cherry bench top

Re: cherry bench top

Patrick Gibbons, Houston, TX

>Cherry would probably work but it seems like a waste of nice wide boards. I think of a bench as a workhorse and find it hard to justify making it look better than the furniture in my house. With that said, I also understand why someone would not feel bad about using wood they already had. Cherry is stable and "hard enough". It does turn darker and a light colored bench is more useful. If these are really nice boards I would use them on a project for the house and think about buying something else for the bench.

No, but for a different reason....

bill tindall

>First, let me admit that I regard a bench as a utilitarian device used in the aid of making furniture and other stuff. A means to an end. Something one makes to be able to make furniture and the like. When friends drop by you show them the new cherry dining room table you made, not the bench used to make it. The bench should be covered with shavings, parts and tools and dinged, scared, stained and dabbled with glue spots. Not the sort of thing one shows off.

Someone bought $200+ maple from us for a bench and among the pieces purchased was an exceptionally curly plank. It got glued into the top. Had I known I would have held that curly piece for someone that would have made something special out of it. I considered it a waste to use what has become a rare piece of wood for bench top.

One presumes the bench will be used to turn this oak and cherry into furniture as soon as there is a bench to work on. The only useful requirements I see in bench wood is that it be flat and heavy; and light colored for better visibility, but that can be fixed by painting or a layer of light colored laminant.

I can see no reason to use $8/ft cherry ( as rare as good quality cherry has gotten) when $3 a foot ash or whatever will do. Buy what you need to make the bench and save the furniture wood for furniture. Any wood makes a good bench, except maybe white pine or basswood. Maybe your supplier has some maple heartwood or wormy maple you can get at a good price or any other appearance-defect, heavy, stable lumber. Mine is poplar and I got the extra weight with thickness (3"). Even some slow growth yellow pine (dry) would make a suitable bench.

Re: cherry bench top

Tony - Memphis

>I think a cherry bench top would be beautiful! My cabinet under my bench is cherry and I love it. Oak would probably be a bit tougher, but the cherry will look so much better!

Tony

Sure, it's your call

ted Wong

>A nice bench is like a calling card (quote from Frank Klausz). Good materials and good craftsmanship can speak volumes to potential clients that might not have seen your previous work. Sure a bench is a utilitarian object but it should also be something inspiring to come to each time you work. I personally dislike working on an ill maintained work surface that is hacked to the point of being unflat and dirty or covered in glue or other goop especially when I'm working on fine woodworking projects. In itself the workbench can also be a fine piece of furniture that you'll want to treat with respect.

Good point

chichi

>You make a good point. This bench will be utilitarian. I have oak and maple legs because I had 4x4 in that wood. I have some hickory and if it is long enough, I will try it.

Thanks,

Bob

Re: cherry bench top

Deirdre Saoirse Moen

>If you really like cherry (like I do), why not make the apron (or just the end piece) out of cherry so you can see it when you work? That's my current plan should I make another bench, but I plan to make the bulk of the bench out of a much lighter (in color) wood, probably ash or maple.

Re: Sure, it's your call

Thom D

>Klaus is also the guy who talks about primary and secondary woods and recomends pine for drawer sides. The message a really fine bench sends out should be "I know what I am doing".

If I had tons of the stuff kicking around, I think it would make a fine bench top. It seems like a waste though because it marks so easily compared to sturdier woods, isn't all that heavy and is a bit musical for all that pounding. It's usually pretty dimensionally stable. To me, nice cherry is a first choice wood for a lot of furniture, but only a second choice wood for a bench. I can immagine better woods for the purpose. Around here, maple, a perenial bench favortie, now cost more than cherry, cost does weird things at times. I'd still use maple if I had some regardless of the cost. There are areas around here with big beeches, that are sold into firewood, and it is an excellent choice, though not so pretty.

Don't use the cherry on the top..

John K in Hastings, MN

>unless it is skirting or vise faces. I'd use something cheaper and harder for the mass of the field, and save the cherry for the base, drawers, and detail.

I'm planning to use curly cherry for the skirt on my bench-to-be, which will use a 2.5" thick hard maple top.