Thread: Advice on building workbench

All timbers move around a bit but Radiata pine is a PITA.
You either have to keep it all neatly stacked on top of itself and then quickly use it and fit and nail / screw it all together.
Or let it sit around and change shape and then re machine it where it shouldn't move much if you have waited long enough . It can do some big changing though . You can have a bunch of propeller Banana benders to deal with . That's fine if you have bought it all over size , which is the right way to do it .

Rushing to get it screwed together is what the carpenters building out door stuff have to do . If your bench is a nice practical carpentry style robust thing then the thicker timbers will work well this way . Its about planing the right style for the available timber you can get.

Knowing the right different ways of making stuff means if you had a live pine tree in front of you and a chain saw a plane and a hammer you could build a ripper of a bench and it would work and dry out as your using it .
It would need to be built to re do some parts when they finally settle and stop moving. This sort of thing is done though .

And your question .
"Therefore this leads me to my question..do I need jointer and planer/thicknesser machines to get square timber"

Yes it helps .

You can do a lot with just an electric planer as well .
If your aiming at a longer more rewarding hobby though the more machines the better in my opinion .

Rob

Paul Sellers has a couple of blogs and video series on making a bench out of pine. Admittedly he is using European pine but some of the dry radiata stuff in the green shed looks OK to. Check out how he goes about straightening and joining things with just a handlplane and PVA glue.

Building a Workbench Archives - Paul Sellers' Blog

From experience with my local suppliers, framing pine generally has rounded corners, meaning you're going to have to take a good 4-5mm off the top when you're done to flatten it. Framing hardwood on the other hand will be more stable, and generally have square corners, making final flattening far simpler. Plus you end up with a heavier bench.

Your pine won't go to waste though. You will find 101 uses for it in no time.

Annnnddd - the journey begins! Welcome and good luck. Some observations:

1. It can be quite frustrating to achieve 'flat straight and square' initially... The combination of beginner skills and beginner tool set can lead to frustration and giving up in irritation.

2. It is easy to over complicate workbench builds. If I were you, I'd use the pine for the legs and frame. Check out this link for a 'beginner friendly' technique for building such a beast: How to build a simple sturdy workbench It requires little more than a circular saw and a power drill, but gives good, achievable results. All the bench pundits will then have you gluing up, planing and flattening thick boards for your top. Bugger that: spend $62 at Bunnings for their 30mm thick plywood sheet (2.2m by 600 mm). Bolt it down on your pine frame, add a vice, and you're in business. It won't be the prettiest, but you will have made a useful tool that gets you started. You could try Danish oil on the top - easy to apply, and an introduction to part of the hobby that is as important as generating sawdust for the final effect. Your frame probably won't be 100% straight, but who cares? It'll let you get started.

3. In specific answer to your question. You don't 'have' to have a planer and thicknesser, and some see learning traditional techniques to square timber by hand as foundational... But good hand planes are almost as expensive nowadays, and I view the machinery as the equivalent of an apprentice - it does the initial timber milling for you quickly, easily and accurately so that you can build your masterpiece... Only you know whether the investment is worth the reward in hobby time and built products.

Originally Posted by goongdengee

Hi all,

I'm a newb who's been inspired to start off my woodwork journey by building a workbench during this time of iso. I bought untreated structural pine (mgp10) in 90x35mm from bunnings but noticed when I got home that most of the timber were slightly warped/curved. After joining the first few pieces together using pocket holes I became a little frustrated because it was difficult to get the pieces square (even with clamps). Therefore this leads me to my question..do I need jointer and planer/thicknesser machines to get square timber, or did I just purchase the wrong timber for this application?

I'm thinking of restarting the build with 90x45mm timber from bunnings as those seemed far more square in appearance. Appreciate any advice .

cheers.

my first advice is don’t go to Bunnings, their timber is Scheeit. Got to a reputable builder’s hardware ,like North Shore Timber or the like. Secondly, pine framing timber as you have bought is for house frames, it can be a bit twisted and bowed, as this can be rectified later, it’s not for joinery, which is what you’re doing. Look at timber like Blackbutt, or merbau, which are dense and stable hardwoods. Pick through the timber on the rack to get the good ,straight ones, look along it to check.
You won’t need planers and thicknessers for a couple of years yet, hone your hand skills and get familiar with your basic power tools first, then start with a table saw, and go from there, good luck and keep your fingers clean.

