# Building a workbench out of softwood?



## PennineRider (6 Feb 2017)

Afternoon, 

I'm a beginner to woodworking and I want to make a nice workbench. To keep costs down, I want to make the frame out of 4x2 softwood, then top it with a solid oak kitchen worktop. The frame will be joined with pegged mortise & tenon joints. Basically, two trestles joined with stretchers. 

So: Will the world come to an end if I build a workbench out of 2x4 kiln-dried pine from B&Q?


----------



## pcb1962 (6 Feb 2017)

Why buy from B&Q? You'll find better and cheaper timber at absolutely any proper timber yard or builders merchant.
A quick google brings up this: http://www.yorkshiretimbermerchants.co.uk/


----------



## MrTeroo (6 Feb 2017)

No the world won't come to an end, the hardwood top isn't essential either.

Have a look at this:

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD39949332C7FB168

This is one I made by following those instructions


----------



## bugbear (6 Feb 2017)

PennineRider":2zq8vuk8 said:


> Afternoon,
> 
> I'm a beginner to woodworking and I want to make a nice workbench. To keep costs down, I want to make the frame out of 4x2 softwood, then top it with a solid oak kitchen worktop. The frame will be joined with pegged mortise & tenon joints. Basically, two trestles joined with stretchers.
> 
> So: Will the world come to an end if I build a workbench out of 2x4 kiln-dried pine from B&Q?



No.

What tools/benches do you have (or have access to) to help your build along?

It's easiest to build a bench if you have a bench !!

(a friend with tools, a bench, a workshop, good advice, and TEA is recommended)

BugBear


----------



## Phil Pascoe (6 Feb 2017)

If you can avoid it, don't use CLS - it'll only give you hard work and grief.


----------



## Stormer1940 (6 Feb 2017)

I've made a bench using the same method a MrTeroo has illustrated. 

The legs were chunky 94mm x 94mm joinery softwood, Apron linings were 32mm x 219mm joinery softwood. The legs were braced with rails like in the picture above but I also put rails along the length, all mortise and tenon construction. 

The top was made up of 2 x 44mm x 219mm pieces of joinery softwood at the sides and the middle infilled with t&g floorboards nailed. 

As bugbear has mentioned it would be handy to know someone with the tools to give you a hand. 

P.s. The bench construction is as strong as an ox #NOTGOINGANYWHERE.


----------



## marcros (6 Feb 2017)

nothing wrong with softwood. The Chris Schwarz Roubo ones were made with a softwood- Southern Yellow Pine. This was chosen because it was readily available in their DIY places.

I have found that the timber in 8 or 9 x 2 is better than the stuff in 4 x 2, at least at my local place. So if it is an option, it may be worth ripping the bigger stuff down. If you dont have a saw to do so, it probably isnt worth doing so, but if you have a table saw or bandsaw, then it would be worth having a look at what the yard has.

I am not sure exactly where you are, but http://james-chambers.co.uk/ would probably be a better bet than b and q.


----------



## eddieperkins (6 Feb 2017)

It will be fine, I have built a couple using buiscuit and screw joints with normal (chipboard) work tops and they were nice and sturdy. It just depends what you intend doing with them I suppose.


----------



## novocaine (6 Feb 2017)

don't quote me on this, but workbenches were typically made from soft wood as it is was less likely to mar or damage hardwood, instead being damaged itself. 

my bench is made from 3x2 CLS from B&Q, it's solid as a rock, heavy as hell and more than up to the task's I put it though. it has a face vice and an engineers vice on it and a thin layer of MDF at one end so I can get it all dirty then whip off the mdf for a nice clean bench. 
through mortices and a wedged top mortise made it more than rigid enough without pinning.

I didn't even take the round off before laminating the top, a decent scrub plane and half an hour had it down to flat, a further half hour had it finished with minimal effort. 

in short, if B&Q is all you have, go for it, be selective and find the straightest piece you can. make sure you've got a few hundred clamps and a set of trestles, make the top first then make the legs on the top.  

this thread needs a picture, so here's mine (because I like to roll this shot out every now and then).



The bench by David Rees, on Flickr


----------



## ED65 (6 Feb 2017)

Other details are far more important than the species of wood used, principle among them well-done joints if you're building the bench traditionally from stick elements. 

