Hickory Workbench

[dbhost]

Hickory / Pecan is great wood to work with, and makes a really nice bench top. I've seen a few of them around here done. If you can grab it, make your permanent bench, at least the top from it... And don't apologize for your choice in material. That is some nice stuff...

You want temporary workbench? Simpson Strong ties, 2x4s, and plywood works well. My "temporary" bench is still chugging along 10 years and TONS of abuse later...

[mschrank]

I am an idiot, it is hemlock.
Is this near SYP on the hardness scale?

Hemlock is pretty soft...I don't know the numbers, but I'm sure it rates far below SYP.

Just Googled some Janka Hardness numbers:
SYP: 690
Hemlock: 500
Hickory: 1820

[SARGE..g-47]

Hickory is very hard as pecan.. it will last much longer than you in a permanent top. For that matter you could say the same for SYP which is a bit softer but.. after it case hardens in a few years it will last longer than you also. I have built the last 5 WB's from SYP but.. have built two with Hickory as both are plentiful down south where I hail from.

I've built one from oak.. quite a number from maple and one from beech depending on what the intended wanted and could foot the bill for. All of those WB's are still up and running to my knowledge. So... go for the hickory at that price IMO and don't look back.

Good luck...

[vaking]

This thread got me thinking. Most common woods for workbenches that I know of are oak, maple, ash and beech. SYP is used as "poor man's solution". I looked up some hardness numbers. All the hardwoods listed are in the range 1260-1460. Hickory at 1800 is a lot harder than any of the traditional materials. It works well and is fairly available. So I am surprised that hickory has not become the "go to" wood for workbenches. Is there a reason hickory is underrated? On the same note - the hardest wood listed seems to be ipe (over 3000). I know people build decks out of it, why not work benches?

[SARGE..g-47]

Lots of grey area here, Vaking. Maple in the U.S. and beech in Europe are the traditional woods as they were available readily and were very hard. Hard meant something then as everything was hand planed.. mortices and dovetails were chopped.. etc. So... these woods suited the task and were available to those that needed a work-bench. But.. even then you will find many benches made from other woods when hand work and pounding on the bench were prevalent.

So... just how many WW now chop mortises or DT's.. etc. by hand? You could probably fit them into a small local arena. So.. why do you really need to go to a very hard.. dense hardwood? The answer IMO is.. you don't! About any wood short of very softwoods make a good bench. And frankly you could build one out of softwood if you don't mind filling dents with bondo or wood filler very often.

You say SYP is a poor man's bench. I agree even if poor you could probably afford it but... my current has been in use for two years. I just finished the 12th large carcass piece in the 2 years since I retired on it. I also cut DT's by hand and chop on top of it. It is worn out? No... it does have battle scars but frankly the bench could last a lifetime and probably will.

So.. anyone that feels they "must have" very hard wood to build a proper bench is probably persuaded by the fact that hardwood was traditionally the wood of choice. But.. I can assure you that softer woods will work and they will do an outstanding job. I feel it it much more important to concentrate on good design and very solid joinery than worry about what wood and how hard it is. Cause IMO.. that is not very important at all.

Mileage and opinions may vary..