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View Full Version : New workbench top advice?



Paul Schaefer
04-10-2022, 11:39 AM
My old workbench top (2x material laid on the flat over 2x4 crossmembers) has developed some really bad cracks and warps. I've never been thrilled with it - it's a little too wide, the crossmembers always got in the way when trying to add vises. So trying to flatten it and fill in the crack isn't really something I'm interested in doing.

Two recent projects have left me with some decent 3/4" sanded radiata pine plywood (haven't seen any voids when working it) and 3/4" mdf. I have enough material that I could make a new benchtop of either 3 layers of mdf or 3 layers of plywood. The bench will adequately support the top that I'm not worried about sag.

I'd like any recommendations and which way to proceed.

I work full time, have two kids, am in school, and have a list of projects as long as my arm, so I will politely ignore any recommendations to build a benchtop of laminated 2x4s.

Richard Coers
04-10-2022, 12:17 PM
You make no reference to dog holes or holdfast holes but MDF or plywood probably makes little difference. I would suggest a final wear surface on the top of 1/8" hardboard. Hold that down with a few little dots of glue or a few pins. Then you can pop that off when it gets messed up and put on a fresh one. You'll never get a recommendation of construction lumber in a workbench top from me. Pretty much the worst material choice you can make.

Mike Kees
04-10-2022, 5:24 PM
Sounds to me like quick, easy , cheap and works well is what you need at this point. I would suggest a solid core door slab would do what you need. Check out a Habitat Restore ,probably $20 would get what you need. Good luck.

John Pendery
04-10-2022, 5:32 PM
I would go with MDF. I’ve had good luck laminating sheets of MDF together to create quick and stable work surfaces. Rob Cosman builds his student workbenches this way. He has several videos demonstrating the build which is very straightforward and quick. A small round over on edges help keep the MDF from chipping away and is much quicker than adding hardwood to protect edges, but both work. Good luck either way you go

Andrew Seemann
04-10-2022, 6:25 PM
Either is fine; I'd go with whatever is easiest to put in. Myself, I would probably just screw 2 or 3 layers of whichever you chose onto the current frame, rather than mess around with glue. That way you can someday replace the top layer if it gets too dinged up, and it will allow for a little movement between the layers. Be sure to drill clearance holes so the screws don't grab into the top and cause bridging. Finish the top with whatever you have laying around waiting to be used up, shellac, poly, oil, etc. It's a workbench, not an alter:)

John K Jordan
04-11-2022, 11:42 AM
Don't know the size of your workbench but for mine I used a laminated counter top glued-up from hard maple. A local cabinet maker ordered it from somewhere (I don't know where) but we decided to go with granite in that spot instead. I built the workbench to fit the top. It's a great top for my use.

Andrew More
04-11-2022, 12:16 PM
I'd go with the plywood. MDF doesn't hold together as well, and while you might be taxed for time, you're always going to be taxed for time, so why go with the MDF and end up replacing it again?


You'll never get a recommendation of construction lumber in a workbench top from me. Pretty much the worst material choice you can make.

Depends. You'll get better results with higher grade framing lumber, larger pieces, and if it's dried out a bit. Chris Swartz is pretty famous for recommending this over other materials, including hardwood, usually because benches require wood by the pound.

Richard Coers
04-11-2022, 5:12 PM
I'd go with the plywood. MDF doesn't hold together as well, and while you might be taxed for time, you're always going to be taxed for time, so why go with the MDF and end up replacing it again?



