Thread: handtool Work bench timber selection

Hi Dave,

IanW and I recently made a workbench. It's discussed in this post:

The Game Changer - or - Two Guys, Two Dogs, and One Incredibly Heavy Workbench

There were a lot of things I needed to upgrade about my workbench, but the biggest thing was the weight. I was so, so, so tired of my workbench skating across the floor while I was planing with the grain, and rocking around when I was planing across the grain. I haven't read the Schwarz workbench book, but I think one of his main points is that you can always add more mass. If you make your workbench out of pine, I would be concerned that it may not be heavy enough. I'm sure if you use enough wood you will overcome this, but that then raises the question of price. With so many dense, beautiful Eucalypts out there, I could never bring myself to use exotic, plantation-raised pine unless it was a serious price issue.

As far as bumping into it and denting your work, I understand the concept, but I haven't run into that problem (no pun intended) yet. Maybe after ten or twenty years of woodworking this would pay off and save you X number of projects which would otherwise have been lost. I don't know. I, however, would suggest using wood that you like the look of, the story behind, and the price associated with.

My bench is made in a traditional, European style, and uses a modified version of a design made famous (or at least famously written down) by Frank Klaus a couple of decades ago. The two most distinct features are the sliding end vise with padded leather jaws and the wide front vise (Klaus used a shoulder vise). The Roubo style bench which seems to have a tremendous amount of popularity these days (via Chris Schwarz I feel safe in saying) uses a leg vise and, I believe most commonly, planing stops.

I can't comment on the leg vise. It seems like a conceptually cool idea, but I've never used one. The use of planing stops in lieu of an end vise, however, seems crazy to me. I'm sure some guys are going to comment on that and say that my lack of experience is speaking there, but I just don't get it. I want my work absolutely secure with no wiggle room and without the need to brace it with my hips while planing. I've tried planing against a stop as a quick fix to avoid winding out the vise and been thoroughly unimpressed.

That's my take. I'm interested to hear more opinions and, even moreso, I'm interested to see the bench you end up with!

Best of luck,
Luke

When I got around to building a workbench the main thing for me was to source wood that is cheap or free. This can sometimes take a long time especially when you are looking for free. It normally comes from council cleanup, it was a matter of waiting. I ended up with Oregon and Pine for the construction.

It was also during the flattening of the top that I found the planner bit had come out and I had gouged the top. If you build bulky this becomes heavy and as a result it does not walk around the shop when planing of chiseling out a mortise. When I moved this into it position I had to have another person to help.

I applied boiled linseed oil on the bench and have been doing irregularly. I don't think this will be my last bench build as this is after all a tool. I have been meaning to add draws under the bench but have not gotten around to doing this.

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

There were a lot of things I needed to upgrade about my workbench, but the biggest thing was the weight. I was so, so, so tired of my workbench skating across the floor while I was planing with the grain, and rocking around when I was planing across the grain.

I completed a pine workbench just recently and I think my biggest issue so far is lack of weight. I either need to add body weight when planing or some heavy ballast. My bench is relatively small so it might not be such an issue with a larger bench. I could have done with at least another 50kg to stop it from moving around, especially when planing something with knots that tend to catch a bit.

When working with soft timber I much prefer a soft bench top with well rounded corners and edges. This is very much a leftover from my apprenticeship days where we used mainly Cedar, Mahogany and Teak. Between jobs we would reflatten the surface. Timber of choice was clear Kauri Pine.

At the woodwork school I attend all the bench tops are made from Yellow pine. The reason being that it is soft but remains pretty stable.

I built my bench top of pine. Mix of oregon and radiata that I got for free. The under carrage is blue gum that I had around. I would have gone for a hardwood top if I had the wood for it but the pine top is doing the job just fine. All depends what you want to spend on a bench I guess. I have had no issue with the weight of the pine top and it is solid and no movement when using hand planes. If it is nice and thick it will be heavy enough. One thing with a pine top is it will be easier to make if you have to do all the lifting on your own. I went split top and could manage 1 half ok on my own. A half will also fit in a thicknesser. The final dressing of a pine top with a handplane is also easier than a hardwood top. I have not been treating it with kid gloves but 2 years on it is holding up fine and will likely be my last bench.
I have never worked with baltic pine but you can check out what is hardest by the thumb nail test next time at the wood place.
Regards
John

Hi Guys,

What are your thoughts on trimming/covering the workbench with hardwood, like this guy has done:
Outside the Box Workbench, This One is Different ! - by shipwright @ LumberJocks.com ~ woodworking community

IE, i could laminate 2x4 construciton pine, then cover in 19mm hardwood?

