Woodworking bench from 2X4, some questions

[Christoph Brehm]

Hello all,
I am building a work bench top from 2X4's as the "core" and would like to use some harder wood for the actual working surface.
However, while thinking about that, I still have enough 3/4" plywood sitting around which I could also use for that purpose. Unfortunately I don't know if that is strong enough especially for bench dog holes?
The other question would be how to fasten the plywood to the 2x4 laminate. Just glue it or screws it or any other technique?

Thanks for any advise!

Chris

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[Jamie Buxton]

Tying a 2x4 panel tightly to plywood is a recipe for disaster. 2x4s are usually sold green, and they'll shrink as they dry. Even kiln-dried 2x4s are still pretty green. The industry standard for kiln-dried construction lumber is 19% EMC, which means they're about half-dry. They'll eventually get down to 9% or so. Plywood does not shrink, because the cross-grain laminates prevent each other from shrinking. If you tie the plywood tightly to the lumber, as you've suggested, the lumber will shrink, and the completed benchtop will cup.

[Justin Jump]

Check out woodsmithshop.com for the economical workbench made from 2x4's, 2x6's and mdf. I have built a hadful of these, see my pic, a new one foreground, and one about a year old in the background.

I built them 1" lower than needed, and used feetto level them up, and if there is any warping/drying, you can change the feet thinkness to help level it out, but I didn not have any issues, but I tried to hand pick, light dried lumber.

The mdf top is 3 solid pieces trimmed out, once done, I spray 3 coats of poly or clear, whetever I have lay291542ing around.

[Judson Green]

Your 2×4 work surface will be plenty hard enough. Also, the 2×4s will change with the seasons, the plywood will not. And if it gets out of flat, as wood sometimes does, its easily reflatened with hand planes.

This is mine made with 2×4's for the core and trimmed out with soft maple. The expansion/contraction happens in the back under a big piece of shoe molding.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?217095-Yay-my-new-workbench-top-is-done

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The center photo shows dados cut for dog holes.

[Lonnie Gallaher]

Jason are your vise not finished in the third picture?

[Mike Olson]

My last bench I used Baltic Birch plywood over 2x4's for the top, any nick or scratch on that will give you splinters if you brush your hand over it, even if you sand it. when you hammer on it, it's loud. I screwed it down from underneath thinking I wanted to be able to replace it if needed. I even got splinters from the dog holes when I pushed a dog down out of the way. basically, it was a bad idea.

My current bench is made from 2x4's and 2x10's and it's fine. I have some gouges in it but I'd rather the bench take the abuse then the project i'm working on. The dog holes are fine.

https://sites.google.com/site/bigdaddyoprojects/_/rsrc/1402159090722/Home/Thumbnail_720.jpg

[Pete Janke]

291599291600291598291597I built mine out of 2X4s for the table, 2X6s for the frame, and 4x6s for the legs. I covered the top with cheap laminate flooring. It is easily replaceable and very tough.

[Calvin Williams]

If you sticker your 2x4s and let them dry out before you build you'll have a great bench that will be plenty durable. I built this one about a year and a half ago and it gets used all day everyday and still looks great.

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[Dave Zellers]

Hello all,
I am building a work bench top from 2X4's as the "core" and would like to use some harder wood for the actual working surface.
However, while thinking about that, I still have enough 3/4" plywood sitting around which I could also use for that purpose. Unfortunately I don't know if that is strong enough especially for bench dog holes?
The other question would be how to fasten the plywood to the 2x4 laminate. Just glue it or screws it or any other technique?

Thanks for any advise!

Chris

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You don't say what kind of 3/4" plywood but I'm not sure you need to.

Those 2 slabs look awesome. Flatten them by whatever means are available to you, glue them together and you're off and running.

I have a 2 1/4" maple 'L' shaped bench that I love, but the bulk of my work is done on a bench/table I made from all 3/4" high quality UL plywood. No voids and 3 layers thick only where the dogs / hold fasts go but mostly just 1 layer. (I love my Gramercy hold fasts!) I trimmed the edges with a T&G oak piece and it's my go-to table.

So I would embrace those 2 slabs, try to get the tops flat, and marry them before they change their minds. They are made for each other.

[Christoph Brehm]

WOW..

thanks for all the answers and pictures, very cool workbenches made from 2X4s. I think you convinced me to continue with just 2x4s for the benchtop and not add anything. However, looking at your pictures I have to realize that my pieces are not the nicest, these 2x4 had an awful lot knots. So I will get some better ones, somebody told me to use 2x8s and rip them in half, they often seem to be better quality wood with less knots.
I think I can use what I already did as legs.

[Dave Lehnert]

WOW..

thanks for all the answers and pictures, very cool workbenches made from 2X4s. I think you convinced me to continue with just 2x4s for the benchtop and not add anything. However, looking at your pictures I have to realize that my pieces are not the nicest, these 2x4 had an awful lot knots. So I will get some better ones, somebody told me to use 2x8s and rip them in half, they often seem to be better quality wood with less knots.
I think I can use what I already did as legs.

If you go for larger size wood you can find it in Southern Yellow Pine. A wood that is recomended by Christopher Schwarz in his book. http://www.amazon.com/Workbenches-Design-Construction-Popular-Woodworking-ebook/dp/B0051Q8CW6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1403314763&sr=8-2&keywords=Christopher+Schwarz+work+bench+wood

[Judson Green]

Don't worry about the knots unless their loose and if ya get some big tear out when planing just do this for both occasions. Dutchman.

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[Christoph Brehm]

My initial idea was too use my using my present work table stand and put the new table top on it. In the meanwhile I am convinced that this is not a good idea and decided to make the legs from the pieces I already have.
So yesterday morning I picked up some 2x8s and 2x10s, which were not nearly as much bent and twisted as the 2x4s. Using 2x10s is much more convenient than using 2x4s, less waste and cuts.


This time I put eight boards together and the final product has approx. 12" in width and is 6 feet long.

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[Greg Hines, MD]

I went the other way and built my benchtop out of 4 layers of 3/4" Birch Plywood, and I have not had any trouble with it. It takes dog holes nicely, and has been very durable for the last 10 or so years. That said, I would not use anything but your 2x4s for your top. If you are worried about it being smooth enough, put a tempered hardboard top onto it, loose, and held by your edging boards.

Doc

[Greg Portland]

Hello all,
I am building a work bench top from 2X4's as the "core" and would like to use some harder wood for the actual working surface.
However, while thinking about that, I still have enough 3/4" plywood sitting around which I could also use for that purpose. Unfortunately I don't know if that is strong enough especially for bench dog holes?
The other question would be how to fasten the plywood to the 2x4 laminate. Just glue it or screws it or any other technique?
For my top I built a plywood torsion box out of 2x4s and 3/4" plywood. For the dog holes, I took two 2x6s and a cut up a 1x6 into squares. A 1x6 is really 3/4" so it fits a square dog perfectly. I screwed-and-glued the 1x6s in between the two 2x6s. I then lag bolted the whole thing onto the torsion box top. When you cut the 1x6s, cut them at a slight (5 degree) angle so the resulting dog holes of your lamination are skewed away from the end vise.

[william watts]

This is a bench I made in the 80's, it's made from fir 2x4's. It was to be of temporary use to build another real bench from hardwood. I have used it since then and its held up fine. When I built this I did not have any clamps, jointer or planer just used lag bolts to hold the 2x's together until the glue dried! The fir does dent some, but the overall flatness remains good. The front apron is a popular 2x6 and the dog holes are in area that is beech for hardness. I know the the dog holes are to far apart, but I work around that and still intend to build a new bench.

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