I am trying to build the new fangled workbench. The workbench in the article was built with framing lumber so I thought I would do the same. The problems I am running into is even though I gave the lumber about 3 weeks to acclimate to my garage (which allowed them time to warp, cup and bow)- after I ripped, jointed and planed the long pieces – they continued to warp some more. I did not have time to join the pieces so they were sitting out for another three weeks and tonight I looked at the lumber and the warping, etc. The problem is that this lumber is not thick enough to let me take out the cup, warp and bowing before I’d be left with toothpicks. Plus, the lumber is already at final dimensions. Since the final thickness is 1 3/8 I have no room to plane an joint any further.
Should I have joined the pieces together immediately after jointing/planing the lumber or would there have been further movement anyway, after the pieces were joined together?
I will now have to start over and the prior boards I cut are now waste. So, I am not sure if I should just buy more framing lumber or go with something drier. I will have to buy 8/4 material and I wanted to keep costs down – which is why I did not consider going with dry lumber – any recommendations? Thanks.
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There's always a risk with framing lumber--you never really know what it's going to do until you cut it up and let it dry. I think the only safe thing to do is (a) make sure that you start with clear, straight-grained material, and (b) buy extra.
I did a similar thing a couple of months ago, where I cut up some 10' 2x12 SYP joists into more-or-less 2x4s. I started with five joists, with the intent of hopefully ending up with eight usable 8' 2x4s. So, I cut up the joists and let them stabilize for a couple of weeks. Two of the resulting "rough" 2x4s were a total loss; two of the others were usable but more twisted than I would have liked (and would probably have been worthless for a newfangled bench). The remaining six were okay, if not great.
I've been thinking about making a newfangled bench myself, but I keep looking at the lumber that's available around here, and I wonder to myself just how much I'm going to have to buy and cut up to get enough for one bench (and then wonder about what I'm going to do with all of the waste).
-Steve
You might want to consider adding a couple of "stiffeners" to the underside of the slab. 3 or 4 strips of 1X2 hardwood across the bottom of the bench with a couple of screws in each plank might do the trick. I'm making a workbench from a salvaged bowling lane, they used pieces of 1-1/2 inch angle iron across the bottom with 6 or 8 screws each at about every 6 feet to keep the lane from warping. (I'm using 2 strips of wood)
Edited 9/25/2007 12:16 am ET by Ray
Are you using KD? if not ask for it... doesn't cost much more, if anything, than the green.
My limited experience is SYP is the worst and KD SPF is the best regarding movement. The DF I have used wasn't too bad. For all the complaining people do about Lowes and HD, in my area they have the best quality framing lumber. They don't mind you cherry picking and since it is stored indoors, it is less prone to moving around when you bring it into your shop.
I would start over if the twists are as bad as you say, and build as soon as you mill. A stud that is straight now may move all over the place if you rip or plane it. It's probably better (and less work) to plan the build to take advantage of the full dimensions of the lumber. Many times the construction technique you use will allow you to pull out what little (or not so little) curvature exists in the wood. Good luck!
Framing lumber is usually dried to 20% MC. And then it's usually only done to save on shipping. If you happen to live in northern CA they probably don't even dry it to 20%. Studs from the local yard are usually pretty drenched.
Simple. Your wood's not acclimated.
Most framing lumber is either S-Green (surfaced green) or KD-19 (kilned to 19%). Most is KD-19 because that's the optimum for working outdoors with wood dry enuf not to grow mold on the sapwood.
Take your moisture meter next time, or stack and sticker the wood til it gets down to the 10% or so it needs to be stable in your shop.
“When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think...that a time is to come when those (heirlooms) will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our father did for us.’ “ --John Ruskin.
I may have started too early because I did wait for the wood to dry. I did not have a moisture meter. By the time I started ripping some boards I could not use.
Essentially my problem is that the warpage is too great to take out with a planer/jointer - I'd be left with real thin wood. From what I am reading I will need to buy much more wood to get a few good pieces and also wait longer for the movement to be done. I am not sure if HD sells kiln dried lumber but I will look again to see.
I know the recommendation is to get the 10 inch boards or 12 inch boards because the centers are supposed to be free of knots but I did not see that when I looked at those boards - they all had a number of knots and I also find it difficult to maneuver such big boards onto and through the tablesaw.
"I know the recommendation is to get the 10 inch boards or 12 inch boards because the centers are supposed to be free of knots but I did not see that when I looked at those boards - they all had a number of knots and I also find it difficult to maneuver such big boards onto and through the tablesaw."
Aha. Are you trying to start with 2x4s? If you absolutely must, take a look at the 10' or longer ones, not the 8' or 92+" studs (which are uniformly crappy).
Do you have a real lumber supplier nearby? They have 2x10 and 2x12 joist material that's usually quite a bit better than what you can get off the rack at HD or Lowe's. And it's not the centers so much that are free of knots but the edges. You can easily cut a pair of 2x4s out of a decent 2x12, and sometimes out of a 2x10.
-Steve
I have posted this several times in the past.