As you probably know many modern benches use ply, chipboard or MDF for their tops but you can even use those to build the understructure. A very solid and long-lasting bench can be made entirely from plywood. And by combining board materials with softwood you can make a bench with no traditional joints in only one or two days that's as strong and resistant to racking as one made from beech featuring proper joinery throughout.


----------



## thetyreman (6 Feb 2017)

I used redwood PAR pine, and it came out fine. 

Don't be fooled into thinking hardwood is better, that is why I be writing this letter.


----------



## jlawford (6 Feb 2017)

Built mine out of redwood PAR too. 3x3 for the end frames, made with handcut mortise and tenon joints and a tenon'd stretcher at the base. The top was an apron housed into the leg frames, with the top table glued to the frame and apron. Rock solid. The link to the Paul Sellers workbench a few posts above will get you there but don't be afraid to adapt like I did as I had little experience at the time.


----------



## PennineRider (6 Feb 2017)

A helpful and inspirational set of replies as always, chaps. Thank you.



> I didn't even take the round off before laminating the top



Ha I was just mentally wrestling with what to do with the rounding. I only have a No. 4 plane so I thought I would use my table saw to strip 5mm off each top edge then smooth the whole thing with the plane once glued up.

FWIW my design is closely based on this, although I won't be adding the drawers straight away!

And I'm realising that it's going to cost me the same in clamps as it will in timber :evil:



> The top was an apron housed into the leg frames, with the top table glued to the frame and apron.



Yep I'd build with an apron and I appreciate it would add serious rigidity. But I can't see how you can add a vice if you have a deep apron...?


----------



## jlawford (6 Feb 2017)

> The top was an apron housed into the leg frames, with the top table glued to the frame and apron.



Yep I'd build with an apron and I appreciate it would add serious rigidity. But I can't see how you can add a vice if you have a deep apron...?[/quote]


Mark out for the vice on the apron, drill a hole to start then cut out with a jigsaw. The vice slides through the apron cutout and screws into the underside of the table top. Pack out between the table top and vice to get it in the right spot.


----------



## Jacob (6 Feb 2017)

The best bench is still the standard model which was pretty universal when wood was big business. I wouldn't bother with those fashionable fancy foreign types! 
Softwood best too. This is a typical example, though it comes with many variations:






a. hardwood bench stop - through the bench - knock it up from below. If it gets a bit battered you just plane a bit off the end.
b. rest for planes - keeps blade off the surface
c. hardwood inset above vice back jaw
d hardwood or ply facing for face of vice
e Record vice - the only sensible option
f drawer!
g support for end of long piece in vice
h is a rebate housing the apron into the top. This is important because these two items are the main feature and need to be structurally well joined
k bench hook - several pairs in different sizes handy
n tool rack on back - handles all below bench top height

The legs want to be housed in the aprons for extra rigidity
If the front beam is planed flat it's very easy to square up the top of the back apron to get it all co-planar. Much easier than flattening one of those pointless all-solid-wood tops

Here's my version. The lath plus G clamp is in place of g. above.


----------



## whiskywill (6 Feb 2017)

novocaine":2hhyrq0o said:


> in short, if B&Q is all you have, go for it, be selective and find the straightest piece you can.



Wickes is cheaper for CLS.


----------



## bugbear (6 Feb 2017)

PennineRider":22z3fbde said:


> Yep I'd build with an apron and I appreciate it would add serious rigidity. But I can't see how you can add a vice if you have a deep apron...?


Just make a big ol' 'ole in the apron!

BugBear


----------



## MrTeroo (6 Feb 2017)

bugbear":1fn6q7t5 said:


> Just make a big ol' 'ole in the apron!
> 
> BugBear


----------



## disco_monkey79 (6 Feb 2017)

Wickes timber is much much better than bandq. At least, it is at my local stores. I used 95mm (or thereabouts) Wickes softwood for the legs on my bench, and it's fine. A bit of 3/4 ply across the back and I couldn't get it to rack if I wanted to. Another bit of ply across the bottom stretchers gives somewhere to store wood, and means it's nice and heavy so now planing is a pleasure, rather than a chore. 
Good luck with your build.


----------



## worn thumbs (6 Feb 2017)

The two prime requirements in my mind are enough weight,so you don't have to chase the bench round the workshop and a top that is free from dips or humps.I have used benches with mdf tops on tubular steel frames,all softwood benches and one or two that hard hardwood tops.None of the variations were significant or had any effect on the work done.

