re: New bench in the works...

No harm, no foul. I just thought I would clear that up. I don’t have the bench committed to paper (or sketch-up for that matter) but I can see it in my head. I love the butcher block hardwood look, and I also love the look of Ash. I appreciate the strength and rigidity of interlaced plywood, but it’s just not what I want.
Earlier I said the bench would either be white ash or white oak. Well, after working with white oak for the last few days, I have decided on the ash. White oak is definitely hard, and smells wonderful when it’s cut, but the pores in the edge grain turn me completely off, as does it’s tendency to tear out in the planer.
But, back to the vices…I have decided on hard maple. It’s a bit steep at $3.10 fbm for 4/4 but I won’t need that much. I can probably get 8/4, but it’s not listed on the price list. Hickory is much cheaper at $1.50 fbm, but I really don’t feel like fighting with it. Much of this bench will be built with hand tools and my sharpening skills are not yet well honed…1, 2, 3…

Brian, I buy my KD here. I always look forward to going there. It’s a 45 minute drive along a winding 2-lane road right through the heart of Ohio farm country. The people at Denoon are very friendly. Even though I only buy a few boards at a time, they always treat me like I’m their best customer. I can’t say enough good things about them! I don’t know if they ship or not though. I just love the place.
I currently have a project on the bench (an end table), but once it’s done, I’m starting on the bench. My daughter just closed on a house built in the 1920’s and wants me to do some work on it, so that will eat up a lot of my time (and money probably). I’ll keep a blog of the build as I get it going.