I support the Paul Sellers recommendation. Some will disagree with his design but his techniques are well explained and demonstrated. My only warning is he can be addictive.
PVA glue would be miles ahead of pocket holes. Not sure I want bits of steel (screws) lurking inside my bench waiting to destroy my valuable tools.
I built three benches before I got it right. My current one is five years old and is a hybrid between Sellers and Roubo.
There are plenty of build videos on YouTube of roubo style.
As a hand tool bloke I want mass and rigidity above all.
Bruce

Thanks heaps for the encouraging words. Yes, it was a little bit demotivating with such a rocky start tbh ..but I'm keen to persevere and get better. Thanks for the link !

Originally Posted by riverbuilder

my first advice is don’t go to Bunnings, their timber is Scheeit. Got to a reputable builder’s hardware ,like North Shore Timber or the like. Secondly, pine framing timber as you have bought is for house frames, it can be a bit twisted and bowed, as this can be rectified later, it’s not for joinery, which is what you’re doing. Look at timber like Blackbutt, or merbau, which are dense and stable hardwoods. Pick through the timber on the rack to get the good ,straight ones, look along it to check.
You won’t need planers and thicknessers for a couple of years yet, hone your hand skills and get familiar with your basic power tools first, then start with a table saw, and go from there, good luck and keep your fingers clean.

Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it. In terms of using hardwoods, is it appropriate to use the same dimension of timber as I was using for pine (i.e. 35x90mm)? Just looking through the North Shore Timber website, I only see one type of hardwood in 35x90, '35X90 FIN F27 SEASONED HWD'. I'm not exactly sure what type of hardwood that is but would this be fine to use? It doesn't look like Blackbutt and Merbau are available in 35x90mm.

It could be any type of hardwood, but I know the price list is big, keep scrolling through it. 90x35 is common, I think merbau is mostly 45 thick. I used New Guinea Rosewood for my new bench, it came from Mathews Timber at St. Marys, they are a more specialised and exotic timber supplier. It looks like this 7D1CF46B-F690-445A-AF4A-7D482D78115E.jpeg

If you're interested in hand tools and learning to use them Paul Sellers has really good stuff for free. He uses a minimal tool set. His more recent workbench build with better production is on Youtube YouTube He's also got another older set of videos where he built the workbench in it's entirety in his back yard - I followed this video when I was a complete newbie and I've got a bench I'm using and still happy with 5 years later. It's made of Bunnings structural pine and cost about $80 in material back then. I got the vice second hand from Gumtree for $90. I'll make a new bench one day but for now I've got plenty of other things I'd rather be making.

With Bunnings pine, I almost always give up looking at anything less than 2.4m. Have a look at the longer lengths, find the ones that are reasonably straight and get them cut to whatever size you can transport. They'll almost always have a slight curve - this isn't too much of a problem since when you get them cut, the curve disappears. What you want to avoid are twists and exceptionally knotty pieces. I've found this gives better results than trying to find short lengths. The 1.2m stuff is usually already warped in the stack.

If you're going the hand tool route, perseverance is everything! Keep at it, each time you put a plane or chisel to wood you'll learn something more and each time you sharpen you'll wonder why you didn't get it this sharp before.

From memory my toolset was:

-Stanley combination square (Bunnings)
-Stanley plastic speed square (Bunnings)
-Trojan 13mm chisel (Bunnings)
-Trojan 6mm chisel (Bunnings)
-Veritas marking knife (Carbatec)
-Dozuki saw (Carbatec)
-Panel beaters hammer from Supercheap Auto (used as chisel hammer)
-Stanley Fatmax handsaw (Bunnings)
-Stanley sharpening guide (Bunnings)
-Sandpaper on glass for sharpening
-F Clamps from Supercheap and Bunnings
-Secondhand Stanley #5
-Secondhand Turner #4
-Bosch green random orbital sander (Bunnings)

I've since bought far too much stuff - but you definitely don't need a garage full of tools to make a workbench.