As an aside,has anybody in Britain ever worked on the type of bench the American hobbyists seem to worship?You must have seen pictures of them-all wood vices and even a wooden tail vice,rather than the quick release Record most of us use over here.


----------



## thetyreman (6 Feb 2017)

do not bother with either wickes OR B&Q both are terrible compared to a timber yard, not seen a single usable piece of wood in either of them


----------



## Phil Pascoe (7 Feb 2017)

Don't forget a point that someone made on a previous thread - benches in the distant past were made for manhandling much larger sections of timber than are are worked by hand today (and people tended to be shorter), so needed to be both heavier and lower than are strictly necessary today, nice as it is to have something solid. Just a thought if you copy an ancient design.


----------



## Biliphuster (7 Feb 2017)

Going with consensus, softwood is fine. What matters is solid joinery and not the species of wood. 

Built mine out of softwood and it's holding up well.







You will want a planing stop if you are processing stock entirely by plane. I nailed mine down and have not regretted it.


----------



## novocaine (7 Feb 2017)

whiskywill":3pdo9koi said:


> Wickes is cheaper for CLS.



it is, but it's also in the middle of town and never has what I need (when I rarely go to be honest). the B&Q is nearer (less petrol) and easier to get to, the time saved is worth the 3p more. I also tend to be buy 20-30 sticks at a time, which puts it at timber yard prices, be selective and it's more than good enough (cls that is), most likely because they run though 2-3 pallets a week of the stuff, so it isn't sat around getting damp and it isn't stacked badly so it doesn't get bowed like a bowie thing, unlike the rest of their timber. strangely it's also the only stick that's stored inside at our B&Q.


----------



## El Barto (7 Feb 2017)

I finished up my bench a few weeks ago using PAR and CLS. The CLS was a mistake tbh, should have gone with PAR throughout but live and learn.

I looked at both B&Q and independent timber merchants. The latter was far cheaper, the wood was better quality and they cut it to size.


----------



## MarkDennehy (7 Feb 2017)

Built mine entirely from softwood. The only two regrets I have over the material chosen are that (1) I used white deal instead of red deal because I didn't know where I could get red deal at the time (I've since found a source for 6x4 red deal that I'd use if I was doing it today); and (2) I used CLS instead of PAR to save a few euros and wound up spending waaaaaaay too much time planing just to get to where I could glue up. 

I'd change both of those things if I was doing it over. But having said that, it's been a joy to work on ever since I got it into the shed. Just light years beyond anything I've had to work on before now.


----------



## Jacob (7 Feb 2017)

Softwood OK no doubt. 
But having said that there is a lot to be said for spending more dosh and buying a big bit of beech, something like 10 x 3", for the "beam" i.e. the front member of the trad bench where all the work is done. Basically for more dead weight and less bounce.


----------



## PennineRider (7 Feb 2017)

Ha ha now I'm completely tortured over wood choice!

A few people have said to use PAR/PSE, but this is at least twice as expensive as "rough" sawn wood, whereas the sawn square-edged timber from both B&Q & Wickes get consistently good reviews for straightness, and can be had for around £2.60 per metre.

Someone above recommended James Chambers timber merchants. I used them once for some skirting board. I found them surly and unhelpful, and discovered afterwards that B&Q would have been cheaper for what I wanted.


----------



## MarkDennehy (7 Feb 2017)

Oh, to have the space for a 10' bench and room to move around it 
I mean, I'd have to cut holes in both end walls of my shed for a bench like that 


Pennine, you have to ask how much is your time worth? Because you will spend a good few hours taking all that CLS down to being PAR level before glue-up unless you're buying great big 9x3 chunks of the stuff and doing a planked top sort of arrangement instead of a laminated top; so you might well wind up effectively spending more on the CLS than the PAR, which is the mistake I made.


----------



## PennineRider (7 Feb 2017)

> Because you will spend a good few hours taking all that CLS down to being PAR level



I'm a noob - talk me through it. As long as the wood is straight, surely I can just glue it up? Then plane the top so it's nice and smooth and flat? What am I missing?


