I am planning to start on a work bench that will have a top almost 3 inches thick. Planning to use maple.
Which direction should the grain run? I assume it should run vertically?! The direction of the 3 inches. Right?
Any knowledge and wisdom will be appreciated. Also, any references and links to examples will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Alan – planesaw
Replies
Alan,
I'm amazed your post went unnoticed. I think you want to lay your grain horizontally not vertically. Vertical would be for a butcher block/end grain top style. Laying your wood horizontally you'll have a choice: flat sawn or quarter sawn side up. Quarter sawn side up is a bit easier to plane and more stable. Flat sawn side up is usually wider pieces of stock and makes for easier glue-up. Some use a combination of the two options; 3" quarter sawn on perimeter and flat sawn 1 1/2"-2" in the field...most of us build more than one over a lifetime trying to get it right...lol
Like BG said, I don't think you want a true butcher block top. First, it'll be an incredible pain to glue up, and second it'll be very weak, even at 3" thick, since it'll be a rather large slab. With the grain orientation like that, it can't resist bending of the top. If you look at a butcher block cutting board, you'll notice it's thicker than a cutting board with the grain running along the length. It would, however, be harder, and wouldn't show scars quite so easily (think end grain flooring). If you really want to do it that way, I'd suggest a ladder-type frame for the top to rest on, to transfer load so that the top itself doesn't see much bending. Also, you're going to be relying entirely on the glue joints, which means they have to be perfect, and assembled immediately after milling. Otherwise the thing will self destruct as soon as the moisture content changes. Even waiting a couple hours could be too much. I've done a few butcher block cutting boards, and the first of them did exactly that.
If you want a good, stable bench, quartersawn is the way to go. The top on my bench is roughly 3-3/4" thick, and as close to quartesawn as the stock would allow. It's also splined. You'll notice it's not quite done, though. There's no tail vice, and I need to make a few accesories, like bench dogs and hooks, etc.
If you really want to do it, I think it'd be a very cool and unique bench, but first I'd make up a butcher block or butcher block cutting board to learn on, and then I'd keep the actual bench smaller than I would normally. Maybe a carver's bench or something like that.
Didn't mean for this to turn into a dissertation. Good luck.
I think that he may be asking which way to run the grain rings, so the surface sees the flatsawn face or the more quartered face. [presumming his wood allows]
I see what you're saying, he's probably thinking "vertical grain fir" or the like, but it sounded like he was talking about a butcher block bench. Wouldn't be the first time I misinterpreted something, though - just ask my wife.
Alan, maybe you could clarify what you're thinking.
I was interested in this post as I'm preparing to make a bench. I have a lot of 10/4 hard maple lumber that was in about 8" wide planks that has been ripped into 3 1/2" wide boards. Given the nature of what I've got to work with, my plan was to turn these 3 1/2" boards onto their edge and then glue them together face to face; thus creating a 3 1/2" laminated top made from 10/4 strips with the edges facing up (and the face sides oriented to the front and back of the bench).
Let me know if there is a better option given the lumber I've got to work with.
Cheers,
John
3 1/2" laminated top
Dang.. Marine Corps of engineers could use that to drive tanks over it!
Probably more like 3" when all is said and done. From what I've observed and read, a 3" thick maple top is not excessive. In any event, I'm not building more than one of these, so I'd hate to be sorry down the road. Since we have high winds every so often here, it will be nice to have something to get under!
Cheers,
John
I have just made a bench top out of 4x2,so that I now have a 4" thick bench top,that when I bang on it there is no bounce,very nice.
If you have the lumber and you want weight, good.
1-3/4" hard maple is more than enough though, suggest you look at and test a few tops before your final decision.
You can buy ready made 1-3/4" laminated Maple tops, much cheaper than the lumber itself and they come with a durable finish. Then there is your time factor as well.
I used a 36" x 72" 1-3/4" laminated top, cost me around $230 and I almost need a crane to move my bench. After two years now the finish on this top is still excellent.
That's what I did, my bench ended up about 3-3/4" thick. I like a thick top - stiffer and heavier, which comes in handy.
Preacher
Your recipe for a top is exactly the same as the one I used to build my bench about 8 years ago. Try very hard, in fact, insist on this next issue. Run all the boards so that the grain is in the same direction for planing it, and expose the quartersawn up. That way, when you need to flatten it, or renew the top, you can plane it and scrape it without as much, if any, tearout. 2 of my maple boards somehow got turned the wrong way, and once a year when I flatten it with the #7, I get some tearout. It just means extra scraping. Good luck, and seal the top AND bottom.
