rookie question on board glue-ups

[Timothy Barker]

Found a friend with a jointer. So I'm going to go ahead with plan 2. Figure it's less than $50 worth of wood for SYP. Not a huge risk if I mess it up.
It will be an adventure.
Thanks for the comments everyone.

[Jim Foster]

Without a planer you will have a tough time getting the two sides of the boards parallel. Also, typically the shorter construction lumber has more knots as far as I have seen in local yards. I think the Nicholson bench Schwarz shows in his book could be a much easier build with the tools you have access to, unless your friend has a planer also.

Found a friend with a jointer. So I'm going to go ahead with plan 2. Figure it's less than $50 worth of wood for SYP. Not a huge risk if I mess it up.
It will be an adventure.
Thanks for the comments everyone.

[Timothy Barker]

Forgot to mention. He has a planer as well.

[Huck Schwee]

I went the buying 2x12's and ripping into the appropriate width and milling to the final dimensions for my workbench route. I would recommend AGAINST doing that. The big box lumber is so wet that once you rip the boards to rough width, they bow and twist and you will spend a ton of time at the jointer and planer and even then, the wood will continue to move until it finally drys out. My recommendation is to go with the 2x4's or even 4x4's and squaring up and gluing.

I know not everyone here is a big fan of Peter Sellers, but he has an pretty good workbench build that you can check out just using a hand plane.

[Jim Sevey]

My first bench was built out of yellow pine 2 X 6 material. Cut one edge off to get a clean edge so my top was about 5 inches thick. Drilled holes every 18 inches or so and used all-thread across the width tighten it up. Scraped and planed the top flat and smooth with a #4 hand plane. 4 X 4 base. That was over 25 years ago. Recently gave it to my son who was about 2 years old when I made it. Still in good shape althoug the top is only about 4 inches now after re-planing several times over the years. I did it for fun. But it was actually a very handy bench.

[Stew Hagerty]

My only real power tool options are the table saw and a router table. Of course I could joint the narrow sides of the 2x?, but I don't imagine it will help much with the wide faces that will be glued together.

Regarding option 1 above, I was wondering how something like Melanine would handle bench dog holes.

First of all, if you use a really good blade in your table saw, it can be close enough in quality for a glue-up. Secondarily, you can joint the boards using your router table. You simply get a straight bit longer than the material you want to joint. A 2" bit will handle edge jointing a standard "2X4". What you do is place a piece or two of veneer on the outfeed side of your fence beginning at the leading edge of the bit (spray adhesive will work, you'll just need to clean the residue off of your fence when you remove the veneer). Then adjust the fence so that the bit is flush with the veneer side. As you feed your stock through the bit will cut away (Joint) the edge of the board the thickness of the veneer that you used.

A jointer is the one piece of capital equipment that I do not own, so I use this method quite often. I have a 2" bit and a 4" bit, both from Whiteside. I do admit that for me this is a simpler procedure because I have an Incra router table that has offset capability built in. But the method I described is basically the same thing.

Of course, you could also just pick up a jointer plane. Either buy a new one, or pick up a vintage one at a flea market or off of eBay, give it a tune up and you're ready to rock some shavings.

[Kent A Bathurst]

They told me their shorter lengths are more likely to be straight and free of knots. (which is different than other suggestions I've seen in online forums.) They say all of their SYP is grade 1, if that matters.

The lumber yard is correct.

Shorter lengths have shorter long fiber strands - less distance to be affected by drying. On the knots - the grade rules specify knot dimension/diameter, location with respect to the edge of the boards, and # per length unit [ie - so many per foot, or rather, # knots over X # feet]. And - the allowed diameter of the knots increases in wider boards. So- Yeah - you would tend to find fewer knots in shorter boards than longer, and smaller knots in 2 x 4 versus 2 x 10.

[Timothy Barker]

My first bench was built out of yellow pine 2 X 6 material. Cut one edge off to get a clean edge so my top was about 5 inches thick. Drilled holes every 18 inches or so and used all-thread across the width tighten it up. Scraped and planed the top flat and smooth with a #4 hand plane. 4 X 4 base. That was over 25 years ago. Recently gave it to my son who was about 2 years old when I made it. Still in good shape althoug the top is only about 4 inches now after re-planing several times over the years. I did it for fun. But it was actually a very handy bench.

Sounds pretty much like what I'm looking for. Was even considering the bit with the threaded rods.

[Timothy Barker]

I went the buying 2x12's and ripping into the appropriate width and milling to the final dimensions for my workbench route. I would recommend AGAINST doing that. The big box lumber is so wet that once you rip the boards to rough width, they bow and twist and you will spend a ton of time at the jointer and planer and even then, the wood will continue to move until it finally drys out. My recommendation is to go with the 2x4's or even 4x4's and squaring up and gluing.

I know not everyone here is a big fan of Peter Sellers, but he has an pretty good workbench build that you can check out just using a hand plane.

For what it's worth, I'm getting the wood from a local lumber yard rather than one of the big box stores. They are supposed to have a pretty decent selection, though time will tell. Planning to go check it out in person this weekend.

[Guy Belleman]

Some good ideas already given. I used a door for many years. Got it at the building materials recycling place and paid $20. It was still absolutely flat when I got rid of it.

When I made my workbench, I was lucky to find some 4S 4x6 oak being sold as left overs from a construction job. I couldn't glue and plane, so I was able to get a local cabinet shop to glue them and run through their sander for $50. I am sure that St. Louis probably has some shop that could do the same.

[Timothy Barker]

Some good ideas already given. I used a door for many years. Got it at the building materials recycling place and paid $20. It was still absolutely flat when I got rid of it.

When I made my workbench, I was lucky to find some 4S 4x6 oak being sold as left overs from a construction job. I couldn't glue and plane, so I was able to get a local cabinet shop to glue them and run through their sander for $50. I am sure that St. Louis probably has some shop that could do the same.

Yeah, that's my fallback position if I run into trouble. Someone pointed me to a local woodcrafter (his workshop is a few miles from my house) who has a 37" widebelt sander that he rents time on.