Replies

1. 
   CStanford | Jun 25, 2004 11:16pm | #1

   Any of the woods you mentioned ought to work just fine.  Harder woods are harder on cutting edges - no surprise there.  Take the good with the bad.  I don't care for Ipe for a lot of reasons, but it would make a substantial benchtop. 

   Many of us prefer more mundane species (if not Pine) so we don't feel guilty screwing or nailing a batten to the bench (swinging radii, etc.) spilling coffee on the bench, grooming a dog on the bench, painting your kid's birdhouse on the bench, using your oilstones on the bench, and on and on.

   The workbench as living room furniture has never quite been my cup of tea, but to each his own.

1. 
   user-115056 | Jun 25, 2004 11:49pm | #2

   Yeah, the dogs and kid already stole my Sjoberg but the coffee - I hadn't thought of that.  I usually keep it on top of my computer where it stays nice and warm.  Paint is a whole other issue.

   I guess toughness and weight are really what I'm looking for in the next bench.  I just thought I'd kick around some ideas that depart from traditional wood choices to see if anyone has had experience using these species in a bench.  For obvious good reason, beech, maple and birch have historically been used and may very well be my final choice.

   Thanks for the reply. -JB

2. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Jun 26, 2004 12:13am | #3

   JRB,

   This cost me nothing in timber costs but it could be similar to what you're looking for - wood is a wide variety of gum (eucalypt) species - pretty sure that one of the planks is ironwood, the same timber the HNT Gordon planes are made of.  I think that Lyptus sold in the US is a similar red to the central planks.

   ">View Image

   Rather than post more images, there's a collection of the construction pictures here.

   This took a while to make because of the hardness of the timber.

   If I recall correctly, they generally look to light coloured woods to improve lighting at the bench - The dark ones tend to be harder to work on.  I haven't found this to be an issue.

   This works fine - I've bounced a ripsaw off the bench when it took 4" on the final cutting stroke and only put a superficial scratch in the top.

   Cheers,

   eddie

   edit:  Beech is used as it is a timber that is resilient and resistant to splintering - a pretty handy feature for a workbench.  I believe that Birch and Maple have the same qualities

   
   

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   Edited 6/25/2004 5:17 pm ET by eddie (aust)

   
   

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   Edited 6/25/2004 5:22 pm ET by eddie (aust)

   
1. 
   CStanford | Jun 26, 2004 02:31pm | #5

   Beautiful work, but where are the dog holes?  How do you situate a board for face planing?  You must have to work on the side opposite the enormous vise, or have a permanently bruised left hip.

1. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Jun 26, 2004 05:27pm | #7

   Thanks Chas,

   I've fitted a holddown to the bench for now, but will end up putting dog holes in it when I get the face vice on (probably October, maybe sooner).  That way, I can get the dogs in the bench aligned with the dog(s) in the vice(s) - 2 tail vices.

   For face planing, I have a planing stop that clamps into the vice - stop is an old scrap of 8" wide board by 3/8" thick by about 16" long, with a cleat fixed across one of the 8" wide ends, used to clamp the thing into the vice - I just pop the planing stop in, butt the job I'm working on against the planing stop and away I go.

   The handles, I thought, would be a pain to work around too as I built it, but they're not, surprisingly enough - your body is about 6" off the bench when you're working anyway, so it required only a minor adjustment to technique.  This combined with the planing stop means that I haven't had any issues yet.  I figured that if I did have a problem working 8' lengths for a day or so off the dogs, the vice is completely removeable, so that was the worst case scenario for getting around the problem.

   Hope that this makes sense.

   Cheers,

   eddie

   Edited 6/26/2004 10:29 am ET by eddie (aust)

   Edited 6/26/2004 10:33 am ET by eddie (aust)

   Edited 6/26/2004 10:42 am ET by eddie (aust)

1. 
   CStanford | Jun 26, 2004 06:25pm | #9

   It's a damn fine piece of workmanship, I really mean it.  The next time Taunton does a shop special they ought to feature your bench.

1. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Jun 27, 2004 12:04am | #13

   Thanks again Chas - 

   I do appreciate your comments but remain humbled by them.

   I'm a dual trade engineer and cabinetmaker - the benchtop here was put together with hand planes only -  at the time we didn't have a jointer at work (I teach schoolkids woodwork now) and I didn't have one at home.

   I built this bench with the view that it was a working bench as opposed to a work of art - the top is jointed watertight with hand planes, but the rest of the bench was cobbled together.

   This wood is our hard local species, and blunted Stanley blades after one or two strokes of the plane - I use HSS blades in my planes now and sharpen about every four weeks or so under normal use.

   These beams had me stopping every 20" or so to completely regrind and rehoning about every 10" (using the HSS blades).  The beams are fairly hard and full of silica.

   After about 60hrs of backbreaking work, I decided I did need a jointer at home, and came across a used MiniMax combo machine at the right price, so I finished off the subframe with a jointer/thicknesser/panel saw and just knocked the frame up in about 8 hours. 

   The construction photos show all my layout marks and machine marks on the legs/front - I didn't even bother sanding before finishing (which was with about a litre or two of floor varnish/tung oil mixture - that's what I had left in the shed, so that's what I used.)

   eddie

   Edited 6/26/2004 5:51 pm ET by eddie (aust)

2. 
   RANGERP75R | Jun 27, 2004 01:11am | #15

   eddie

      Nice piece of work there Sir Edward. Like those wood screws a bunch.

   Regards...

   sarge..jtProud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   mapleman | Jun 27, 2004 05:45am | #18

   Wow Eddie,

   Nice bench. Exceptional finish on it, it looks like 1/4" plate glass. If you don't mind my asking, what did you use for a finish, and how applied?

   Birdseyeman

1. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Jun 27, 2004 09:12am | #19

   Thanks Sarge

   Birdseyeman,

   Finish was the slops of a tin of floor finish I  had laying around - a commercial tung oil/polyurethane blend.

   When the finish fully dried, the pores were/are just visible so it's not as glossy.

   Cheers,

   eddie

   edit:  how applied??  4" brush with a 1" brush for the fiddly bits.

   Edited 6/27/2004 2:13 am ET by eddie (aust)

3. 
   nikkiwood | Jun 26, 2004 08:30am | #4

   When reading your query I was going to write something about staying with the tried and true, unless you were absolutely certain of the dimensional stability of the alternatives.

   But then I looked at the pics of eddie's bench, and all of a sudden I thought how terrific it would be to look upon this beautiful workbench top -- instead of the dull and familiar appearance of the "tried and true".

   If he doesn't find this thread, you should track down our resident wood technologist, Jon Arno, for his opinion. If he has no objections , then I think you should go for it -- and post some photos to show us how it turned out.

4. 
   jgourlay | Jun 26, 2004 04:28pm | #6

   I'm in process on my first bench, and agonized over this same question for some time.  I'm making mine out of oak because I got all the timbers I needed for free.

   HOWEVER, before that wood came along, I settled on purpleheart-which I've worked a lot.  Lyptus was a close second.

   PH:  relatively inexpensive and in Texas cheaper than maple/birch/beech.  Available in 8/4, and if you look long enough you can find it in 12/4.  It's a HELLUVA lot easier to build a bench from 12/4 ripped to the thickness of the bench, than 4/4 done the same way...  The wood is heavy, and very hard.  Yes, it dulls tools very quickly.  But it takes far less time to sharpen a chisel or plane than resurface a bench.  Also, PH is probably one of, if not the most dimensionally stable woods available in the lower end of the cost scale.  PH heart is a very tight, closed grained wood and on the qs face is virtually featureless.  So, although it's dark it has a degree of visual neutrality.  One thing I would suggest is to build up your top first, UNFINISHED and then let it sit for a period of time.  The exposed faces will start to turn brown.  You definitely want this because inevitably you'll test finish or test stain a scrap of wood and then look at it on your bench.  If your bench is purple, it will color your perception of the workpiece.