Cheers, Dave

After reading the article I can see the logic in making this the way he has. I am not sure I would have bothered too much on veneering the legs. But I will say that it is after all another skill he has picked up or refined so probably worth it.

This is just my opinion and I hope that I do not offend anyone, the purpose of a work bench is to be used as a tool in the shed.

The best thing about building a work bench is that you will customize it for different purposes. It has been about a year since I got mine made and took about a year to get the wood from the garbage collection days. I was not really in a hurry but it was a mad rush to get it done after I got the wood.

Originally Posted by marphlix

Hi Guys,

What are your thoughts on trimming/covering the workbench with hardwood, like this guy has done:
Outside the Box Workbench, This One is Different ! - by shipwright @ LumberJocks.com ~ woodworking community

IE, i could laminate 2x4 construciton pine, then cover in 19mm hardwood?

Cheers, Dave

You could cover a pine top with a hardwood skin if you want to but the laminated pine top will do the job just fine on it's own. That bench in the article is quite clever and it does look good but I think I am of a mind with Christos on this that a bench is just another tool to be used. I am on my third bench now and I just knew that at some point down the track I will likely make changes to it and that would tug at the heart strings a bit if it were too pretty. The good thing about building a bench however is you can build it the way you want.
Regards
John

I'm glad this thread was here because its pretty much exactly the same questions I wanted to ask.

The local timber hard has "F17" construction hardwood, which they said was Victorian Ash. Is this considerably more dense than pine? I've attached the plans for an idea of scale. I really don't want this bench moving as it will mainly be used for hand tool work as well. I've only ever had experience with pine, and I'll be jointing with a #5 plane, so I was wondering how much more effort this would be? Also, is there any other easily available timber I should be looking at for this kind of application? Unfortunately all the yards near me focus on construction timber.

Workbench v1.png

Workbench v1 plan_2.png

Originally Posted by Goctopus

.....The local timber hard has "F17" construction hardwood, which they said was Victorian Ash. Is this considerably more dense than pine?.....

Short answer is yes.

Originally Posted by Goctopus

....... I really don't want this bench moving as it will mainly be used for hand tool work as well. I've only ever had experience with pine, and I'll be jointing with a #5 plane, so I was wondering how much more effort this would be? .......

I would not expect you to be chasing this bench around the shop when you are chopping out a mortice. As long as your hand plane is sharp you should get nice shavings. And yeah hand planning is going to have some effort. I find that it is easier to setup for planning on a hardwood then on pine.

Vic Ash is a reasonable compromise for a benchtop. It has the benefit of being (by definition) pretty much quarter-sawn, so a laminated solid benchtop will be nice and stable. Moderately heavy, moderately hard.

With most other hardwoods, gathering that much quarter-sawn timber into one spot is likely to be tricky; unless you get to go through a newly-delivered pack first

Originally Posted by Christos

Short answer is yes.
I would not expect you to be chasing this bench around the shop when you are chopping out a mortice. As long as your hand plane is sharp you should get nice shavings. And yeah hand planning is going to have some effort. I find that it is easier to setup for planning on a hardwood then on pine.

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

Vic Ash is a reasonable compromise for a benchtop. It has the benefit of being (by definition) pretty much quarter-sawn, so a laminated solid benchtop will be nice and stable. Moderately heavy, moderately hard.

With most other hardwoods, gathering that much quarter-sawn timber into one spot is likely to be tricky; unless you get to go through a newly-delivered pack first

Thanks Christos and Mr Brush, this is what I was hoping to hear! Picked up a nice #5 recently so I'm looking forward to putting it to work.

The stuff they had in the racks all seemed pretty straight to my untrained eye, though they did have a few horrible end-joined or laminated pieces, though thankfully they were in the longer lengths that I don't really need.

You shouldn't have to much trouble finding fairly straight Vic Ash - as i said, it's quarter-sawn, so tends to be stable. Also, most places have a fairly high turnover of Vic Ash, so it tends not to sit in the racks for months/years ! Hard enough for a good benchtop, and readily available in the sort of sections you need to laminate up a benchtop.

Of course, we'd all love to have a laminated rock maple top on the bench, but that does get a bit pricey. Silver Ash also very nice, but similarly pricey (even if you could find enough quarter-sawn stock).