Articles
The two articles below address bench top materials. Our blog http://diybench.blogspot.com/ hosts three more articals. They are entitled
"Efficient Shelf Use" - Useful ideas for how to organize and manage shelf storage.
"The Best Workbench for Me" - The story behind the concept.
"Built-in vs Self-standing" - A pros and cons evaluation of a built in bench vs a self-standing bench.
Please go to http://diybench.blogspot.com/ to view these three articles.
This article is from the Woodworking FAQ Collection 5, by multiple authors.
196 Re: Workbench material
From: Heartbreak Kid <hbk@shivasys.com> 27 Dec 1995
I'm guessing that the general consensus of workbench here is the Neander type with 3"+ thick type top made butcher block style and super heavy duty legs to hold it all. That being the case, I've got no business being in this thread as I'm not much on Neander tools since the invention of electricity. However, since I'm here, I thought I might pass on a few "tips" that I've stolen from other guy's shops over the years as far as materials used. Tops: Every city of 50,000 or more has, someplace in it, a place that repairs the floors of semi-trailers. To find one, look in the Yellow Pages or call 2-3 trucking terminals and ask who they use. Semi-Trailer floors are made of mixed red oak and hard rock maple butcher block that is produced in 40' lengths x widths up to 24" wide. It is available in thicknesses of 1" to 3" in 1/2" graduations. They'll chainsaw off any length you want and it's sold by the square foot. If you're lucky enough to live close to a place that repairs railroad box cars, you can usually find large chunks of it in their scrap heaps....free for the hauling off. I've never made a workbench out of it but I have made several dining room tables and two bar tops for use in Country Clubs from it so I reckon it's pretty enough for even the most discerning Neanderthal's tools to lay on. Once in a while, guys I know come across a bowling alley that's being refurbished. Bowling alley lanes are solid hard rock maple butcher block, usually something between 2" & 3" thick. Time was, when the price of it was the labor to haul it off (it's been 7-8 years since I saw the inside of an alley so this may no longer apply). For stretchers and legs, it's hard to beat the strength of glued up 3/4" veneer core plywood. My miter saw table is 4' x 8' and has drawers and drawers under it all the way around as it's on casters. The frame is 21 ply (3 runs) of 3/4" thick 7 ply ripped 2 1/2" wide Birch plywood used in place of 2" thick solid wood. Lotsa gluing and clamping required but no planing required and (help me out here on the numbers, Doug Dawson) at least 50 times as strong as solid hardwood and 100% warp and expansion free. Mine is white enameled (to match the Formica'd doors) but, sanded smooth and natural finished, the various plies are real purty and have been considered a "fashion statement" in some of the finest European furniture produced since the end of WW II. Based on a market price of $38.00 per sheet, that works out to $1.18 per BF for 100% usuable stock as opposed to $1.50 per BF or more for Poplar or Maple 4/4 stock that's going to yield only 70% usuable stock....and not be as strong. Pound for pound, veneer core plywood stood on edge is stronger than steel (so sayeth the National Plywood Association) and it's been around since the Pyramids were built so it's not real "newfangled".
Alternative Bench Top From Hardwood Flooring
by Richard Dawson
1-12-12
Here is an interesting option for a bench top. I actually thought of this basic idea while riding a motorcycle out West. I thought it was ingenious. Once I got on the Web I learned this idea has been around for a long time and has been improved substantially from where I started. It’s based on 1 1/8” thick tongue and groove decking plywood. This extra thick material comes in 4’ x 8’ sheets. If that is bigger than your desired top size, good, have the lumberyard cut this material to the size you want by trimming all four sides. This eliminates the tongue and groove and leaves four square edges. Next glue ¾” thick solid hardwood flooring to the top. This material comes in multiple widths from 2 ¼” to 5” and in random lengths up to 84 inches. To finish the edges rip some hardwood flooring to the width required, about 1 7/8.” Rip both edges to eliminate the tongue and groove. Glue it to the edges and radius those edges top and bottom with a router. You can either miter or overlap the corners. Coat the edge trim with a sealer compatile with the hard wood floor finish.
This option produces a beautiful and rugged bench top that has an industrial quality finish and is cost effective. If you are building an extra long bench it is even more economical because the tongue and groove provides a strong joint for gluing pieces together.
For information on plywood decking go to http://www.fsindustries.com/plywood.htm. Boise Cascade also offers plywood decking under their brand Sturd-I-Floor.
For information on solid hardwood flooring go to http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/Hardwood-Floors.aspx?dId=7.
For examples of finished benches with this top Google “hardwood flooring bench top” or go to http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/ and search “hardwood flooring bench top.”
