Look at the wood in the store. Lowes appears to use different species for their low end. Sometimes its a mess, sometimes not. My current layout uses 1x4s that have small tight knots and worked well - fairly smooth. I bought some 2 years earlier for trim on a shed that was a b**** to work with - constant splitting at the ends, so rough I needed leather gloves to handle it. It was so bad that I used select pine for the layout at that time even though it cost more.
If you are spanning 8 ft., I would use 1x4's not 1x3's. The nominal 3 inches is usually 2 1/2 sometimes 2 1/4 which I think is not enough for long spans. The 1x2's should work for the short cross pieces (I would use 1x3's) just make sure there are no large knots. I use 1x2's for diagonal supports.
While 2x4's will work for legs I prefer to use 2 1x4's for each leg joined together in an L shape.
1/2 inch plywood is what I use for the top and it works well for me.
Be very choosey picking your boards, they can be warped, cupped, or twisted. It's not uncommon on a given day for all of them to be unusable, especially during a sale. If that's the case, try another store or wait a couple of weeks for a new shipment. Or buy select pine ( be choosey there as well).
Enjoy
Paul
Ken,
My "under construction" layout and the previous one used a plethora of 2x2 legs, and 1x2, 1x4, and 1x6 for lateral supports. The result was solid as a rock - although I have been accused of overkill.
One thing that worked especially well was taking some decent 1x4s and ripping them down the center. This gives you something a tad wider than a 1x2, and IMHO, significantly stronger.
Oh, if you can do this, get two battery drills (I have 2 12v DeWalts) and use one for pilot holes and the other for screwing. And, I only use wide thread deck screws - and the work like a charm.
By the way, I use 2x2 legs as my layout is in a second floor room and I wanted to cut down on weight. If it were in a basement or garage, I would use 2x4s.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Ken, I wouldn't recommend furring strip for something that requires stability. Think of it this way, furring strip material is wood that cannot be used for anything else , having just missed being woodchips. The graining is typically not great and there usually are knots, both open and closed. This adds up to instability over time, and that can have devistating effects on your grades. You would be better off getting no1 pine, especially for any long pieces. It will give you a good base to work from and is going to be much more inexpensive than having to start over because the tracks start looking more like a rollercoaster.
As you may have seen, thinking about a new bench. I don't want to go the 2 X 4 way again!
I was looking on Lowe's website and looking at Pine Furring Strip's. 1 x 2 X 8 are 92 cents each, and 1 X 3 X 8 are $1.43 each. If I use them to make the framing, with 16 inch centers and 1/2 plywood for the top, do you think they would work well? I would use 2 X 4 for the legs.
Thanks for the coming answers.
Ken
I hate Rust