Jeff
Sorry, I didn't see your later post about grain direction. You've got it!!
Edited 4/26/2005 11:49 pm ET by JHeath
Froed,
You are right. I am NOT talking about the ends of the boards sticking up. (All it takes to see how good you are at describing things -- is to describe things. Wow, apparently I did a lousy job.)
Let's say I have a rough cut board approx 10 inches wide and about 6 feet long. I cut the 10 inches into 3 boards, each appro 3 inches wide, each the same 6 feet long.
Then, I turn each board and glue them together such that I have a glue-up that equals 3 inches thick, 6 inches wide, and 6 feet long.
Now, if I look at the end of this new glued-up board, which way do I want the grain running in each of the 3 individual boards -- running across the 2 inch width of each board, or running up and down the 3 inches?
Make sense?
Alan - planesaw
What you are describing is the difference between plain sawn and quarter sawn stock. By ripping and turning, you can effectively convert cheaper plainsawn into quartersawn stock. If you are looking at the end of the wood, what you see are parts of the circles you'd see if it were a whole log. You are looking at the end grain. If you look at the log from the outside, you will see face grain. If you split the log in the middle so the rings appear as lines, you are looking at edge grain. If you let a log dry without slicing it up, it will split. Why? Because the wood shinks less radially (along the line of the radius of the log) than it does in its circumference. So a flatsawn board with facegrain on the faces and edgegrain on the edges will expand and contract in width a lot more than a quartersawn board with edgegrain on its face. That board will expand and contract a bit more in thickness, but that is less likely to cause cupping and other problems.This is a very long-winded way of saying that you want edgegrain on the top of your bench, which is what you've been calling "grain running up and down". That has confused people because the grain runs in one direction perpendicular to that. The partial circles you see should run up and down, but are best called something else.
I think I understand what you are saying. I understand flatsawn and quartersawn. The problem is I can have a 2x3 quartersawn, but that doesn't necessarily tell someone which side is the edge grain -- the 2 inch side or the 3 inch side. All depends on which way I want it cut, dependent on my needs.
I was trying (and failing miserably) to describe specifically.
So, we are talking the edge grain being on the top side of the work bench. Right??
thanks,
Alan - planesaw
grain = brain drain, pain...
No, you described it fine, I think I just had brain fade to interpret it that way. What you describe is what I did with my bench. I've attached a sketch just to clarify some terminology, looking from the ends of the boards. Hopefully I won't tell you what you already know. Flatsawn is where the width of the board is roughly tangent to the growth rings, and quartersawn has the width perpendicular to the growth rings. This is sometimes called vertical grain (which I'm not used to, hence my confusion). Quartersawn is more stable, since the largest relative dimensional change will be tangent to the growth rings, meaning the plainsawn board will expand and contract more across its width than the quartersawn board. It'll also cup more.
You want to take your flatsawn board, cut it as you describe, and glue it up with the flatsawn faces together, giving what I'd call a quartersawn glue up. In order to help with stability, I finished my bench with shellac, which has the added benefit of being easily repairable, and I'll admit to some vanity here, I think it looks better. I also left the top as thick as I could, so the bottom of my bench isn't really even, but I wanted as much weight as I could keep, and it sits on the base without rocking, so I didn't see the point of taking more wood off.
Froed,
Thanks for the response, very helpful.
Another related question. Since I will be using hand planes to surface the top of the bench, I assume that it is important to note the direction of the grain of each board prior to glue up, and then orient them all in the same direction, so that the resulting glued up lamination has (as best as possible) the grain of each board running in the same direction.
Cheers,
John
Yep, that'll help. And when you get some tearout, just remember it's a workbench, after all.
You got it. That is what I was tyring to describe. Now, off to order some maple lumber.
Thanks,
Alan -- planesaw
Just another approach for a bench top I salvaged a large amount of old douglas fur 2x4s when we ripped the roof of our house off the wood was cut in the late 1920s early 1930s and is very dense and all vertical grained (amazing what was then construction lumber). After removing nails and grit I joined and planed it down and made a bench top it is about 3 inches thick and 31x72 inches. The biggest problem I am having is how to pick the damm thing up it ways a ton. Anyway anything to avoid paying for wood.
Peter36,
You got it! Which way should the grain run?
Alan - planesaw
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