I am building a workbench and am trying to decide if I should spend the extra time and money to build an all hardwood benchtop or go with three layers of MDF.
My concern with the hardwood benchtop is getting the wood to line up properly during glue up and preventing warping. I have read several articles and they all made it sound like glueing up this much would is very difficult and not as simple as it looks.
Looking for tips and advice from those who have done it already.
I bought maple top for less money than the maple would have cost to make it. The top is dead flat and a real pleasure to use. It is a Jorgeson top and it came from The Cutting Edge in Houston. It is a 24"X72"X 1 3/4" thick top.
I'd rather build rocking chairs than plane a top flat. If I had to make one, I would probably take it to someone that has a wide sander and let them flatten it after I got through with the planing.
I've got both types of benches. As a woodworker, I can honestly say both work exactly the same, but there's some sort of panache to the hardwood bench. I also have outfeed and router table tops that are MDF with laminate surfaces, edged with hardwood.
All that said, the MDF bench can actually be very useful building the hardwood bench.
As far as the glue-up goes, jointed and planed maple will go together fine and should stay quite stable, if the lumber was properly dried to begin with. Biscuits can help align everything during the glue up, as well as shop-made clamping cauls.
Once the bench is built, if the top goes a tad out of flat a few months later, simply plane it back to flat!
Barry
I think it depends on what your goals are for the workbench. If you are trying to refine specific skills that the bench requires, or are using your bench as an example of the type of work that you can do go for the solid wood. I have both types and there is no difference in the type of work that I can do. If I was starting from scratch I would use the Festool tables.
I glued up separate stock pieces. It took a long time to line everything up and to get it flat. I used biscuits which helps the alignment. The issue with this is that periodic sanding, flattening, and finishing is necessary.
With MDF you might just replace the top MDF or flip it over when it gets messed up.
I compromised on mine. Most of the bench is MDF (melamine on the top) but I ran a narrow hardwood section with dog holes down one side. I figured I would do most of my work on the hardwood part and just assembly on the MDF part. I screwed up somewhat and put the posts at the joint between the two so the hardwood part is cantilevered out too much and I don't have a great connection between the two. So the hardwood part is a little bouncy. It's been like that for a year, and I've just been using the MDF side for everything but hand planing. Eventually I'll get around to fixing it, but I'm too busy doing projects.
If I had it to do over, I would just inlay hardwood strips in the top and bottom layers of the MDF for the dog holes and be done with it.
-Leuf
I have 2 maple counter tops in the house. I made one and I bought a "workbench top" from Edsal. (Grainger) It was cheaper to buy one. The only redeeming quality in the one I made is I made it.
My first bench I went with 3 layers of particle board and hardboard top. It was a good top, I still have it, and it takes alot of abuse. But I could never get the thing flat. I spent hours with a belt sander trying to flatten it. My top now is 2 layers of Birch (blue box) plywood and a layer of ash. It was almost flat from the get go, just a little planing. And it seems easier to work with, though that could be my imagination. So, IMHO, go with a wood top. At least you can plane it flat.
HTH
These testimonials just piss me off. How many people are standing between me and the source that it must cost as much as a manufactured item just to get it to me?
I was looking around the web and noticed that the big mills don't sell much smaller amounts than say 3000bf. So that makes the next part rather more difficult in a small community, but:
Why aren't woodworkers in organized groups using their combined resources to purchase wood direct from the mill?
er
Where do you store it all? Who gets first pick of the pile? Which mill? Who ensures that enough of the 3000 bd/ft meets grade? Who unloads it? Who holds the cash?
The wholesale / retail chain actually has a valid place.
Barry
Each participant decides that no his/her own.
Nobody, do it with some geometric formula, or randomize the boards and take them off the top.
A good one. :)
That's a good question. The mill?
The group?
The group? Some agreement on all this is required, obviously.
I see these as details, not problems.
er
Why would anyone want to be bound by the wishes of a group with respect to wood type, quality, location of the mill, etc.? Why would I want to be responsible for helping to load/unload/stack wood for everyone else? I don't have enough to do now?
We have a surplus building supply place nearby that provided the parts for my bench. They get building materials from structures being torn down and contractor surplus. The bench started with a solid core door with rock maple flooring glued to the top then edge banded with a strip of rock maple. The base is 4x8's legs and 2x8's stretchers. Everything was surplus and cost ~$40. I found an old bench vice at a garage sale for $10 that's been working well. If I were to build it again I'd take the top to a cabinet shop to run through thier wide belt sander to flatten the thing out, planing it by hand is quite a workout. It's not the perfect bench but it certainly does the job.
It's all got to be delivered somewhere, and chances are the guy who ordered 600 bd/ft will be out of town that day.
So then no one gets exactly the wood they need. I actually buy my wood with parts in mind.
Go to a good sized dealer and watch the way an incoming load gets inspected as it's put away. It's really not like buying a bundle of 2 by framing stock. Loads vary in quality and grading is an inexact science, there's even different definitions for different grading bodies and species.
It's not unheard of to get a large amount of grade-legal, but UGLY wood in a single shipment. Since it's rough, the mill dosen't know how many really good boards are in a bundle. It's up to the retailer to figure that out. You just paid $1000 for a buttload of back, bottom, and corner brace stock, with very little suitable for stuff like table tops or drawer fronts. Now what happens?
Have you ever seen 3000+ bd/ft? What if some of the members are old and frail, or young, soft and fat, or even disabled. Should they pay more 'cause they can't help?
Remember, YOU have to get it off the truck. Hardwoods and high grade sheet goods are typically not delivered by Hope Depot style delivery rigs, but the rigs that deliver to Home Depot. They expect retailers to own fork lifts. The truck will not sit there while you take 4 hours to unload it board by board.
I'm really not trying to break 'em off on you. Cheaper wood would be a great thing. It's just that I've actually witnessed some of these issues and wouldn't want to be the mediator of a dispute.
Good retailers actually add some value to materials by making them much easier for the small shop / hobbyist to deal with.
Last but not least, there's TAX! The wholesaler needs to sell it to someone who will collect sales tax on the product, as he dosen't do that. More work, bother, confusion, and in this case, possible legal troubles.
Ask around this group about a guy who thought shellac was overpriced.
Barry
Start a buying co-op with other like mined people in your area and see how it goes. If you are a member of your local ww guild/club it might be a great placeto start.
MDF is a total waste of effort - it has neglible creep resistance and you _will_ get sagging, no matter how thick. Far better would be to go for a couple of lams of 3/4" plywood (even the cheap stuff) covered by a lightly-glued layer of 4mm MDF and replacing that after a few years' wear.
BugBear, Thanks for the link. I believe you wrote the following in the discussion:
"Oak has open pores, and reacts with iron."
This is interesting and somewhat bad news to me as I was going to make my top out of good ole PA Red Oak. From the way it sounds, this might not be a very good idea. Is the result simply bad coloring or are there other issues to be aware of?
Thank again, I appreciate the input.
I would welcome input from USA residents.
English oak reacts rapidly with iron, turning BLACK.
Any open pored wood is a questionable choice for a non-finished bench, since crud gets in the pores, and looks ugly.
I believe red oak is VERY open pored.
BugBear
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