Depends. You'll get better results with higher grade framing lumber, larger pieces, and if it's dried out a bit. Chris Swartz is pretty famous for recommending this over other materials, including hardwood, usually because benches require wood by the pound.
I've been woodworking about as long as Schwarz (he comments that hardly anyone pronounces or spells his name correctly) has been alive. I've been at it for 50 years, he's 54. I'll stand by my opinion of using framing lumber. 19% juvenile wood is not a stable material! I don't understand your wood by the pound comment. I want weight in my bench, and you don't get that from spruce, pine, or even young growth fir. MDF has a hard skin on it and works just fine.

mike stenson
04-11-2022, 5:18 PM
it's a cost/pound analysis as I recall. Oh, and the thing that I think most people miss is that any bench is better than no bench. If your choice is SYP or nothing, make it out of SYP.

and... historically, I recall that they'd be made out of whatever was available locally.

Andrew More
04-11-2022, 5:47 PM
it's a cost/pound analysis as I recall. Oh, and the thing that I think most people miss is that any bench is better than no bench. If your choice is SYP or nothing, make it out of SYP.
Or in some cases SYP is better than hardwoods. At least that was the conclusion of Jay Bates, who had a bench made out of each material and gave away the Hickory bench. So that would be two people who have made benches out of both hardwood and softwood and concluded that the SYP was superior to other woods. So I don't think it's just price.

And yes, you're correct, it's an issue of cost/pound of wood, particularly for something that requires a ton of lumber and will be used as a tool, not a piece of furniture. Beech was another historical pick because it was cheap and easily available. I'd guess in this country it would likely be hard maple, red oak, popular or chestnut when that was available.

However, what you commonly see is people using quilted maple, and figured walnut and all these other fancy woods, completely with fancy joints for things they're going to spend a lot of time beating on with hammer, cutting into with chisels and saws, and spilling glue and other finishes on. So I think as usual he was highlighting some of the folly in people's attachment to overly fancy stuff.

mike stenson
04-11-2022, 5:53 PM
Well, I got a hankerin' for a longer, simpler, bench. Maybe I'll make it outa softwood and compare it to the sugar maple bench top I have now. I know that the dougfir posts and beams in my shop are significantly harder now than the maple. 40yrs old.. vs 20years for the maple.

Experimentation beats following the status quo every time in what's learned.

Richard Coers
04-11-2022, 9:00 PM
Or in some cases SYP is better than hardwoods. At least that was the conclusion of Jay Bates, who had a bench made out of each material and gave away the Hickory bench. So that would be two people who have made benches out of both hardwood and softwood and concluded that the SYP was superior to other woods. So I don't think it's just price.

And yes, you're correct, it's an issue of cost/pound of wood, particularly for something that requires a ton of lumber and will be used as a tool, not a piece of furniture. Beech was another historical pick because it was cheap and easily available. I'd guess in this country it would likely be hard maple, red oak, popular or chestnut when that was available.

However, what you commonly see is people using quilted maple, and figured walnut and all these other fancy woods, completely with fancy joints for things they're going to spend a lot of time beating on with hammer, cutting into with chisels and saws, and spilling glue and other finishes on. So I think as usual he was highlighting some of the folly in people's attachment to overly fancy stuff.

If anyone hit my bench with a hammer or chopped into it with a chisel, they would be escorted out and told never to return. I slip a protective surface under my work. In early days of cabinetmaking, your tool box and workbench were your resume. Pride in your work surfaces was pride in your craftsmanship. That was what I was taught in Industrial Arts in the 60s. If you marked the hard maple student benches it was reported that hell would be paid! I have 2 marks in my bench that I made in the late 80s. One an apprentice put in it with a router, and one I put in the face of the top when I misjudged a saw cut with a jigsaw. Not taking time to protect your bench is the same thought process of drilling into your drill press table. My machine restoration friend calls those "the arc of shame". Some people are happy to work on sawhorses and 2x4s, to each his own.
477430

Andrew More
04-11-2022, 9:15 PM
That's a nice look bench Richard. Just curious what woods were used.

While I appreciate your care in preserving your work surface, it just hasn't been my experience that things work out perfectly. It's the reason why I wear safety gear in the shop, and own a SawStop. Things happen, best to plan ahead, rather than regret it later. I also use a protective surface, but I am not going to be surprised when the chisel goes through the board, or it misses, or I spill something, or my kids wack it with a hammer when my back is turned, or my wife backs her car into it, etc. Seems better to me to use cheap (and maybe better) wood for something that's going to see more abuse.