   PH and Lyptus are about the same price here (but only because the Weyerhauser yard doesn't have a local distributor for lyptus lumber).  Lyptus is also hard, strong, and probably more impact resistant than PH.  Also, it is more easily and readily available in 12/4.  However, be aware that Lyptus moves a LOT with changes in humidity.  PH in 12/4 on the other hand is frequently not dried the way you and I would like and will warp and twist as you rip it. 

   I've found, however, that if I take that heartbreakingly screwed up piece of purpleheart and let it dry after cutting for another month, it flattens right out.  I once cut a project out of 350bdf of PH and was almost brought to tears because every piece came out horribly from the table saw.  I put the project aside, in my wood shed for a month.  I came back intending to clean out the shed and through that PH away. When I came back to it, every piece was flat and perfect.  YMMV.

   The movement issue is what sold me on the PH.  However, if "sustainabilty" is a heavy issue for you, then Lyptus is your choice as it is farmed sustainbly.  The only other downside of PH is that most varnishes and oils (esp BLO) turns the wood this kind of bfugly yellowish grey.  Tung oil turns it a beautiful maroon.  But if you tried to do the 1/3 blo 1/3 varnish 1/3 thinner thing, I don't what it would look like.

5. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 26, 2004 06:16pm | #8

   John, there have been several threads on this topic over the past year or so. You might be able to chase them down in the archives...But as for woods that make good work bench tops, the features you want to look for (and pretty much in priority order) are: high density, fine texture, good stability and light color.

   Considering all of the above, in my opinion the best wood in the world for this purpose is pau marfim; Balfourodendron reidelianum, AKA guatambu. It is a South American timber belonging to the citrus family and it is exported primarily from Argentina and southern Brazil, where it is moderately plentiful and inexpensive.

   Personally, I think our best domestic wood for bench tops is hard maple; Acer saccharum, AKA sugar maple. In fact it's one of the best in the world for this purpose. But pau marfim outclasses sugar maple it that it is about 15% to 20% denser, slightly finer textured and so blonde that it makes sugar maple look like a brunet. Also, while not outstanding in terms of stability, it's volumetric shrinkage is about 10% lower than that of sugar maple and it has a slightly better T/R ratio...All things considered; density, texture, stability, color and "reasonable" price (it isn't cheap, but not outrageously expensive for an import), pau marfim is king-of-the-hill when it comes to an ideal wood for bench tops.

   It gets to be pretty subjective as to how each woodworker evaluates the various features of a wood as it relates to bench tops. If you do a lot of heavy banging and pounding on the bench, then density is critical, but if you do a lot of fine work(detailed carving...or use a lot of small fasteners), fine texture and light color become more important. You want a wood that won't allow small brads to nest in the woods porous grain...and light colored woods are more reflective, so it is easier to see detail. Fine textured woods are also easier to keep clean.

   As for the woods you mention, ipe certainly has great density and it's readily available and moderately inexpersive...it's stability, while no worse than hard maple, isn't the best...and it's muddy green-gray color isn't all that reflective...but it's not the worst choice you could make. It's probably a better choice than teak, which is more coarse textured, not quite as dense and extremely expensive these days.

   While I can understand how some woodworkers develop a fondness for work benches...in the same way many woodworkers become tool addicts...but I've never succumbed to either of these vices. I agree with cstandford, in that if you have a showpiece work bench, it tends to inhibit your willingness to bang it up...and the objective of woodworking is what you make, rather than what you make it on. My wood-of-choice for bench tops is 3/4" plyscore topped with tempered hardboard...Although, I am a little picky about the hard board. It has to be the light colored kind.   

