Work Bench Top Opinions Please

[Barry Rhoads]

I have the material from several oak pews that wound up in my possession when we upgraded to newer pews. The material is 12 feet long with the backs being 16 inches wide and the bottoms 20 inches wide. They are 13/16 inch thick. Thinking about making a top three layers deep by either 40 inches wide. I am going to make the legs out of the ends by ripping and gluing the 2 inch pieces together for a 6in square leg. Thanks for the input.

[Jerome Hanby]

Sounds like it will be a brute. oak should be just fine for a Workbench. Post some pictures when you get started.

[John Thompson]

I've built tops from ash.. hickory and oak. You should be fine!

[Barry Rhoads]

I appreciate the observations. I will post pics of a couple of projects that I have built using the pew material. It is basically No. 1 oak, no knots.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Made my bench 12 years ago from RO that was salvaged from a neighbor's house undergoing renovation - 2 x 8 joists used for framing pre-1900. Serious heavy + stable.

[Dave Cav]

It would be more work, but have you considered ripping the oak into 3 1/2 to 4" pieces and gluing up the faces to make the working surface all edge grain? You would probably have fewer expansion/contraction problems with laminated edge grain, and edge grain is very tough. My benchtop is glued up from 3 1/2" ash and is very solid. The other drawback, of course, is having it surfaced; you would need to find someone with a widebelt sander to level off the top and bottom. 40" is also pretty wide for a workbench, unless it will be situated so you can work from all sides.

[Barry Rhoads]

Dave, I did think about that. The back and bottom panels are boards that are about 3.5 to 4 in wide. The surfacing would definitley be an issue. I think I am goin gto make the width more manageable. The pews are probably close to a hundred years old. As I have seen with other "aged oak" this stuff is as hardf as concrete, yet not brittle. This I think is due in part to the pews being in mostly conditioned sapce with a finsih. Thanks for the input.