Hello All:
I am in the process of finishing up my bench base. I made the trestle out of glued up 8/4 maple. I originally bought 8/4 alder for the stretchers but am having second thoughts about using it. My first question… is there any thing structurally wrong with using alder since it is quite soft? Should I use maple and not worry? With the stretchers providing the lateral strength, I am questioning my thoughts of using alder and not maple. Thanks for all your advice…
Don
Replies
As a stretcher, the strength of this member comes from the construction, not the specie. Either one works.
Thanks Jackplane.....that is exactly the information I was looking for....
Don
Hi dkf,
I made my bench about 8-9 years ago with doubled up 4/4 poplar (total thickness a little less than 2" after planing) as the frame material and 3/4 birch ply as the panel material in a standard frame and panel design. The thing was joined together with loose tenon joinery. I used poplar which is basically east coast alder, because that's what the budget could afford back then.
The bench supports a massive heavy top made up of glued strips of 3/4" x 3" strips of white oak about 28" x 72". It's an everyday workbench so it isn't treated nicely as far as banging and poundinding on the surface and such. It's held up great and I'm sure it'll be here long after I'm gone, so IMHO I think alder would be fine especially if you pinned the tenons. Dan
Thanks Dan.....I am going to pin the mortise and tenon joint, so I guess the alder will be fine.........
Don
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