workbench suggestions

[Alan Frazier]

My next project is going to be a good workbench since my main workbench now is made out of a hollow door, I'm also trying to keep the cost as low as possible and don't have much to spend on it. I am planning on using mainly planed and jointed 2x6's for it. It will be 6' long and 30" wide. The base will be made up of 2x6's with one big shelf on the bottom that will have some small sets of shelves on either side to hold various tools the rest of the space will be used for storing jigs and templates (I have tons of them all for building guitars). I think I'll make a 2' 6''x2'x5'' drawer to attach under the top to hold hand tools. The top will have a 4'' wide tool tray in the back and a row of dogs with a pipe clamp setup instead of a vise. The top I'm not sure about I have been thinking about building it out of two layers of 2x6's with a replaceable mdf top. I'm not completely sure what to do for it yet though, I am positive that it will have to have a replaceable top I like to be able to screw into the top when I need to and not worry about ruining it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated nothing is set in stone. Currently I'm building mainly just guitars but will be building many different things.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Acoustic guitars?

Wouldn't dog holes would need to be a harder lumber than pine? You can inset maple in a wood bench to serve as the dog hole positions or use iron pipe with a flange threaded on the underside and screwed to the bottom.

I've made all my benches from pine. they work great.
When they get all beat up and the spilled paint and glue and nail holes and over shots from drilling get to much, I just lay a sheet of ply on top screw it down and start over.

[Tom Hargrove]

For the top, I would laminate plywood and MDF instead of laminating "2x" material. The outer plys are plywood, and the inner plys are MDF. This will give you a 3" top. The top can be skinned with a piece of hardboard so replacement is easy.

If you take care to start with a level and flat base when you glue the plys together, you will get a strong, heavy and flat surface. You can edge the lamination with hardwood or other solid material. Others who post here have done this with good results, and you should be able to find several websites that have step by step instructions as well as drawings/photos.

If you want to laminate 2x material, I would make the laminations vertical so you can end up with a top that is at least 3" thick.

Whatever you use for the top, construction lumber is fine for the base, especially for a first real bench. It served me fine for more than 20 years until I built a bench out of oak. I didn't need a new base, but I got a bunch of lower grade oak free of charge, and used it for a bench.

[Brad Wood]

I took kiln dried 2x4's from Lowes. I trimmed down each edge on the table saw to square up the corners (I don't have a jointer or planer yet). Laminated them together to create a work surface which is about six feet long and around 30" wide and 3" thick.

I then used 2x4's and 4x4's and mortise tenon joinery to create the base.

I use my hand auger drill to put holes in the top wherever I need them for the hold downs I have. I have not run into a problem with the holes getting to large for the hold down to work... if I do, I'll just drill another hole.

Total cost for this table was probably around $60.00 and I'm not afraid for it to get a ding or bruise. It is very solid. I have a hard time justifying the cost of doing something like this with expensive hardwood. While it probably looks nicer and may last longer, I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money for something that is going to get the $h!t beat out of it.

I've got pictures somewhere if you are interested

[David Bodkin]

If you haven't already, take a look in the Neanderthal Haven section of the forum. There are lots of posts on benches like you're describing. If you want to laminate 2x construction lumber for a top, google Chris Schwarz. He's a big advocate of using Southern Yellow Pine (construction lumber) for benches.

[Alan Frazier]

Acoustic guitars?

Wouldn't dog holes would need to be a harder lumber than pine? You can inset maple in a wood bench to serve as the dog hole positions or use iron pipe with a flange threaded on the underside and screwed to the bottom.

I've made all my benches from pine. they work great.
When they get all beat up and the spilled paint and glue and nail holes and over shots from drilling get to much, I just lay a sheet of ply on top screw it down and start over.
Acoustics and electrics, just started doing acoustics, not sure if I'll ever want to do electrics again acoustics have much more woodworking involved.

My dad has a 1 1/2" thick pine workbench and th holes have held up fine, it's probably 25 years old or so. I think most of the construction lumber here is spruce so it's softer. I think I will probably put a piece of maple in it where the dog holes will be and then with a 3/4'' thick plywood top I think it should hold up fine.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, if I could afford it I would most likely go with the laminations of plywood. I have pretty much decided on going with using 2x4's with the edges ripped off as mentioned Brad mentioned with a piece ore 3/4'' plywood on top.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I built the "24 hour workbench" that Chris Schwartz published a few years ago. It has a laminated plywood top, and it holds dog holes very well, and was cheap to build with 4x4 legs, 2x6 stretchers and rails. I banded the top with common 2x4s to cover the edges of the top, and they have stood up well too.

Doc

[Tony Bilello]

Maybe some variation of my bench could work for you. It is fairly heavy and very solid.

http://sawmillcreek.org/album.php?albumid=138

[Tom Majewski]

My first workbench was built with only a hand drill and a circular saw. I took a load of 2x4's, drilled three 1/2" holes on the wide end, smeared some glue and bolted it all together with three pieces of 3/8" 36" threaded rod. Ended up with a 34" by 72" by 3.5" top. Poor man's butcher block. That's before I owned any bar clamps or a jointer. 2x6 for the apron and 2x6 legs with diag braces.


I miss that bench.

[Jack Ellis]

I'm just finishing up "The Workbench Book" by Tom Landis. The Cliff Notes version is that you build a bench to suit your work style. There's nothing magical about hardwood benches, large European-style benches, Shaker benches or Japanese benches. I enjoyed reading the book and learned a lot about woodworking from it.

The best part about building a first bench from inexpensive materials is that you won't feel guilty about scrapping or changing it if you need to.

I have to confess that I've cheated in this respect. An amateur cabinetmaker was giving one away and I took it off his hands. Nothing fancy - plywood and fir - but it'll do until I figure out what I need. Perhaps one day I'll build a nice cabinet-quality bench, but not right now.

[Tom Cross]

Read the thread listed below. I posted a number of references to workbench designs. All can be made from construction grade yellow pine lumber as noted by Chris Schwarz who I consider to be the workbench guru.

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=104233&highlight=bench

In the two Woodworking Magazine articles I referenced, Chris Schwarz discusses why workbenches should be 24" wide for most folks and not have an apron thicker than the main top.