Bench Strength Test

[Danny in Houston]

Hired a crew to move my shop back to Houston, and as you can see from the photo the mover decided to test the joints on my bench.  There's probably a combined weight of nearly 1,000 pounds of slabs and bench resting on the forks of the pallet jack.  

I initially cringed and started to intervene, then figured my through tenons could survive the test.  The bench arrived in Houston just fine.

[fredhargis]

Sure would have had me nervous!

[jteneyck]

That was a pretty good 4-point bend test they conducted on the lower stretchers.  I think those would have broken long before the joints would have sheared.  I wouldn't repeat that experiment too often.  

John

[Robert Adams]

And thats why you dont let movers pack your stuff.

[Bill Holt]

It makes me cringe just looking at the picture!!!

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

As I look at the picture, the stretchers appear to be gracefully arched.  The question I have is did you build them that way (nice touch if you did!), or is your 4-point bend test bending them that way (scary)?

[Danny in Houston]

As I look at the picture, the stretchers appear to be gracefully arched.  The question I have is did you build them that way (nice touch if you did!), or is your 4-point bend test bending them that way (scary)?

ha ha.  I added the arch when I built the bench.  I used poplar, I believe it was 10/4 or 12/4 with through tenons, probably 3/4 by 4 inches.  Poplar is not a very strong wood species, but the pieces were substantial large.

[Danny in Houston]

As I look at the picture, the stretchers appear to be gracefully arched.  The question I have is did you build them that way (nice touch if you did!), or is your 4-point bend test bending them that way (scary)?

ha ha.  I added the arch when I built the bench.  I used poplar, I believe it was 10/4 or 12/4 with through tenons, probably 3/4 by 4 inches.  Poplar is not a very strong wood species, but the pieces were substantially large.

[mr_skittle]

I'd agree that the stretchers giving out would be more of a concern than the joinery. There must be some dents on them from that pallet jack. That's an awful nice loot of slabs you've got there too. I'm envious.

[BrokenOlMarine]

Meh, the movers are insured. If they broke your bench... they could have paid for repair or replacement. Lol. As a former active duty Marine, I moved about every 18 months for 13 years. Back in the "Old Corps" we got orders every three years, and base housing was never available on arrival. So you rented off base, then moved on base in a year or so when housing became available. Every single move, they broke, scratched, or dented something. I got really good, as the years went on, at documenting condition prior to the moves. Lol.