So, in my last post, I mentioned that my current project is a
Moravian workbench, as described by Will Meyers. I have finished the leg assemblies and connecting stretchers, started on the face vise assembly and now I need to start on the bench top.
The challenge here is finding suitable piece from which to make the top. Ideally, for a period designed bench, you would use a single huge slab of hardwood lumber. Unfortunately, in my neck o’ the woods, large slabs of oak, maple or cherry are hard to find and very expensive when you do find one.
On the other hand, large timbers of Douglas Fir are more prevalent. Doug Fir is a good structural wood but in comparison with hardwood species it is softer and tends to be a bit splintery. Never the less, the fact that outstanding grades of salvaged DF can be had at a mere fraction of the cost of hardwoods dictates that I at least give it a try. I mean, if it doesn’t work out, the piece is large enough to rip down into lumber for other things and the grade quality is exceptional.
When I refer to the grade, I mean the closeness (or tightness) of the grain, its run out (or straight and parallel with the piece) and absence of knots. To put it simply they don’t make trees like this anymore. Thus, salvaged lumber from the demolition of an antique (if not ancient) building, built when old growth, climax forests where still available for harvest.
Yesterday, I made a trip to
Pacific Northwest Timbers (PNT), in Port Townsend, Washington. PNT has a large selection of massive salvaged timbers, almost exclusively DF. Some of which was recently salvaged from a shipwreck in British Columbia, after nearly a century buried in beach sand. The timbers are huge and are impregnated with sea salt.
The piece for my bench top was cut from a floor joist salvaged from an old building in Seattle. That’s all the provenance I have for the moment, but PNT has said that they will have more in the future. It won’t improve the performance of the bench but it will make it more fun and interesting to use.
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"There is no path to peace, peace is the path."
Mohandas K. Ghandi