$200 Workbench? Not Where I live

[Bill Bukovec]

I have some 4" thick x 26" wide white oak slabbed up from a tree in our yard. Once that dries, it will be my next bench. I reckon that should by sturdy enough.

[Dave Zellers]

I have some 4" thick x 26" wide white oak slabbed up from a tree in our yard. Once that dries, it will be my next bench. I reckon that should by sturdy enough.

Hopefully you're young.

But seriously, that's awesome.

[Justin Rapp]

i built my bench for under $500. I used kiln dry select construction lumber to build the base. I picked up a 72x39 butcher block counter, ripped down to 30"wide and used the cut-off to make the skirt. A few vices with rock-maple blocking and a bunch of bolts. I have also since added retractable casters so it's easy to move.

workbench.jpg

[Curt Harms]

Ash is generally very reasonably priced as well, due to the Ash bore some years back. Check with one of the local sawmills for better lumber pricing, sometimes they have a surplus of certain lumber they want to move.

I concur with checking with local mills. It can take a little looking to find them. Being in the Northeast is a benefit, hardwood is plentiful but it may require some poking. Another downside is that local mills may not be selling kiln dried stock. Air dried stock can be used but it may take extra care. I invested in a good moisture meter early in the game. You may have to buy the lumber and let it sit for some weeks or months to let the moisture level stabilize and check for bugs; you don't want to import powder post beetles or something. You could find your bargain wood wood is no longer a bargain once you deal with the pests. The local mill I buy from has air dried wood that runs 12% to 15%. I bring it home and put it in the basement which is dry and will have wood running from 6% to 9-10% in a few weeks to maybe 6 months depending on the season.

[roger wiegand]

Highland has com/sel red oak for $2.45/bf right now, about the cheapest thing going. White ash is a bit more at $3.99. They've also got some brown hard maple at $4.25 that might make a pretty and very resistant top. I find it well worth the drive up there, you can get some nice bargains if you can use what's in the shorts bins. Prices in general are, as we all know, high. Scored some spectacular curly black walnut last time I was there, but it was $15 (ouch!). It will need to go someplace special. My son is making a guitar from the piece he bought.

[Patrick Kane]

Here is my local wholesaler's "specials" this month. Im in PA, but i cant imagine prices vary too too much between us. The minimum order is 500' unless the pack is smaller than that. In this example, 236 bdft of 6/4 white oak should be enough for a roubo bench 28-30" by 96". It is 1com, so you will have some defects you need to hide or potentially fill with epoxy, but you could build your bench out of white oak for $365, and more than likely have white oak leftover for another project. Poplar is even cheaper, better grade, and 8/4 would save you labor on all your laminations. I prefer the look of white oak and its obviously harder, but i can tell you my poplar top has aged just fine over 8-10 years of use. Any wood species will get beat up if you are chopping into it with a sharp chisel. Live with the patina, or use a sacrificial board underneath. Also, it is a work bench after all.

[Bill Dufour]

Here in California box store wood is almost all the 2x wood is df or redwood. Pine and hardwood is just for trim and shelf boards. A few studs are "white wood" which is hemlock, fir etc.
Bill D.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

As the OP stated earlier, it's all about where you live! Here no lumber is cheap. Hardwood is incredibly expensive!

[John LoDico]

Just a quick follow up on this thread I started -- I took some of the advice above and drove up from Massachusetts to NH today to Highland and got some nice 8/4 surfaced red oak. I would have went with rough stock but the lengths they had would have resulted in a lot of waste without much savings. Plus, I want to get the project done. (I was hoping for ash but they were out.) I also connected with some other sawyers around here for future supplies. So thanks for the recommendations. I'll post a photo of the bench when (and if!) it's done.