Wood for a Workbench Top

[Brian Dormer]

I know that Maple is the "gold standard" for Workbench tops. Locally, I can get Maple, Red Oak and Poplar without any trouble.

I think that Red Oak - while it looks nice and I've worked with it before - would certainly be a strong, solid top - It's got a "splintery" quality about it that makes me think it's not an ideal choice. It's about the same price as Maple.

Poplar, on the other hand (Yellow Poplar - which is actually in the magnolia family) is abundant and about 1/2 the cost of Maple or Oak. I've made a few things out of Poplar and it works easily and seems quite strong. I also understand that 100 years ago - Poplar was "THE" wood. Used for cabinets, furniture, framing - you name it. It only fell out of favor because SYP and other softwoods became cheaper. It's similar to Japanese Ho wood - which is used in making the scabard (or saya) for samurai swords.

Anyone have any thoughts on using Poplar for a workbench?

bd

[everett lowell]

Brian, poplar is probly better than what I used- 2x4's ! my bench is working out well for me. just my 2 cents.:)

[James Kuhn]

My initial thought was that poplar might be more susceptible to dimensional movement than maple, but I ran the numbers and they are pretty close. The strength numbers show maple pulling ahead by a decent margin but what seems to set them apart most is that maple has 3 times the Side Hardness of Poplar so it is much more durable. I guess it depends on how much punishment you plan on putting the thing through.

[Brian Dormer]

A good friend of mine built his bench out of 2 x 4's - some "leftovers" and a few more carefully selected at the home center.

I might go that route - but I'm a little worried about the 2 x 4 lumber twisting, warping and generally making a mess of things.

BTW - that bench is a beauty - if you hadn't said 2 x 4 - I wouldn't have known.

[Brian Dormer]

I'm not familiar with "side hardness" but it looks like (quick google read) it's something like "dent resistance". So what you are saying is that a poplar top might show a few more dents and dings over the years?

I googled "poplar workbench" and many benches have poplar legs and stretchers. And others have poplar skirts. Not too many use it for the top - but there are a couple antique benches that are all poplar. So it's been done before.

I would say that I will certainly use the bench - but not beat the heck out of it. And a few dents, scars and blemishes over the years lend a certain character to a workbench. If they are too pretty - they belong in a museum - not a workshop.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I had planned to build a bench using douglass fir 2 bys for the top. Luckily I got a good buy on a nice used bench and have put building one one the back burner.

[Jim Becker]

I build a lot with poplar and like it a lot. My only concern for the workbench top would be it's somewhat soft, but then again, there are pleny of benches out there made of pine and fir, too. You have nothing to lose, IMHO.

[John Hulett]

I was told by fellow Creeker, Mark Casebolt, that he preferred using soft wood on a workbench because if he were working on a project that happend to somehow come into adverse contact with the bench, he'd rather the bench get the ding instead of the piece he was working with - the harder surface wins. Seems quite logical to me. Plus, you can always renew the surface.

- John

[Hal Flynt]

I read or heard somewhere that the choice of wood for workbench tops was historically locally available wood first. Then durability and characteristics were considered. In the US, we had maple, in Europe they had Beech. European workbenches imported here are generally beech.

Currently mine is a layer of ¾ ply, with 2 layers of MDF because that’s what I could afford at the time. I never hesitated to make modifications to the top or drill into it etc, because it would be a simple matter of replacing the layer or flipping it. BUT I want a solid wood workbench because, well I am a woodworker and they should be wood, right?

Money is still an issue and being able to laminate, flatten etc a maple top is out of my ability at present. When and if I get a wide belt sander, I may revisit it. As luck would have it, I visited the IKEA store in Atlanta last weekend to get some storage ideas for a kitchen and what to my wondering eyes should appear, solid beech counter tops with lengths up to 96” x 25 5/8” for $79.00 1 1/8” thick or 79 others sizes and widths too. Search IKEA, kitchens, solid wood counter tops. They also have birch.

[Brian Dormer]

Hal -

GREAT IDEA! I had looked at Ikea (my very large computer desk corner unit is all Ikea) and I couldn't find the countertops (I thought maybe they had stopped making them due to cost). BUT a 2 x 6 foot slab is only 60 bucks! I was pricing poplar stock at about 80-90 and maple at 120+ for enought to make that size. Granted - I was looking at a 2 inch (.vs. 1 1/8) but once I put a skirt on the thing, who's going to know that I put a piece of 3/4 ply or MDF underneath (or not)? At that price - it's too cheap to even consider laminating it myself.

This is fantastic! I will be heading to IKEA post haste!

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!

bd

[Justin Henry]

Hal -

GREAT IDEA! who's going to know that I put a piece of 3/4 ply or MDF underneath (or not)? This is fantastic! I will be heading to IKEA post haste!

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!

bd

I've been using several of these for many years now - so cheap for value I wouldn't think of doing it any other way actually.
Use for primary workbench tops, and went so far as to use on all my mobile bases as tops also since the smaller sizes do go on sale in winter and are cheaper than 2 layers of mdf then.

