The recent topic on woods to use for a workbench brought up a question
I have had for a while.

Why is the common advice to use a hard wood for the bench top?

It seems to me that you would want your workbench top to be softer than
whatever you are working on. Then when you bang the piece around, you
are less likely to leave dents in the piece. I'd rather have dents in
the bench than dents in the piece I'm building.

My bench top is made from Borg 2x4 studs and is pretty soft. It shows
a lot of wear, but then it looks like I actually get things done in the
shop!

Mark

"Mark Wells" wrote in message

It seems to me that you would want your workbench top to be softer than
whatever you are working on. Then when you bang the piece around, you
are less likely to leave dents in the piece. I'd rather have dents in
the bench than dents in the piece I'm building.

If your benchtop is flat, other than literally crushing your workpiece, how
can you put dents in it other than hitting it with something? In reality,
you're never going to get any working surface soft enough to prevent some
kind of damage. Ideally, you want your working surface solid enough to
properly support your workpiece and then it's up to you to control how hard
you bang it around. That's my take on it anyway.

"Mark Wells" wrote:

Why is the common advice to use a hard wood for the bench top?
I'd guess 1) mass 2) firmness of backing (less give=energy absorbed
when hammering on a chisel) 3)durability.

It seems to me that you would want your workbench top to be softer than
whatever you are working on. Then when you bang the piece around, you
are less likely to leave dents in the piece. I'd rather have dents in
the bench than dents in the piece I'm building.

My bench top is made from Borg 2x4 studs and is pretty soft. It shows
a lot of wear, but then it looks like I actually get things done in the
shop!

Well, the Borg also sells 3/4" sheet styrofoam. Very unlikely to
damage your work pieces, and will show lots of wear very quickly!

While that was obviously a tongue-in-cheek suggestion about taking the
"soft-is-good" idea to extremes, some of the same issues appear with a
soft wood bench, just to a much smaller degree.

To be fair, think about taking the bench to the other extreme--an iron
or granite top. Fans of hard bench wood would probably see those
alternatives as good except for the issue of dulling tools. Hard wood
is about as hard as you can get without risking too much damage to
tool edges.

Then there's always the intangible of the pleasure of working on a
nice wood surface.
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To be fair, think about taking the bench to the other extreme--an iron
or granite top. Fans of hard bench wood would probably see those
alternatives as good except for the issue of dulling tools.

For granite, ad an element of brittleness as a negative, but it is not
unprecidented.

Tom Plamann has some granite-topped assembly tables (arguably special
purpose benches) which, if you'll pardon the pun, rock.

-Steve


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Mark Wells wrote:

The recent topic on woods to use for a workbench brought up a question
I have had for a while.

Why is the common advice to use a hard wood for the bench top?

It seems to me that you would want your workbench top to be softer than
whatever you are working on. Then when you bang the piece around, you
are less likely to leave dents in the piece. I'd rather have dents in
the bench than dents in the piece I'm building.

My bench top is made from Borg 2x4 studs and is pretty soft. It shows
a lot of wear, but then it looks like I actually get things done in the
shop!

Mark

My bench is made of doug fir tubafors on edge and bolted together with
threaded rod. It is flat but as it accumulates paint spills and
scratches, I will hit it with a coarse grit in the ROS. When I need
extra protection, I put down one of those foam or rubber pads.
mahalo,
jo4hn

Mark Wells wrote:
The recent topic on woods to use for a workbench brought up a question
I have had for a while.

Why is the common advice to use a hard wood for the bench top?

It seems to me that you would want your workbench top to be softer than
whatever you are working on. Then when you bang the piece around, you
are less likely to leave dents in the piece. I'd rather have dents in
the bench than dents in the piece I'm building.

My bench top is made from Borg 2x4 studs and is pretty soft. It shows
a lot of wear, but then it looks like I actually get things done in the
shop!

Mark

One reason you want the bench hard is so that saw
dust and little splinters don't stick in it
(become embedded). Embedded stuff and really mar
the piece you are working on. You want to be able
to swipe a brush across it and be sure than
nothing is left.

alexy wrote:
"Mark Wells" wrote:


Why is the common advice to use a hard wood for the bench top?

I'd guess 1) mass 2) firmness of backing (less give=energy absorbed
when hammering on a chisel) 3)durability.


It seems to me that you would want your workbench top to be softer than
whatever you are working on. Then when you bang the piece around, you
are less likely to leave dents in the piece. I'd rather have dents in
the bench than dents in the piece I'm building.

My bench top is made from Borg 2x4 studs and is pretty soft. It shows
a lot of wear, but then it looks like I actually get things done in the
shop!


Well, the Borg also sells 3/4" sheet styrofoam. Very unlikely to
damage your work pieces, and will show lots of wear very quickly!

While that was obviously a tongue-in-cheek suggestion about taking the
"soft-is-good" idea to extremes, some of the same issues appear with a
soft wood bench, just to a much smaller degree.

To be fair, think about taking the bench to the other extreme--an iron
or granite top. Fans of hard bench wood would probably see those
alternatives as good except for the issue of dulling tools. Hard wood
is about as hard as you can get without risking too much damage to
tool edges.

Then there's always the intangible of the pleasure of working on a
nice wood surface.

If you need a soft surface you can always throw a
piece of carpet on it. Carpet isn't too good for
pounding and getting things square tho.

For years, I've been using 4'x8'x3/4" MDF Sheets on top of woodbench..
I'd always flip the sheet over its' renew life.. MDF sheet are very
excelent piece for my wood working!! For soft issue, use the pool
table sheet over the sheet or thin felts on it..

On 21 Apr 2006 05:53:49 -0700, "Mark Wells"
wrote:

Why is the common advice to use a hard wood for the bench top?

Wears better. Throw a blanket (or corrugated cardboard) over it if you
need it soft.

Andy Dingley wrote:
Throw a blanket (or corrugated cardboard) over it if you
need it soft.


Make friends with a bicycle shop for unlimited large sheets of
cardboard. G

Mark,

I side with "nwwoodturner's" response about using MDF for a workbench
surface.

I built my workbench from premium grade pine 2x4s scored, glued, and screwed
to form 4x4s for legs, laid out premium grade pine 2x6s accross the top of
the frame I had run through the jointer and planer to get a flat sub
surface, scored, glued, and screwed those in place as well. I left some
overhang on the right and left sides and the front for mounting a vise and
clamping.

Like nwwoodturner I cut a piece of 3/4" MDF to fit for the top and just
nailed it down with finishing nails and counter sunk them. When it gets old,
I toss it and cut a new top for about 15 bucks. The whole bench cost about
80 bucks to build, not counting my vise, and it is rock solid.

Be glad to post the plan & pics on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking or
email on request.

RangerPaul

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before you reply.

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"Mark Wells" wrote in message
oups.com...
The recent topic on woods to use for a workbench brought up a question
I have had for a while.

Why is the common advice to use a hard wood for the bench top?

It seems to me that you would want your workbench top to be softer than
whatever you are working on. Then when you bang the piece around, you
are less likely to leave dents in the piece. I'd rather have dents in
the bench than dents in the piece I'm building.

My bench top is made from Borg 2x4 studs and is pretty soft. It shows
a lot of wear, but then it looks like I actually get things done in the
shop!

Mark

"Ranger Paul" wrote in
:

Be glad to post the plan & pics on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking
or email on request.


Please do post them. Or you can email me at
j dot broekman at verizon dot net

--
Best regards
Han
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