Thread: river red gum workbench?

Redgum makes a fantastic benchtop. It is solid, hardwearing, and looks great. 100 thick is massive, and will be very heavy, so consider building a decent base. I'd suggest 2100 is fine, particularly considering the weight. Also, I'd recommend leaving them in the shed for a few years to adjust properly. If you use them straight from the yard, they are likely to move significantly.

WA river red gum bench tops.

Full thread here. - bench top starts around post #46.

Originally Posted by sjm

Redgum makes a fantastic benchtop. It is solid, hardwearing, and looks great. 100 thick is massive, and will be very heavy, so consider building a decent base. I'd suggest 2100 is fine, particularly considering the weight. Also, I'd recommend leaving them in the shed for a few years to adjust properly. If you use them straight from the yard, they are likely to move significantly.

Few years? Really? But I really want my new bench now!

Might get some and put in storage for the future...maybe salvage yard might be an option.

If the sleepers do end up turning into a bench, I was thinking that it'd have to be heavy duty. I made an outdoor table out of a 60mm bluegum slab a while ago that threatens to put ur back out whenever u walk by!

Originally Posted by johnredl

Few years? Really? But I really want my new bench now!

Most stuff from a garden center is likely to have been cut recently, and/or stored outside, so it's moisture content is probably quite high. Considering your slabs are 100mm thick, I think a couple of years is a reasonable time for movement to stabilise. If you really want your bench, then by all means, lay them out and use them, but don't fix them in place, or joint them together, because they will move.

The chances are that they will be very green (wet) and if you try and join them now you will have no end of problems as they start to dry and warp.

I put some red gum sleepers down as a raised garden bed a few years ago. Even drilling them you could feel how wet they were. After a few months they had started to dry and warp a fair bit. It didn't really matter for a garden bed but wouldn't go well for a workbench.

Even if you grab a few now and put them into storage for a few years you will need to account for some loss. I had some left over from the garden bed project and they have dried ok but I will be cutting them up to use in smaller sections (boxes etc).

If you are keen you may be better with old floor joists or bearers.

If you are keen this may be an option .....
7 Solid Timber Redgum Jarrah Hardwood Railway Sleepers | eBay

You will note however the twist in the boards and the deep cracking due to poor drying.

Also if you go for sleepers you will need some serious machines to prep it up to make your bench ..... unless you are going very rustic.

Not trying to put you off, but I also don't want to see you waste your money.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

If you are keen this may be an option .....
7 Solid Timber Redgum Jarrah Hardwood Railway Sleepers | eBay

You will note however the twist in the boards and the deep cracking due to poor drying.

Also if you go for sleepers you will need some serious machines to prep it up to make your bench ..... unless you are going very rustic.

Not trying to put you off, but I also don't want to see you waste your money.

No, I posted this question to learn from others. This eBay thread is interesting, thanks.

I do have a big circular saw, but call me crazy but I'm actually planning to build by hand. I'm not on a time schedule, so doesn't really matter if it takes me 6 months to get the top glued & flattened. I've been reading a book about a guy who does everything by hand, and the more I read, the more it seems like an entirely new world. I'm actually looking forward to it (well I say that now, but I'm not cutting a hardwood sleeper by hand right now!)

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

If you are keen you may be better with old floor joists or bearers.

I think I might end up doing this, good idea, thanks

Originally Posted by johnredl

No, I posted this question to learn from others. This eBay thread is interesting, thanks.

I do have a big circular saw, but call me crazy but I'm actually planning to build by hand. I'm not on a time schedule, so doesn't really matter if it takes me 6 months to get the top glued & flattened. I've been reading a book about a guy who does everything by hand, and the more I read, the more it seems like an entirely new world. I'm actually looking forward to it (well I say that now, but I'm not cutting a hardwood sleeper by hand right now!)

Hey,
Could you please tell me the title of the book? It sounds interesting.

Andy

Originally Posted by groeneaj

Hey,
Could you please tell me the title of the book? It sounds interesting.

Andy

Sure..."The New Traditional Woodworker" from tool set to skill set to mind set. Author: Jim Toplin

If you are going to buy and then put aside to dry/acclimatise then I'd go the longer ones

when I get around to it my bench will be about 2.3m long