This was way back in the later 60' but I built a 20?22 foot inboard cabin boat from straight grained douglass fir. It is a wonderful wood.
Like any wood it has it's problems and the wood today is usually crap!
I had to sell (1970 or so) it to feed my children but I saw it about 5 years ago and it was still floating!
I do not use it often these days (hardly ever?) but see if you can pick out heartwood boards.
I saw that bench and I think it was way 'cool' however with most of the wood availabe these days I'd look into the bench shown here using good old plywood! NO I have NOT made it but it looks solid as a rock and maybe you can salvage most of your wood you have now for 'things' on the bench..
Just me.. Sorry you had the problems but life is a 'bummer' sometimes!
My first workbench top was 2 pieces of 2X6 and 2 pieces of 2X8 edge glued. I used DF construction lumber and never had any problems at all. I cut slots in the base and held the top down with 2 lag screws near each end. Used it for nearly 20 years, and just gave it to my neighbor yesterday. It's pretty beat up from years of use, but still flat.
What worked for me was I ordered a 3 1/8 x 14' long glulam beam. I cut it in half,glued it together,filled the few defects with auto body filler,and coated all six sides with varnish.It gave me a 7'x3' laminated bench-top at a fraction of the cost of maple.
After a couple of years of use,I sanded it down,re-varnished it,and it looked as good as it did when it was new.
Tom, the only thing that saved me from the same problem you had was the fact that I'd recently bought a moisture meter, and I used it! I bought all the wood for JWW's newfangled bench, and checked it. It varied from 10% to around 18% (can't remember exactly). It's been sitting for quite a long time now, as the summer got too busy to build the bench, but if I'd started it even a month after stacking/stickering in the shop, it would have been too wet.
Selecting the wood (at Lowe's, not Home Depot!) took probably 45 minutes. I went to the 16' stack and found the best boards I could, as close to quarter-sawn as possible. Then, because I couldn't transport 16' boards, I had them cut to 8'. One or two of the wide boards, may have to be ripped, remove the center, jointed and joined, but for the most part, things stayed pretty flat.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 9/27/2007 12:17 pm by forestgirl
Forestgirl - I checked my local HD and all they have for kiln dried is 2 by 4 by 8 foot used for interior studs. I looked at it and it had too many knots. Everything else is green. One question, are you saying your moisture readings are from picking out the lumber or are those numbers from after you had them in your shop for awhile?I saw the 16 foot boards and thought it would be too hard to take home - I forgot that I could get them cut in half. However, I saw some 2 by 10 and 2 by 12 boards that are 10 feet in length - Are the 16 inch boards better?
The key is to get something longer than the 8' normal stud length, because at that point the grade changes from "stud grade" to at least "standard & better." (Apparently, you can sometimes get 10' in stud grade, but not where I live.) In theory, you can get 8' lumber in a better grade, but almost nobody stocks it.
Standard & better (the boards are typically stamped "STD&BTR") is the next step up from stud grade. Beyond that, you have #2 & better, #1 & better, and select. At each grade step, the quality improves (but the cost goes up, too, of course). You generally won't find 2x lumber in anything higher than standard & better at home centers, and even at a lumber dealer the higher grades can be hard to find.
A general rule of thumb is that you'll get a better piece of wood the wider you go. To an extent, that's also true of longer vs. shorter, but nowhere near as dramatic. 14' or 16' would be a good choice, since as Jamie says, you can have them cut in half.
-Steve
The moisture readings were from within a day after I brought the wood home. I checked it several weeks afterward, and there was some downward movement, but I didn't record it. I did record the original readings on the boards, so I could go out and re-check and let you know what it is now.
In our area, Lowe's has noticeably better lumber than Home Depot. Which is unfortuate, because there are 2 HDs within 15 miles, but the closest Lowe's is twice as far away. :-(
As far as 16' vs. 10' or whatever, I just figured the longer the wood, probably the bigger the tree. I seemed to be able to find better wood in that 16' pile -- closer rings, more rift-sawn (nearly quartersawn), that kinda stuff. It was obvious I wasn't the first person to pick out a bunch of 16' boards and ask to have them cut in half, LOL! The guy didn't bat an eye.
"Are the 16 inch boards better?" I'll be you meant 16 foot, right?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
You want kiln dried select structural. It has less knots, and is already dry.
The other viable option is kiln dried appearance grade. A or B, C might even work. The appearance is just that pretty, but it also costs more.
Studs are just one grade above chipper logs. Don't buy them.
Whatever you get needs to be stacked and stickered in your shop for a while. I rough cut the pieces about six inches longer than the final length, and weigh the scraps on an old triple beam I have. When the samples quit loosing weight, the wood is acclimated to my shop. I'm not sure what the moisture content is at that point, I just know it isn't loosing any more moisture so it is acclimated.
It's my understanding that whenever you rip a board to a whole new 'rough dimension', you then ought to wait a period of days for it to re-stabilize before jointing straight. The issure may not be only moisture but also internal preasures within the board.
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