Bad Idea for a Bench Top?

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

For an update, we have now recently moved since I retired in May. We are still unpacking boxes, lots of them to do yet...we need more storage than we have until the kitchen is remodeled to give Donna a lot more cabinets, and until a shop will hopefully be built, etc.

Thus there is not time for any woodworking projects for now, but none the less, I had an idea for a bench top that may be a bad idea, so wanted thoughts and input. (If a bad idea, it won't be the first time I have had a bad idea.)

I have 8 of 8 foot 2X10 lam-beams that have some weathering. I will likely never need them for scaffolding again, so they are now available for different uses. The ends are pretty rough and will need to be cut off back to better wood, and the faces are also somewhat rough and will have to be hit with a belt sander before I would even consider hitting them with a plane. Lam-beams may not even be suitable to plane, however.

At any rate, my long term thoughts for a woodworking bench have been to buy the best 2X12s I can find, probably SYP, rip them to the width needed to laminate up to the bench top thickness, and laminate them up to build the top. That is still the plan for my main bench. If for no other reason than that is the type of bench I have wanted for years, and the appearance appeals to me a lot. Also, lam-beams are extremely heavy, making the bench harder to move around. On the plus side they are stable, pretty straight, and very strong. On the negative side, they may have internal grit, and are likely a pain to work.

However, the bench idea occurred to me.

Again, I don't think that they are a first choice for a main workbench top, by any means, and it will be pretty unlikely that I would use them for that, but maybe they would be OK for that. Their main virtue is that I already have them. If nothing else I may use them for the top of something like a sharpening station or a bench for mounting my old cheap metal working vises on, etc. They will still need considerable work for that, though.

At any rate, do any of you have experience with using lam-beams for a bench top, or have thoughts on this idea.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[David Bassett]

... Lam-beams....

PopWood had an article about using "Glue-Lams" for constructing a bench. I'm sure Megan Fitzpatrick was involved and ended up with the bench which is still in use. I don't think I ever saw the original article, but both Megan and Christopher Schwarz have mentioned it on the LAP Blog. So you should be able to search and find some information. (IIRC- it works and has held up, but they wouldn't recommend it as first choice.)

ETA: Chris did a video tour of the benches in the LAP shop, (within the last couple years,) where he compared and contrasted features. I'm pretty sure the Glue-Lam bench was mentioned, though I don't remember if it was shown.

[chris carter]

https://blog.lostartpress.com/2020/0...lam-workbench/

[Stew Denton]

Thanks Guys,

That is a good video, and the bench looks and does much better than I had expected. However, it had not occurred to me to rip it and glue it up so that the edge grain of the lam-beam was the top surface. That clearly made all the difference.

His description of how the material worked and ended up was pretty much what I expected as far at the properties are concerned. The condition of the ones I have would make for work to get them dead flat to prepare them for glue up. New lam-beams would be much better to work with, but on the other hand I have a good supply of used ones now. New lam-beams are fairly pricy however. It might entail a lot of plane iron sharpening. A better way to attach the resulting top to the base of the bench is clearly needed.

At any rate thank you both for the information, and I may end up using them when I finally get the time, probably over a year from now, because of the good report that CS wrote.

Again, thank you for the information. It will be interesting to see if others have had experience with them, and if anyone has used them flat without cutting and laminating. I suspect that they may be a bit thin for a bench top if used "flat side up." However, they are very stiff and stable, so they may be OK for that type of use.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Tom Bender]

No help on the bench but a few pointers on the kitchen remodel, based on our recent experience;

We hired a good kitchen company to do the project cause we wanted it done in less than a decade. I took on painting and the minimal drywall work required. That, added to the major task of setting up a temporary kitchen in the basement and moving everything twice was plenty of involvement. It took 12 weeks.

We changed from lower cabinets with doors and shelves to mostly drawers. We are not getting any younger and drawers provide better access.

We have the microwave under the countertop because it seems unsafe to have it higher.

We went with Corian countertops with shop installed Corian sink. This means you can't feel the seam. Very nice.

Finished 1.jpg Finished 2.jpg Finished 3.jpg Finished 4.jpg Finished 5.jpg

Undercabinet lights are nice.

Stuff will be spilled under the sink. Go for the special cabinet and be sure the penetrations thru the bottom are properly protected.

Good time to add a filtered water setup.

[Stew Denton]

Tom,

Thanks for the thoughts and advise. Your kitchen turned out very nice.

