Temporary woodworking bench has arrived

[dawn villaescusa]

I picked up my temporary woodworking bench at ReStore today - an old MDF desk. It's 30" deep, 66" long and 31" tall. The top is two pieces of 3/4" MDF glued together, covered with formica. It's actually a separate piece from the bottom drawer sections, which are also 3/4" MDF with 1/4" plywood bottoms and HEAVY. I think it will work pretty well for me. Here's some pix.
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The formica is almost completely loose from the MDF top - should I bother putting it back on or replace it with a sheet of 3/4" plywood? Other than that, I'm just going to put my vise (and old 7" Craftsman wood vise) on the front and see how it works as is to start. I like it that I'm able to put the drawer sets wherever works best, so there will be a spot for the vise (the configuration in the photo is not how I plan to set it up). Thoughts?

Oh, I also grabbed this small steel work table - it has a soft, leather-like top that can be removed (the top has a 1/8" rim), adjustable legs and a drawer. Figured it will be a good spot for my sharpening stuff (24"x36" top). Not sure what the soft top material is - it has lots of marks, looks like a well-used work space.
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[Bill Houghton]

I'm familiar with those steel tables with the soft material on top. I have the impression that the material is some form of linoleum.

Great gets.

[Paul Incognito]

Nice grabs, especially the steel table! The desk should work fine for a temporary bench. Yes, replacing or putting something on top of the formica is probably a good idea. The formica is pretty slippery, not an ideal quality for a bench. Also, check to see if the drawer bases will rack by pushing on th top corners. If they do, adding a plywood back to them wouldn't be a bad idea.
Paul

[dawn villaescusa]

I'm familiar with those steel tables with the soft material on top. I have the impression that the material is some form of linoleum.

Great gets.

Sure, that's probably what it is - haven't seen linoleum in a long time!

[Judson Green]

I'd suggest putting the desk top on upside down, it looks like the underside is MDF (which is better than the laminate for a workbench) also you won't have to deal with the molding on the edge of the top, could be a problem when you mount your vise. And specking of vise; I don't know if your plans are to have a tail vise of some sort so you can use bench dogs, but you might wanna Google around for ideas on round bench dogs. You could make these easily out of some ¾" dowel from your big or small hardware shop of your choice.

Don't wanna get into a discussion about the proper workbench height, but you could easily change the height to suit you better.

If you want to remove the laminate top, do it outside (very well ventilated) and I've used lacquer thinner and a ridged putty knife, be careful laminate is very sharp. But you'd probably still have a gummy surface so I'd be inclined to leave it alone. If my eyes are deceiving me and the top is laminated on the underside then I'd get ½ or ¾" thick sheet of MDF to go on your top surface.

With a few mods it looks like a very good starter bench. Good luck.

[dawn villaescusa]

Nice grabs, especially the steel table! The desk should work fine for a temporary bench. Yes, replacing or putting something on top of the formica is probably a good idea. The formica is pretty slippery, not an ideal quality for a bench. Also, check to see if the drawer bases will rack by pushing on th top corners. If they do, adding a plywood back to them wouldn't be a bad idea.
Paul

Only paid $20 for the steel table - solid and sturdy, too. I'm happy not to reglue the formica - it's a nice sheet, in good shape but I have no love for sticking down that large of a sheet (only had one other formica experience, replacing the laminate on a 48" bathroom vanity years ago - that was enough). The drawer bases have 1/4" plywood on the back - they appear to be well made, quite strong - I pushed on the corners as you said - no racking. The drawers are 24" deep with funky but effective drawer stops.

[dawn villaescusa]

I'd suggest putting the desk top on upside down, it looks like the underside is MDF (which is better than the laminate for a workbench) also you won't have to deal with the molding on the edge of the top, could be a problem when you mount your vise. And specking of vise; I don't know if your plans are to have a tail vise of some sort so you can use bench dogs, but you might wanna Google around for ideas on round bench dogs. You could make these easily out of some ¾" dowel from your big or small hardware shop of your choice.

Good idea, I'll flip it over and see about using it that way (looks like bare MDF). Just going to try a face vise to start.


Don't wanna get into a discussion about the proper workbench height, but you could easily change the height to suit you better.

Yes, I figured I might need to raise it, at least a little - it feels low to me.


If you want to remove the laminate top, do it outside (very well ventilated) and I've used lacquer thinner and a ridged putty knife, be careful laminate is very sharp. But you'd probably still have a gummy surface so I'd be inclined to leave it alone. If my eyes are deceiving me and the top is laminated on the underside then I'd get ½ or ¾" thick sheet of MDF to go on your top surface.

The laminate peeled right off - the surface under it is sortof greenish glue-coating, not thick or lumpy. Too much of it was loose to be able to just leave it alone - more than half. Think it's ok to just leave the gunk on there and put another sheet of something (mdf or plywood) over it?

[lowell holmes]

I would consider a solid core door. You can rip and crosscut a top out of it. The mass of the door will allow abusing it as you work on it.
You could even drill dog holes and mount a vice on it.

[dawn villaescusa]

I would consider a solid core door. You can rip and crosscut a top out of it. The mass of the door will allow abusing it as you work on it.
You could even drill dog holes and mount a vice on it.

