Bench top surface

[wildeagle]

Not quite sure if this is the right place for this question? Took the plunge and am moving my work area to my two story barn. I am building a twelve foot bench and am wondering what the best surface for the work area would be? Smooth for easy clean-up, wood - a little softer surface ? any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe some ideas on lay-out of bench - the bench is on the end of the building and has about ten foot of window behind it, are drawers ok for storage or do you keep your tools on the wall behind the bench. I would also like to try and keep an " old timey look to it " Looking forward to any ideas from you fellers. thanks Wild Eagle

 

[Jim-Iowa]

I would not call it old timey but I wanted an inexpensive replaceable surface on my bench that would be ding resistant yet an easily replaceable surface. I put tempered masonite on the surface with double sided carpet tape after 3 years it's not close to needing replaced.

 

[bob1961]

i've always just used 3/4" plywood on my wall bench without carpet at 39" working height, and a stand alone work bench of 3' x 6' x 30" with low loop carpet fer working with furiture so it doesn't get scratched, haven't had any problems with this setup yet :v ..............bob

 

[kansas_volunteer]

Take a look at this:
[url] http://www.taunton.com/store/pages/070061.asp[/url]

Old-timey to modern all in there.

 

[Bob Riegl]

:wink: I can personally recommend this book as it is the one I and my brother and his son have used to make our various workbenches. You just have to search for some of the wood dimensions that you may need. Well worth the price of the book-----I picked it up at Borders on a 50% sale price. :thumbsup:

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Not sure if this will fit the "old timey" look but I just finished building a bench in the end of a 40' shipping container. I used 1 1/8" plywood flooring for the top and then covered it with 18 gauge sheet metal. I installed a couple drawers to keep tools in and a vice on one corner. I like to have an area that the front edge of the bench is free of obstructions like the drawers. It helps when using a c-clamp of mounting a reloading machine. The metal top cleans up nicely. GW

 

[44-henry]

I have two benches in my gun room. The first was a turn of the century cabinetmakers bench made out of solid maple that I purchased at an auction, the second is a 1950's steel bench again that I purchased at auction. Both benches are wearing 2 1/2" thick maple bench tops that a friend gave me, I think they may have come out of an old highschool workshop that had been closed. I put the one on the maple workbench just because it offered a slightly larger work area and brought the height up slightly, I will eventually build a third bench around it. I personally love these maple surfaces, they are rock solid and very flat. Grizzly imports sells maple benchtops and they are getting a lot of attention from woodworking magazines.

 

[Doc Arroyo]

I ended up with two benches with about three feet between them. I didn't want grinding dust, metal filings, spilled oil, paint and stain to mess up a fine maple bench top, so I didn't get one.

One is a version of a cabinet makers bench, with a side vice and a full tail vise. It isn't a fancy piece of Swedish furniture though. It is built from kiln dried 2x4's, has a 1 1/8" plywood top and a 1/8" masonite "working" top that is replaced every 2 or 10 years.

My "metalworking" bench is a couple of cheap kitchen cabinets bolted to the wall. The top is two layers of 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together. The plywood is covered with a sheet of 3/16" aluminium. It really is a breeze to clean the metal filings off of! :thumbsup:

 

[Charles D. Prokopp]

For real mass and solidity, take a thick slab of MDF, edge it with slats 1/4" wider than the slab is thick and lay a 1/4" thick piece of tempered Masonite on it. A couple of 1" holes bored into the MDF will enable you to push it out of the frame when it's too grungy or beaten up.

 

[F.G. Ford]

I made my bench top with 3/4" plywood, and then covered it with 3/4 maple tongue and grouve flooring.
It's great, doesn't scratch, easy to clean, and did not cost much, as I got it as end of run at a local flooring company.
Also, make me a little proud of my bench!

Old Ford

 

[Zonie]

You probably got that Maple Flooring so cheap because it had all of those crummy looking stripes in it. You might want to consider using Aquafortis on it! :rotf: :rotf:
zonie

 

[wildeagle]

Thanks guys, this is giving me something to go with. The surface now is looking like 1" thick yellow pine, I have a bunch of 24" pieces. I have two lengths of counter top, 1/2", I might use for part of the surface, looks like gray granite( not to old timey ). Book marked the address of the book , it looks purty interesting. Any more ideas, I am open to suggestions. Wild Eagle

 

[Birddog6]

My bench tops are made of three 2x12' screwed down, 4x4 legs & cross braced with 2x4's & 2 x 6's. I like them heavy so they don't turn over when I have to Umph something in the vice.