I had not thought about drawers for the base cabinets, but had figured on shelves for the base cabinets on full extension drawer glides. We had some of those in the house we just moved out of, and they are very handy. The drawers accomplish the same function. We are not getting any younger either, and the full extension shelves are great for folks with older knees.

I have remodeled the kitchen in the last two houses we have owned, and I honestly do very nice work, but I am not very fast and so Donna wants us to hire the work out. However, I have pointed out to my wife that I was working full time on both of those projects. This will be a bigger remodel job that we have done in the past, however.

Our younger daughter (mechanical engineer) is doing the design work with Donna.....me, I am just the carpenter.

I did the framing, with my son in law assisting, on the previous house our younger daughter and son in law owned, when they needed to make one very large bedroom into two smaller bedrooms for their kids. I framed out the new wall, the new closet wall, and framed and hung the door for the closet. They did the sheet rock work and the rest for that project. (My wife and I lived a 4 hour drive away from then at the time, and with my work schedule and available vacation, I could not stay longer to help out further.) It looks like they may be planning on having me at least do the framing since we are going to have to move at least one wall.

Right now there is a fairly lengthy waiting time on remodeling supplies. We ordered new windows, and also new wooden laminate flooring, and waiting time on those two items is on the order of 8 to 12 weeks or longer, currently. Further, the two suppliers told us that the waiting time looks more like the 12+ weeks than the 8 weeks.

We haven't even looked at kitchen cabinets yet, but it sounds like waiting time on those is in the same time frame.

At any rate, thanks for the advise, and it looks like we are heading in that same direction that you went.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Erich Weidner]

We changed from lower cabinets with doors and shelves to mostly drawers. We are not getting any younger and drawers provide better access.

Yes, this! We did it in our kitchen remodel, and what an amazing difference in functionality and convenience it is. Way more space efficient. (But you need to do some planning, on what will go where).

PS. If you are hiring it out and throwing traditional to the wind, get soft closing hinges/thingies (forget the name) and full extension drawers. Full extension is a massive lifestyle upgrade, even if it isn't traditional.

[Tom Bussey]

Personally I see no reason one couldn't use 2x10 laminated beams. At least 90 percent of all actual wood bench tops in exitance today are laminated together. But my question is why does it always have to be 8/4ths material laminated together or in your case 6/4ths?

One pays more per board foot for 6/4ths than one does buying 4/4ths And since it is price per board foot times 1 1/2. I haven't checked but I wouldn't be surprised that one can purchase 2 1x4x8s cheaper than the cost of a 2x4x8. And yes I know construction lumber like 2x4s are sold by the linear foot I just used BF to explain the cost goes up per thickness as well as the volume adds to the cost.

Below are pictures of a bench I am making. It is a split top modified Roubo type bench. The top is 1X 4 X 8 laminated together so the top is now 24 inches wide and 93 1/2 inches long

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Actually the second pictures shows the space difference on the leg vise. the Top clamps on the side of the top but there is a 3/8ths gap at the bottom. It is proper clamping principals. Bench Crafted has this feature built into his criss-cross and that is why the leg vise opens and closed so smoothly. There is zero weight on the vise screw. Bench Crafted sells a great product so I am not knocking him in any way


So my question is why not try laminating your laminated 2x10s and see how the top turns out? I will cost you nothing since you already have the material.

[Tom Bussey]

My computer locked up and I had to turn it off to restart it. I hit restore and it did the words so here are the pictures again.

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[Stew Denton]

Tom,

Thanks! Good point, it won't cost me anything to try them since the lam beams should be available in the not too distant future. (A project has come up recently that I may need them for.) You and I think alike, I don't know why I hadn't thought about that earlier since I hate to waste stuff and like to use what I already have, but I know that part of it was a desire to laminate up a bench top since I have wanted one like that for many years.

As mentioned, I may need the beams one more time for a project in the not to distant future, but after that l will have to check with my son in law and daughter to see if they will need them.

It will be a while before I can get the time and a spot to work on them, but that will give me more time to think about the details of a lam beam bench project. It looks like the bench you are building will be nice.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Tom Bussey]

I hate to tell you this but if you cut up and use your beams you will have a laminated top. ( but I know that part of it was a desire to laminate up a bench top since I have wanted one like that for many years.) I am assuming your beams are actually 9 1/2 inches wide, A 2x10 is actually 1 1/2 x 9 1/2. If you rip them perfectly ( and there is no such thing as prefect) you would get 2 pieces 4 1/4 minus half a saw kerf.