Southern Yellow Pine - again.

I've never used SYP, so can't say...

John in New Mexico


>But spruce and white fir are a little harder than most white pine I've used, and definitely harder than ponderosa and sugar pine. I believe though that yellow pines are one of the harder varieties.

However, if the boards are relatively straight and at least sorta-clear I don't see why it wouldn't work. At least its not as splintery as douglas fir. The main thing is to look at the rings and try to gauge how big a tree it was (bigger generally will mean more stable, though if there's 1/4" between each ring its more likely be twisty). Some units of 2x4's seem to be made out of 1 to 2 board trees, though last time I bought some at Lowes they were surprisingly good quality.

John

Re: Southern Yellow Pine - again.

Warren in Lancaster, PA


>One of the bad things about yellow pines is uneven wear. The latewood (darker grain} areas are much harder than the lighter earlywood. Because of this difference a surface that gets wear tends to be come rather ridged. You have probably seen this effect yourself on old siding or porches. This doesn't rule out yellow pine for a bench top, but it is a consideration.

Re: Southern Yellow Pine - again.

Edward in Vancouver


>I tend to agree with everyone else about yellow pine wearing faster, it will also bruise/dent very quickly, and any edges will wear down very fast. In other words, The top will look like he** very quickly, and when it does, you will start to question the time and effort you put into it.

A sheet of 1/4" hardboard as a "top skin" will do wonders, and can be cheaply and easily replaced, but if you're going for a traditional laminated wood top and can't justify buying 50 bdft of maple,(or any other hardwood) check out the used food eqpt dealers in your area. You can usually find maple 30" x 60 or 72" bakers's tables or 12"x 72" sandwich table cutting boards. Granted, these may be a little, uh, rough, but they are usually 21/2" thick, so you can flip the surface over and take them down to 13/4" or 2". The tops will wear alot more slowly and also weigh alot more, which gives a measure of stability.

You could also

Doug Littlejohn


>laminate a single layer of good maple to the top of your benchtop. This would give you the longevity of maple with the thickness and density of the pine/fir based top.

Anyway, you know what they say about advice, it's worth about what you paid for it !!

Sherwood

Re: Southern Yellow Pine - again.

Dale Lenz


>If you can find a grading stamp on the lumber, most SYP lumber is marked as SPIB, Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, I believe...Dale

Re: Southern Yellow Pine - again. *LINK*

Bob Lang


>Below is a link to the "Southern Pine Council" website.It has a lot of technical info, including grading and stamps. There is a product locator there, but I would suggest first trying woodfinder.com.

I've seen Chris Schwarz in action, and one of his secrets is to ignore all of the narrow material and head for the longest and widest stuff available. A 2 X 10 is a narrow board to him.

Floor joist stock is surprisingly good, and with a little judicious ripping you can get 5"-6" wide quartersawn material from wider stuff. If you're in an area where you can't find southern yellow pine, I would consider the local floor joist material a reasonable atlernative for the budget-minded bench builder.

Bob Lang


Southern Pine Council

Re: Southern Yellow Pine - again.

Mark in B'ham


>I read an interesting article about using "cheap" lumber to build a sturdy workbench in an old magazine I was given. I can't remember which one, but I'll look it up tonight for you. This article used torsion boxes for the base and the top to add strength and resistance to racking. Some soft lumber was used for the ribs with a nicer plywood for the top. It might be worth a look for you.

My experience.....

Jim in Houston


>I used common constuction lumber for the top of the bench I built about five years ago. I did this for two reasons. One: It was significantly cheaper. Even buying 2x12's and cutting out the good parts it was hundreds cheaper than using hard maple which was, if I remember correctly, about 7-8 dollars a board-foot for 12/4 stock at the time. Two: I had no idea how to successfully glue up and flatten (still working on the flattening bit) such a hefty slab at the time and I didn't want to make my first attempt with several hundred dollars worth of maple.

Does it wear? Yea, it does. Have I seen a great deal of differential wear early vs. late wood? Not that much. But I did use the quarter sawn surface up primarily and there wasn't that much separation between the rings in most of the stock I used.

Did the edges wear very fast? Nah, I wrapped the edges in ash. Did it stay flat? Well it's stayed about as flat as I was able to make it five years ago. I could reflatten it, and I probably should, but I may reserve that effort for an actual maple top should I decide I need one in the years to come. But the construction grade stuff top I have sure has been a joy to use compared to not having a bench at all.

Word of warning. Buy the stuff, let it sit in your garage stickered and weighted down well at least six months before you begin to machine it. You'll be stunned how much lighter it is in weight when you pick it up six months later. It should be dry enough then.

My six months were from May to October. Very hot months here. The wood dried out nicely. Don't use the pith in the middle, it'll move no matter what you do. Throw it away or burn it. It's pretty much useless.

replace the AT with a @ in the email address

Cheap bench now, better bench later

Roy Anderson


>I take it you are at the beginning of your woodworking career. Welcome to the party. My point of view is build a cheap, reasonably functional bench now out of whatever, start making projects and learn woodworking. Learn what kind of woodworking excites you. In a couple of years, use your cheap workbench to help you build a really good workbench that reflects your mature vision of what you want to accomplish in the world of woodworking.

Your cheap bench won't be worn out in two years. At the end of that time it will still make good firewood. Or retire it from your prime functions and make it your glue up and finishing table.

I worked for a couple of years on two SYP 2X10's screwed into a couple of saw horses which I later knocked into shape as a utility table. Then I built a better bench out of SYP 2x8's ripped in half and laminated, which I am proceeding to tear up now. In a couple of years, I'll have a really good idea what kind of good bench I need.

Side benefits of a cheap bench: As you learn and develop your work methods, you can drill a dog hole in the top anywhere you want and not feel guilty about it. Or you can use the bench surface as the running track of a really cheap shooting board and not feel guilty about scratching things up. Or if your chisel slips off and you put a really nasty gouge in your bench top, who cares? Or if the surface gets a little irregular, you can just grab your jointer plane and smooth it right down. No big deal.

Just my point of view.

Re: Southern Yellow Pine where to find

bill tindall


>You will find yellow pine in the floor joist department of any building supply in the east (they will use fir in the west). The stuff is too hard to nail to be widely used in studs and the like but its stiffness excells in floor joists.

Woodwork October 1996

Mark in B'ham


>The artical is "workbench in a weekend" by Tom Casper. Shoot me an email if you don't have it.