I am going to open up another can of worms. I have 2 calif black oak planks that I plan on using for a bench top 16" X 2 1/2" X 9'. This bench will be a shaker type. Now for my question--- can I glue these edge to edge or would it best to cut them and laminate them to form the bench top?
-Richard,
Richard L. Rombold WIZARD WOODWORKING
489 N. 32nd. St. Springfield, Or .97478As much as I'd hate to have to cut up planks that wide, I think I would rip them into narrower strips and then reglue alternating the annular rings. Of course you might need to revise your bench plan or get another planks due to the wood lost in sawdust from ripping.
Seems there's little point in going to the trouble of building the bench only to have the top go nuts on you. Ideally you would make the top from QS oak to reduce the movement but I know how dear QS oak is.
Good luck.
Dave
Save the oak for something better. Oak too hard, will bruise pieces made from softer woods, will stain with numerous glues and chemicals.
Nonsense. If oak is too hard, what is hard maple? Or beech? Red oak is about 1290 on the Janka scale. Hard maple is 1450, yet it is the ideal of most bench builders, American beech, IIRC, is around 1300.
If you're "bruising" wood on a workbench, it's time to look at your handling techniques.
Being a rather mature woodworker but fairly new at this 'groupie' thing i see some members really get involved in these messages. My point was why make an item which is harder than your piece of work. i cover my floor with wood in case i drop a piece, (and to save chisel sharpening). I only use pine mallets, not beech for the same reason. As for Janka, in 25 years of furniture making i have never heard of or needed to know of it. Come on Charlie save the aggression for the tree felling.
Easily enough solved by using a paste filler and finishing the top...
I always figure making a bench is worth using what is available---after all, it's only a bench. (I know, that's heresy to some.... :) )
Snip Come on Charlie save the aggression for the tree
Yeah...Charlie!
-Phil Crow
I think I'd just use them as they are, provided you can joint and plane
16" pieces (or are you going to hand plane them?) As long as they are well supported underneath it should be ok. And if it does warp in a few years, you could always take it off, cut and joint it and reglue it.Sounds like it will make a nice bench. And the best thing is, you already have the wood -nothing to buy! Rob
2 1/2" thick isn't enough for a 16" wide board.
If they're flat sawn, I'd rip them and re-assemble. If they're quarter sawn I'd keep them for furniture.
BTW - What's "California black oak" like ? I'm not familiar with it.
Andy Dingley wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Available at some of the more adventurous hardwood suppliers in Norhtern California, at least intermittently. Mt. Storm in Windsor, CA (Sonoma County) had it the last couple of times I was there.
What I saw was not as pink as the run of the mill 'red oak' (which covers a multitude of species and sources, of course.)
Patriarch
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