----------



## novocaine (7 Feb 2017)

I gave CLS a quick pass with a plane to clean the mating faces then glued up. once glued I scrubbed the top flat (3mm removed from one side) then used that to make the legs on, set the top on the legs then final flattening, at most 1mm removed as it was built flat in the first place. I really don't think I spent more than a couple of hours on the top and I enjoyed it, it was good practice for hand tooling and setting up planes to do different takes (skew for quick removal, flat for final finish etc.). I got it at a good price (believe it was on offer to trade, which I am) so paid something like 2 quid a stick. the top was something like 12 sticks, 5, 3, 4 !!!!!---!!!, at 24 quid for the top that was cheap enough for me. legs are laminated, 4 lengths there then stretchers and rails were another 4 lengths so 20 in total, 40-50quid for a bench of that size that is rock solid. obviously B&Q is more expensive now (and I have to retract my comment about wickes at this point) and wickes is cheaper at 2.15 a length (if you buy 5 or more). 



it doesn't rack, it's pretty heavy (although I have more weight on it as I store tools on the bottom rails) it's massive (I don't use a third of it as it's blocked by the pillar drill stand at present)and best of all, it's cheap so it doesn't matter to much how it gets treated.


----------



## El Barto (7 Feb 2017)

PennineRider":dq3va1os said:


> > Because you will spend a good few hours taking all that CLS down to being PAR level
> 
> 
> 
> I'm a noob - talk me through it. As long as the wood is straight, surely I can just glue it up? Then plane the top so it's nice and smooth and flat? What am I missing?



The edges aren't square, they're rounded/chamfered. You look at it and think ah that's not too bad to plane out but then once you glue it all up you very quickly realise that there is a LOT of planing to do. This is the mistake I made. CLS is also really nasty to work with. It planes horribly and is just eurgh. When I switched to PAR there was a noticeable difference in working with it.

It CAN be done for sure, but it's a hell of a lot of work, and as a beginner a bench build is already hard work to start with!


----------



## monkeybiter (7 Feb 2017)

My bench is an old reclaimed lump that I have chopped about on several occasions when rejigging my workshop. The top was all over the place and I flattened it with a router in angle iron tracks, but the top that I actually use is a sacrificial layer of 18mm ply with a 2x2 softwood edge all round to hold it in place. It's nice an flat and smooth and I can screw and pin into it knowing that it will be easy to replace as and when I need to. Just a thought.


----------



## MusicMan (7 Feb 2017)

I used a timber yard for two 12x3 slabs of beech for the top, and had no trouble getting them to run it through their big planer/thicknesser for me.


----------



## MarkDennehy (7 Feb 2017)

> What am I missing?


That it won't be straight, won't have a smooth face, won't give a solid glue joint and the top wouldn't hold together beyond the first few belts of a hammer. CLS over here is rough-sawn, with fur on the faces and edges and splinters on the arises. You'd have to take that off at least, and when you were done you'd find that you had bowing, cupping and twist in various quantities. You'd wind up glueing the mess on one face to the mess on the other in the few patches that touched one another and one good hammer belt might get the mess on the face to shear off and leave the wood and glue joint separated.

(And I'm a total noob as well btw)


----------



## MarkDennehy (7 Feb 2017)

El Barto":164lwxkq said:


> The edges aren't square, they're rounded/chamfered.


Even over on this side of the Atlantic? Hm. I guess RWD and CLS aren't synonyms then, so discard what I was thinking


----------



## woodbrains (7 Feb 2017)

worn thumbs":3r4sn63d said:


> As an aside,has anybody in Britain ever worked on the type of bench the American hobbyists seem to worship?You must have seen pictures of them-all wood vices and even a wooden tail vice,rather than the quick release Record most of us use over here.




Hello,

Do you mean like mine?

This is one of two I made! I made a U shaped tail vice on this one, so I can clamp panels across the full width without a portion being over a void. I think this is original, I've never seen it before at any rate.

The vice screws are steel, but vices are wood. The other has an L shaped tail vice and a massive underframe.

Mike.


----------



## mugginsNO1 (7 Feb 2017)

That's an impressive bench Woodbrains......nice work sir!

I made my bench from 25mm exterior ply and chunky section softwood for the legs and rails. It's solid and stable and didn't take too long to make. Probably less than £50 (Had a few offcuts laying around).


----------



## woodbrains (7 Feb 2017)

mugginsNO1":38zjkc3e said:


> That's an impressive bench Woodbrains......nice work sir!
> 
> I made my bench from 25mm exterior ply and chunky section softwood for the legs and rails. It's solid and stable and didn't take too long to make. Probably less than £50 (Had a few offcuts laying around).



