Dimensioning 10/4 lumber for bench build...How to go about it?

[ernest dubois]

You grasp the realities of how a large majority of people in our culture actually interact with the material world, ( what a sad story you have as illustration too), better than I do. It's a failing I suffer as a consequence of being sequestered in an out of the way and isolated corner in the tiny village. It's true Stanley, the solutions I seek are for the most part coming from a context hard to reconcile with pervading norms and values. Another consequence is I get so lazy and fail to explain things in a way that other people can understand what the hell I am talking about.

[Stanley Covington]

You grasp the realities of how a large majority of people in our culture actually interact with the material world, ( what a sad story you have as illustration too), better than I do. It's a failing I suffer as a consequence of being sequestered in an out of the way and isolated corner in the tiny village. It's true Stanley, the solutions I seek are for the most part coming from a context hard to reconcile with pervading norms and values. Another consequence is I get so lazy and fail to explain things in a way that other people can understand what the hell I am talking about.

Thanks for your understanding. It is indeed hard to communicate effectively for us all. You do a good job of it.

I envy your village lifestyle. Mine is all packed trains, endless meetings, writing documents that will never be read, and rushed inspections. And too many damned lawyers.

A more leisurely pace in a pleasant environment with clean air and warm people. That I envy.

[Phil Mueller]

Just wanted to say I appreciate the banter, discussion, opinions and experiences with BLO. It has given me a good perspective on the stuff.

[steven c newman]

Seem to recall a "brew" made up of BLO, Wiping Varnish, and Mineral Spirits......

[Stanley Covington]

Seem to recall a "brew" made up of BLO, Wiping Varnish, and Mineral Spirits......

Don't forget the one with BLO, natural turpentine, tung oil, and beeswax. Somewhere there is surely a formula that contains eye of newt and toe of frog.

Add lead oxide, and you have the original white paint.

[steven c newman]

Perhaps maybe my Infamous Witch's Brew?


Ah...now I remember....Long time ago, there was a fellow that was "pushing" the old Pratt& Lambert 39 for use.....BLO + P&L + Mineral Spirits, to make a Wiping Varnish that he claimed gave an "In the wood" finish......Same fellow also claimed that ONLY the Shellac Flakes he sold should be used to make a shellac.

[Stewie Simpson]

Reflattened my workbench top 2 days ago to remove a 1/8" twist across its 7ft length. Resealed the surface using Danish oil.

[Pat Barry]

Years ago I finished my Ash benchtop with a few heavy coats of BLO til it wouldn't take anymore, then after it dried I coated with Johnson Paste Wax. The slipperiness never bothered me and it sure makes glue squeeze-out cleanup easy as can be.

[Stewie Simpson]

The use of paste wax will also attract the grit and grime.

[Robert Engel]

How about put a toothing plane to that top and avoid the controversy completely?

Or, just do what you want and slather it on.

BTW, I use BLO:Turpentine 50:50. I don't use it on furniture.

Open up the windows, turn on the fan and hang those rags out to dry.

[ernest dubois]

I wonder how the bench-top finishers are thinking about the holding function the bench top itself fulfills and how a finish or no finish impacts on that function. Coating the surface with wax seems to completely negate the idea that the bench top itself is meant to do a significant amount of the holding rather than relying on the clamping rig-up 100 percent, eventually over taxing any and all clamps, vices, hold-fasts, so on and so on.

[Matt Lau]

I'm not sure about the other guys, but I'll be saving Stan's tips for when I tackle my workbench.

As a guy surrounded by engineers (dad, sister, aunts, uncles, etc) and raised to be an engineer (but I rebelled), I can tell you that Stan's dead right on all accounts. He's also being very diplomatic for an engineer.

That being said, traditional finishes have their place.
When I make a present for a friend or friend's kid, I want something non-toxic and environmentall friendly.
I like fresh shellac (from seedlac) and organic walnut oil...which are both food safe...for babies that stick things in their mouth. I like fresh shellac for guitars (need to get back to building). I like Danish oil for presents to Scandanavian people.

For a hard use bench--hard to say.

[ernest dubois]

As a guy surrounded by engineers (dad, sister, aunts, uncles, etc) and raised to be an engineer (but I rebelled), I can tell you that Stan's dead right on all accounts. He's also being very diplomatic for an engineer.

Why the non-sequitur Matt?

Here is a little practical experiment you can try on your workbench. True up the top and then lay a board with a flat surface down on there and try planing with no further holding mechanism. When you are taking a light cut and your plane is in order, it should be possible. Do it for yourself, not to prove one thing or another, that way you can do your best to be objective. And the object is to make it concrete that the bench top is itself a holding mechanism when used as intended.

[Matthew Hutchinson477]

Update:

Finished planing a few of the boards to make the top. I picked the boards that were the straightest so that I could minimize how much thickness had to be planed off. Two of them are mostly knot-free and turned out great, and one of them is nice and straight but has a few bit knots. Hopefully those won't cause any issues. They seem stable enough.

Now, the next move is to either laminate a couple boards face-to-face or rip first and then laminate. I'm thinking the latter because:
1) I am using a circular saw with a fence to rip and its maximum cutting depth is 2-1/2"
2) More importantly, I think it will be easier to get a solid, gap-free glue up with thinner boards rather than two massive boards

But before I get to that, I have a decision to make. The straight boards that will be the top ended up being 2" thick and 9" wide. Originally I was thinking a 3-1/2" thick top because that's what Will Myers used and it seems like a good balance between stability and portability. But these boards being 9" wide, if I decide to go with a 3" thick top I can rip each board into 3 and end up with 3 2"x3" pieces from each board. If I go the 3.5" or 4" thick route I can only rip each board once and I'll have some waste left over.

If it doesn't cost me any stability or function then a 3" thick top would save me some wood which is nice, and perhaps more importantly it would ensure that the bench top is light enough for me to move by myself. Will Myers' bench top is 13-1/2" wide and 3-1/2" thick and weighs somewhere around 90-100 pounds. My plan is to make my bench top a little wider, closer to 16" wide, so if I make it 3-1/2" or 4" thick it might become too heavy for a single person to move. At 3" I can probably make it 16" wide without losing that ability.

In conclusion, do you guys think 3" is thick enough? What would I gain with an extra half inch or inch of thickness besides a little stiffness?

[Brian Holcombe]

If it were hardwood, I would think 3" would be fine, but given that it's pine I think you should aim for 4". 16" wide is pretty good.