Workbench lumber question

[Hank Knight]

My intention is 4" thick across the top, with two 3" thick strips running down near the outer edges where my dogholes will go. Looking at those prices for the laminated maple blanks, it might be worth grabbing two and then gluing them down to plywood substrates.

Mac,

I didn't like the idea of trying to process and manhandle a large, heavy glue-up in my small shop. I took the easy route and ordered a 3" thick 24" X 72" hard maple laminated slab from Bally Block Co. I glued 2" X 4" dog hole strips to both sides, made end caps for each end and added a twin screw end vise to one end. It was not the cheapest option, but it made a beautiful bench top and it was way easier than gluing up my own bench top from 8/4 boards. I consider it money well spent.

IMG_1221 by Hank Knight, on Flickr

[CStan]

My next "me" project is going to be my Roubo workbench.  It'll be a budget build, with borg dimensional lumber.

My question is where to find the clear SYP that I see in all the YouTube videos?  Everything I see at HD or Lowe's is full of knots.  To be honest, I don't care if there are knots in the project; I've never been bothered by them.  I know one concern is that they can rip out when planing the top, but otherwise, are they a problem?

If so, where the heck do I find clear lumber without breaking the bank?

2x12s (and 10s) tend to be a little clearer because of grading for strength.  You should be able to cut around a lot of the knots when laying out parts.  There is a waste factor, but it's lumberyard pine vs. clear hardwood and the difference in price should make it even out.

[bpatters69]

[quote pid='7697140' dateline='1544624510']
My intention is 4" thick across the top, with two 3" thick strips running down near the outer edges where my dogholes will go.  Looking at those prices for the laminated maple blanks, it might be worth grabbing two and then gluing them down to plywood substrates.
[/quote]

Just a reminder... MDF is stable and it makes a great substrate. You can slap a piece of 1/4 or 1/2" ply on top which you can replace every few years.

As I said in my earlier post, my workbench was my first woodworking project so my skills were limited. Not that I have much more skill now.
  Anyway, I also used lag bolts and very little glue. My bench is now over 20 years old. I have since added a cabinet to it that sits underneath the bench for storage.

Again, I do not mean to disparage others who have built beautiful benches. I have seen them on this thread and in the forum and they are works for art. I like my bench because it takes a beating and it does it thing. More importantly, I do not fret over paint, scratches and dings as I would if I spent a lot of time building a bench with joinery and expensive wood.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Oh, I understand that completely.

Part of the desire to build the bench is the challenge. My shop is (just) big enough to handle working a table top easy, and I kinda want to look at it and think, "Yeah, I built that."

[bpatters69]

Oh, I understand that completely.

Part of the desire to build the bench is the challenge.  My shop is (just) big enough to handle working a table top easy, and I kinda want to look at it and think, "Yeah, I built that."

Perfectly reasonable. Have fun.

[DieselDennis]

Look at buying a glulam beam. Ideally you'd find a drop b/c no one would ever order a bench short enough for a workbench.

My Dad had an awesome possible workbench at one time. Somebody gave him a glulam beam because it was too short. It was basically an 18' long stack of fifteen 2x6s all glued up. He gave it to someone else because it was too hard to move around in the barn.

[AHill]

One thing to consider is the board doesn't have to be entirely knot-free.  Just the surface or the parts where you need to drill dog holes.  I second the strategy of culling out 2x10's or 2x8's to get the clearest stock you can piece together for a workbench.  Mark each board when you lay them out to ID where the knots might be and avoid drilling there.  If you're going to use BORG lumber, you'll need to let it dry out before you start cutting and gluing.  Otherwise, twisting and cupping will have you thinking and maybe uttering some choice words out of frustration.

It also doesn't have to be SYP.  SYP does have a hardness advantage - especially after it's aged and the sap cures, where it becomes very strong and hard.  Doug Fir still has about 80% of the strength of SYP, but only about 75% of the hardness, so it's more dent and ding-prone.