oregon ok for work bench ?

[Zed]

Hi,

A neighbour was tearing out part of his garage for a reno the other day and I grabbed some of his old timber from his dumper. it looks like VERY seasoned (at least 20 yrs old) oregon. I thought I might dress it to size and make a work bench out of it ... My questions -

is Oregon good for a woodworking bench or is it too soft ?

where in Sydney can I get the use of a thicknesser to dress to size these lengths of timber ?

thanks in advance...

[AlexS]

Zed,

Old Oregon should be fine for a bench - is certainly excellent for the understructure, and should be fine for the top.

You could talk to Hendermans in Balmain re use of machinery. Just maks sure all the ironmongery is out of the timber first.

cheers,

Alex

[snappperhead]

funny you should bring up this topic.

i am making a workbench myself out of oregon and found it a swine to work because it splinters like buggery and is very soft. i made the legs and the back of the top from oregon but decided to use english oak for from rail (dogholes) jaws, tailvise and end cap. dunno which finish to use, i have heard to use linseed oil, not too interested in poly. any ideas?

[Gumby]

I've spent the weekend building my bench and used the oregon beams from my old (20 year) carport. Sounds about the same as yours. I ripped it down to about 4x2 but some of it was cracking badly and most had a slight bow in it. I'm not too worried because the frame has turned out well. It's a bench, not a furniture cabinet and when the legs were sanded they looked nice. I routed the edges with a small round over bit. I used some 4x2 treated pine for the rails to join the ends and it's turned out to be a nice heavy frame, which is what you need.

http://www.plansnow.com/wwrkbnch.html

I've got plenty left for the top but I think I'll get a solid core door (factory second) like that in the photo to do the job.

One thing is for sure, the price is right !

[zathras]

As a naive young woodworker about 15 years ago I built a bench using greenish oregon.

After 15 years what were flush fitting planks on top then had 10-12mm gaps between them.

So yes, make sure the oregon is well and truly dried out!

[Zed]

thanks guys, I will check out Hendermans. I only need to run 8 lengths of timber through a thincknesser should cost too much...

I think I'll do the same as yourself and build the frame from oregon and possibly something harder for the top and rails . maybe some ash...

I understand what you mean about the splinters it is a bit flaky innit ?

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

The one that Les Miller uses in his demo's at the woodwork shows is made of Oregon.
His plans are available through The Australian Woodworker & Skills Publishing.
I'm building one from his plans using Kwila.
Kwila (merbau) is very nice to work but it will be a heap less portable than one made of Oregon.