Workbench Top Advise Please

[Jim Eller]

I'm looking to build a workbench with a laminated top.

Here's the question. What wood to use, including depth and thickness.

I'm looking to make it at least 24" deep and possibly 8" long.

My instinct says to use hard maple boards, 2"x3"x8' for the glue-up, making the bench 3" thick.

Hard maple is not very easy to find around here(Knoxville, TN) without paying a premium price locally or ordering it.

How about ash or oak?

I think I have enough oak but it is in 4/4 which would make the glue-up twice the job.

Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

PS: Does anyone know anything about Steve Wall Lumber Co. http://walllumber.com/default.asp They are about three hours from here.

[Joe Chritz]

You can build the bench from just about anything you want or have handy. There are even pics floating around here of a Bloodwood bench built from a tree that was local. Jim King is the OP and the thread is here....

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=79357&highlight=bloodwood+workbench

A lot of people have benches of southern yellow pine from borg 2x12's and really are happy. It depends on what you want to spend and what is available to you.

I haven't heard anything negative about Wall lumber but haven't used them myself.

Joe

[John Schreiber]

For your top, within reasonable limits, anything will do. You want it to be heavy and stiff and solid. Lots of kinds of wood will work for that.

I'd find out what kind of clear wood you can get locally for a good price and go with that. I just finished one out of southern yellow pine (SYP), but if I were doing it again, I'd spring for a more expensive, but still relatively cheep wood such as ash.

For workbench tops and the rest of the workbenches, I'd check out Christopher Schwartz's Workbenches book (http://www.amazon.com/Workbenches-Design-Construction-Popular-Woodworking/dp/1558708405/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1231034636&sr=11-1). It's a treasure trove of knowledge.

[Myk Rian]

I made a workbench out of a door. We had the door from the house to garage replaced. Heavy solid core fire door. You could always gussy one up with whatever fancy covering you want. Got a Habitat for Humanity store nearby?

[Greg Hines, MD]

I think your ash or oak should be fine. As others have said, any dense wood will do. I made mine out of birch plywood, and it has served be me well.

Doc

[Dave Potter]

I'm like Myk in that I used a solid core door I pulled out of a dumpster at an office renovation and built my first bench a couple years back. The hinge side of the door was damaged and required trimming off with my circular saw, but the knob side was fine. The bench is heavy and solid, and I used the hole for the knob with a home-made chute to deliver sweepings into a trash can below.

However, the top is getting pretty chewed up so I'm looking to add to the thickness by putting down a piece of hardboard with a hardwood frame to hold it in place.

Dave P.

[Jim Becker]

If you want maple, "soft" maple, which is quite hard...is often priced more attractively than "hard" maple. It has more color variation, but that's usually not a factor for this kind of project. But any hardwood can be a good choice for a workbench top, including the ash you ask about.

I'll add that while I really like my maple bench top...if I build any more work surfaces in the future, I'll likely go with several layers of MDF layered and a replaceable hardboard "topper". Dense. Heavy. FLAT. Inexpensive.

[Bernhard Lampert]

....
PS: Does anyone know anything about Steve Wall Lumber Co. http://walllumber.com/default.asp They are about three hours from here.

Jim,

Wall Lumber is a great outfit. Steve Wall is a very nice and knowlegable guy, he offers a huge selection of domestic and exoic hardwoods.
You cannot go wrong there. Quality lumber for a fair price. I live about 2 hours from Wall Lumber, but for larger quantities, I always make the trip.

Cheers,
Bernhard

[Frank Drew]

Jim

Ash and oak are more open pored, and perhaps a bit more splinter prone, than maple, birch or beech, but they're all nice and hard and would provide decades of service. I used maple because I got a stash very cheap (used high school locker room benches, including generations of chewing gum stuck underneath). 24" is a nice depth and 8' is a nice length if you've got the room but is perhaps longer than you might need. Whatever.

IMO, a tool trough at the back of the top is unnecessary and more trouble than it's worth, so I never included one.

[lou sansone]

I have 2 benches - both made from beech. it is a great hard wood for a bench, but can be difficult to work with and seems to move a lot. between oak and maple, I would probably choose maple. one question about the oak you have. is it red or white oak? white would make a nice top, but I think red is just to open pored for my liking
best wishes
lou

[Mike Wellner]

If you glued 2x4s together (1.5" width at top) to make it about 3' wide, would pine work okay? Or is Ash or Maple better?

[John Schreiber]

If you glued 2x4s together (1.5" width at top) to make it about 3' wide, would pine work okay? Or is Ash or Maple better?
Modern 2x4s tend to be the worst possible boards. They often include knots and pith and are badly warped.

You can work with construction grade lumber though. Mills save the good stuff for the 2x10 or 2x12 dimensions. If you pick through the pile, you can find some good southern yellow pine in wider widths. SYP is plentiful here in Illinois, but the local equivalent may vary depending on where you live.

I wouldn't touch a 2x4 for a workbench top with a 10 foot 2x4.

[Pat Germain]

^^ The lumber in a typical 2x4 would not be optimal for a workbench top. They are high in moisture, irregular in shape and very soft.

I have an old cabinet in my shop with a top made of laminated 2x4s. I pulled it out of a house where the owner wanted the garage cleared out. That top is fine for a place to put my grinder and an anvil vice, but not good for much else. Whoever made it coated it in varnish. It's pretty uneven and the varnish is flaking off.

I recommend looking around and seeing what's available locally at a reasonable cost. Those two factors are of primary consideration unless you want your bench to be more of a museum piece than a workhorse.

[Jim Eller]

Thanks to all.

It appears as though maple is the choice. I hadn't thought about the soft maple. In this area it is a little cheaper. Especially wormy maple, if that would work. It may be "hard" but it sure is a lot lighter than hard maple.

