Help!?!?! I may have gotten in over my head!

[Tom Vanzant]

In the view showing the four plank ends, the left plank on top is an almost perfect quarter-sawn plank. Save that one for another project. Buy one more plank with grain similar to the other three and use it. Cut the boards into narrower strips, square them up and either laminate on edge or edge-glue. Either will require flattening. If you don't have a tablesaw or bandsaw, you can use a straightedge guide to rip the planks or seek out another woodworker or shop in your area to rip them. Definitely plan to add support members under the top. Good luck and welcome to an adventure.

[Stanley Covington]

I cringed when I saw the pics. I have had similar experiences.

Straightening the boards out by hand would be a good experience and help you develop your skills, IF you are patient enough to saw, joint, laminate, and plane the benchtop using the the few tools you have. That's a big IF, because it will be a lot of hard work, and to make it worse, even if you do the job skillfully, the finished product will be second class.

The real problem here is that the material itself is not worth the effort.You will look back on it years from now and shake your head. Silk purse. Sow's ear.

The advice I would give my brother or my son if they had the same problem would be to save their pennies and buy good, dry, stable, hardwood and make a new benchtop. And I would suggest they use sliding dovetail battens underneath. The result would be a useful and reliable benchtop, something they could be proud of and that would serve them well for many years, something you are unlikely to achieve using this lumber regardless of how skillfully you remedy the problems it has right now.

For what it is worth.

Stan

[Casey Gooding]

I have built several benches in the past. Taking your situation into consideration, I would recommend wider rips and edge gluing them together. As said before, you want to make sure you rip out the pith, that will stabilize your boards a good bit more than they are now. It will also save you money.
As far as determining the grain direction, the easy way is to just run your hands along the grain in both directions. One direction will feel smoother than the other, that direction is with the grain. It may not be 100% accurate, but it's correct more often than not, and you'll figure out pretty quickly while planing if it's not the way that board wants to be planed.

[Mark Roderick]

I wouldn't worry about the grain orientation. Some would say to flip every other board over so that when they continue to bend in the future, they will be bending in different directions.

You won't have a problem with the glue-up if you do two boards at a time. I wouldn't try to do more this time around.

If you don't have a tablesaw, how are you ripping the boards? With a circular saw? That will work just as well. as long as you're running the saw against a flat surface to ensure a straight cut.

You are learning so much about the basics of woodworking, it's great.

[Pat Barry]

I think that there are a couple things to consider.
1st - you have a very significant amount of overhang of the bench top at each end and a pretty wide span between the cross-members for the 2x lumber you are using. If it were me I would want to reinforce that significantly both on the overhang and between the legs to ensure its is rigid and not bouncy. I would want to do this on the ends even if you pursue the cut and laminate method.
2nd - Keep in mind that with the cut and laminate method, you will be exposing a great many knots as surface features so you will have to do lots of additional cutting to keep these from ending up on the surface of your bench where they are more likely to come loose someday as the material dries further and shrinks. That and cutting out the pith secion of the lumber may reduce you to little yield from each 2x12.

[Art Kieres]

Hi Nathan,
I sympathize with your position... wonky wood sucks... As others have said, ripping and laminating is your best bet. If you have a truck and a day to spare you could drive up to my shop in Salt Lake City and I'd be happy to let you use our big bandsaw, jointer, and planer to get your boards usable.

Art

[Brent VanFossen]

There is another option that I didn't see anyone mention. The Borgs are generally very good about making exchanges. Judging from the stapled label on the end of that vertical board, it looks like you probably bought from one of the borgs instead of from a lumber yard.

You might take them back to the store where you bought them, politely explain that the boards twisted and cupped more than you expected, and ask if they would allow you to make an exchange. You have a lot to gain and nothing to lose.

If they say yes, choose boards without pith, as others have said. The pith is the central part of the tree, and the pith is well-known to misbehave as humidity changes. It's the little round part of the left horizontal board in your photo of the end grain. If I can't find quartersawn, I try to choose boards with growth rings having the largest radius I can find when I want them to be stable.

Another thing to look for - kiln-dried lumber will have already done most of its moving before you buy it, while green wood is more of a game of luck. A lot of construction lumber is sold green. Here in the Pacific Northwest, the stores stock both kiln-dried douglas fir and green, with the kiln-dried costing 10 to 20 percent more. You have to really pay attention, but you can tell by the labeling, or ask someone there.

Good luck.

[Steve Meliza]

Trying to return is a good idea if you have the time to wait for the new board to dry. I have had no trouble returning 1x cedar trim boards before even without receipt. They just scanned the label on the end and gave me store credit.

Just a few days ago I bought my own 2x12 16' Doug fir boards for a work bench. The only place I could find it kiln dried was at a large lumber yard (Parr in Hillsboro). They had 620 in stock, but to my dismay they store it out in the rain along with the green wood and according to my moisture meter I may as well have purchased green boards and saved my money. In hind sight I'd rather have made my rounds to the HD stores in the area and picked out a gem or two here or there as they turned up.

Here is a recent blog entry Bob Rozaieski made regarding selecting construction lumber for a workbench. It mirrors much of what has already been said here, but it puts it all neatly onto one post. http://logancabinetshoppe.com/blog/2...r-a-workbench/

[Joe Cowan]

I finished my bench last year and kick myself for waiting so long. How I got along without a solid bench is beyond me now. I considered doing a southern yellow pine bench, with 3" pieces glues together face to face. I ended up using maple. However, if I had used the SYP, I was going to be selective at the big box stores, buy 2X10 or 2X12 and cut the center out, thus creating a quarter or rift saw remaining piece. Glue that up and it should be a stable top.

[Adam Cruea]

As much as it will probably blow a budget apart, or be painful, I'd do the "rip and laminate" thing.

Less worry about movement over time, the top will get heavier (and the bench will be heavier, which is a good thing), and it will probably be a touch stronger in the long run.

Just my $.02.