I'm going to have a few trees taken down in my yard (Seattle, Washington
area) and wonder if a couple might be good for a workbench top. One is a
broadleaf maple with the log diameter around 12 inches or so, and another
is a fruitless cherry, about the same size logs. Both are leaning some
(hence their planned demise) and I suspect they will contain a fair amount
of reaction wood. Thus, I don't expect I could mill out thickish boards
and not have them move and check significanlty with humidity changes, but
how about if I were to cut fairly thin strips (~1/2" x 3") and laminate a
bench top? I did this with my current bench, which is made of recycled oak
flooring, but I don't like the open pore surface of the oak, and the top is
only 1-3/4" thick, and I'd like a full 3" thick top.

Is either the maple or the cherry going to be hard enough for general
woodworking use? Is a top made of laminated thin strips going to be fairly
stable? I would guess that it would be, because plywood is stable, but am
I wrong? Would one be better than the other?

Or should I just try turning bowls out of the wood? I've heard that
reaction wood from maple can have a lot of curly or quilted grain.

--
John Snow
"If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be here"

Pine or fir is hard enough for a workbench top. Maybe some woods aren't as
pretty as others but it is a work bench..

After stickering the strips for six months to a year they will probably be
stable enough.

There are no points of comparison between plywood and what you are
proposing.

The main reason plywood is stable is because each layer of veneer's grain
runs at 90 degrees to the ones over and/or under it. Any movment of the
veneers is resisted by the opposing layers of veneer..

If your workbench top does prove to be stable, which it should be if you dry
the strips properly, it will be because laminating results in most of the
wood movment across the thickness of the glue up rather then across the
width as it would be for a flat sawn edge glued panel.

Good luck
--
Mike G.

Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Hitch" wrote in message
. ..
I'm going to have a few trees taken down in my yard (Seattle, Washington
area) and wonder if a couple might be good for a workbench top. One is a
broadleaf maple with the log diameter around 12 inches or so, and another
is a fruitless cherry, about the same size logs. Both are leaning some
(hence their planned demise) and I suspect they will contain a fair amount
of reaction wood. Thus, I don't expect I could mill out thickish boards
and not have them move and check significanlty with humidity changes, but
how about if I were to cut fairly thin strips (~1/2" x 3") and laminate a
bench top? I did this with my current bench, which is made of recycled
oak
flooring, but I don't like the open pore surface of the oak, and the top
is
only 1-3/4" thick, and I'd like a full 3" thick top.

Is either the maple or the cherry going to be hard enough for general
woodworking use? Is a top made of laminated thin strips going to be
fairly
stable? I would guess that it would be, because plywood is stable, but am
I wrong? Would one be better than the other?

Or should I just try turning bowls out of the wood? I've heard that
reaction wood from maple can have a lot of curly or quilted grain.

--
John Snow
"If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be here"

Turn salad bowls out of the cherry. I would try to get a whole set out of
them (one larger mixing bowl and 4+ serving bowls). Then make the mixing
tongs (or fork & spoon set) too.

Or you could even laminate alternating 1" planks (maple/cherry/maple/cherry
etc) to build up your turning blanks. Then your bowls would have those cool
layers. That would be impressive.


codepath




"Hitch" wrote in message
. ..
I'm going to have a few trees taken down in my yard (Seattle, Washington
area) and wonder if a couple might be good for a workbench top. One is a
broadleaf maple with the log diameter around 12 inches or so, and another
is a fruitless cherry, about the same size logs. Both are leaning some
(hence their planned demise) and I suspect they will contain a fair amount
of reaction wood. Thus, I don't expect I could mill out thickish boards
and not have them move and check significanlty with humidity changes, but
how about if I were to cut fairly thin strips (~1/2" x 3") and laminate a
bench top? I did this with my current bench, which is made of recycled
oak
flooring, but I don't like the open pore surface of the oak, and the top
is
only 1-3/4" thick, and I'd like a full 3" thick top.

Is either the maple or the cherry going to be hard enough for general
woodworking use? Is a top made of laminated thin strips going to be
fairly
stable? I would guess that it would be, because plywood is stable, but am
I wrong? Would one be better than the other?

Or should I just try turning bowls out of the wood? I've heard that
reaction wood from maple can have a lot of curly or quilted grain.

--
John Snow
"If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be here"

Really the best thing for you to do is just have me come over and get that
pasky wood away from there! heh heh

Jim


"codepath" wrote in message
...
Turn salad bowls out of the cherry. I would try to get a whole set out of
them (one larger mixing bowl and 4+ serving bowls). Then make the mixing
tongs (or fork & spoon set) too.

Or you could even laminate alternating 1" planks
(maple/cherry/maple/cherry
etc) to build up your turning blanks. Then your bowls would have those
cool
layers. That would be impressive.


codepath




"Hitch" wrote in message
. ..
I'm going to have a few trees taken down in my yard (Seattle, Washington
area) and wonder if a couple might be good for a workbench top. One is
a
broadleaf maple with the log diameter around 12 inches or so, and
another
is a fruitless cherry, about the same size logs. Both are leaning some
(hence their planned demise) and I suspect they will contain a fair
amount
of reaction wood. Thus, I don't expect I could mill out thickish boards
and not have them move and check significanlty with humidity changes,
but
how about if I were to cut fairly thin strips (~1/2" x 3") and laminate
a
bench top? I did this with my current bench, which is made of recycled
oak
flooring, but I don't like the open pore surface of the oak, and the top
is
only 1-3/4" thick, and I'd like a full 3" thick top.

Is either the maple or the cherry going to be hard enough for general
woodworking use? Is a top made of laminated thin strips going to be
fairly
stable? I would guess that it would be, because plywood is stable, but
am
I wrong? Would one be better than the other?

Or should I just try turning bowls out of the wood? I've heard that
reaction wood from maple can have a lot of curly or quilted grain.

--
John Snow
"If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be here"

Hitch wrote:

of reaction wood. Thus, I don't expect I could mill out thickish boards
and not have them move and check significanlty with humidity changes, but

Or should I just try turning bowls out of the wood? I've heard that
reaction wood from maple can have a lot of curly or quilted grain.

If you try to make a workbench out of them, you'll be sorely disappointed.
Likewise bowls. Those species are no good for bowls at all, and you're
wasting your time.

If you mail the logs to me, I'll dispose of them properly.

Seriously... If it were me, I'd be reluctant to make a bench out of such
lumber until it had been drying for a good year per inch, at least.
Benches want to be pretty flat and stable, and a green bench, laminated or
not, sounds like a bad plan to me. I'd probably just build a bench out of
KD lumber if I wanted a bench anytime soon.

OTOH, for turning just about anything goes. I'm personally short on turning
stock, so there would be no room for doubt there. A couple trees that big
would keep me turning everything I could imagine for a good long time, I'd
expect, and I'd be like a kid in a candy store.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/