IKEA countertop for bench top

[John Keeton]

Just recently toured an IKEA store - my first time. Lots of interesting stuff, but what caught my eye was the wood countertop choices. The maple, oak and beech (I think?) were all priced the same. You can get a 24x96 for $169. The wider top, but shorter (78"?-don't recall) was $199. They looked good, about 1.5" thick. Anyone ever use this to construct a benchtop?

[Dennis Meek]

I bought 2 of those: one beech and one oak. The oak went on my kitchen island. It lasted about 60 days before it started splitting at the glue lines. One night my wife and I were watching TV and heard a very loud popping sound. Went out to the kitchen and found a very long split down the top. I had put a finish on it too. Cut it up for firewood.

The beech remained in its carton laying flat in the shop. When I went to open it to put on a bench it too had split at the glue lines. It also became firewood.

They both burned nicely.

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Recent thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=78244

[Yun-Fong Loh]

Recent thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=78244

The thread Rob posted above will probably give you what you need to know but personally, I built up cabinets from IKEA about a year ago for my garage for our pantry/storage and used the solid beech top (well, glued up from strips) for a countertop.

I left it in the garage sitting on the base cabinets for a few weeks with all doors and drawers open. It developed a slight convex going front to back but it wasn't bad enough to bother fixing. I finished all sides with 6 coats of Tried and True Original and attached it to the base and waxed the top. It's still fine.

I remember thinking that if I had not already built my workbench that I would have bought two and laminated them together to get a nice a thick slab for a workbench top. I spent a lot of time fretting over and working on the glue up for the maple top for my workbench.

So, my vote is to go for it but don't expect it to be completely flat after it acclimates to your shop. Whatever time you spend flattening it would have to be spent no matter where you got your top so don't let that deter you.

[Dewey Torres]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=808941&highlight=bench+aprons#post808941


Above link shows what I did for a bit more than the price of the IKEA top you are looking at and was the start of my SUPER BENCH. I later added aprons, vises, and custom under-cabinets to the the base model I bought at SAMS.

Dewey

[John Keeton]

Sorry I didn't do a search first and see the previous post! I hadn't recalled anything on this and thought it was an interesting thought, but too much risk. Dewey, that is a nice setup! I will take a look at the Sam's table next time I am in there.

And, Dennis, I have burned more expensive stuff, but the ashes all look similar! Sorry about your experience, but it is good that others can benefit.

[fred woltersdorf]

i'm going to be a dissenter to the negatives of using the ikea top. i built this bench 2 yrs ago and the top is still flat and as tight as when i bought it. i glued up 2 layers or 3/4" mdf underneath and i have all i can do to lift one end. sorry for the crummy pic, i should take a new pic but that would mean i'd have to clean the bench. lol.here's a link to a previous post of the bench, post #10.http://70.169.135.35/showthread.php?t=32111

[Jim Becker]

I have not used the wood tops, but recently installed on of the laminate tops in our new laundry room. Excellent product...especially considering the 24"x96" piece I started out with cost less than a single sheet of laminate at $49.

If the top starts out flat and is properly supported, it will be a good value. And any little variations can be taken care of by properly flattening after construction with a few appropriate hand planes.

[Yun-Fong Loh]

To hopefully give you some perspective, I measured the bow in my countertop last night and the center is no more than 1/16" higher than the inside and outer edges.

So, I'm definitely with the yaysayers.

[Todd Ferrante]

I used an IKEA countertop to make a workbench for working on RC model planes. Works great.
http://members.cox.net/todd-f/RCplanes/StudyWorkbench/StudyWorkbench.htm

Todd F.