Workbench stain

"Hylourgos" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> I presume it warped, right?
>
> ...just curious. I've thought of doing the same if rushed for time and
> wanted a temporary bench. Seems a helluvalot easier to make...

It would work fine for a temporary bench. My first bench was laid flat and I
learn't some important lessons:

- Don't believe the seller when he says the timber is "dry", sometimes that
means it didn't rain *that* particular day.

-Any movement laterally tears the other timber out of its keys also.

-You have less timber to plane down

If it seems earier to make, it is. It is somewhat like buying a cheap and
nasty tool, it seems ok, but over time you'll be wishing you'd listened to
those inner voices. It may be ok if you have very dry timber.

regards,

Greg

Yor a few dollars more you can use construction grade yellow pine, much harder
and will stain better. I took some YP 2" x 10"s' ripped them in thirds to make
a work surface. Stable and dent resistent.

"V.E. Dorn" wrote:

> Soon, I'll be building a new workbench with 2x material on edge for the top,
> but being cheap, I refuse to part with the money to make it out of Maple so
> I'm going to do it with construction fir. My question is about stain, while
> I'm not trying to make it look like something it isn't, I don't want to put
> something on it that makes it yellow. Is there an effective way to stain,
> shellac or do any other type of finish for fir (or pine) with something
> darker without making it look like it has some kind of disease?

I presume it warped, right?

...just curious. I've thought of doing the same if rushed for time and
wanted a temporary bench. Seems a helluvalot easier to make...


H.

Bob Bowles <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I made the mistake of laying 2X6 stock flat instead of 2X4s on edge.
> I used a router to level it then after several years used BLO on it to
> slow down glue runout and finish spills. Don't quite see the
> advantage of stain as first gotcha means repair.
>
> On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 10:25:05 -0500, "V.E. Dorn" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >My question is about stain, while
> >I'm not trying to make it look like something it isn't, I don't want to put
> >something on it that makes it yellow. Is there an effective way to stain,
> >shellac or do any other type of finish for fir (or pine) with something
> >darker without making it look like it has some kind of disease?

Have you priced beech in your area? It makes a nice workbench top, almost
as good as maple. Yellow pine would be much better than fir. Over time,
you will be glad you used harder lumber. You will spend just as much over a
few years because you will have to make it several times, but you will have
a lot more labor in it. And all the time you are using it, you will be
working on a soft bench. Stain? Only if you never have a chisel slip or
set a random orbit sander down before it has stopped completely. My first
workbench was double-layered ply, which kept splintering. I replaced it
with more ply and a masonite top. It was better but it still bounced. Then
I built a top out of 3-inch maple and have never regretted it. If something
happened to me, I think my wife would move it into the kitchen. harrym

"Phil" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Yor a few dollars more you can use construction grade yellow pine, much
harder
> and will stain better. I took some YP 2" x 10"s' ripped them in thirds to
make
> a work surface. Stable and dent resistent.
>
> "V.E. Dorn" wrote:
>
> > Soon, I'll be building a new workbench with 2x material on edge for the
top,
> > but being cheap, I refuse to part with the money to make it out of Maple
so
> > I'm going to do it with construction fir. My question is about stain,
while
> > I'm not trying to make it look like something it isn't, I don't want to
put
> > something on it that makes it yellow. Is there an effective way to
stain,
> > shellac or do any other type of finish for fir (or pine) with something
> > darker without making it look like it has some kind of disease?
>

V.E. Dorn spaketh...

> Soon, I'll be building a new workbench with 2x material on edge for
> the top, but being cheap, I refuse to part with the money to make it
> out of Maple so I'm going to do it with construction fir. My question
> is about stain, while I'm not trying to make it look like something it
> isn't, I don't want to put something on it that makes it yellow. Is
> there an effective way to stain, shellac or do any other type of
> finish for fir (or pine) with something darker without making it look
> like it has some kind of disease?

I wouldn't stain it. You're not Tage Frid yet, so pine is fine. Years down
the road if you want a swanky bench you can build it then. I built mine out
of 2X6 SYP. It's great. I built it heavy and I can pound on it, spill
things on it, all sorts of abuse. Occasionally I run over it with 60 grit
on the ROS.

Build it with bench dogs and clamping in mind.
--
McQualude

I made the mistake of laying 2X6 stock flat instead of 2X4s on edge.
I used a router to level it then after several years used BLO on it to
slow down glue runout and finish spills. Don't quite see the
advantage of stain as first gotcha means repair.

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 10:25:05 -0500, "V.E. Dorn" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>My question is about stain, while
>I'm not trying to make it look like something it isn't, I don't want to put
>something on it that makes it yellow. Is there an effective way to stain,
>shellac or do any other type of finish for fir (or pine) with something
>darker without making it look like it has some kind of disease?

DJ,

following on from Charlie's advice, you *can* use cedar - but I would top it
with masonite. The cedar provides the mass and the masonite gives the
surface some durability. If you want to see the timber itself, follow
Charlies advice and get something harder. You may be able to get some scrap
timber (such as pallets) that when cleaned up and jointed is quite
serviceable. Dont forget that the "face" of the timber is not really
important, what you need is clean edges that will form the top. Therefore
scarred faces are not really a problem.

Greg

"V.E. Dorn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> pine and cedar. What do you think about cedar? - it's stable, but
probably
> still too soft and costs a bunch more money.

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 10:25:05 -0500, "V.E. Dorn" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Soon, I'll be building a new workbench with 2x material on edge for the top,
>but being cheap, I refuse to part with the money to make it out of Maple so
>I'm going to do it with construction fir. My question is about stain, while
>I'm not trying to make it look like something it isn't, I don't want to put
>something on it that makes it yellow. Is there an effective way to stain,
>shellac or do any other type of finish for fir (or pine) with something
>darker without making it look like it has some kind of disease?
>
I built one with 2x4 pine on their sides, so it's 2" thick. I finished
it with 3 coats of shellac, the first one very thin. It looks good,
but don't know if I would do it again, seems little point other than
cosmetics. I'm half thinking of laying 3/4 particle board on top as a
sacrificial layer, but then I'd need to match up all the dog holes
etc.

Barry Lennox

As suggested, I went to the local BORG looking for SYP - they had never
heard of it. My choice of 2x material is limited to grades of construction
pine and cedar. What do you think about cedar? - it's stable, but probably
still too soft and costs a bunch more money.

DJ

Groggy <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Hylourgos" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > I presume it warped, right?
> >
> > ...just curious. I've thought of doing the same if rushed for time and
> > wanted a temporary bench. Seems a helluvalot easier to make...
>
> It would work fine for a temporary bench. My first bench was laid flat and
I
> learn't some important lessons:
>
> - Don't believe the seller when he says the timber is "dry", sometimes
that
> means it didn't rain *that* particular day.
>
> -Any movement laterally tears the other timber out of its keys also.
>
> -You have less timber to plane down
>
> If it seems earier to make, it is. It is somewhat like buying a cheap and
> nasty tool, it seems ok, but over time you'll be wishing you'd listened to
> those inner voices. It may be ok if you have very dry timber.
>
> regards,
>
> Greg
>
>