Framing lumber for bench? What is the trick?

[Steve Friedman]

When I priced dimensional lumber (2x4, 2x6 and 2x8) for a project, I was shocked to discover that the price at the local lumber yards wasn't any more expensive than the big orange or blue store, and sometimes even cheaper. The lumbers yards do say that it's better to buy longer and wider - to stay away from 8' lengths and 2x4s. They claim that the 16' and 20' lengths are of much better quality than the 8 footers and that quality in 2x4s is much worse than in anything wider.

FWIW, don't discount the possibility of laminating 4 sheets of 3/4" birch plywood (not baltic birch) for the top. After it's laminated, cut the perimeter to square and apply marine grade epoxy on the edges. Quick, easy, and flat. A little more expensive than fir, but you can have a 3" thick 2' x 8' top for around $100 and a couple of hours of work (including the trip to buy the plywood). Two sawhorses will let you turn the top it into a temporary bench to use while you're building the base. I know that a lot of people have made tops from 2x4s, but hand jointing 16 lengths of construction lumber (for a 24" top) to glue up, and then flattening the whole thing will be a bear. You'll want to build your 2nd bench within 6 months anyway. At least that's how long I waited.

Good Luck!

Steve

[Jim Koepke]

I was by the Orange Box today and some of their wood was wetter than the stuff in my yard that has been laying in the rain. Much of it is terribly rough even after it has been surfaced on all four sides.

Sometimes they do have KD Doug Fir, often though it looks like the 2X12s were made from trees that were barely more than 11" in diameter.

I do want to build a bench, but I think I am going to bite the bullet, save up a little more and try to find a bit better than the construction grade wood from the big boxes.

jtk

[Rob Fisher]

When I priced dimensional lumber (2x4, 2x6 and 2x8) for a project, I was shocked to discover that the price at the local lumber yards wasn't any more expensive than the big orange or blue store, and sometimes even cheaper...

I have found this too be true in my area as well. I have been trying lately to patronize the local lumber yard and they have been price competitive. In addition they will usually deliver a small load for a few buck or free if I am flexible with the delivery time, which is great considering I only have a station wagon.

Rob

[Tim Sproul]

Rick,

I live 3000 miles away so I'm unsure if my experience applies for you.

1. You are doing well to demand knot-free wood for your bench. Knots are really tough on cutters and even more of an obstacle to hand tool use so operations like jointing/flattening with a hand plane are difficult if you've knots galore. Having said that, you don't need absolutely knot-free lumber. You need the top surface of the lamination to be as knot free as possible.

2. I find 4x8 or 4x10 or 4x12 sticks to be much better quality than the 2x.

[Caspar Hauser]

There has to be a timber yard or two locally, I should go to one of those rather than a home improvement shop.
Only the top of the bench needs be relatively knot free so just keep an eye to a clean cut line in a wider board making two sticks from one. Poplar makes a nice top, but Doug fir makes a nice bench, Spruce will do it too. If the top is too soft then skin it with hardboard or some such, it's a stiff work table after all.

[Scott T Smith]

A couple of comments.

First, keep in mind that framing lumber is only kiln dried to 16% - 18% or thereabouts. It's a good idea to let it acclimate inside your shop for a few weeks before using it; otherwise you may see some unanticipated movement.

Second, the reason that larger beams produce more stable boards is because they come from older logs. Many SPF and SYP 2 x 4's come from trees that were only 15 - 20 years old when harvested (and with wide growth rings). Larger boards come from older trees - 30 - 40 years old or more, which often have tighter growth rings.

[David Keller NC]

Rick - I did a search on your location (zip 14580) on woodfinder.com. There are at least 10 small lumber companies within 60 miles of your location. One of them (I didn't look at all of them) was Garreson lumber company (www.garresonlumber.com). Their wholesale prices (which requires a minimum order of 200 bf, but you'll easily need that to build a standard-sized bench) for soft (red) maple, white ash, beech, white oak and tulip poplar are well below (around $2/b.f.) what it will cost you for framing lumber at the big-box stores, ad that's the select grade - economy grades are cheaper. All of them are kiln-dried, and all of these species are well suited for a workbench.

You're also within 50 miles of Irion Lumber in Wellsboro, PA. While their main product is wide cabinet grade hardwoods that, while cheap for what they are, are a bit pricey for a workbench. However - I've bought some stupendous wood from them in the past that was wide and thick in lesser species for very little money. They tend not to advertise this stock, so you will need to call them and explain what you're looking for. I can guarantee that if they don't have it, they will know someone local that will.

I, and probably many others on this forum, dearly wish we were within 50 miles of Irion!

