Replies

1. 
   AntzyClancy | Apr 15, 2004 10:29pm | #1

   If hard mable meets your budget requirements, I would look no further.

   Todd

2. 
   MitchRoberson | Apr 16, 2004 12:23am | #2

   Buzzsaw,

   Hard maple seems to be (at least on here, in the Landis Workbench book and other places) to be the classic choice.  I'm building a bench myself and its top will be hard maple.  I wanted to offer an idea in case you are planning NOT to make the top yourself.  If you are, more power to you!  If not, I bought my top from Perfect Plank  (perfectplank.com).  It is 1 7/8" thick maple butcher block and comes unfinished.  It took about a week from order to arrival.  They offer a sub-furniture grade (which they call "Wildwood") that is 20% cheaper than their standard grade.  Mine is very small -- 17" by 42".  It cost only $46!  That is without shipping.  Anyway, you can go to their site, go to the maple butcher block and figure out how much it will cost for the size you need.  Don't forget to take off the 20%.

   I'm not affiliated with them in any way.  Just a satisfied customer.  One suggestion-- call them, as they are not good at returning email.

   Good luck,

   Mitch 

3. 
   BG | Apr 16, 2004 12:51am | #3

   buzzsaw,

   I would agree with everyone else about the hard maple. 

   My daughter got me a subscription to Woodwork Mag. and the first issue came last week.  I was surprised to see it feature a jointer's workbench ....which was made with pine....very nice design, quality mag...so maybe the wood is not so important..
1. 
   whiteoak590 | Apr 16, 2004 03:28am | #4

         I also think that Maple is the top although not the only choice. My last bench was fir and lasted over 20 years and still in use by my son. Rather then face glue the Maple in vertical positions to get a thick enough top which I know is the traditional approach, I lamenated 3/4" maple plywood as the bottom to 3/4 MDF in the middle and used 5/4 maple face glued as the top layer. The whole thing is 2 1/4" thick which provides ample stability and was a lot easier and quicker to put together.     So far this is holding up pretty well although I wondered about wood movement on the top layer. It is only one year old.    

1. 
   RANGERP75R | Apr 16, 2004 05:30pm | #5

   Dan

      Interesting idea. I did something similar even though a little more radical just to see what would happen. If you have had it a year you have gone through all 4 seasons. The amount of movement you get it probably what you will unless some radical changes (flood, fire, etc.) in my opinion.

      I just flattened my rad top after 10 months. Was bowed up in the center by 1/4". A #6 fore, # 4 1/2 and a scraping plane took it back to ground zero in about 45 minutes. A few coats of Watco cured and add a coat of Butchers Wax and I'm ready for another cycle.

   Regards...

   sarge..jtProud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

4. 
   RANGERP75R | Apr 16, 2004 05:36pm | #6

   Buzz

      Hard maple, beech, fir, pine and even had one that was poplar. The amazing thing is all of them worked, all had to be trued slightly after a year and all are still in various locations still getting the job done.

      Hard maple if you can afford, but their are alternatives if you can't is the picture I paint.

   Regards...

   sarge..jt

   Proud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   Buzzsaw | Apr 16, 2004 05:57pm | #7

   Thanks Sarge and everyone else for your input.  There is a local distributor of hardwoods in New Hampshire that has hard maple in various thicknesses.  Due to the fact that I do not have a planer as of yet the thickest processed hard maple they can sell is 2" thick.  I would think that would be sufficient but I am not going to be face gluing them but edge gluing with a plywood spline.  I'm using the Klauz design which calls for gluing 2 boards together which will also be connected to a tool well in the rear.  Do you feel that 2"thick should be sufficient?  I would think that it should be...

   Regards,

   Buzzsaw

1. 
   RANGERP75R | Apr 16, 2004 06:37pm | #8

   Buzz

      To answer quickly as I have to get to work, I'll give it to you using the old southern expression!

   H*ll Yeah...

   Regards... :>)

   sarge..jt Proud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   BG | Apr 16, 2004 10:31pm | #9

   Buzzsaw,

   I had planned to do the same thing when I got back from NH with the maple for the workbench.  Then I changed my plans.  Someone on here asked, 'why cut up the maple into strips..2x3 ...when in fact you have perfectly good 7.5-8.0" wide boards.  So I jointed and glued the wide boards together and added to the edge a thick piece that was about 3x3.....that is where I do my chopping anyway.....its worked beautifully and no excesive movement that I can detect.

3. 
   Michael6255 | Apr 18, 2004 04:32pm | #14

   Buzz,

   If you're on the east coast look for american beech.  It's just as dense as sugar (hard) maple and you should be able to get it in thick pieces because the tree typically gets larger than sugar maple.  There is a good reason that so many old benches were made of beech instead of maple, and that is due to its similiar density and better resistance to splitting when compared to sugar maple.  I happen to think beech ray fleck looks better too.  Its funny that this came up since I just spoke to my local sawyer who has thick beech that he said he cut for a bench.  I told some friends about it because thay had been looking uncuccessfully for beech that they wanted for making wooden planes.  Good luck and email me if you are close to Philadelphia Pa.  

