mlingenfelter Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 I found a line on some nice FOHC 6x8 Doug Fir, for $1.50 bf. I'll glue 3 of these up for the top. I was hoping for 6x12, but I'm happy with 6x8's . Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia in BC Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 A question I have before my inspection... How much do I care about knots - small and large? When I've picked lumber in the past it has mostly been smaller boards for smaller projects and I have been lucky enough to either pick lumber without knots or work around them. How much of an issue would they be for this project? I imagine they wouldn't be great for the top but might not pose too much of a problem (other than an aesthetic one) for the base. Any thoughts? aronson, having knots or not (pun intended) is a personal choice. Purists don't want any knots. I think a few small knots add to the character of the piece; I just wouldn't want *any* on the top face, or the top couple of inches of the top face in case it wears down or is planed down over the years. Down below, large knots have pieces that can fall out over time so they could affect structural integrity. some small tight knots won't hurt the integrity. IMHO, FWIW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 A couple of thoughts on wood selection. I see a number folks are considering Ash. If you think about it Ash, Oak or other open pore wood will tend to trap things like metal filings (if you sharpen on your bench) and grit from rough cut lumber you may be processing. Not only do you risk this debris transferring to projects you may be working on later, but I imagine it would absolute murder on your plane irons when you go to flatten the bench in the future. Another source for lumber for a bench top (I think the Schawrz has mentioned this on one of his builds), is a log home builder. The timbers they use are huge and some of the species they use may be suitable for use as a bench top (i.e Doug Fir, SYP, etc..) . And as a bonus, you may be able to get by without any glue ups, just two 4" thick 12" wide slabs and you're golden, unless you planned on the square dog holes. All you have to do is get it into your shop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaporte Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Taking delivery of my Ash and Walnut this coming Wednesday after I inspect it at the lumber dealer (M.L. Condon in Stormville, NY). The salesperson I spoke to offered to pre-pick the lumber for me which I could then "tweak" upon inspection. I asked for the clearest and straightest boards possible, straight edge ripped and slip planed to 1 7/8". A question I have before my inspection... How much do I care about knots - small and large? When I've picked lumber in the past it has mostly been smaller boards for smaller projects and I have been lucky enough to either pick lumber without knots or work around them. How much of an issue would they be for this project? I imagine they wouldn't be great for the top but might not pose too much of a problem (other than an aesthetic one) for the base. Any thoughts? Aronson, I was also thinking of useing M L Condon in stormville. I've bought some cherry from them in the past. Just wondering how your pick went? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamAronson Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 I was also thinking of useing M L Condon in stormville. I've bought some cherry from them in the past. Just wondering how your pick went? Hi Andy, As I mentioned in my other post I was very happy with my pick at Condon's. The sales rep there (John) was very helpful as were the staff in Stormville. Delivery to my shop in Red Hook was $75 - very fair! They were a little short on 4/4 stock so I had to scrounge a bit. Not too worried as the 4/4 is mostly for the shelf. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Right now, I'm hedging between building "FrankenRoubo" with all the different hard wood I have in my shop. Read that as need to purchase very little. My other thought is to purchase a bunch of soft maple, I can get that for about $3.00/bf. Then I would try to figure out what I have in the shop that I could build the base out of, maybe two woods for the base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torch02 Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Right now, I'm hedging between building "FrankenRoubo" with all the different hard wood I have in my shop. Read that as need to purchase very little. My other thought is to purchase a bunch of soft maple, I can get that for about $3.00/bf. Then I would try to figure out what I have in the shop that I could build the base out of, maybe two woods for the base. If you go Frankenbench, I suggest going all the way with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 If you go Frankenbench, I suggest going all the way with it See, now that's kinda cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvoigt Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 I have been toying with the idea of building this bench. I certainly can use a good bench, as I don't have one at all, but the cost and the overall space is limiting me. I probably can't do a bench much larger then 6 feet long, and if I'm putting this much into it I would like to have at least an 8' bench. I sudden remembered that I have a large collection of 8/4 Jatoba, maybe even enough to do the whole top (maybe with a decorative strip of maple in there too). However Jatoba is very hard (Janka of 2350 compared to maple of 1450) and can be a pain to work with. It is also a darker wood, not super dark, but certainly much darker then maple. Any opinions on this? Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Personally, I think the light colored bench thing is over-rated. I wouldn't worry about it being a bit darker. As far as being hard to work with... well, that's up to you. How are you going to flatten it? That might be a large chore, or an impossible one depending on what you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaporte Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Adam, Ordered my wood today from John. ~150 bf of hard maple. They are going to FAS and rip one side. Should be able to pick it up next week. I hope that enough time in the shop to adjust beore we start in Jan. As for my bechcraft order, it's almost 4 weeks and no sigh of it yet. Well I still have a few weeks. Let's hope it shows up in time. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvoigt Posted December 11, 2011 Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 Personally, I think the light colored bench thing is over-rated. I wouldn't worry about it being a bit darker. As far as being hard to work with... well, that's up to you. How are you going to flatten it? That might be a large chore, or an impossible one depending on what you decide. I have a lunch box planer and a 16/32 drum sander, so I should be able to use power tools to flatten it. I'm not exactly sure all the steps invloved in actually making the bench... which is why I would be building along with the rest of the class.