I did run across something I would have bought if I didn't have these. At a damaged wood place in town I spied 2 big countertops that were 10' long & 36" wide & made of maple boards laminated & on edge & 2" thick. They would make a fabulous table top but I don't have room for them. So if ya have a damaged goods place ya might check there.

:thumbsup:

 

[Stophel]

I haven't seen my bench tops in years, so I have no idea what they're made of! :haha:

 

[[email protected]]

I like to have two different working sufaces.
My main bench (picture) has a large front vice and a tail vice (out of picture towards barrel) that works with the dog holes on the bench top. The top is 34"x72", it is 34" high to make it comfortable for planeing, sanding, etc. It is made from 2 1/2" thick solid maple with bread boards dovetailed to the front with a tounge and groove towards the back to allow for seasonal wood movement. The maple is great because it offers alot of mass and does not have a chance of moving around while chiseling or useing a bench plane. The base is simple, four individual face frames made from 5/4 poplar with 1/2" plywood screwed to the inside to create a panel look. There are two doors with a shelf under the main vice, and the 3 drawers you can see. Drawers are great because you do not need to get on your hands and knees to see whats in there. The vertical piece of birch on the front with holes in it is a board jack which can slide back and forth along the front and when apeg is put in it allows you to support long work pieces in the front vice. I like having the bench away from walls on all sides so that if you are working on a larger project you can get around all sides of it with out having to turn the work piece. The Taunton Workbench Book has great pics to get ideas from.
Next to the bench I have a set of old kitchen cabinets I took out of a job. I put a formica counter on it to give me a surface to do messy things on, so I don't get oils, gunpowder, finishes etc on the maple bench. It is 36" high.
Good luck
H

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[F.G. Ford]

Mybe someone stole it! You never know??

I took a picture of mine when I made mine, and that's the last time I saw it!

Best Regards

Old Ford

 

[George Holton]

Wise old chinaman say! the more flat surface you have,more manure you pile on it.

 

[pulaski]

Wildeagle Reading your post I noticed you are building a 12' bench . Mines not that long , only 6' , I built it out of scrap 2x4's . After glueing them together , brought it to a local cabinet maker to run through his planer ( cost me a six pack ) . Finished it off with a filler and oil treatment . This thing weighs a ton (6'x40") but doesnt move at all . Not sure it could be done at 12' or lifted . Just my 2 cents

 

[44-henry]

I've actually been giving serious thought lately to building a new bench just for stockwork. I've seen a couple pictures on this forum, and another, of a very simple bench with a 1' wide top running about 3' long. There is some truth to the idea that a wide surface just accumulates junk. A bench like I describe would be built solid and anchored to the center of my shop floor, a good stocking vise would allow me to walk around the stand while I worked. I think a bank of drawers and tool racks on the side to hold my most commonly used stocking tools would make such an animal very efficient. I would probably follow the suggestion of using maple flooring to create the surface so it would be durable and good looking to boot. This was actually a pretty common practice for making benchtops in the past, though they tended to use the edges and run a threaded rod between to hold the laminations together while the glue dried. I've seen several designs from the 40's using this technique. I've been to several construction sites where hardwood flooring could be had cheap when a building was being taken down, always something to keep your eye out for.

 

[catman]

Wildeagle Reading your post I noticed you are building a 12' bench . Mines not that long , only 6' , I built it out of scrap 2x4's . After glueing them together , brought it to a local cabinet maker to run through his planer ( cost me a six pack ) . Finished it off with a filler and oil treatment . This thing weighs a ton (6'x40") but doesnt move at all . Not sure it could be done at 12' or lifted . Just my 2 cents

I did the same thing with mine, made the same way (cabinet shop friend also) 10'X30". Mine (cost me a 12 pack) I have my reloading press and thrower mounted on it. Built like a Mack truck. Will last a life time for sure.