You know, my hubby looked at it and wondered out loud whether the top might be a repurposed solid cord door - it's got a hole like for a doorknob (I figured it was for computer wires). It is made of two 3/4" sheets of MDF, but only one side is (was) laminated. I'll probably remove the trim, or at least flip it around so I don't have to mess with the trim in the front. Putting a door on top of it would probably get it closer to the right height for me (I'm 5'7")

[Judson Green]

If its not MDF it will be a backer laminate which is kinda like really thick and hard paper, still fine for a starter bench.

The contact cement (the greenish stuff) might be water based and I'm sure how to remove it, Google it. In my experience nasty chemical based stuff is red. If you are using the other side I wouldn't give a second thought to it, but if not then yes I'd remove all the laminate to have a parallel or smooth surface to start but still cover with MDF.

[Judson Green]

I wouldn't bother. Solid core doors go for about $60.00. And it would seem to me you all ready have what you need. 2×4's are much cheaper and lighter and will give you the height change you might be looking for.

Not too many doors are 66" tall, well maybe in FLW's houses. Its like that guy had a vendetta against tall people.

[dawn villaescusa]

If its not MDF it will be a backer laminate which is kinda like really thick and hard paper, still fine for a starter bench.

The contact cement (the greenish stuff) might be water based and I'm sure how to remove it, Google it. In my experience nasty chemical based stuff is red. If you are using the other side I wouldn't give a second thought to it, but if not then yes I'd remove all the laminate to have a parallel or smooth surface to start but still cover with MDF.

Here's pix of each side - the side with the green stuff and the back.
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[Judson Green]

Oh good, you got all the laminate off, put that face down. Can't tell from your photo if its "backer" on the back or just MDF, if you look closely at the hole and see a dark line at the surface about a 1/16" thick, its backer. But no matter, I'd say your ready to rock.

[Todd Burch]

I bought a desk similar (but larger) to this last winter at an auction. I'm in the process of restoring it.

The original top is most likely a material called Borco. It's no longer made. The best suggested replacement material is called Vyco. Vyco is that stuff they use on drafting boards. It is usually green, but comes in other colors, or, you can flip the green over to use the cream colored side. I'll be doing this with mine.

I bought my top from DraftingSteals.com. They seemed to have the best price.

[Jim Matthews]

I attended two classes at the Connecticut valley woodworking school.
All the student benches are made of MDF laminatations, with a polyurethane topcoat.

Nothing else. A single vise, hanging off one end (right side for right handers, left for the rest).

They're stable, durable and work just fine.

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[David Weaver]

I attended two classes at the Connecticut valley woodworking school.
All the student benches are made of MDF laminatations, with a polyurethane topcoat.

Nothing else. A single vise, hanging off one end (right side for right handers, left for the rest).

They're stable, durable and work just fine.

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I could work with a bench like that just fine. My bench is one that would be classified as junk on this forum (and it sort of is, I guess). If I had a framed MDF bench, I doubt there's anything I generally do on it that would matter much. I'd glue size it first, though. I built a router table ala pat warner's description in one of his books (the versatile router or some such thing), and ran oak supports under it to keep it straight and flat, and it has stayed that for 8 years, but i've had to plane the MDF twice because it has unevenly absorbed ambient moisture. If it's sized, no problem.

[Judson Green]

That's how I was thinking Dawn could set up her vise, seems like a good one vise solution.

[Adam Cruea]

I'm not sure of your mass or strength, but be careful bearing down on 2 sheets of MDF.

I'm about 260 and when I really got into using my outside bench (two sheets of MDF 6x4 feet), the middle would dip because I didn't have adequate support under it. Even just leaning on it, the middle would droop.

Other than that, the stuff makes a fine bench! Well done steal, ma'am. :D

[Judson Green]

Dawn

Here's the dogs I made for my first bench. You could do the same with a hardwood dowel from the dowel store. The wire here is from a whisk I wasn't using, you could do that or even a heavy duty paper clip could work.

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[dawn villaescusa]

Nothing else. A single vise, hanging off one end (right side for right handers, left for the rest).




That's how I was thinking Dawn could set up her vise, seems like a good one vise solution.


I can do it that way, makes sense to me.



I'm not sure of your mass or strength, but be careful bearing down on 2 sheets of MDF. I'm about 260 and when I really got into using my outside bench (two sheets of MDF 6x4 feet), the middle would dip because I didn't have adequate support under it. Even just leaning on it, the middle would droop.

I'd like to raise it a couple of inches anyway, so I was thinking I could make a simple frame of 2x4's or 2x2's to sit on the bases, and attach the top to that. Although to start out I may leave it as is just to test the height with the way I work - see how it goes...

[dawn villaescusa]

The original top is most likely a material called Borco. It's no longer made. The best suggested replacement material is called Vyco. Vyco is that stuff they use on drafting boards. It is usually green, but comes in other colors, or, you can flip the green over to use the cream colored side. I'll be doing this with mine.

The soft material is very dark gray and doesn't appear to be reversible. Other than some rust under the mat, the table is in very good shape, so I will probably work with it as is. Eventually may want to replace the soft material but for now it is fine. Thanks for the tips!

[dawn villaescusa]

Thanks Judson, I'll give them a try. I'm pretty excited about this :o)

[Adam Cruea]

Although to start out I may leave it as is just to test the height with the way I work - see how it goes...

Good idea. You can always raise a bench easily, but it's harder to lower it. :)