I've got this stack of southern yellow pine my local supplier sawed up for me. Being in Florida, this is a local material for me. I'll be building a new bench with it in about 3 months. The slabs for the top are about 11" x 4.5" x 78" right now. Yellow pine doesn't get too much bigger, so I had been planning a split top to make use of the solid slabs. I like the idea of the split top because of the planing stop and clamping capability of the center rail, but to be fair I've never actually used one.

Now I'm considering just gluing these two slabs together and making a solid top bench with the French-style through tenons. I'd probably use water-activated glue (since they are wet) and some 3/4" oak dowels to join them. I think I could end up with a slab at least 20" wide by 6 feet long, which is pretty much what I was going for anyway. I just like the look of the big tenons. And I think I could have an effective planing stop with a few dog holes and some scrap.

I have Hovarter leg and wagon vices on the way for the bench.

What would you do for the top of this thing?

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