# Having a hard time swallowing the Douglas Fir pill for my workbench.



## TDog77 (Dec 17, 2011)

I am getting ready to start my workbench and thought since this is my first one I really wanted to study the design, vises etc and read a couple short books and then just yesterday read Christopher Schwarz book (excellent read by the way) and have decided to build his rendition of The French Workbench which I think is very well thought out. My dilemma is the choice of lumber with not being able to get my hands on any Southern Yellow Pine like he has used on soo many of his recent benches and highly recommends. The choices in my area are Hem Fir and a few rarer selections of Douglas Fir and I am having a bit of a hard time accepting Douglas Fir as an option for at least the top of it but wow is it way cheaper then the maple or ash route. Now if some of you fellow jockers say go for it on the Fir since you have used it in this application before and you are happy with it then Ill probably go that route; but since I am going to be spending the time on it and want it to last a looong time then I also don't mind doing at least the top in Maple if you think it is just that much better. Im not a cheap skate but if the maple really is not needed then I could put that savings towards some more tools.

Second are there any special considerations when joining too very different woods like a fir base and a maple top?


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Just so you know, my bench is hard maple, not fir, SYP, or hemlock. Fir and hemlock are a lot softer than maple, ash, oak, hickory, etc. Other's opinions will likely vary, but I'm thinking if you're going to the trouble to make a nice bench, I'd at least want the top to be made of a hard wood. You can use cheaper woods for the legs and support structure.


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## rockindavan (Mar 8, 2011)

I built my bench top out of maple and base out of cherry. I figured if I was going to spend a bunch of time building it I would spring for better quality and better looking materials. I guess it boils down to how much it means to you to have a nice looking bench. If you are not going to build a bench for at least another 10 years, I would suggest going for the maple. A bench is something you will use on every project where some tools are not used as often.


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## tyskkvinna (Mar 23, 2010)

I actually love working with Doug Fir but I wouldn't use it for the top. I'd be nervous about denting it too often, honestly. But I've glued it and joined it with maple just like any other woods and so far I've not noticed any issues.


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

For 70.00 on craigslist I bought enough white oak to build the top and several other projects and it wasn't the absolute cheapest I've seen. I've also found ash, hemlock and hickory for really affordable on craigslist; keep checking the listings and the top might price out similar to pine.


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## TDog77 (Dec 17, 2011)

How are you usually looking up lumber on craigslist because I look twice a week at least and have been doing so for about 6 months and only found a couple pieces of cherry? I usually use "lumber" "rough lumber" and "woodworking" for keywords.


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

My bench is doug fir for the base and hard maple up top. Ideally I'd have used maple throughout but yeah… It's expensive.


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## MNgary (Oct 13, 2011)

My bench is the typical cabinet-maker style. I built it using construction grade 2×4's (hemlock & fir) for the top and the base. After 15+ years it still meets my needs and if I were to build one again I'd use the same material. However, I first let the pieces air dry for a year.


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## MNgary (Oct 13, 2011)

My bench is the typical cabinet-maker style. I built it using construction grade 2×4's (hemlock & fir) for the top and the base. After 15+ years it still meets my needs and if I were to build one again I'd use the same material. However, I first let the pieces air dry for a year.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

I just received my 21st century bench plans and plan on maple for the top. The substructure will be whatever I can afford after buying the maple.
Don


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Specify what you want on Craigslist in the search box on the left and make sure the menu is on sale, then 
hit enter.
I usually put hardwood lumber, then hit enter. Or oak, maple, etc.


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

I go into the material section and then type in various woods, usually cherry, ash, maple, oak, locust and sycamore. Because the results are limited to just one location there usually isn't enough listings and craigslist will show similar listings in the area. Might require a longer drive but this evening I found hemlock for 58 cents a BF, locust for a 1.50 a bf, red and white oak for 1.50-2.00 bf and cherry for 2.50. Just have to keep looking and it does show up. I'd also look for whatever the common local hardwood is. Cherry is common throughout this area and PA, unfortunately oak seems the most common, end result is some really cheap prices. The time or two I've seen redwood listed or spanish cedar the prices were outrageous in comparison.


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## TDog77 (Dec 17, 2011)

Where do yo find the materials section? If I type in Cherry in the for sale section for example it comes op with a ton of "cherry" including kids toys, vehicles etc. so if I could limit it to materials then the species keyword that would save some time for sure but I cannot find it.


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## TDog77 (Dec 17, 2011)

Nevermind….just found the materials.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

TDog, I feel you. In the interest of saving time, I bought two 2 1/4 inch maple slabs from Grizzly to glue-up for the top. I started collecting my douglas fir stack, planning to build the undercarriage from it. Now the more that I look at it, I'm considering going all fir and using the slabs for something else. I passed this question around to all my buddies here and no one has given me a reason NOT to use fir. I think I'm going for it. If you do too, I'll be looking out for yours!