Hello,

Just like my first one, softwood underframe and plywood top, cross braces on the back. Sturdy, simple and cheap. Should last as long as a reasonable person should want. But my vices were a little weak, so I built my first 7 footer, beech topped one about 17 years ago. I priced up strong 2 Record vices and thought, 2 vice screws and all the hardwood I need could be bought for that, so I built it for the price if 2 record vices! It has been a great bench.

The one in the picture, I built about 18 months ago for my shed, as the other went to the school workshop where I work. I had the idea of a full width tail vice, so went ahead with what was an experiment really. It seems to work, though. I like clamping across the full width panels and can plane them transversely as well as longitudinally as the clamp is much firmer than a single bench dog. Designing the vice to accommodate the seasonal movement of the wide bench top was fun. The base was something I had already made for a kitchen project that didn't materialise, so it was just waiting for a top.

Mike.


----------



## PennineRider (7 Feb 2017)

OK well it sounds like a minefield so I'm not going to bother.

Thanks all


----------



## Phil Pascoe (8 Feb 2017)

Go for it - everyone needs to - just go to a decent timber merchant for PAR and forget CLS at B&Q, Wickes and so on. Don't start by deliberately making hard work.


----------



## novocaine (8 Feb 2017)

it's your first bench, you build it from what you have.


----------



## Bodgers (8 Feb 2017)

Where's the love for a hardwood bench? You can get Beech fairly cheap from some small timber yards...

I my first bench is made from a combination of the best bits of CLS I could dig out from a local Howarth Timber, but that's become more of a place to put things  At some point this year I was going to build a 'proper' bench from Beech.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Jacob (8 Feb 2017)

MusicMan":1g5hfdae said:


> I used a timber yard for two 12x3 slabs of beech for the top, and had no trouble getting them to run it through their big planer/thicknesser for me.


Just a detail but for the trad bench (below) you only need one piece of beech. Two makes it a double sided such as you would see in schools and other establishments - a vice at each end on opposite sides.
A basic bench is one big piece of timber which you can work on and has enough inertia, like the japanese planing beam, but with various configurations and add ons. At its simplest a large piece of timber resting with one end raised on a low support.


----------



## georgemharris (8 Feb 2017)

Hi folks,

First time posting

I watched this series of vids by Paul Sellers a while back and he discusses the idea of building your workbench from hard and softwoods, then proceeds to build his from PAR softwood. I think you could take that a as a ringing endorsement of the idea! 

Here's a link to the video series. One of the nice things about it is that he assumes you don't have a workshop or bench, and does it all in his garden, with very minimal tools, only a no4 plane and two saw horses. Very impressive. 

Enjoy

youtube playlist no PLD39949332C7FB168


----------



## mugginsNO1 (8 Feb 2017)

Building your first bench really depends on ones needs at the time. For me, I needed something robust and sturdy that I could build quickly. The cost was secondary. Having a plywood top meant I was using it within two days of starting construction. When/if I ever have more time, I'd love to build a more traditional version with a couple of really good vices. Something like a Maguire........one day.


----------



## graduate_owner (8 Feb 2017)

Has anyone tried making their bench from plywood laminations glued together? It looks like an interesting method, especially if you are not too handy at cutting mortices ( or don't have a bench to work at for cutting mortices?). 
K


----------



## Paul Dye (8 Feb 2017)

You could try this, as a starter bench 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyrGlVWiTA&t=319s


----------



## jnw010 (7 Jan 2018)

Chris Schwartz has done a couple of excellent books on workbench designs. He doesn't just tell you what to do, but presents designs and features, explaining the pro's and cons. Well worth a read.


----------



## Jacob (7 Jan 2018)

jnw010":2imfn51h said:


> Chris Schwartz has done a couple of excellent books on workbench designs. He doesn't just tell you what to do, but presents designs and features, explaining the pro's and cons. Well worth a read.


Except he completely omits any reference to the standard traditional British bench as found in schools colleges and wood work places everywhere. It's a major omission - the trad bench is far and away the best and easiest beginners bench and if your first one is any good you will probably never need another. Sellers version is a good.
Schwarz has something he calls the "English" bench but it's a figment of his imagination and not a good starting point.

PS I've only seen one book - has he done two?