   Mike

   [email protected]

5. 
   wood23guy | Apr 16, 2004 10:56pm | #10

   It has been my experience that the bench tops of any shop set a tone for the area.  The best I have seen are my own creations.  They are essentially humungous "cutting boards" if you will.  I generally use a variety of woods to achieve a unique look that works well in many table top applications as well as high end shops, (kitchen islands, counters, other craft and industrial applicatons).

   I highly encourage you to do something that interests and excites you in some way..after all....you will be looking at this bench for many years....possibly even pass it on to your family some day as a legacy.

   I generally save alot of different species (some simply scrap table saw rip cuts) figuring to some day make another colorful and interesting top for someone or myself.

   woodguy

6. 
   Gene_DiNardo | Apr 18, 2004 05:59am | #11

   Don't know where you are but there is a place in Pa. that makes butcher blocks and industrial workbench tops for schools and other institutions, They had a bunch of "seconds" Maple, 2 1/4" Thick by 29 1/2" wide x 64" long for $60.00 (seconds have some dark streaks in the maple) hardly a defect for a work bench top. I picked up 4 about 2-3 weeks ago, still had about 30 left. Also some 1 1/2" x 30 x 48" for $30.00 ea. you can rip em for end skirts or vice faces. You can E-mail me for contact info if interested.  

         Regards, Gene

7. 
   10fingers | Apr 18, 2004 10:14am | #12

   Hello Buzzsaw,                                                                                                      

   If you look in the want to get rid of cheap ads in the paper, you might find a piano for as little as $20.00.  The back section makes a great bench top.  My bench top has a section that is approximately 10" X 12" by the width of the piano (50"+?).  There are beams 3" X 8" X approx. 49".  The main beam is a great surface to pound on.  The legs of my bench are 2"X6" doubled up and glued/screwed together.  I had a piece of plywood to cover the beams but removed it.  I may or may not put anything on the top of them.  The frame of the piano sure beats buying a lot of expensive maple.  I have about $400 of hard maple in the overhead loft waiting for the right project.  My financial manager (wife) probably won't let me buy that much maple for a long time, so its sits waiting.   It is amazing how difficult it is to dismember a piano.

1. 
   Buzzsaw | Apr 18, 2004 04:10pm | #13

   Thanks Chuck,

     I'm always scouring dump piles, etc looking for hardwood.  My wife thinks I'm crazy but I do collect some choice stuff that non-woodworkers throw out. Pianos huh?  That is a great idea..Regards,

   Buzzsaw

8. 
   CajunDan | Apr 19, 2004 08:50pm | #15

   I am jealous. Maple costs an arm and a leg in the South!

   If you do use hard maple, you can save some money by using what's called "brown maple". Brown maple is the less desirable heartwood to hard maple. It can sometimes be had for less than $2.00 per board foot.

   Same characteristics, I'm told, just not as fashionable.

   Regards,

   Dan

9. 
   Jellyrug | Apr 20, 2004 07:41am | #16

   I had the same challenge a few months ago and rather than pay a fortune for thick hard maple, I used the most economic solution I could find for a laminated maple top.

   This was a 1 3/4" top from Grizzly, which I cut to requirments on my table saw.

   Picture attached.

   Willie J. Martins

   
1. 
   Buzzsaw | Apr 20, 2004 02:23pm | #17

   Willie,

     I notice that you have a tool till in your bench top.  If you had to do it over would you have the tool till or just a flat bench top? Thanks for the picture and the post...Regards,

   Buzzsaw

1. 
   Jellyrug | Apr 20, 2004 11:14pm | #18

   Buzz,

   I would keep the tool till the same, with two angled (sloped) edges at each end to sweep sawdust into a tray.

   The till comes in real handy, when I clamp a board to the bench, to router through the board. I do a lot of furniture inlay work, meaning I router with a template through the board. It's also very convenient for placing your hand tools, while working on a piece, as they are out of the way. Also, easy to clean, as you brush your dust into the till and into a tray, off one of the sides.

   If I had to do this bench again, the only changes I would make is the frame, simply because it was too complex with dozens of doweled mortise and tenon joints.

   Willie

1. 
   Buzzsaw | Apr 20, 2004 11:25pm | #19

   Thanks Willie,

     I'm always interested in whether people really use their tool tills or not.  Some have told me that they would do without it if they built another bench.  I think I'm going to go with it but I really want a tail vise because I can really see a need for such a vise.  I notice that you have a twin vise on the end of your bench.  Do you think the twin vise makes more sense for you than a tail vise (as seen in a Frank Klauz bench)? Thanks for your post...Regards,

   Buzzsaw

1. 
   Jellyrug | Apr 21, 2004 02:54am | #20

   My twin vise was supposed to have a chain mechanism, so you only turn one handle, but at $100 plus more, I decided to do away with the luxury. This will be better if you can afford it.

   The big twin vice comes in very handy, I have used it for gluing verneer on drawer fronts, clamping large glue-ups on the bench and holding large work pieces.

   I have to confess, other than architectural carving, I'm not a hand tool guy and will use power tools wherever I can. So, I have never really understood the need of a tail vise. Perhaps others can comment?

   Willie