I don't know if you need to slap some mdf or ply underneath but I did on my workbenchs (only ones) since I was unsure of how strong the glue was on the lam's. Needed???? - doubt it but it was peace of mind:)

I loaded up the tops with some poly or shellac in few cases and that was all - look real nice, solid and best of all they were cheap and do job.

[Brian Dormer]

Well - it may end up costing a bit more than 60 bucks... $60 is for 1 1/8 - the plans I'm looking at (Lee Valley/Veritas) call for 2 inch - so I'm starting to think about going up to 1 1/2 ($120 - still roughly the same price as raw stock lumber) so I don't have to re-engineer quite as much. AND - none of the 3 IKEA stores in driving distance have it in stock (according to their web site) - so I might also have to order on line and eat the shipping cost - depending on how long I'm willing to wait.

You would know I decide to do this when IKEA is having their kitchen blow-out sale and all the tops are GONE!

[glenn bradley]

"You would know I decide to do this when IKEA is having their kitchen blow-out sale and all the tops are GONE!"

As the LOML (the Queen of cupon shopping) would say; RAINCHECK for the sale price (if any).

[Chris Friesen]

Well - it may end up costing a bit more than 60 bucks... $60 is for 1 1/8 - the plans I'm looking at (Lee Valley/Veritas) call for 2 inch - so I'm starting to think about going up to 1 1/2 ($120 - still roughly the same price as raw stock lumber)...

Why not get two 1 1/8 tops and glue them together to get 2 1/4 for the same price?

Chris

[Justin Henry]

[quote=Brian Dormer]Well - it may end up costing a bit more than 60 bucks... $60 is for 1 1/8 - the plans I'm looking at (Lee Valley/Veritas) call for 2 inch - so I'm starting to think about going up to 1 1/2 ($120 - still roughly the same price as raw stock lumber)

You referenced edge banding it anyway above, right?
If so why not just slap 3/4" ply or mdf under it, and then save the $$$ makes sense IMO. Or what I did anyway. Couldn't see upside to spending extra for the 1 1/2

Put me at a 1/8 under the 2" mark, banded up nice and simple. Built up the underside in area were vise was being installed. Beat it up hard with use for long time now and it's still shiny and good as day 1.

Don't think you're gonna gain much strength over way I did it but it sure would cost more.

Just a thought to ponder.

[Ed Blough]

Check your recycle and surplus vendors. A while ago I ran into a guy that had a couple dozen bowling alleys. The first and last 20 or so feet of an alley is maple. He had it piled up, cut a 6 1/2 foot hunk off with a chain saw and I took it.

My buddy and me divided it in half length wise, added a tool tray, banded it with maple cut specifically to fit and we both ended up a tongue and groove fitted solid maple bench top for under $50. I even left in the walnut strike markers. Never fails to start a conversation when someone new enters the shop and spots them.

I cut dog holes in the 3" wide outside banding boards instead of chancing a run in with the cut nails that hold an alley together. Cut dovetail joints to join the banding all the way around and mounted a vise. It looks sharp, was cheap to do, and has held up very very well over the years. Probably should resurface the top one of these days. That will probably make me loose my lane spots. :(

Splitting it half was interesting since the alley was built with tongue and groove and used cut nails passing through three boards. We tried to pull it apart, no way! Got out an circular saw, put on an old carbide blade and doned scrapnel suits and face shields and began cutting. It was scarey, lots of sparks but we cut it without incident. Thinking back a recipocating saw would have done it without all the fan fare. But hey it was what we thought of and since no one got hurt it was exciting and fun.:D

[John Eaton]

Back to the Ikea idea - I recently installed an oak half-radiused table for a friend. Instad of using the supplied L-brackets I placed a 1.5" cleat into studs for the wall-end and used the supplied single post leg. It's amazing how strong it is - no inflection (the underside of the table has two metal brackets dadoed into the wood for additional support). I think that for the money, the Ikea counter top is the way to go.

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15576&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=60908&langId=-1&categoryId=16273&chosenPartNumber=40091673 (this is for the 8' long beech at $169)

-- John

[Brian Dormer]

On the subject of laminating a (laminated) counter top to a substrate (MDF, ply, whatever) - I'm a little undecided. Over time - that top is going to move with the weather. If I really glue it to - say - 3/4 MDF - I'm concerned that the top might develop a buckle (the MDF is going to be WAY more stable).

I've made 1 1/2 MDF laminations out of 2 - 3/4 panels. Works great! They are HEAVY, strong and very, very flat (almost as good a the top of a TS). But I worry about MDF and "real" wood.

One option is to not use glue - just screws - elongate the holes so the top can "breathe" - but then it makes everything start to get complicated... Dog holes might not line up between the layers as things move around.... and about a dozen other horrors... so I'm leaning strongly towards not backing up the hardwood top with anything.

The other reason I'm thinking about the thicker top is that it resolves a little engineering issue in the design. I can make 1 1/8 work - but 1 1/2 is a total no-brainer.

However, with the design of the trestle and top semi-decided, I'm now considering vices - and that has it's own set of issues (they have to mount into SOLID wood and clear all the underlying strucure). So all options are still on the table.