The basic plan for our workbench calls for a laminate top made out of 2 x 4 boards laid on edge and glued face-to-face. If the total width of the top is around 24" (in two separate sections), then that requires 2 sections of six boards laminated together.
In order to laminate boards face-to-face, I'd need to plane the surfaces, glue them up, clamp them at least overnight, the plane them again to a final flat surface. And, I probably can't glue all six boards together at one time; maybe I could glue up 3 of them at one time, then repeat the glue-up with another 3 board section to get one six board section. Complicated.
I have a relationship CS Woods, a hardwoods supplier in the Denver area, and so I thought I'd search their inventory for un-sanded boards that I could plane flat and to final size. I spent about an hour poking around, looking at the several species of hardwoods they have in stock. None are sanded any side, and they are random thicknesses and lengths - all would require a lot of preparation before they could be used to fabricate the top.
It's 5" thick, 22-1/2" wide and ~60" long - perfect size for the top of my workbench. It's actually half of a beam - CS Woods cut the one they have in half for me.
It's old, been dinged a few times, has a patina of dirt, and is dried out on one side, so it'll take a bit of work to put it in usable shape. Also, it's not hardwood like most custom workbenches use; it's made of Douglas Fir. I checked through the lierature, and most professional woodworkers, ones who teach classes, don't care what materials are used for the bench, so probably Douglas Fir is OK. Using this as a top for the workbench fills the need for something heavy (165 pounds), but I'll end up designing the rest of the workbench around the top.
Best thing about it - I like recycled building materials, especially those with a known history!
More later! CHEERS!
Phil
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