All right. Here's a big ol' can of worms to open. I'm
getting ready to decide to build my own second
workbench. This time out of solid wood. The questions
are two-fold. Since my work area is in my basement,
how long should I let the wood sit down there before I
actually make the top, and here's the clunker, what
wood should I use and how thick. I'm imagining
laminating strips together like the modern ones I've
seen. I'd like to get a Veritas twin screw vice so
it's got to be able to handle that size vice. 

Anyone happen to have an opinion?

Andrew
Ducking and running in his GIT-ness.

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Thicker is better.   How thick is dependent on what tools you will use to
make holes in it ( dog holes, mortises, etc.) and what you can get your
hands on.  There is also the issue of how you will mount any vises to the
top.  Some vises require a bit more meat to hang from.  I think the Veritas
twin screw has some requirements on the top thickness and the skirt
thickness... Study the directions before you buy anything.

 What kind of wood?  I have seen ... Hard and soft Maple, Beech, White Oak,
Iroko, and some form of Rosewood.  I have heard about White fir, Yellow
Pine, cherry, and ash.  The what kind is best handled as whatever you can
get your hands on that meets your budget, is straight and true, flat sawn,
properly dried, and as hard as you can get.

The base can be from construction lumber, but dry it out thoroughly first.
The more massive the better for the horizontal members.

Frank Filippone, working on Bench #5
red735i@e...

 
> laminated 2x4"s would make a darn fine workbench top. The stuff is 
> available in oak, maple, hickory,birch, cherry, walnut etc. It is 
> well 
John,
You're right for sure.  Before the depression (the present one) I worked
in 
a plant that opened in 1911. Our "new" shop was the old power house, we
acquired it in the early 50's.  Our valve bench was about 6' wide by 16'
long.
We had a 2 ton chain fall that rode on an I-beam over the center on the
bench.
The bench had 12" x 12" post for legs and 4" x 12" planks for the
substrate on 
top. The top was covered with white oak flooring except for the one end
that
had a sheet of 1/2" x4' x 6' steel on it. We threw valves and motors and
etc
on that bench for about 50 years and it still was in good enough shape
some
of the guys were tying to figger out how to get it home when the placed
closed
in 2001.
A shame they closed the old plug mill too. I used ta could go get stubs
of them
old gum planks. They were 4" x 12" by next size under 30". Yep if it was
29 1/2"
old Greg could get it fer the hauling. Poor ole Paul (the mill owner) had
to pay to
have them hauled off, if some galoot didn't stop by and pick them up , or
someone
could use some firewood.
Old tool content, every galloot needs a good work bench and we made
everything
from boats to shop furniture from that gum, even a couple of sewing
machine cabinets.