Work Bench

[Leon]

I'll look into all of that , Thanks.

[Stuart]

The top for my new bench came from Ikea - see Pronomen or Numerar.

I chose the Beech option. 6ftx 2ft

[Leon]

I bet that worked out well, did you find any nails in the wood?

[else24]

I think it's going on four years ago that I built mine with a three- layer MDF top. Someone had given me two really nice vintage quick- release vises, I had a load of rough-cut oak 2x4's (two inches by four, real measurement) I got cheap, and I had some MDF from some shelves I'd taken down. I finally decided if I didn't make it out of what I had, it wouldn't get built for years, so I laminated three sections of MDF together, and edged it all around and built the bottom frame with those oak two by fours. Round dog holes and retractable casters. Finished it with Waterlox.

I figured the dog holes would deteriorate but when they did I'd drill a bigger hole, plug it with hardwood and drill a new hole. Turns out so far I haven't needed to. Maybe because I don't pull the dogs in and out a lot. They've held up pretty good. The whole bench has. I thought I'd have built another by now but this one keeps doing what it's supposed to.

It's nice and heavy. Stays put when it's not on wheels. (It's kind of frustrating when I forget that) It sure has stayed flat. But if it ever goes out of flat I won't try to fix it. I'll make a hardwood top now that money's not quite so tight and I've found a couple good suppliers.

[LEGEND65]

Well if its about saving time and effort, not money, it's hard to do better than when the wood has gone to the trouble of already assembling itself into a top for you.

I really can't see where ripping the plywood into strips and gluing up is going to save you time. There is no way you're going to get it all aligned perfectly to be *flat* without surfacing it after glueup anyway, versus just stacking three 3/4" sheets together which will be plenty thick and heavy and flat and stable. You could even do ply-MDF-MDF-ply if you want to get it silly thick and heavy, and the ply at the top and bottom will take most of the abuse in the dog holes.

Assembly tables usually want to be bigger than workbenches, but don't need to be as sturdy or heavy.

-Kevin

[DGDevin]

When I got my first bench not too long ago I realized it had been designed for users half a foot shorter than me. So the first thing I did was make a riser for the base to bring it up to a more comfortable level, and I was pleased that the finish on my addition was good enough to make it indistinguishable from the original. Of course that's because nobody can see the snapped-off screws etc. on the underside of the riser, but hidden (and nonfunctional) incompetence is more or less tolerable at this stage.

[DGDevin]

I almost went the same route until I found a bench kit that had everything I wanted including vises at a reasonable price. It would be tough to beat Ikea's prices on laminated hardwood tops even if they intend them for kitchen cabinets rather than work benches.

[MikeWhy]

The high price for BB gives you quite a few options. For example, 4/4 hard maple for < $2/bft:

(250 bft minimum for that price, though.)

[Phisherman]

Any wood will work. My benchtop is glued up 2x4 pine studs, finished with danish oil. Spent lots of time flattening the top. I redo the top every 3-4 years. A good bench should be large, sturdy and heavy.

[Lew Hodgett]

Baltic Birch harder than vertical grain maple pieces laminated together??????

Which makes any material savings achieved by material substitution even smaller.

Don't know what size table you want to build, but consider a 2'x6' table.

Make the primary surface from 3/4" x 2-3/4" maple vertical grain laminations.

Surface both sides of the glue-up with a drum sander to about 2-1/2" finished.

Rip a 5 x 5 x 3/4 BB panel into two (2) 24x60 and two (2) 11-3/4x60 pieces which get laminated on bottom side providing a 4" finished top.

Epoxied together, be tougher than a bull's pecker in fly time.

Lew

[B A R R Y]

Ping me if you'd like pics or article references of anything.

[B A R R Y]

I know what you mean. I'm 6' tall, and mobile bases usually add just enough to machines to be right for me. Even if I'm not wanting a machine to move, I like the extra height.

To make matters worse for taller folks, lots of traditional style benches are low to better facilitate face planing.

[Leon]

Yeah, thanks, I'd like any thing you could send that would not be a bother to you. I am also thinking about adding a fold up/down extension on the back side of the bench to increase work area. I now have a 30" x 60" steel table top that I would like to use.

[dayvo]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet but I'd suspect that plywood won't wear very well. I think you'll find the intermixed grain in the plies will wear differently and leave you with lines and dips. The only way to resurface will be taking the whole thing to a drum sander.

I've seen a lot of benches made from 2x4 studs and they've worn pretty well. Mine was made with recycled wood. The wood came from a subdivision that was being fitted with utilities. When steel pipe is hauled in for sewers, it's racked with 4x4's of different species. A few minutes with a power planer to clean off tar, rocks and dirt is all it takes to get some usable wood. Then it's a matter of sizing, squaring and glue up.

I'd also recommend putting a square of old car/truck tire under each leg of your bench. It keeps the bench from vibrating back when you pound on it. It's so much nicer to use a bench that absorbs impact and responds like dead weight. Wood legs on a wood or concrete floor will vibrate.

[Jerry - OHIO]

I got lucky when I worked for a builder. We had some glue lamb beams that were ordered wrong and couldn't be returned ,they were 2 ft' x 10 ft' ,it made one hell of a work bench. You can even glue up 2x 4's with P L 400 construction glue.

Jerry

[Larry Blanchard]

Somewhere recently I read about a woodworker that equipped his bench with T-slots instead of dogholes.

I haven't really considered all the pros and cons of it, but the idea is interesting. Anyone here done this? Any opinions?

[Leon]

Yeah that would depend on where you live. LOL.. I'm betting there would be a pretty good shipping charge on tat liquidation price. I just referbed a kitchen with Maple and it was a tad more than $3 per linear foot in S4S 1x6. I paid premium but I did not want to go through milling the stock on a paying job aside from the veneer that I made for the cabinets. IIRC s2s was around $4.50 per BF. I can get 5'x5' 1/2" BB for just under $30 per sheet. If my top is going to be 3" thick 24" wide and 60 " long I would need a bit more than 30 BF considering waste. Basically $135.00 for s2s. Baltic Birch would be about $45.00 cheaper.

[Bob S.]

Here's one I did a few years back and Bernie Hunt kindly made it available on his site.

S.

[Leon]

IIRC I saw that too. WoodWhisperer maybe.

[Leon]

Not harder, stronger.

Yeah but this is for me. ;~) I think I am stering back away from the plywood however.

I am using a 60 inch table now and like the length but am also considering a telescoping end.. The problem is the steel top.

Thanks Lew.