I'm slowly pondering design for a new basic workbench and pricing materials. I have some naive questions but figure it's better to ask before than after!
1.) Most plans for benchtops call for face to face laminations as opposed to edge to edge- is this mostly to get more benchtop thickness from thinner boards and construction lumber, or is there a structural advantage? If wide thick boards (say, 8/4 x 6") are available cheap, whats the argument against gluing them edge to edge?
2.) If I construct a top by laminating strips glued face to face, such that the edges of the boards face up: does this mean that wood movement will be basically negligible across the width and length of the benchtop?
3.) If I were to make a 2" thick top, but wanted to mount a bench vise underneath with more clearance to the bars- I would use a shim between the vise and the bench. Are there are any considerations to make with how to attach the shim? (For instance, if I glue and screw a plywood shim to a solid wood laminated top, am I asking for trouble?)
4.) Similar question: let's say I glued a 3" wide x 60" long x 3/4" thick board immediately under the front edge of 60" long top to create a ledge (as opposed to what I usually see, which is a boards face glued to the front edge etc.) Are there structural / wood movement problems with this?
5.) Let's say a support that's part of the base runs perpindicular to the top across the depth of the bench. Best I understand it, these can be fixed in the center to allow movement of the top but not at the edges. Is that right?
Thanks for humoring me...