Wood Species


cts1085

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I know most people like definitive answers, but the answer really is "It depends."

Well, better than than, the answer is "Whatever you can get locally that is cheap, abundant, and stiff." SYP, Hard maple, and Ash all fit the stiff prereq, so whatever you can get locally & cheap from that list would work.

Hell, Eric over at "Adventures in Woodworking" made his bench from several random hardwoods because he got them really cheap.

Don't worry about the "correct" species, go find the "locally available, cheap" species

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I am probably going to go with the Hem-Fir at my local big box store. Its cheap and plentiful. It will take a lot of laminating and time to pick through the stacks but I will save about 600 dollars vs hard maple.

A bench is a tool, the expensive hardware can always be reclaimed if I want to re-build with a hardwood.

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Is anybody considering LVL for the build? I made my benchtop out of it and really like the material. It's an engineered material, typically of plies of Southern Yellow Pine (SYP). It comes in long beams that are about 14" wide and almost 2" thick so you rip strips out of the beam and laminate them.

This stuff is meant to be a beam, so it's really stiff. My benchtop is just over 2 1/2" thick and has been very stable.

Here are a couple pictures:

95f1bee7.jpg

a1ce6fac.jpg

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Is anybody considering LVL for the build? I made my benchtop out of it and really like the material. It's an engineered material, typically of plies of Southern Yellow Pine (SYP). It comes in long beams that are about 14" wide and almost 2" thick so you rip strips out of the beam and laminate them.

This stuff is meant to be a beam, so it's really stiff. My benchtop is just over 2 1/2" thick and has been very stable.

Aaron, any idea how much this LVL cost you in comparable terms of Cost/BF? I like the idea, and the look is modern looking. If it is significantly cheaper, It'd be something I'd consider.

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LVL comes in a few common widths (9 1/2", 11 7/8", 14") and is generally 1 3/4" thick. For a 4" benchtop, I'd go with the 14" wide planks and rip into 4" strips. The full retail price in my area for 14" LVL is $5.99 per linear foot, and you may be able to get a better price by buying "shorts" from your lumber yard - we only need 8 feet sections for our benches after all. Some fancy math on the 14" beam size says that one linear foot is 2 Board foot. So it is coming in around $3 per board foot for me.

A couple more notes for anybody considering LVL:

  • The LVL went through my jointer and planer just fine.
  • You will lose a little thickness when you joint & plane the LVL, so plan for just under 1 3/4" thickness on each segment.
  • A 4" thick benchtop is overkill with LVL, but the Benchcrafted tail vise is specifically designed for a 4" top. If not using the Benchcrafted tail vise, I'd feel comfortable going as thin as 2 1/2" on the top with LVL.
  • You will probably want to put a solid wood edge on the benchtop, since the side plies of LVL are pretty ugly. In my pictures I show a maple edge about 3/8" thick.

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My first bench was made from Douglas Fir, that I got from a local lumber yard. I didn't check the moisture content, but I would say it was "wet". I built the bench anyway and it was just fine. Doug Fir makes a beautiful bench. It is soft and the top would dent, but that didn't take away from how it performed.

http://lumberjocks.com/Koonan/blog/5451

I'm going to look at lumber for the Roubo, this next weekend. I'm going to be looking at Beech or Ash for the top. Beech might be too pricey, but Ash seems to be in the ballpark. Then I think I might make the base out of Doug Fir. I really like Doug Fir, what can I say. If I go with Doug Fir, I will most likely go back to my local lumber yard. I don't plan to start the project until Dec or Jan. Even though I didn't have any issues using the "wet" Doug Fir, I will mostly like pick it soon and just let it sit in the shop for awhile.

Just an FYI. I was concerned about the holes that need to be tapped in the Doug Fir, and that the wood might be too "soft". Last night I tapped a few holes in some scrap Doug Fir, and the screws seemed very secure.

Mike

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LVL comes in a few common widths (9 1/2", 11 7/8", 14") and is generally 1 3/4" thick. For a 4" benchtop, I'd go with the 14" wide planks and rip into 4" strips. The full retail price in my area for 14" LVL is $5.99 per linear foot, and you may be able to get a better price by buying "shorts" from your lumber yard - we only need 8 feet sections for our benches after all. Some fancy math on the 14" beam size says that one linear foot is 2 Board foot. So it is coming in around $3 per board foot for me.