6. 
   Jim_McGee | Jun 26, 2004 06:32pm | #10

   Hey All,

   I've been doing a lot of turning and making tools for my shop with exotics. I do woodworking to relax and there is a certain feeling that comes for working with a fine tool you crafted yourself. The same would be true for a workbench crafted from exotic woods. Right now my benchtops are plywood and I screw jigs into them and hammer on them without a thought. But like JRB I've been thinking of doing a nice bench out of ipe, purple heart, paduk, or keruing. All are VERY stable woods and their heavy weight will make for a solid heavy bench as I'm planning on building a bench with an enclosed base and drawers.

   The effort and cost can be justified the same way you justify the cost of a quality tablesaw. Like a saw the bench is a centerpiece of your shop, and properly built will last a lifetime.

   A couple of thoughts on wood choices. Price varies quite a bit from one part of the country to another, but of all these woods teak is breathtakingly expensive here in the northeast so I've eliminated it as an option.

   Padauk and purple heart will change color dramatically with exposure to light. Fresh cut padauk is bright orange to orange brown and ages pretty quickly to a deep chocolate brown with exposure to light. I've had good luck preserving their color in turnings using Flood's CWF-UV to preserve the color (if desired). Around here ipe is mostly sold for outdoor decking and isn't dried to the same moisture content as woods intended for indoor use. It's prone to end checking during drying so I'd bring the wood into my shop, recoat the ends, and let it sit for a few months before starting.

   The toughest part of the project will be putting that first chisel mark in that beautiful top!

   Jim

1. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 26, 2004 07:14pm | #11

   >>"The toughest part of the project will be putting that first chisel mark in that beautiful top!"<<

   Yup, Jim. That's one of the early symptoms of this new "designer bench" desease: hesitation. You tend to just stand there and look at it...then you start making crude projects on the floor. When your back starts to hurt, you put a lounge chair in the shop...and then while you're sitting their looking at the bench with nothing to do, you decide the shop needs a beer cooler. Once you get that installed, you figure it's just too damn dangerous to drink and work with power tools...and early retirement becomes the only answer.

   Some of us even get there without building the bench.  

1. 
   RANGERP75R | Jun 27, 2004 01:08am | #14

   Jon

      Ha.. ha....

      And I figured you would be out trying to score tickets for that new "Farenheit 9/11" movie.

   :>)

   sarge..jtProud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   Jim_McGee | Jun 27, 2004 04:27pm | #20

   >"The toughest part of the project will be putting that first chisel mark in that beautiful top!"

   >> Yup, Jim. That's one of the early symptoms of this new "designer bench" disease: hesitation.

   <laughing> Yeah but I say it tongue in cheek. It's like when you put the first load of stone in the back of a new pickup. You can't help but cringe - then you just get to work. I'm a tool user more than a tool collector but I really enjoy using fine tools and I'm getting more and more of an appreciation for hand tools as time goes on. I guess the desire to build a really nice bench comes from that. After all I've still got the old wall mounted bench with the plywood top when I want to screw down a brake or just slop things up.

   > then you decide the shop needs a beer cooler

   You mean every shop doesn't already have one????  ;^)

   Speaking of which it's time to make some sawdust. I'm finishing up a window seat for the wife today.

7. 
   maesejuan | Jun 26, 2004 07:43pm | #12

   Ipe (or Lapacho) splinters very easily and has long pores that contain a green-yellow powder that seems nor to be beneficial. I wouldn't use it as a workbench top.

8. 
   10fingers | Jun 27, 2004 01:26am | #16

   My bench is made from the back of a piano and 2x6 for legs.  The back of a piano has some really stout timbers that hold it together.  Pianos can be had for next to nothing if you look around.  I know it sounds strange to think of a piano for bench wood, but it works.  Having ebony keys and ivory strips is an added benifit. 

1. 
   macalex | Jun 27, 2004 02:06am | #17

   Hey, Chuck, can we see a photo!

1. 
   10fingers | Jun 27, 2004 06:56pm | #21

   I will show a photo of my piano based bench if :

   1.  I can get my digital camera working.

   2.  If I can find the bench under all the crap I have piled on top of it.  I garden in the summer, not woodwork.