Workbench top - horizontal laminations using dimensional lumber?

[Bryan Ericson]

This may have been discussed previously, but I didn't find anything through searching.

Workbenches with laminated tops that are made from 2-by lumber typically run the laminations vertically. That is, each lamination in the top is the thickness of the lumber (usually 1-1/2 inch or so), and each strip is ripped to the desired thickness before being glued.

My question is: is there any reason that a workbench builder wouldn't want to take, say, a pair (or trio) of 2x12s and glue their faces together?

Obviously this would be unacceptable if one wanted a solid surface all the way across the bench, but maybe the builder could stagger the boards so that edges didn't align with each other. Also, there are many split-top benches that could use this method successfully.

Would the grain orientation necessarily lead to stability issues? With the traditional vertical laminations, each strip of wood is more-or-less quartersawn, whereas with the horizontal laminations the top would have flatsawn pieces. However, if the boards were acclimated and oriented correctly when glued, movement shouldn't be much of an issue.

One final issue is that this method wouldn't work well if the builder wanted a benchtop thickness that was different than what would be allowed by layering the lumber this way (3 or 4-1/2 inches).

This method seems as though it would save a lot of time and potential for errors in the glue-up and leveling stages, particularly for those of use who don't have access to a planer for final surfacing.

Thoughts?

[Sean Hughto]

This is not a time saver. Face jointing wide boards to laminate them is not easy, unless you don't care about gaps. The standard way is standard for a reason. Flat sawn boards tend to cup slightly with the growth rings as they breathe - they will be fighting each other and the glue. Also, flattening a top mad ethe traditional way - final surfacing - is not hard with a hand plane.

[daniel lane]

Garrett Hack did this for his "workbench 30 years in the making," published a couple of years ago. (You can find the article at the FWW website (http://www.finewoodworking.com/PlansAndProjects/PlansAndProjectspdf.aspx?id=33067), membership required.) He made a top 3 boards thick and staggered the lumber in the layered glue ups to make a tongue-and-groove joinery system for the top, then used breadboard ends to keep it flat. He used a variety of 1" thick hardwoods, though, not construction (softwood) lumber.


daniel

[glenn bradley]

This method seems as though it would save a lot of time and potential for errors in the glue-up and leveling stages


This is not a time saver. Face jointing wide boards to laminate them is not easy

Laminate layers of 3/4" MDF save even more time and are pretty easy to handle ;-)

238594 . 238595

[Tony Shea]

I did the 3 layers of MDF for my first bench and it ended up not coming out that great. The final glue-up was not completely flat and there wasn't anything I could do to fix it. This bench did serve me well for over 3 years, but trying to hand plane boards flat with an out of flat bench is not a whole lot of fun. Always had to use wedges strategically place in order to get my boards flat enough. I always contemplated on trying to flatten the bench with hand planes but didn't think it was something that would work with MDF, wasn't sure if the surface would be useable after. I'm not sure how to get a perfectly flat surface in a sheet glue-up like that. Finding that big of a flat surface to glue on is not as easy as you'd think.

To reply to the OP, not sure why this method you talk about would be any easier than the typical edge up method. You still need to surface large faces flat in order to get a decent glue-up of the different levels. At least with laminating all boards in the typical manner would require much smaller faces to get true by hand than if you had 2 to 4 different levels of your method to true up.

[David Weaver]

You can plane MDF. You will sharpen very often, but you can plane it.

Several years ago when I still used power tools, I made a router table with an MDF top and then planed it flat after I affixed it to its base. last year, I had to use it for something that I couldn't do with hand tools (put a 1/8th groove about 3/4ths inch deep in a plane) and it was out of flat due to moisture absorbption, so I planed it again.

It's not something I'd want to do unless I absolutely had to, though, and I'd do it with a plane that the iron comes out of quickly (so that it doesn't take long to sharpen it).

[Tony Zaffuto]

I used a method somewhat similar (but different!). I took 2 X 10s & 2 x 12s and ripped them to about 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 strips, so the grain was oriented as QS or at the least rift sawn and then laminated in a flat manner. Did this about 4 or 5 years ago and still working well. Lumber was as good a grade of fir as I could sort out from the local Lowes.

I had to give it a "once over" with a jointer plane after the first seasonal weather change, but haven't really had the need to do that since. I also let the lumber acclimate in my basement shop for at least 6 to 8 months and I view this as maybe shorter than what is truly needed, as the lumber was construction grade with a moisture content of 10 to 11% (if I remember correctly).

[Dustin Keys]

This may have been discussed previously, but I didn't find anything through searching.

Workbenches with laminated tops that are made from 2-by lumber typically run the laminations vertically. That is, each lamination in the top is the thickness of the lumber (usually 1-1/2 inch or so), and each strip is ripped to the desired thickness before being glued.

My question is: is there any reason that a workbench builder wouldn't want to take, say, a pair (or trio) of 2x12s and glue their faces together?

Obviously this would be unacceptable if one wanted a solid surface all the way across the bench, but maybe the builder could stagger the boards so that edges didn't align with each other. Also, there are many split-top benches that could use this method successfully.

Would the grain orientation necessarily lead to stability issues? With the traditional vertical laminations, each strip of wood is more-or-less quartersawn, whereas with the horizontal laminations the top would have flatsawn pieces. However, if the boards were acclimated and oriented correctly when glued, movement shouldn't be much of an issue.

One final issue is that this method wouldn't work well if the builder wanted a benchtop thickness that was different than what would be allowed by layering the lumber this way (3 or 4-1/2 inches).

This method seems as though it would save a lot of time and potential for errors in the glue-up and leveling stages, particularly for those of use who don't have access to a planer for final surfacing.

Thoughts?


If the issue is access to tools and a beginner's skill level, you might look to something like Tom's Torsion Box Workbench (google it, two good sets of plans available - the revised one published a few years ago is better IMO). That bench can be built with basic tools most people already have in their garage for the most part and it's very functional. I built it last year to get started. I've really enjoyed having it. I really think you're looking for trouble if you try to face joint the lumber like you're describing.

In hindsight, I do wish I would have built one of the more standard benches you see with vertically laminated 2x4s, but my bench still works just fine. I was scared off by the glueup process and some of the skills required which I wasn't sure I could pull off. Now that I've gotten my feet wet with woodworking though, I realize that I could have done a good job of it if I would have tried. It would have taken longer than the torsion box bench though, and I have very few complaints about my bench. It gave me a good platform to get up and working quickly and is a very capable bench.

D