A couple more notes for anybody considering LVL:

  • The LVL went through my jointer and planer just fine.
  • You will lose a little thickness when you joint & plane the LVL, so plan for just under 1 3/4" thickness on each segment.
  • A 4" thick benchtop is overkill with LVL, but the Benchcrafted tail vise is specifically designed for a 4" top. If not using the Benchcrafted tail vise, I'd feel comfortable going as thin as 2 1/2" on the top with LVL.
  • You will probably want to put a solid wood edge on the benchtop, since the side plies of LVL are pretty ugly. In my pictures I show a maple edge about 3/8" thick.

I think I'm going to have to give this serious consideration when it comes time to pick wood. Budget is going to be stretched if I go with the Benchcrafted hardware.

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You all are killing me.... and my budget! I might just bite the bullet here and buy the wood I would really like for this bench, even though its $6 a bf up here.

If I am spending 800 on hardware for this bench I may as well spend the extra few hundred to get what I really want.

Although if the Hem-Fir is at a good moisture content I may give it a try........ Time to go to Lowes/Depot with the moisture meter!

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If I am spending 800 on hardware for this bench I may as well spend the extra few hundred to get what I really want.

That's pretty much my rationale, too. I'm planning to make this the last bench I ever build, so I may as well go all out and be done and happy with it.

Got my guy down to $2.70/bf for the 8/4 red leaf maple...that's good enough for me. Guess I'm gonna go ahead and order it and the bench hardware today or tomorrow. Ouch.

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I don't want to be a wet blanket, but there is a little material other than 8/4 in this build too.

  • To build per the plans, you will need 12/4 for the leg vise chop and the tail vise end cap. You could laminate some thinner stock also, but the plans call for full 12/4 stock. Finished dimensions are about 9" x 26" x2 1/2" thick (5 Board Feet) for the leg vise chop, and 4" x 11 1/2" x 2 7/8" thick (3.3 Board Feet) for the tail vise end cap.
  • There is also about 20 Board Feet of 4/4 stock for some of the miscellaneous parts. Most of it is in the lower shelf, but this also includes the Gap Stop insert which fills the split top, and the deadman runner, parallel guide for the leg vise, the square dogs, etc.
  • The Sliding Deadman can be done with 6/4 stock, but it's probably easier to just use 8/4 to save the hassle.

    So the totals for the finished parts (with no extras for milling loss, defects, etc) are coming in at:

    • 4/4 = 20 BF
    • 6/4 = 2 BF
    • 8/4 = 100 BF
    • 12/4 = 10 BF

    To get these final numbers after everything is milled and cut, add some extra when you are buying.

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I'm pretty set on using ash for this build. Here in lower Michigan the Emerald Ash Borer has killed so many ash trees and forced the removal of so many others that there's a lot of lumber out there right now so the price is down. Prices are a good $1 / bf cheaper than hard maple. Hard maple and ash are very similar in hardness, strength and appearance so I think it will be a great choice.

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If H=2" (8/4) and the total is 100BF how should I determine W & L? Is their something I am missing?

Board feet is just a rough guide for pricing. If you need 100BF of 1x6 stock and you get 100 BF of 1x3 stock, you'll be in trouble. Also, the price per BF often changes with changes in width and thickness - a 24" wide 2" thick slab of wood will cost more per BF than a bunch of 1x3s.

If you can pick out individual boards, then you go with a cut list and pick out the boards that will work. If you are buying from a place that won't let you choose, then you buy extra and hope, and maybe glue up a wide panel if you need to.

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post-2332-0-35787500-1317466091_thumb.jpI think I will I will try to use this beast of a maple to this project. I know i better hurry up. I need to get it kiln dried to have it ready to the build.

But anyways. Is there somebody that have split such a big log before? it is 130cm wide and have a branch on the right side aprox half way.

Maybe I can split it with wedges and a hydraulic jack ??

It is to big to be transported to a mill, it weighs 3-5 tons. So I have to break it down in to smaller pieces. I would like to quarter saw it.

Best regards

T.Robertsen

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So then I can assume we will get a list of the lumber we will need before we start the Roubo bench

Wayne, there is a cut list available at this link. It shows the finished dimensions of all the parts in the bench. The board foot numbers shown in this list are for the finished parts, plus a little extra for wiggle room. So if you have to buy an 8" wide board to make a 6" wide part, the cut list only worries about the 6" final dimension plus about a half inch for safety. That's why you usually have to add in some extra like Chip said to get what you really need.

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