Frank - I agree on the tool trough. I've never had one but I always figured that for what I do it would just be a place to collect stuff I was looking for and couldn't find.

Bernhard - Thanks for the Wall Lumber advice. They are about three hours from here. It may be worth the trip.

As for the oak and ash, I was thinking about putting a replaceable skin on it. ?????

Thanks again for the input.

Anyone in the Knoxville area have any bench material they want to sell?

Jim

[Peter M. Spirito]

I live in South Florida and buy all of my lumber from Steve Wall in NC. Its well worth having it shipped in. In regards to your bench top, well here is a link to my bench. Its not a traditional bench but it is very functional with its 4x8 foot top.

http://www.peterspirito.com/workbench.htm

[Keith Christopher]

Or you could do I like I did

http://cgi.ebay.com/Wood-Bowling-Lanes_W0QQitemZ190277660113QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCabi nets_Cabinet_Hardware?hash=item190277660113&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570%7C66%3A3%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A2%7C2 40%3A1318

[hank dekeyser]

My 2 cents

You didnt say WHAT you use the bench for. Since you said "laminate" top 2' x 8' I would grab a sheet of 3/4" MDF cut it in half glue and staple it together (Yes that is how cabinet shops do it) Laminate the bottom first , then the edges (all 4) and finally the top. That way all edges and sides (mainly top and bottom) will expand /contract similar. If you laminate just the top, the surface tension will want to make it warp.

My personal work top for everyday junk is 3/4" plywood w/ (replacable) 1/8" hardboard on top of it. My floating bench (30" x 8') is "GASP" regular everyday 2 x 6 stock planed to 1-1/4" thick and cut down to 2-5/8" wide. Glued up face to face (2-5/8" thick top) and fastened to a 2 x 6 frame w/ 4 x 4 post legs. Been beating on it for over 10 years now. Guess what ? It's still flat, hasnt split / warped cracked etc. so I say bahoooey to anyone that claims 2x4 is junk for benches. I don't understand why you would wan tto put the time effort , money into a maple / oak / ash top just to put a laminate over it ??

This is more than just a hobby for me, I live it.
my 2 cents - probly only worth 1 cent to some

[Frank Drew]

Hank, I might have misunderstood Jim, but I took him to mean that he wanted to laminate boards together to achieve his desired width (as in a glue-lam), not that he wanted a plastic laminate covered work surface.

[Rick Hubbard]

if I build any more work surfaces in the future, I'll likely go with several layers of MDF layered and a replaceable hardboard "topper". Dense. Heavy. FLAT. Inexpensive.

Hi Jim-

I think I mentioned this before, but I have used just such a solution for a couple of years HOWEVER a few weeks ago I had cleaned some brushes and then tossed them in a plastic bucket with filled water,soap and ammonia. The next morning I discovered that the bucket had a leak. Guess what happned to all that MDF:(?

Rick

[Jim Eller]

Keith,

I really like that idea.

I see the seller is in Michigan. I was there in December and would have picked up a couple of maple sections if I had known.

Jim

[Keith Christopher]

Did you see he had 23' sections ? That's almost 3 8' workbench tops for 270$ !!!

[Peter Gregory]

Was in Goby's Walnut (http://www.gobywalnut.com/) in Portland yesterday. They have started making walnut glue-ups. Didn't check the prices, but they look very nice. If you are in Portland, the quality of the walnut on the floor is amazing and expensive.

I built my first bench out of Southern Yellow Pine. I realize that some people don't like it, but I have a few 2X10's stickered in my shop, drying, right now. You can never how to much SYP dry and ready for shop furniture.

[Mike Null]

I've been using a commercial solid core door for years. It's flat, heavy enough that it took two of us to lift it and durable enough for my purposes. It is a workbench, not a piece of furniture.

[Keith Christopher]

Jim,

Since you were asking I thought I'd share some pics of the newest workbench in progress. I pretty much am using up old stock I had for the legs and feet. but you'll see the top is a section of bowling alley I got from a guy renovating an old bowling lane. Three of the legs are made from hard maple, one is made from lyptus, the feet of the bench are made from lyptus. It was some old stock I had lying around. I'll of course post when it's finished.

Keith

[Peter M. Spirito]

I have always loved the look of the traditional workbench but find them not practical for my work. I have thought of making a scaled down version for a coffee table. Just a thought to satisfy my desire to have one. :o ;)

http://www.peterspirito.com/workbench.htm

[Tom Cross]

I just finished a 24" x 96" Holtzapel work bench with a hard maple top. Hard maple and ash are great selections. But as noted, southern yellow pine is often used as a budget selection.

I highly recommend the Workbench book by Chris Schwarz. It discusses all the wood selections including some great tables on wood hardness and impact resistance. Also, go to the Woodworking Magazine site:

http://popularwoodworking.com/wwmhomepage

You can buy two issues of the magazine on-line that contain complete plans for the Roubo and Holtzapel work benches. Chris Schwarz is as close to a work bench expert as one can get. Check out the Weblog on the site as well as it has many postings on work bench wood, design and vises. After 25 years of working on a Tage Frid design bench, the Holtzapel bench is marvelous.

[Steve LeLaurin]

Hi Jim-

I think I mentioned this before, but I have used just such a solution for a couple of years HOWEVER a few weeks ago I had cleaned some brushes and then tossed them in a plastic bucket with filled water,soap and ammonia. The next morning I discovered that the bucket had a leak. Guess what happned to all that MDF:(?

Rick
=====================================
Rick ... Just what did happen to the MDF? I'm thinking of using MDF as the top layer of my bench, but hadn't though of what a spill would do to it. Now you have me worried. I guess shellac wouldn't have helped ... maybe BLO would have?

Steve