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Just off hand, fir seems too soft for a nice work bench. But to answer your first question, 4" think bench should be enough.
I built my work bench with Southern Yellow Pine knowing it would not hold up. Well that was 12 years ago and it is holding its own; much harder wood than expected.
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Some fir species get quite hard after years of the resin aging. If there's no water damage I'd think it would be adequate, but test to see how soft it is first. I wouldn't go above 4" thick just for reasons of moving it around when needed.
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First off, kudos on re-using material. Second, chemical strippers work very well. Beyond that, there is a school of thought that a workbench should be soft so as not to ding your material. I don't know how sound that logic is but, unless you are pretty ham-handed, fir should be fine at 4" thick. Concerns will be for the splits and knots you will find under the paint. Both of these can be cured with a little dribbled epoxy pared flush to your new surface. Eight inch deep dog holes would require 8" dogs and I could see the softer wood making that problematic over the seasonal changes.
Since you have an abundance of material I would rip them into 1-1/2" wide strips and laminate them back together for greater stability. I used poplar for my base which is a physically soft hardwood. I did this as I had used poplar twice before without issue. I did use typical joinery and glued the poplar joints. I mention this since just screws or nuts and bolts would eventually fail in softer materials due to the racking force of using the bench.
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Doug fir (Janka = 620) is actually harder than poplar (Janka = 540) and a bit softer than most of the southern yellow pines (~690 depending on the species) and would work well for a bench top. It would be interesting to test the hardness of doug fir beams that have been seasoning for 25 years. 4" is plenty for thickness; 8" may give you trouble getting your holdfasts to work properly.
Phil
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I wouldn't hesitate to use it for a workbench, it will make a nice one!
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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I've seen workbench plans that call out Douglas Fir as a good choice for wood species.
8" thick? That's a lot, IMHO. I'd go 4. Those beams should make a great supporting structure for the top.
Send along pics of those beams! I'd love to see them.
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(02-18-2020, 01:48 PM)nold.dog Wrote: Hello -
1) What is your opinion on Douglas Fir as woodworking bench material? I know the preferred wood is a hardwood - but - free 16' beams.... 2) The pros and cons of 8 inches thick versus 4 inches thick?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
Don
(1) Some years ago I purchased a Doug fir beam from a local lumber yard. It had been ordered and never picked up, so I got it at a very good price. Not as good as free, but nearly. I took it home and walked around it for several days looking at knots (and other blems). Then I laid out a cut pattern that allowed me to glue it back together with grain mismatched for stability and all knots save one small pin knot turned to the inside and invisible. That bench has been helping me butcher wood for about 10 years, now without any complaints.
(2) My bench top is 4 inches thick. I recently moved, bench and all. I can tell you with certainty that I would not have wanted to move an 8 inch thick top.
Robin of Kingston
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Go for it and post pics of your progress.
