The local lumber suppliers I have checked with tell me they have a difficult time getting anything quartersawn except white oak. So I am looking for the next best option for a workbench top: I remember seeing a design where the center of the top (between aprons) was comprised of three 2-1/2″ thick boards ranging from 5 to 7″ wide.
Is it better to use boards in this orientation or get stock as thick as possible (12/4) , rip them 2-1/2 or 3 ” wide and rotate them 90 degrees so that the “face grain” is the glue surface? In this orientation, will wood movement direct be mostly along the top thickness instead of along the top width?
Either way, should the boards be alternatively flipped so that the growth ring curvature reverses at each board?
Greg
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Replies
Greg,
If you can choose your lumber, you should be able to pick some wider plainsawn boards (say 10") and rip them as wide as the benchtop will be thick. Presto! Quartersawn stock! Kind of along the same lines as your second paragraph, but you don't necessarily need thick stock.
I wouldn't worry about the direction of growth rings, especially if you use quartersawn stock. More importantly, if you plan to flatten the top by hand, make sure the grain runs the same way on all the boards.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Will the lumberyard let you pick your own boards? There's quite a few quartersawn boards from every flat-sawn log. Just pick according to the end grain.
Thanks for the tip. I rarely get to handpick, b/c I order from a yard 180 miles away and have it delivered while they are making their other deliveries in the area. Even with the fuel costs, their delivery is only $12 with a min order of $200. With your tip and Chris', I can achieve what I want.Greg
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For a workbench top, much more important than orienting growth rings is orienting the boards so that they will all plane well in the same direction. Much easier for flattening down the road, assuming you might use hand planes for the job.
As long as you seal it, it will be fine i would recommend an oil so paint and scraches can be sanded out then sealed with ease compared to poly.
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