Doug Fir Workbench?

[Roy Lindberry]

So I'm realizing that buying a quality workbench is a long way out for financial reasons. The same is probably true for buying hardwoods like Maple and Oak.

I was thinking about running to the Lumber yard and getting some premium Doug Fir 2x4s and laminating them. I would then build the base from DF 4x4s etc. I could then add vices as finances allowed.

My basic work is hobbyist stuff, building furniture. Is this something that is practical? Or would DF be too soft to bother with? Is there anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Derek Gilmer]

The all mighty Schwarz has discussed this, in fact I just read about it in his workbench tome. The fir is acceptable but his conclusion is that 2x4s are the bottom of the barrel in construction grade lumber and should be passed over for bench building. Instead get a 2x12 or 2x10 that looks good and rip the 4" stock from the edges. You get mostly quartersawn that way and much much fewer knots. All for about the same price.

After digging through stacks of lumber at HD and Lowes I can fully support his conclusion.

[Johnny Kleso]

If your goal is building fine furniture and not benchs thats all you need..

You can buy 2x12s and rip them as the wood is much more clear then 2x4s but again its a Work Bench that you beat and cut on..
I used 2x4s when I made mine and 7 years later still out doors and still in good condition..

I have never worked in a shop that had fine maple benchs, just 100 year old some kind of wood that was so old it was hard to tell what it was made from

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

I'm in California, have had a doug fir and plywood torsion box workbench for about 10 years. Other than dings, varnish and dye drips and other blemishes, it has "built" a lot more furniture than my new "fancy" 21st century workbench made from traditional European Beech. As others have said, it's a workbench. Build it and get to making furniture! (I took my first design from American Woodworker -- bench under $200 and, like I've said, it's been great and still going strong despite the new replacement.)

Good luck!

[Derek Gilmer]

Not sure where you are located but have you looked for local sawyers? I found soft maple for cheaper per board foot than fir at home depot. Pine is even cheaper than that for the most part.

[John Sanford]

As noted, go with 2x8/10/12s (2x12's preferably) and rip the good parts off from the middle. Make sure that you get kiln dried 2x's, not green.

One thing to keep in mind is that Douglas Fir has tremendous differences in hardness between the very soft latewood and very hard early wood (or maybe it the other way around). Because of this, you really want to try to make sure the grain is oriented giving you QS wood when you look down at the bench. You need those grainlines as close as possible.

[Adam Cherubini]

My Nicholson bench is doug fir from Home Depot. I would recommed that design for this material. I used 2x12's and took Chris' advice and boutgh 16 footers as they were clearer than the 8's. I also looked for boards that:
a) had tight ring spacing as evidenced by the end grain
b) were sawn close to the heart
c) had dead straight secondaries

One trick when dealing with construction lumber is what to do about the corner radii. I planed down the width, not the thickness where I had joints. That's not a little bit of work, but it's far less than fixing the thickness.

Doug fir has this hard soft problem such that when you bash it, you can lift dagger-like fibers that can stab you. So I smooth planed my bench.

Also, it comes from the store pretty wet. I let it sit a few months before touching it and stacked and stickered it (after cross cutting) very carefully.

Last, I've been fairly gentle with it. It's gotten lighter (drier) and significantly harder since I bought the lumber.

Adam

[Robert Rozaieski]

Yes, DF is fine. So are yellow pine, white pine, ponderosa pine, spruce, hem-fir, alder, poplar, and pretty much any other kind of wood you can get your hands on inexpensively and locally. Choose the wider 2X boards (8s, 10s & 12s) instead of 2x4s (which will have more knots and defects that can't be sawn out), and rip your pieces from the wide boards. You'll get clearer pieces that way because you can cut around knots and defects.

Alternatively, don't laminate anything and make an English style bench from full width kiln dried 2X stock. I used 2X12 hem-fir, a couple 1x8 white pine boards, and two 8' DF 4x4s for the legs for my [third] bench. All told it cost me less than $100 for all the lumber. I built it entirely with hand tools, from start to finish, in about 3-4 days. It's the best bench I've ever used. Better than my first laminated bench (built from 2X material), and better than my second bench (laminated from birch, my least favorite of the three). But more importantly, it was the best one to build. It took the least effort, went together weeks faster than my laminated benches, was the easiest to flatten the top (because it wasn't laminated), and overall was much less stressful to build. I actually enjoyed building this bench. I can't say that for my other two benches.