----------



## Ttrees (7 Jan 2018)

Some nice benches folks

Me being a scavenger, I fail to see why anyone would need to buy softwoods atall :? 
but if you insist, you still need a bench to work on, if you want to get a good results, and understand the hand plane 
a lot quicker than fighting with it for no reason

Find a fire door from a skip, and work to that ...ie use it as a reference, as it will be suitable to 
plane on, if you make it secure, for the time being.
Dont affix it down so tight as to flex this fire door because its...
1 rigid (won't deflect if supported correctly) 
2 flat, (necessary for learning hand planing with speed, ease, precision and understanding), gained by 
not by watching and repeating, someone planing timber using a vise, and just matching two pieces together, thats for building sites that kinda thing. 
3 stable, (as in it wont warp as you can get with solid timber contracting or expanding), more,so with softwoods, but that can be even more problematic if you fasten it with screws, nails, or dowels without any sort of planning ... so its common to have brackets instead with slots in them to account for this movement,

Good luck

Jacob, I'm surprised you have such a narrow surface for working on


----------



## Jacob (7 Jan 2018)

Ttrees":34hkx8eu said:


> ....
> 
> Jacob, I'm surprised you have such a narrow surface for working on


It's not narrow - it's a 30" wide bench with a well. Nearly everything gets done on the front beam, or spans to the back. It's normal, tried and tested. It's the size for joinery and furniture. If you were regularly doing smaller stuff then a flat table might be better, but I can always lay a board over the well instead.


----------



## Ttrees (7 Jan 2018)

I was thinking you might have done that a few times with the tool well.
I would need a cover, and flat at that! , if I was expected to be working on a door panel or something, as 
I use the bench for reference, and employ techniques like rocking, pivoting, candling, abrasion "witness" marking 
using a square frequently and having it positioned in or near situ for dragging over
probably other things also.

Do you not think its more faff to have to sight everything all the time, instead of employing these above centuries old techniques 
Maybe, you use machines and know your stock is true, so you are just taking final swipes on everything...
That's the only way I could see that working for me


Thanks
Tom


----------



## Jacob (7 Jan 2018)

Ttrees":1o4mey4e said:


> I was thinking you might have done that a few times with the tool well.
> I would probably need a cover, and flat at that! , if I was expected to be working on a door panel or something.
> 
> Thanks
> Tom


Actually hardly ever need to cover it at all. A bit back I had some 20" square panels to plane and sand and did them on a bit of chipboard with laths on all four sides as stops. Draped cloth over to protect the underside from picking up marks. Probably would have done the same even if it had been a full width table.

Sighting everything all the time sounds a lot easier than what you describe! Squint along the grain for straightness, tilt edge of plane over the width for hollows, or combi square blade.
I'd never use the bench for reference, though if necessary it's much easier to level the two sides of a bench with a well, against each other, rather then levelling a single table top. So if levelling bench is your thing the ideal would be this below, with a simple rail at the back to level against the beam at the front


----------



## Mr T (7 Jan 2018)

graduate_owner":1o7qf50c said:


> Has anyone tried making their bench from plywood laminations glued together? It looks like an interesting method, especially if you are not too handy at cutting mortices ( or don't have a bench to work at for cutting mortices?).
> K



You might be interested in this https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/six-tool-bench-t106170.html

I have to admit to being a bit ignorant about softwood. Can someone explain the difference between PAR and PSE for me? I have always bought PSE which is planed on all faces. Is PAR the stuff with rounded corners?

Chris


----------



## Phil Pascoe (7 Jan 2018)

Basically the same. The rounded edged stuff is CLS - Canadian Lumber Standard.


----------



## Paul200 (7 Jan 2018)

PennineRider":2z8tx8hw said:


> OK well it sounds like a minefield so I'm not going to bother.
> 
> Thanks all


It only seems a minefield because everyone chimes in with their own ideas of perfection (you did ask!) and muddies the water. Your original proposal sounds fine to me - a lot better than my first bench (a 2x2 frame with 18mm MDF top!). I would seriously recommend buying the timber anywhere but B&Q though.

I'm currently building my first 'proper' bench from 4x2 DAR (PAR in England) Redwood. The timber came from a local independent supplier who, when I told him what it was for, hand selected the less knotty lengths for me - don't get service like that in B&Q! The design is mine, based on what I know I need from it. It doesn't have a deep apron, doesn't have a well, does have a split top and will no doubt develop over the years. And I'm thoroughly enjoying the build!

Don't give up - go for it! Make your bench your way, learn from it and how you use it and eventually it will either develop into what you need or you can start again when you know what you want - but definitely build it, your ideas are sound.

Cheers

Paul


----------



## MattRoberts (7 Jan 2018)

This thread is from Feb last year guys...


----------