The two articles below address bench top materials. Our blog http://diybench.blogspot.com/ hosts three more articals. They are entitled
"Efficient Shelf Use" - Useful ideas for how to organize and manage shelf storage.
"The Best Workbench for Me" - The story behind the concept.
"Built-in vs Self-standing" - A pros and cons evaluation of a built in bench vs a self-standing bench.
Please go to http://diybench.blogspot.com/ to view these three articles.
This article is from the Woodworking FAQ Collection 5, by multiple authors.
196 Re: Workbench material
From: Heartbreak Kid <hbk@shivasys.com> 27 Dec 1995
I'm guessing that the general consensus of workbench here is the Neander type with 3"+ thick type top made butcher block style and super heavy duty legs to hold it all. That being the case, I've got no business being in this thread as I'm not much on Neander tools since the invention of electricity. However, since I'm here, I thought I might pass on a few "tips" that I've stolen from other guy's shops over the years as far as materials used. Tops: Every city of 50,000 or more has, someplace in it, a place that repairs the floors of semi-trailers. To find one, look in the Yellow Pages or call 2-3 trucking terminals and ask who they use. Semi-Trailer floors are made of mixed red oak and hard rock maple butcher block that is produced in 40' lengths x widths up to 24" wide. It is available in thicknesses of 1" to 3" in 1/2" graduations. They'll chainsaw off any length you want and it's sold by the square foot. If you're lucky enough to live close to a place that repairs railroad box cars, you can usually find large chunks of it in their scrap heaps....free for the hauling off. I've never made a workbench out of it but I have made several dining room tables and two bar tops for use in Country Clubs from it so I reckon it's pretty enough for even the most discerning Neanderthal's tools to lay on. Once in a while, guys I know come across a bowling alley that's being refurbished. Bowling alley lanes are solid hard rock maple butcher block, usually something between 2" & 3" thick. Time was, when the price of it was the labor to haul it off (it's been 7-8 years since I saw the inside of an alley so this may no longer apply). For stretchers and legs, it's hard to beat the strength of glued up 3/4" veneer core plywood. My miter saw table is 4' x 8' and has drawers and drawers under it all the way around as it's on casters. The frame is 21 ply (3 runs) of 3/4" thick 7 ply ripped 2 1/2" wide Birch plywood used in place of 2" thick solid wood. Lotsa gluing and clamping required but no planing required and (help me out here on the numbers, Doug Dawson) at least 50 times as strong as solid hardwood and 100% warp and expansion free. Mine is white enameled (to match the Formica'd doors) but, sanded smooth and natural finished, the various plies are real purty and have been considered a "fashion statement" in some of the finest European furniture produced since the end of WW II. Based on a market price of $38.00 per sheet, that works out to $1.18 per BF for 100% usuable stock as opposed to $1.50 per BF or more for Poplar or Maple 4/4 stock that's going to yield only 70% usuable stock....and not be as strong. Pound for pound, veneer core plywood stood on edge is stronger than steel (so sayeth the National Plywood Association) and it's been around since the Pyramids were built so it's not real "newfangled".
Alternative Bench Top From Hardwood Flooring
by Richard Dawson
1-12-12
Here is an interesting option for a bench top. I actually thought of this basic idea while riding a motorcycle out West. I thought it was ingenious. Once I got on the Web I learned this idea has been around for a long time and has been improved substantially from where I started. It’s based on 1 1/8” thick tongue and groove decking plywood. This extra thick material comes in 4’ x 8’ sheets. If that is bigger than your desired top size, good, have the lumberyard cut this material to the size you want by trimming all four sides. This eliminates the tongue and groove and leaves four square edges. Next glue ¾” thick solid hardwood flooring to the top. This material comes in multiple widths from 2 ¼” to 5” and in random lengths up to 84 inches. To finish the edges rip some hardwood flooring to the width required, about 1 7/8.” Rip both edges to eliminate the tongue and groove. Glue it to the edges and radius those edges top and bottom with a router. You can either miter or overlap the corners. Coat the edge trim with a sealer compatile with the hard wood floor finish.
This option produces a beautiful and rugged bench top that has an industrial quality finish and is cost effective. If you are building an extra long bench it is even more economical because the tongue and groove provides a strong joint for gluing pieces together.
For information on plywood decking go to http://www.fsindustries.com/plywood.htm. Boise Cascade also offers plywood decking under their brand Sturd-I-Floor.
For information on solid hardwood flooring go to http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/Hardwood-Floors.aspx?dId=7.
For examples of finished benches with this top Google “hardwood flooring bench top” or go to http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/ and search “hardwood flooring bench top.”