Workbench Top Advise Please

[Jim Eller]

I'm looking to build a workbench with a laminated top.

Here's the question. What wood to use, including depth and thickness.

I'm looking to make it at least 24" deep and possibly 8" long.

My instinct says to use hard maple boards, 2"x3"x8' for the glue-up, making the bench 3" thick.

Hard maple is not very easy to find around here(Knoxville, TN) without paying a premium price locally or ordering it.

How about ash or oak?

I think I have enough oak but it is in 4/4 which would make the glue-up twice the job.

Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

PS: Does anyone know anything about Steve Wall Lumber Co. http://walllumber.com/default.asp They are about three hours from here.

[Joe Chritz]

You can build the bench from just about anything you want or have handy. There are even pics floating around here of a Bloodwood bench built from a tree that was local. Jim King is the OP and the thread is here....

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...wood+workbench

A lot of people have benches of southern yellow pine from borg 2x12's and really are happy. It depends on what you want to spend and what is available to you.

I haven't heard anything negative about Wall lumber but haven't used them myself.

Joe

[John Schreiber]

For your top, within reasonable limits, anything will do. You want it to be heavy and stiff and solid. Lots of kinds of wood will work for that.

I'd find out what kind of clear wood you can get locally for a good price and go with that. I just finished one out of southern yellow pine (SYP), but if I were doing it again, I'd spring for a more expensive, but still relatively cheep wood such as ash.

For workbench tops and the rest of the workbenches, I'd check out Christopher Schwartz's Workbenches book. It's a treasure trove of knowledge.

[Myk Rian]

I made a workbench out of a door. We had the door from the house to garage replaced. Heavy solid core fire door. You could always gussy one up with whatever fancy covering you want. Got a Habitat for Humanity store nearby?

[Greg Hines, MD]

I think your ash or oak should be fine. As others have said, any dense wood will do. I made mine out of birch plywood, and it has served be me well.

Doc

[Dave Potter]

I'm like Myk in that I used a solid core door I pulled out of a dumpster at an office renovation and built my first bench a couple years back. The hinge side of the door was damaged and required trimming off with my circular saw, but the knob side was fine. The bench is heavy and solid, and I used the hole for the knob with a home-made chute to deliver sweepings into a trash can below.

However, the top is getting pretty chewed up so I'm looking to add to the thickness by putting down a piece of hardboard with a hardwood frame to hold it in place.

Dave P.

[Jim Becker]

If you want maple, "soft" maple, which is quite hard...is often priced more attractively than "hard" maple. It has more color variation, but that's usually not a factor for this kind of project. But any hardwood can be a good choice for a workbench top, including the ash you ask about.

I'll add that while I really like my maple bench top...if I build any more work surfaces in the future, I'll likely go with several layers of MDF layered and a replaceable hardboard "topper". Dense. Heavy. FLAT. Inexpensive.

[Bernhard Lampert]

....
PS: Does anyone know anything about Steve Wall Lumber Co. http://walllumber.com/default.asp They are about three hours from here.

Jim,

Wall Lumber is a great outfit. Steve Wall is a very nice and knowlegable guy, he offers a huge selection of domestic and exoic hardwoods.
You cannot go wrong there. Quality lumber for a fair price. I live about 2 hours from Wall Lumber, but for larger quantities, I always make the trip.

Cheers,
Bernhard

[Frank Drew]

Jim

Ash and oak are more open pored, and perhaps a bit more splinter prone, than maple, birch or beech, but they're all nice and hard and would provide decades of service. I used maple because I got a stash very cheap (used high school locker room benches, including generations of chewing gum stuck underneath). 24" is a nice depth and 8' is a nice length if you've got the room but is perhaps longer than you might need. Whatever.

IMO, a tool trough at the back of the top is unnecessary and more trouble than it's worth, so I never included one.

[lou sansone]

I have 2 benches - both made from beech. it is a great hard wood for a bench, but can be difficult to work with and seems to move a lot. between oak and maple, I would probably choose maple. one question about the oak you have. is it red or white oak? white would make a nice top, but I think red is just to open pored for my liking
best wishes
lou

[Mike Wellner]

If you glued 2x4s together (1.5" width at top) to make it about 3' wide, would pine work okay? Or is Ash or Maple better?

[John Schreiber]

If you glued 2x4s together (1.5" width at top) to make it about 3' wide, would pine work okay? Or is Ash or Maple better?

Modern 2x4s tend to be the worst possible boards. They often include knots and pith and are badly warped.

You can work with construction grade lumber though. Mills save the good stuff for the 2x10 or 2x12 dimensions. If you pick through the pile, you can find some good southern yellow pine in wider widths. SYP is plentiful here in Illinois, but the local equivalent may vary depending on where you live.

I wouldn't touch a 2x4 for a workbench top with a 10 foot 2x4.

[Pat Germain]

^^ The lumber in a typical 2x4 would not be optimal for a workbench top. They are high in moisture, irregular in shape and very soft.

I have an old cabinet in my shop with a top made of laminated 2x4s. I pulled it out of a house where the owner wanted the garage cleared out. That top is fine for a place to put my grinder and an anvil vice, but not good for much else. Whoever made it coated it in varnish. It's pretty uneven and the varnish is flaking off.

I recommend looking around and seeing what's available locally at a reasonable cost. Those two factors are of primary consideration unless you want your bench to be more of a museum piece than a workhorse.

[Jim Eller]

Thanks to all.

It appears as though maple is the choice. I hadn't thought about the soft maple. In this area it is a little cheaper. Especially wormy maple, if that would work. It may be "hard" but it sure is a lot lighter than hard maple.

Frank - I agree on the tool trough. I've never had one but I always figured that for what I do it would just be a place to collect stuff I was looking for and couldn't find.

Bernhard - Thanks for the Wall Lumber advice. They are about three hours from here. It may be worth the trip.

As for the oak and ash, I was thinking about putting a replaceable skin on it. ?????

Thanks again for the input.

Anyone in the Knoxville area have any bench material they want to sell?

Jim

[Peter M. Spirito]

I live in South Florida and buy all of my lumber from Steve Wall in NC. Its well worth having it shipped in. In regards to your bench top, well here is a link to my bench. Its not a traditional bench but it is very functional with its 4x8 foot top.

http://www.peterspirito.com/workbench.htm