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 I have a lunch box planer and a 16/32 drum sander, so I should be able to use power tools to flatten it. I'm not exactly sure all the steps invloved in actually making the bench... which is why I would be building along with the rest of the class.... You sound like you have everything you need. In my opinion, you should go for it. Personally, I think the Jatoba would make a beautiful bench. So unless that wood is ear marked for another project, I'd like to see you build the roubo out of it. Again, I'm not one of those people that really worries about the bench being made of a slightly darker wood. Not sure I'd make it out of ebony, but a middle dark wood... IMO is just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlingenfelter Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 A couple week ago I picked up some large Douglas Fir timbers for the bench. I was able to find some 6x12 timbers for the top . I found a nice 6x6 for the legs. The 6x6 is amazing clear and straight grained. If they had more like this, I think I would have used 6x6's for the whole project. The 6x12's have been sitting outside for quite awhile and have grayed. I planed off a little of the gray and there is a nice light golden color under the gray. It's going to be "fun" working with those 6x12's, but I think it's going to make a nice top. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdbuilder Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 When I built my Roubo last year I wound up going with ambrosia maple, basically soft red maple with the wormholes and stains. It was by far the cheapest option available (still not exactly cheap though ) and was available in some huge planks. I started with 2 16 foot long planks, 1 about 14" wide and the other 16" wide, I got almost the entire project out of those two planks. Wound up needing one more small board to finish out the stretchers and then another board for the leg vise and sliding leg vise which I did out of ash. I wound up liking the look of the Ambrosia a lot, the 2 big planks turned out the be quite curly which looks nice with a little danish oil for a finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephens_Shop Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Well I too finally dropped some coin on lumber for the build. Douglas Fir (DF) kiln dried to about 7% moisture the same as everything sitting in my shopfor over a year. not a single knot and it is nice and true. now I do have to mill it but I expect it will remain straight, QUESTION: any experence with dogs in Walnut? I may highlight the DF benchtop with Walnut and was thinking about having my dog holes in the strip that would be walnut. Any wood properties that raise a concern that I should be aware of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imaginos Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Say I were to build this bench predominantly out of SYP (based upon Schwarz's book), more or less along the guild plans. Would there be anything seriously wrong with making the SYP top slabs 3 1/4" thick then topping it with 3/4 (or even 4/4) soft maple? Maybe even wrap the edges too? I know the different species would likely move differently over time, but if the laminations are thing enough and strong enough, but does it matter? I was looking at the various Roubo's on the web that there are several mutt work benches, including a walnut/SYP mix at Bad Axe Tool works. I've not been able to confirm that someone has done it with the top yet. Are there any other unintended consequences of doing this? If I take this plunge, it'll be my first project of this scope and scale and I suspect it would take me most of the year. I think there's a fair chance of a great big pile of kindling being generated along the way. I'd put the quality and consistence of my sawdust up against anyone else's on my block, especially when I can get another 2"x12"x16' of SYP for $16 and a 25 minute round trip, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I would say take it easy on yourself and just use SYP throughout. Lots of folks use the stuff on their benches with great success. Laminating another species on top of a SYP base just sounds like a problem waiting to happen, and a lot of extra work. I have yet to hear from someone who regrets using SYP for their bench so I say dive in head first and enjoy the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 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: Aaron, wonderful bench and love the walkthrough with Marc! I have enough H-Maple to make the roubo, but if LVL holds up over the long term (10-15 years) it would be a viable option - any stats (anacdotal)? also one image looks like there's a void - did you encounter many? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I wound up liking the look of the Ambrosia a lot, the 2 big planks turned out the be quite curly which looks nice with a little danish oil for a finish. any details of that tail vice configuration - looks like a good alternative to the benchcrafted option. Nice looking bench! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Aaron, wonderful bench and love the walkthrough with Marc! I have enough H-Maple to make the roubo, but if LVL holds up over the long term (10-15 years) it would be a viable option - any stats (anacdotal)? also one image looks like there's a void - did you encounter many? Thanks Spokeshave. I don't know of any reason the LVL wouldn't hold up for that long. Thinking of it's intended purpose as house beams, it is going to see hot and cold extremes as an attic beam that our benches shouldn't ever see. I don't have a single fact to back me up, but if LVL was going to spontaneously delaminate after 10 years you'd think we would have heard about it by now. They have been using it in house construction for much longer. There were some voids in the LVL, but they are really more of a visual annoyance than a functional problem. Honestly I hardly notice them, and nothing gets stuck. That picture above is way zoomed in, so it tends to exaggerate the void. I did try to put the best face up when I laid out the top, so the underside would have most of the voids. Good luck with your build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Many thanks! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 have you seen this bench? http://adventuresinw...o/#comment-1983 Hope those tiles are well seated and can take the poundings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdbuilder Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 any details of that tail vice configuration - looks like a good alternative to the benchcrafted option. Nice looking bench! Thanks Spokeshave! I'll look for some pics tonight, it works pretty well. Very economical, it is a vise screw from Lee Valley (something like $25) plus a couple lengths of 1/8" steel plate and about a dozen 10-32 machine screws that trap the sliding block on the bottom side. The leg vise was pretty cheap too, pic attached. The design is shamelessly stolen from the Benchcrafted prototype design. Same cheap Lee Valley screw plus a couple skateboard wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 That is Great!! Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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