# Douglas Fir Bench Top



## Brohymn62 (Mar 23, 2012)

Hello,

I am in the process of planning a work bench build. It's going to be made of reclaimed douglas fir, the timbers I have are 4" x 12" x 20'.... what would be the optimal size to mill that down to for the top glue up? I've been doing some digging online and found several good looking tops made of 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" pieces glues up to final dimensions of the top. The top will probably be 30" wide x 60" long.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I'd just glue 2 pieces together for a 24" x 4" top.


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## jmos (Nov 30, 2011)

3.5" to 4" range for thickness in a soft wood top is great. For width, bigger is better. The fewer pieces you laminate the less gluing up, alignment, and flattening you have to do. If I could have gotten a single slab for my top I'd have grabbed it.

If the 12" spans don't include the pith (center of the tree, which makes them much less stable) and you can manage them (can get tricky maneuvering a heavy slab across a jointer or through a planer), I'd use two pieces. If you really want 30" (nothing wrong with that) than use three 10" wide. If you're worried about movement, you can cut them down further and alternate growth ring direction, but I'd keep them as wide as you can manage.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

If ripped and glued so the top face of the bench is in effect
quarter-sawn there would be some advantage in stability 
across the bench. The wood will move more evenly
and you may avoid the seasonal bulges and valleys that
can occur with flatsawn slabs.


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## DrewM (Mar 10, 2010)

I used 14 doug fir 2×4s for my workbench top, so far it has been working great for me.


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