[Rick Cicciarelli]

Woodfinder.com...cool. Thanks David for the links and input. A new site to search for lumber sources and some great things to consider...hmm.....yeah.....good stuff Thanks again!!

[Randy Bonella]

Rick,
One thing to keep in mind when you rip to width the lumber for glue up is that you only need one clean surface for the top. The laminating process takes care of any side stability issues and the bottom, well doesn't matter. My bench was built from reclaimed wood and I had substantial amount of scrap because of heavy checking and large knots that were not stable. Pretty much just cut out the bad stuff and in the burn pile it went. So it took me quite a bit more material to get the stuff that would work so factor that into the cost as opposed to just pure board foot calculations. I would definitely check out your other local sources and you should find substantially better quality per what others have said.
Randy...

[Rick Cicciarelli]

I don't have a whole lot of experience with hardwoods so I am not that familiar with pricing and quality. I am not a big fan of the looks of poplar, but if Maple tends to be too pricey, are there are hardwoods that might be less costly but still offer good quality for a bench build?

[Prashun Patel]

Ash is cheap, stable, hard, and heavy. I think it's great. The only possible downside is that it's opengrained, so it can be a *little* harder to sweep and not so friendly to write on as closed grain woods. However, these too are not insurmountable: a wetsanded oil/varnish topcoat can fill some of the grain.

[David Keller NC]

Rick - In your area, it looks as if maple (soft maple - but it isn't actually "soft") is about the same price as poplar. Regarding poplar, the greenish color of poplar rapidly goes away when exposed to air. After a couple of months, it's a nut-brown color. This is assuming that a finish is not applied, though it will still turn color, just more slowly. In my view, the ideal bench material doesn't exist - it would close-grained (no open pores to accumulate dirt), non-resinous, cheap, hard, dense, strong, straight-grained, and (the kicker) easy to work with hand tools. That last one is what makes the ideal non-existent - hard, dense and strong usually is diametrically opposed to easy to work with hand tools.

However, my short list would be: maple (hard or soft - both species/groups are really hard), beech, yellow birch, hickory and white oak. Running close seconds would be walnut, cherry, & poplar, though walnut and cherry would only be cheap enough if you live where the trees grow and can get it from a micro-mill or a wood-mizer owner. Thirds would be the softwoods and open-grained woods: southern yellow pine, douglas fir, ash, and red oak. Running fourths would be eastern white pine (because of its softness and weakness, though it would still make a great top, just not so great of a base), hemlock, spruce, basswood, and white fir.

Having said all of that, any of the afore-mentioned material will make a superb bench if it's designed right and due consideration is given to the properties of the wood. For example, I wouldn't hesitate to make a top out of EWP if I hand an opportunity to pickup some clear, thick beams - particularly if it's salvaged old-growth timbers. I would probably choose another wood for the base because I would be concerned that racking forces from planing would work the joints loose.

Finally, I'd say that there's a danger of paralysis by analysis when selecting the species of wood for a bench - you can drive yourself nuts over the relative advantages/disadvantages of a particular wood species. I'd note that most folks wouldn't have even considered making a bench out of SYP before Chris Schwarz put his book out, and in many ways, it's not the ideal bench building material from the workability, resinous nature and hardness aspects. But I would follow his lead - Chris basically decided that it was nuts to follow that unwritten "all workbenches must be made of clear, hard maple" rule, and dove in with the best selection that was readily available in his area. I've seen a bench made some 40 years ago entirely out of south american mahogany - it was beautiful, but more importantly, it was the right selection at the time. Mahogany back then was very inexpensive, it was obtainable in huge, knot-free sizes, and there are few woods with better workability.

[Bas Pluim]

I've made a habit of digging through the entire pile of 2x12x12's and 2x12x16's every Friday or Saturday.

In my experience, your best bet at getting good construction lumber at the big box stores is Tue-Thu. During the week, professional construction crews come in and buy the good lumber. The twisted, splintered and warped pieces are left in the rack. The store then throws that out on Monday and puts in new load from storage. There might still be some good pieces on the weekend, but it's usually buried under the rejects that the pros left behind.

[James Owen]

Take a look at the (non-treated) 4 X 6 lumber at Lowe's. At least here, it is drier, less twisted, and has fewer knots than the 2 X ** lumber. It will also require fewer laminations and you can easily get either a 3.5" or 5.5" thick bench, depending on how you orient the lumber.

[Rick Cicciarelli]

I can't say that I have ever seen any 4x lumber at Lowes except for the 4x4s. I'll look again, but I am pretty sure
I have never seen 4x6's.....