I’m just getting started in woodworking, so please forgive my ignorance. I am planning to build a workbench from an article and plans I found on the internet. The article says that the writer built his workbench from southern yellow pine 2×4’s. So I go to the local home center, and they do have southern yellow pine, but in 1″ thicknesses. The 2×4’s they stock are labeled as being green Douglas fir.
Now, I know that Douglas fir is a type of pine. These 2×4’s seem oriented towards construction framing.
1. Would this “green Douglas fir” be okay for use in building a workbench?
2. Do I have to worry about the “green” part, in that it may not be dried sufficiently for a project?
Replies
Doug Fir is a fir, not a pine, harder, nicer grain, usually fewer knots...
"If 'tis to be,'twil be done by me."
Using green wood - not kilm dried - for a work bench top is not recommended since the value of a good bench is flatness and stability. Green wood will shrink causing your bench to distort. Yellow pine is more dense than Doug fir and makes a serviceable top for a bench. You could use 1" KD Southern Pine boards. ripped and glued face-to-face to make a 1.5" or 2" thick top but the glue-up would be more difficult to insure flatness - boards have a tendency to shift during the glue-up and to prevent this you should clamping cauls.
Check around and if you have a hardwood dealer in your area they may have kiln dried southern pine or an equivalent wood in the general price range. There are also good bench plans available that use other materials for the main structure. Another alternative is to build a torsion box as the main structure and surface the top with .25" hardboard/Masonite. While not traditional, these can make very serviceable bench tops.
The key to the bench top is that the top is flat and stable. The heavier the bench the more stable it is. Green wood , particularly when ripped, will often bow, curve and/or warp.
You should be able to buy rough #1 or #2 Southern Yellow Pine or Doug Fir from your lumber yard. It will come out to cost less than using framing lumber. By the time you get the 2x stock straight you will loose a lot of lumber. You can buy the rough stock in 8/4 and it will be a lot easier to glue up.
Mike
Bite the bullet and just buy the maple you need and do it right, as Daddy always said, "buy the best and only cry once".
I'm just getting started in woodworking, so please forgive my ignorance. ???
I have been working wood and metal for years!
I'm STILL ignorant on MANY things!
Douglas fir is a wonderful wood IF it is DRY and straight grained .. I made a pretty large boat from it back in the 60's. Still floats but it was straight grained (NICE sticks as I remember and probably older wood).
I did not know you could get Douglas fir these days without paying premium price (nice wood anyway)...
I have made MANY workbenches.. Some from premium hardwood's and others from junk.. All work to some degree.. To me it depends on what you want to do. 'Look at/work on bench' or just something to put your tools on.. AND.. what money you wish to spend on it! I think THAT makes a BIG difference on what you decide to do!
My first thought was.. 'labeled as being green Douglas fir' I have no idea what that really means! Green from copper or just new wood?
My 'everyday' bench is made form? I think hemlock.. Not sure.. Just old pallet wood.. It works just fine! It has a top of MDF. Two sheets glued together and a 'lift off' working sheet I can replace.
And my Purpleheart and other hardwoods 'LookAt' bench.. I never use it cus' I'll mess it up! LOL..
Just remember that BIGBOX wood will probably 'go wild' when you cut it. Especially with a rip.. (I have had sticks that cost 'PLENTY' do that too!)
I could go on and on... Thinkin' back.. I'd try any wood you can get at a reasonable price and 'see' what happens... Cut that 2X4, 2X6, whatever.. Let it sit a day or two and see if it's still straight!
Am I making any sense? Just make one and see what happens.. You may even decide to make a GOOD one!
Good Luck, and above all Be safe, and have FUN!
Wil,
If you are "just getting started in woodworking," I doubt that you really know what you want in the way of a workbench or even what kind of wood you want it to be made of. I seriously doubt that a plan found on the 'Net would please me and probably not you either. Fine Woodworking and a few other magazines offer designs of all sorts. I would suggest going to your library and doing a search through back issues of FWW at least. In fact FWW issue #181 has a workbench plan which looks pretty decent. It is plywood, so you won't have a lot of the problems that you will encounter with wood from a building materials store. It is worthy of mounting a vise. If you must have something quickly though, stores like Home Depot & Lowe's have workbench kits for $50 or so. They aren't worthy of a vise. They aren't sophisticated, but they have their uses.
Cadiddlehopper
My suggestion is to get a cheap bench. Used or new, doesn't matter, just good enough to do the projects you intend to complete in the next twelve months or so. Just do something inexpensive, so you feel you can spend money on making a good bench in a year or so. By then, you'll have a much better idea of what you want in a bench.
Thanks for the input. To those who suggested just getting something super cheap, I already have that. The reason I'd like to build a not-so-ultimate workbench anyway is that (I think) it will help me with learning how to glue up boards (for the top) and how to make mortise and tenon joints (for the base). Besides, my wife also wants a simple workbench, and I figured I'd work out the kinks on mine before working on hers.
By "Green Douglas Fir", it appears that the green refers to the wood not being kiln dried, and not the green cast that pressure treated wood has.
If I do get "Green Douglas Fir", cut it roughly to size, and just let it sit for a while in my basement, how long does it take for the wood to acclimate to my basement conditions? I know this depends on environment, but a ball park figure is fine. For what it's worth, I live in New Jersey, and my basement is about 50% humidity.
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