FWIW, I've also got a Craftsman drill press from the 70s. Not quite the "arc" of shame, but it's clear my dad made a few mistakes and drilled into the table a couple of times.

Things happen.

Steve Demuth
04-12-2022, 11:17 AM
If anyone hit my bench with a hammer or chopped into it with a chisel, they would be escorted out and told never to return. ... Some people are happy to work on sawhorses and 2x4s, to each his own.
477430

If I took that approach, I'd have to exile myself from my shop. I don't try to damage my workbench, but it's a tool, and I don't like thinking about my tools when I'm using them - they are there to facilitate my thinking about what I'm building. So, from time to time my benchtop gets damaged by a chisel, or a drill or a bottle of black wood dye that I spill on it. I consider the scars reminders of the good times we had together ;-)

Steve Demuth
04-12-2022, 11:21 AM
Don't know the size of your workbench but for mine I used a laminated counter top glued-up from hard maple. A local cabinet maker ordered it from somewhere (I don't know where) but we decided to go with granite in that spot instead. I built the workbench to fit the top. It's a great top for my use.

I just made a new benchtop for my son. Took a pile of white oak and ash low grade 8/4 material, ripped it into roughly 6/4 strips, glued it up, and soaked it with boiled linseed oil. It'll give years of service. Doesn't look half bad either, although I dare say that given the way he works, it'll hardly ever be seen. Never an empty horizontal surface in his life.

Paul Schaefer
04-12-2022, 10:52 PM
Thanks for all the responses.

I'll be using the MDF or plywood that I have because it's already paid for, and it gets some stuff out of my shop.

What I like about MDF is it's really flat and heavy as sin. What I don't like is that it's sensitive to moisture and I think the edges will be fragile (though either edging it with wood or rounding over edges as Ros Cosman suggests would probably take care of that. I'm also worried about it's ability to hold lag screws for a vise, though I guess I could either use through bolts or put a piece of wood in the mdf 'sandwich' where the vise will be. How long of a lag does a big cast iron vise need, anyway?

Plywood seems like it would hold a lag better. Chris Schwarz rates laminated plywood as a 'not bad' option for a quick benchtop.

Either way, I've seen a lot of recommendations to put a 1/8" wear surface of hardboard on though Rob Cosman doesn't bother. If I did that, I could use through bolts for the vise and not worry about the bolt holes catching various debris.

Kris Cook
04-13-2022, 12:07 AM
Paul - good luck with your top. I haven't seen the Cosman video but I think edging the MDF with wood is a sound approach. I have a workbench that now serves as an outfeed table but was my workbench for a few years. It has a plywood top and is wrapped (two layers) with 4/4 red oak left over from a flooring project. I have a vise mounted that is lagged into the oak - two lags on the face and two lags underneath. It is very solid and has been in service for at least 15 years.

If you don't have something solid to anchor the vise to, the through-bolt idea may serve you best.

Reading the comments about how a workbench is treated made me think of a story that Tage Frid told in one of the books of his that I have - I had to dig the book out to remember it completely. Basically, when he was an apprentice in Denmark, the master charged 1 krone for every cut a journeyman made in a benchtop by mistake. A young journeyman was going into the army, so on his last day when he got paid he told the master that he had made a sawcut in his bench. The master thanked him for being so honest and deducted the 1 krone from his final pay. The master was very surprised when he came into the shop and found the one cut had sawn the bench in two.:D

Ron Selzer
04-13-2022, 12:21 PM
my bench is made out of scrounged wood.
4x4 for legs and frame
fire rated 3/4 plywood for top, then years later added 4/4 rift sawn white oak wrapping the top and sides
sand it down and refinished one time in ten years