cutting them from smaller logs will make it worse. But if it makes you feel like more of a neanderthal then have at it.

[Darnell Hagen]

If there is some magic in having a solid slab of wood as it came from the tree

No magic, just coolness.

if he wants a stable and flat workbench top my answer is a good one.

True.

its not going to work to make a flat stable top.......be frustrating for years to come

.

Maybe, maybe no.

my bench, a single plank with a dovetailed frame that acts as breadboard ends .. I use strongbacks as well

Also:

http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com...ng+Magazine%29

if it makes you feel like more of a neanderthal then have at it.

I don't know what that means.