Work bench thickness is 3" too much?

[Large Wooden Badger]

My split top roubo is 4 inches thick

[Handplanesandmore]

If you can save lumber cost by going thinner, go with a 2" top. I use holdfasts and do lots of handplaning, and the 2" top presents no issues whatsoever. But don't intentionally go for a thinner top if it won't save you any money.

The thinnest top I had used is 1-3/4" for a decade, and it too gave me no problem either.

Simon

[Stwood_]

Do 6" of the surface 3" thick for the holddown holes, then the rest of the top, say 24", do it 2" thick.
Make the skirt around the edges all the same.

[adamcherubini]

I’ve made a lot of good furniture on a 1-1/2” thk doug fir workbench. I’d be more concerned about how easy it will be clamp stuff to the top. Next question is if you can clamp a long board to the front for edge work.

Qualifier: my bench is a Nicholson style bench with deep aprons that stiffen the otherwise thin top. When mallet work or mortising is reqd, I work over one of the legs.

[photobug]

If you are starting with "nominally" 4" wide maple boards, then winding up with a benchtop that is around 3" thick after you flatten both sides is quite reasonable. 3" thick is a good thickness for a hand tool bench top.

When picking boards, you want to use ones that are closer to flat-sawn than quarter-swan. That way, your glued-up top will be close to quarter-sawn. That helps minimize problems from seasonal moisture changes.

My boards are already onhand.  They have been acclimatizing in the home for about 20 years.  I think a few boards were put to use by some tenants when I rented the home out.  So now I would have to buy only a few more boards to make the bench at 3".  I have made a sled to flatten the boards on my planer so I can inventory the total useable feet I have available.

Once I do this I can determine how many board feet I would need to buy to make it to plans which is 3" thick.  If I do need more lumber the nearest hardwood source is 2 hours away.  One of the problems then is I need to acclimate the boards in the garage.

[Handplanesandmore]

They have been acclimatizing in the home for about 20 years.

Translation - Lumber sitting idle and not used for some 20 years!



Simon

[photobug]

Translation - Lumber sitting idle and not used for some 20 years!



Simon

In my defense, I was absent for 17 of those years.

But what I want to know, do you think the wood is ready to be worked yet.

[Handplanesandmore]

In my defense, I was absent for 17 of those years.

But what I want to know, do you think the wood is ready to be worked yet.

Less critical is the no. of years of acclimatization in the home but how different the humidity conditions between your home and shop are. If the home is humidity controlled while the shop is not, I'd place lumber in the shop first, perhaps for a few weeks.

Simon

[photobug]

Less critical is the no. of years of acclimatization in the home but how different the humidity conditions between your home and shop are. If the home is humidity controlled while the shop is not, I'd place lumber in the shop first, perhaps for a few weeks.

Simon

I did not even think about it but the wood has spent the last few years in the crawl space and have been back in the shop for a few weeks now.  The home and shop get heated in winter, other than that no climate controlled.  I just looked up Wyoming and it is the 3rd lowest relative humidity state behind Utah and Arizona.   I would think garage, shop, and crawlspace are all the same humidity, the shop is the garage.

[Handplanesandmore]

That wood should be good to work on, if so.

I have had a few occasions on which some boards (cherry or mahogany, 1" to 2" thick) twisted slightly on me after I put them in the shop (attached garage). Walnut seems to be better.

Simon