Bench thickness

[Scott Pearson]

OK, am just about done gathering and ready to start building. I have a whole bunch of oak beams 3"x10"x10 that I plan on using for the top. I have a set of Noden bench legs being delivered next week.

Question, how thick do you make the top? 2 1/2 inches or thicker and what would be the benefits or drawbacks of making it thicker? I am planning on round dog holes, does that effect the top thickness?

I plan on ripping the the beams and then gluing them up to make the top. I have walnut 4/4 that I want to use for the bench skirt.

I bought the Noden legs instead of making my own because I now find it much more important that things be at the proper height to work on and different tasks need different heights. I also want to use it as an out feed table for the table saw as I have a limited area for large objects.

I will post pictures of the project soon.

Scott

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Scott, Personally I think 2.5" is the minimum for a bench thickness where the woodworker is primarily a hand tool person. I also believe that the longer the bench, and/or the greater the distance between legs sets, the thicker the top needs to be. While mass is great from the standpoint of keeping a bench from moving around, relying only on top thickness is an expensive way of getting that result. Without any real structural analysis, my instincts tell me 2.5" thick for 48" between legs sets, 3.0" for bewteen 48" and 60", and 3.5" thick for anything else up to about 84" Anthing above 3.5" thickness is pretty much wasted money from my vantage point. I don't think it adds any extra appreciable stiffness, it costs a bundle more to build, and the extra weight makes the bench harder to reposition if you move or rearrange your shop.

2.5" thickness works just fine for any type of dog hole so I wouldn't think that needs to be a consideration.

[glenn bradley]

I went 3" and it is working fine. Plenty deep for dogs and not so thick that vice mounting is difficult.

[Scott Pearson]

One of my concerns about making the top too thick would be the weight and adjusting the height with the Noden legs.

Three inches may be where I am heading. I am planning on using this mainly for hand tool use.

Scott

[Chuck Nickerson]

you will be lifting 1/2 the top's weight and some portion of the vise's weight. I have a 3" top with a patternmaker's vise at one end. It's ok now, but in my 70's it might be a problem.

[John Thompson]

I just made bench-top #24 a few weeks ago and it is 3" thick. Bench #1 in 1972 was 3" thick and all between. Obviously I prefer 3" as I have had no problems with that thicknes. You will have to flatten it eventually and that is going to deduct each time you do that. When one gets down to 2 1/2" I just replace it.

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Rob Luter]

I went 3 1/2" and it's working out well. The skirt just covers the edge of the benchtop.

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