Poplar as bench top material?

[Eric Rathhaus]

I'm about ready to mill and glue up my strips of maple and walnut for my moravian bench. But today I was in a lumber store that had a massive plank of poplar at 3.50 a board foot. I could buy this piece and skip the laminating but wonder if poplar is a poor choice for a bench top. Any opinion, comments, suggestions, would be appreciated.

Eric

[chris carter]

I would use the softest wood you can get away with for your design. I'm not a fan of hard as rock workbenches. If your design can get away with construction lumber (spruce, pine, fir, etc.), then that's what I'd use. If my choice was between maple and poplar, I absolutely would choose poplar.

[Jason Lester]

Poplar seems a little soft to me for a workbench top.

[Bob Glenn]

Use what you have and don't be put off by what you read or hear from others. You will cherish what you alone have created.

[Flamone LaChaud]

My Dad's bench used 8/4 Poplar for the top with Maple along the edges . . . it's taken quite a licking over the last 30 years and still does a good job.

[Eric Rathhaus]

Thanks for all the input. I've decided, in the end, that glueing up the bench top will be good experience for me and save some $$ But I really appreciate all of your input!

[Mark Rainey]

I think you will save some money glueing up the bench top - $3.50 a board foot for poplar is expensive.

[brian zawatsky]

Depends on the thickness. I think I paid almost $3/bdft for the FAS KD 16/4 tulip poplar that i used for the legs on my workbench. It was worth it though, that thing is massive.

[Eric Rathhaus]

Hi Mark - yes saving money is always a good thing. The board is 6 inches thick, 14.5 inches wide and probably 15' long. Massive.

[Andrew Seemann]

Poplar wouldn't be my first choice for a work bench. Although it is pretty stable, it is quite soft. I prefer a hard and dense top as I do a fair amount of pounding and chopping on my bench. Fortunately maple is relatively inexpensive around here.

[Charles Guest]

Using a species for a bench top that is softer than most woods you intend to work is perfectly rational. Let the top get dented and bruised rather than project parts.

[Robert Engel]

The reason most benches are laminated rather than a single plank is for stability (wood movement).

That said, you can use a solid slab just plan the build to allow for movement and plan on reflattening the top until its totally stabilized, which could take several years.

Like Andrew, I also prefer hard wood because of 1) the extra mass, 2) less absorption of energy.

Charles, if you leave bits on the top, it doesn't matter how soft the bench top is, you will get dented wood.

[Bruce Haugen]

Poplar is fine. My bench is 33 years old, made of some nondescript white wood 2 X 4s from a lumber yard, and is softer than poplar. It has worked very well, and I don’t have palpitations when it gets dinged or cut. It’s a work bench, not a shrine.

[Jake Rothermel]

I've started the massive (to me) task of flattening & truing up the red oak 4x6s I reclaimed for my Moravian recently. After that workout (and I'm *far* from done), I don't know that I'd turn down a poplar benchtop if I had the opportunity to get one. Then again, I really like poplar...

[Bill McDermott]

I have a hand-me-down laminated poplar top. No complaints at all. I have round holes and pegs. Everything is fine except in the couple pegs holes (front row) where I have used holdfasts, the pegs are now loose and fall through without some fussing. I suspect a harder wood (or at least a dog hole strip of it) would help in that regard.