Save the nice expensive wood for your furniture. Workbenches don't need to be made from fancy, expensive hardwood to work well as a workbench. You just need to be able to build them quickly, solidly and easily, and to suit the type of work you do.

Here's a podcast series I did on building it in case you are interested. Have fun!


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[Robert Rozaieski]

Adam beat me to it .

[Derek Gilmer]

One other bit of advice on finding the dry boards. First option would be to take a moisture meter with you. Even a cheap home depot or harbor freight would work ok for this. Second option that may be as good is to go by weight. Pickup a good selection of the 2x12s. You will probably notice a large variation in how heavy they are. The lighter they are the dryer they are.

[Matthew Hills]

I'm also appreciating the advice I'm reading here.

On selecting construction lumber:
So if choosing 2x12s near the center, am I correct to assume that you'd cut out the pith or any tightly-radiused grain from near the center and just use the QS/rift-sawn wood from the edges? or is the center wood stable enough if not right at the pith?

Also, any idea why some boards in a pallet would be drier than others? I'd have thought that all of the lumber would have roughly similar origins/history, and anything "dry" would be the picked-over remnants from the last pallet.

Dry times:
I'd often read that thick wood takes a really long time to dry out (year+). Is the "few months" Adam indicated just sufficient to get it less-wet, or is the fir drying out much faster than a hardwood?

Thanks,
Matt

[Roy Lindberry]

Thanks everybody.

Your input has been extremely helpful and encouraging!

[Dan Sheehan]

I'm building a bench out DF too. The design involves a top of laminated 4x4. At least thats how I planned the base which I just constructed last night. Is this ill advised? At $11 for an eight footer, I thought a clear top near 3 1/2 for about $80 would be a good idea. Any comments? Thanks.

[Derek Gilmer]

I'm also appreciating the advice I'm reading here.

On selecting construction lumber:
So if choosing 2x12s near the center, am I correct to assume that you'd cut out the pith or any tightly-radiused grain from near the center and just use the QS/rift-sawn wood from the edges? or is the center wood stable enough if not right at the pith?

Also, any idea why some boards in a pallet would be drier than others? I'd have thought that all of the lumber would have roughly similar origins/history, and anything "dry" would be the picked-over remnants from the last pallet.

Dry times:
I'd often read that thick wood takes a really long time to dry out (year+). Is the "few months" Adam indicated just sufficient to get it less-wet, or is the fir drying out much faster than a hardwood?

Thanks,
Matt

They are unevenly dried because they are done fast and cheap. I don't have insider info on the drying process but I'd guess it relates to where the board was at in the kiln and how it was handled and stored before going into the kiln.

Yep on 2x12s you cut out the pith. When selecting the boards pick ones that have a good 4+" of quarter sawn knot free wood on them. HD and Lowes have a lot of lumber. And rarely get mad if you pick through it. Also, don't be in a hurry they rotate through lumber quickly so go back every week or so and see what they have in.

Dry times are greatly affected by your initial lumber selection. If you pick good dry (read light weight comparatively) boards you aren't really letting them air dry. You are letting them acclimate to your shop so a month or two is plenty. In this genre do not mill the boards to size then let them set. Let them set in full 2x12 size. Then mill them down to 2x4 the day you are going to glue them up. That will help prevent the "rocking chair" problem when they are cut and set over night.

Final advice. Drop the 15 or 20 bucks for Schwarz' first book. It has a ton of great info. I was hesitant at first. But after reading it I'll vouch that he will save you money,time and frustration during the build that more than pay for the book.

[Wilbur Pan]

I'm building a bench out DF too. The design involves a top of laminated 4x4. At least thats how I planned the base which I just constructed last night. Is this ill advised? At $11 for an eight footer, I thought a clear top near 3 1/2 for about $80 would be a good idea. Any comments? Thanks.

I used kiln-dried Douglas fir 4x4's for my workbench top. It worked great. Details here.