Replies

1. 
   Mike_H3 | Apr 26, 2021 10:59am | #1

   From Veritas - Traditional Bench Plan:
   ... Ensure that the wood is oriented with edge grain up for the top, end, and vice jaw pieces. Also make sure that grain is all lined up in the same direction on the benchtop so you can plane it smooth.
   That said I imagine flat sawn is all you need. Once glued up there will be no movement. My first bench is 25+ years old and was made with Douglas Fir 2x and is square and solid as ever.

2. 
   esch5995 | Apr 26, 2021 01:08pm | #2

   This as much a personal preference as anything as long as you account properly for wood movement.

   My personal bench is made from 2" x 4" flatsawn Hard Maple laminated so that the edge grain forms the work surface of a 4" thick top. Wood movement oriented this way is less than if I had made a 2" thick top with the face grain being the work surface. The same applies for quartersawn wood. The more expensive quartersawn wood doesn't provide a better work top but it does reduce wood movement making it a little easier to design and build a base for your bench. Other than that choice of wood has more impact on your bench, but even there you will get many different opinions.

3. 
   _mj_ | Apr 26, 2021 02:39pm | #3

   My bench is made from 3/4 X 3" strips of maple. I have breadboard ends that are 30 1/2" long pinned at the front so they always line up with the face vise. The top moves a little under 1/4" seasonally.

   I saw one theory that said you can orient the grain so that the top would move mostly through it's thickness if quartersawn and assembled the right way, but that's hogwash.

   I don't think there's any way you'll get all of the grain the same way for planing, boards of that size will have reversals and clutter. Put the pretty face up and the ugly face down and call it good.

1. 
   john_c2 | Apr 26, 2021 03:14pm | #4

   Heartily agree about grain direction. Every board will have a grain reversal along it's length. You'd go through a lot of lumber to find enough boards with straight grain along the whole length.

   On the rare occasion that I need to resurface my bench top, I use a tooting plane in my low angle jack. It doesn't care what direction the grain runs. And it leaves a nice surface to grip boards without being slippery.