Workbench wood in the North...?

[Nigel Tracy]

Hi all,

My last visits here were usually in the turning forum, but it seems my inclinations have been going "back to the flat" lately, and this time with hand tools

So, it's time to build a real workbench.

I read the obligatory book, Workbenches... by The Schwarz (although I hear there's a "new and improved" version now after only a few years... sheesh...), and as you may know he recommends going to the borg and picking out the cleanest, longest 2 x 12 SYP (southern yellow pine). Now I know at our borgs here in SW Ontario, Canada it's all SPF (spruce/fir/pine)--mostly spruce for larger stuff if I'm not mistaken--not a good choice as far as I'm concerned since this will be a "lasting" bench, not a "build one cheap and see how you like it" bench--I already have a couple of those!

Seems to me maple (even soft maple), ash, oak or beech might be good candidates around here. There's lots of it. I'm not up to speed on current lumber prices since I usually just use wood harvested and air dried from our property (ash, walnut, & maple mostly). I just don't have enough for a bench currently. Does anyone have any thoughts in this matter?

Next question: by chance does anyone know where to find a suitable source around London, in SW Ontario? Does anyone know of any current stashes or deals at the local dealers or sawmills in this area?

Thanks very much, and I look forward to sharing in the Neanderthal stories with all of you

[Tom Winship]

I built my bench from soft maple and it has served me well for several years. The price was right here.

[Jerome Hanby]

You know, soft maple is really only soft compared to hard maple

[Nigel Tracy]

I built my bench from soft maple and it has served me well for several years. The price was right here.

You know, soft maple is really only soft compared to hard maple

Thanks guys for the reassurance--I figured it would be a decent choice

Anyone out there from north of the border care to chime in?

[Frank Drew]

Nigel,

Of woods available in Canada, I'd be considering maple or birch or beech. Or ash, if, as you say, there's plenty of it around you. Walnut, not so much.

But I'd think you want kiln-dried or well air-dried stuff.

[Mike Siemsen]

Nigel,
I have benches built from ash, birch, hard maple, and SPF. It really depends on the style of bench to a degree as the SPF is in my mind better suited to a Nicholson style bench where the aprons support the top. Tulip poplar is also a good bench wood. I find the softer SPF and Poplar have a bit of give and a grippier surface. I see too many benches made so fancy and shiny that you can't really work on them. You don't want your bench top as slippery as a bowling lane. In the end the main thing would be price, find something abundant and cheap in your area.
Mike

[Jeremy Dorn]

I'd shy away from Ash, Oak, or any other open grained wood species so that you can keep stuff from getting embedded down in the those open pores. I've got several benches with oak edging and after a few years they're pretty gunked up with stuff that turns my hands black, where as my SPF built bench doesnt seem to suffer from the same problem.

Soft Maple's an excellent choice for weight, color, and grain pattern if you can find it on the cheap. Poplar's another decent expense choice, but it might take more time to pick out enough boards without green streaks in them that would make for an interesting looking work surface

I perfer SPF for my benches, and spend plenty of time picking through stacks for the straight grained fir pieces with reddish colors to them. They seem to be quite a bit harder than the white pine stuff that gets thrown into the SPF bucket around here.

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Nigel. If I lived up in your part of the world, I would go with something real hard like sugar maple. You might want to consider Beech, it appears to be popular in Europe.

I built my bench 2 years ago out of 100% sugar maple. It is as strong as the proverbial brick 'outhouse'. I did cheat however, I bought the 2 1/4, 96, 30 in. top from McMaster&Carr in Atlanta. The top was made by "Boos", in Illinois, that only makes commercial table tops for restaurant kitchens.

To me, the fun was in figuring out the dimensions, where to use what joinery , and cutting the parts. If found that Chris' book was a great help, but it is not law. I got some ideas from his book, and in the final analysis I built it the way I wanted. When all the smoke cleared(so to speak) the bench is 35" high, 104" long counting LV twin screw end vise, and 34" wide counting the aprons.

Just remember Nigel, you are not baking a cake, or building a house, so learn from others, but do it the way you want it. As I have heard another Creeker say, when in doubt built it stout.

[Gary Curtis]

The legs and frame of my bench are made of Western (soft maple). Plenty strong after 3 years of hard use.

The top is made of European Beech. That might be overkill and I am thoroughly convinced that Douglas Fir construction timbers would do just as good a job.

gary curtis

[Nigel Tracy]

Awesome advice guys, thanks

I think I'll keep a look out for soft maple; or maybe even poplar, which I hadn't really considered. (I know it's fairly heavy and stiff, but it's not too soft?)

I find myself on the lookout for huge slabs everywhere I turn...

I'll let you know what I find, thanks again!

[Dan Karachio]

This was all very good advice. I'm going to keep an eye out and make sure to spend a little time each trip to find good looking SFP at my Borg for a potential beefy bench top some day.