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## crashn (Aug 26, 2011)

I search craigslist every 1/2 hour (phone app) and it alerts me when there are any results to several keywords
lumber
wood
woodworking
router
saw
bookcase
desk
sawmill
tree
etc….....
You have to be quick on CL, at least around here. Lots of competition.


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## TDog77 (Dec 17, 2011)

I need that, which app…Android?


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## jmos (Nov 30, 2011)

I went with LVL for my bench top. It's made out of SYP and around my it's readily available. Worked out well, a lot less expensive than hardwood, and a lot nicer than the construction grade limber I had available to me.

I blogged the build if you're interested.


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

If you want a nice looking table that will never have a dent in it, use Osage Orange or some high dollar exotic. 
If you are going to use that same table for real work, put a lip around it and lay a piece of Masonite on top of it so when you want to show off to all your friends and the ladies, nothing has damaged the precious top.

If you want a bench for Real Work it going to get dented, stained, cut, hacked, drilled, sawed, planed, burnt, sanded, painted, and hammered on.

This thread sounds a bit effeminate to me, although that may just be my take on it. Maybe I should learn to lift my little finger off my beer can to be here.

Use whatever you have available, pine, fir, maple, sycamore, Bodark, mesquite, etc. As long as you are going to really use it, use it, it doesn't matter what you make it out of. If all Studley or Reboux (SP?) or any of the masters had only had Youpon Holly, that is what they would have used.


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## TDog77 (Dec 17, 2011)

Thanks to everyone for the help…I have decided to go with ASH for the top since it is about 1/2 the cost of the maple around me and I am considering it a compromise between the Doug Fir and Maple in every category except stiffness where Doug is actually better then ASH ( did not expect that one). I would then use Doug for the bottom. I think my bigger problem now is having seen the 21st Century design posted above as it has me really going back and forth between it and the French Schwarz design in his theory book. I am pretty torn on the center trays.

As a side note do any of you have a thick bench top say 4 inch or so that has issues with hodfasts? I know Chris mentioned that there is a physics issue with the thicker tops but I wonder to what degree it is an issue and at what point is starts becoming one?


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## MNgary (Oct 13, 2011)

The workbench I made out of construction materials - 2×4's (top & base), pine (shelf & cross-members), masonite (tool well bottom) and oak dowels (for vise threads). I used boiled linseed oil on the top and shelf, and lots of powdered graphite on the vise threads. Assembly was with white glue and lag screws.

It won't generate ooh's and ahh's at a show, but it has served me well for cabinetry, display cases, coffee & end tables, a couple bedroom suites, outdoor furniture, grandson's cub scout projects, and other fun stuff.


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## TDog77 (Dec 17, 2011)

Never heard of the LVL before and I could build a 4 inch LVL top for half of what the ash would cost after calling around making my top cost a total of about 227 bucks. How does the stuff tool for making mortise slots and such?


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Or, maybe check out some old Barn wood?









about halfway done, right now….


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## brtech (May 26, 2010)

Have you tried every lumberyard within an area you would consider driving to looking for SYP? While I started with a 10 mile radius and struck out, when I went to 20 miles, I found one. I'll drive 20 miles in a borrowed pickup truck for that!


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## crashn (Aug 26, 2011)

TDog77,
Yes, on android. Its called craigslistnotifier, its got a purple peace sign as the logo/image. WORKS GREAT!!!! it even has a craigslist post app associated with it, it also works great. You can take a pic and share via craigslist and it pre-populates that pic as the items picture.


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## jmos (Nov 30, 2011)

Here's a blog post (Schwarz) that might interest those searching for timbers for a bench.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/workbenches/where-to-buy-big-wood-for-big-workbenches


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## TDog77 (Dec 17, 2011)

Tried to download that CL application for my android and people are up in arms that they no longer make it and they say the other options are not the same. Ill try one of them and see what is up with the latest and greatest…has to be better then nothing.


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## mbs (May 8, 2010)

Just my .02 - I built the basic frame out of thin wall metal and after many years it still hold up as well as the day I made it. I'd bet the metal was much cheaper than wood too. One reason I didn't use wood was becasue I wanted a rigid table and was concerned that the wood joints would get sloppy with use/age. I welded some flat iron from corner to corner on one end and along the back and the bench doesnt move what-so-ever.

The top was made out of scraps of cherry, ash, oak, maple… I leave a pc of 1/4" plastic on the top when I'm doing glue ups or staining. I also like to have a space between the cabinets and the top to store power tools. There is a pic of it in my projects.


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