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Building my 1st bench, after reading the Anarchist Work Bench & some forum posts I've decided to go with a soft wood top. But what's avaible where I live (no SWP) is DF or Hem Fir. Unfortunately most of the DF around here is in bad shape, std or btr green or S dry just full of knots & twisted. But Lowes has some Hem Fir at a decent price & I can select pretty clear straight boards for the top. My question is that the moister content on em is between 12%-15% would there be problem gluing them up with that much moister content ?
Thanks
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(01-28-2022, 07:47 PM)2link2 Wrote: Building my 1st bench, after reading the Anarchist Work Bench & some forum posts I've decided to go with a soft wood top. But what's avaible where I live (no SWP) is DF or Hem Fir. Unfortunately most of the DF around here is in bad shape, std or btr green or S dry just full of knots & twisted. But Lowes has some Hem Fir at a decent price & I can select pretty clear straight boards for the top. My question is that the moister content on em is between 12%-15% would there be problem gluing them up with that much moister content ?
Thanks
The first thing you do when building a bench is glue up the slab. Go ahead and glue the Hem/Fir stock now, don't worry about the current moisture content, and get it sitting in the room the bench will ultimately occupy.
Do a good job. Use battens top and bottom to keep the slab as flat as possible during the glue up. Do not clamp twist into the slab. Check the clamps a couple of times during the first 8 hours after glue-up and tighten them up if needed. If you can spare the clamps, leave the slab in clamps for a couple days. Check them periodically and keep them tight.
Don't attempt to flatten the slab for at least a week. Two or more would be better. Patience will be rewarded. Build the base, and let the slab be for a while.
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An FYI here . When I built my top I bought 2x12's and ripped them down to the width I wanted. Reason being that the 2x12s are much better quality than say 2 x 4's. They cost more but not many flaws to deal with.
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Thanks for the advice. I was worried about the glue holding when the wood eventually dries out. I've never used Titebond wood glue on construction lumber I'll use the Titebond premium made for exterior use. Good to know about waiting to flatten the top as I probably would have done that 1st thing.
I did look into 2x12 but all there stocking is #2 green at about 22% moister content and it doesn't even look as good as the 2x4 Hem Fir.
I'm going to make top 3" thick and use 2x6 for legs glued up & milled to 4 1/2", no mechanical fasteners everything mortise & tenon.
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I'll just add that you should face joint the glue surfaces, and if you can, rip the top edge to eliminate the round over edges (presuming you are not worried about flattening the underside of the slab.
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(01-29-2022, 09:45 AM)Kudzu Wrote: An FYI here . When I built my top I bought 2x12's and ripped them down to the width I wanted. Reason being that the 2x12s are much better quality than say 2 x 4's. They cost more but not many flaws to deal with.
Great advice. 2 x 12's typically give you clearer stock. You can cut around knots and other defects.
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I'll just add that you should face joint the glue surfaces, and if you can, rip the top edge to eliminate the round over edges (presuming you are not worried about flattening the underside of the slab.
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The ring orientation is probably the most important thing to think about. Much more than moisture content. Wood doesn't move randomly. The 2x12s all come from the heart or close to it. The meat of those boards is essentially quartersawn type material. I've had good luck with HD or Lowes DF or Hem Fir 2x12s, even with the heart in. I match planed 2 of these to make my work bench. They really haven't moved much.
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01-31-2022, 09:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-31-2022, 10:19 AM by 2link2.)
Another thought I have is on the glue up is, I was taught years ago to glue 100% meaning apply glue to both surfaces and I've always done this but have never glued up such a large job with so much surface area. I'm wondering for those that have glued up these thick tops how did you do it ?
Also the open time on Titebond says it's about 10 minutes were you able to get your entire bench glued up and start clamping in 10 or 15 minutes ? Maybe using a roller & just applying glue to one face it would be possible to start clamping in that time.
I feel I made a mistake with the Hem Fir top wood. I bought it because it was around 12-14% moister content compared to the DF which was 24-30%. But I did buy DF for the legs & stretches as there were only 2x4 in Hem fir. I ripped the DF 2x6's to 4 3/4" getting it to aprx size before gluing, brought them into the house to dry out a bit and in 2 days time the moister content has dropped a lot, some of them went from 25% down to 16% !
I had no idea they would dry out that fast. I really like the DF better due to it's weight and hardness compared to the Hem Fir it seems 1.5 to 2X heavier. Now I'm debating on weather to scrap the Hem Fir ($120.00) and go buy some DF. Too bad I already ripped off the rounded edge of Hem Fir or I would just return them. Live & learn as they say !
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I second what CStan said.
Can you get SYP? The 2x12 rip works well with it.
Any sawmills around?
