Needs Pictures: 0
Picture(s) thanks: 0
Results 1 to 15 of 17
Thread: Formply for Workbench Top
-
19th June 2023, 02:17 PM #1
Formply for Workbench Top
I am about to build a workbench with a built in table saw for my garage. Mostly be used for cutting of timber and assembly of projects. At first I was going to use 2x plywood sheets laminated together as the top but then thought about formply as an alternative. Has anyone else done this and what are the pro’s and con’s.
I’m a little worried about how scratched it might get over time, and how slippery it might be. Cleanup of glue and other spills will be easier as it should peel/wipe off. As for aesthetics I don’t mind the look, but do wonder about doing wood work on it with the dark background.
Anyway interested in your thoughts.
Cheers WallyDog70
-
19th June 2023 02:17 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
- Join Date
- Always
- Location
- Advertising world
- Posts
- Many
-
19th June 2023, 06:59 PM #2
My previous workbench I had for 20 years had a sheet of formply for the top and the point about the dark colour is valid - can be a PIA! I now have one of Cadaghi timber 90mm thick and love it to bits because I can now hammer stuff without everything bouncing off the bench and the lighter colour helps a lot. Going for two sheets thick will help you but you will still get some bounce I suspect
-
19th June 2023, 07:26 PM #3SENIOR MEMBER
- Join Date
- Nov 2007
- Location
- Victoria
- Posts
- 733
It is too dark and slippery is subjective - good for outfeed
bad for holding work still to sand, drill etc.
How about 18mm MDF with a 3mm sheet over top which can be replaced as required?You boys like Mexico ?
-
19th June 2023, 09:24 PM #4SENIOR MEMBER
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
- Location
- Brisbane
- Posts
- 937
If you're not using hand tools, eg. chopping mortises or hand sawing, you probably don't need a great deal of heft to the workbench. For a budget option, MDF sheets finished with shellac/oil/poly would be fine and adhesives won't stick to the finished surface. As Sam said, you can always use a thinner skin and replace it after a few years. For a heavier option out of plywood, you can cut the plywood into strips and laminate the faces together, so you have an end grain work surface. It'll stand up to a decent amount of abuse and can be planed/sanded down if it ever gets too beat up. Again a finish over the top would make it reasonably easy to clean.
If it's purely an assembly table and place to put power tools, the black surface probably doesn't matter too much. For hand work, probably a bit dark to and the reflections would be annoying.
There's also the important factor that if you gaze into that abyss long enough, what if the abyss gazes back at you? Probably more of an existential problem than one would like while woodworking.
-
19th June 2023, 10:29 PM #5GOLD MEMBER
- Join Date
- Apr 2019
- Location
- NSW
- Age
- 38
- Posts
- 1,134
the big green shed has a dark red coloured form ply which might be slightly better then the black.
its still formply but its just not rated for outdoors/cement work like the proper black stuff is, but its also cheaper. I'd say give it a go and if you don't like it after a while just replaced it.
-
20th June 2023, 06:53 AM #6
I prefer a solid timber top but there’d be nothing wrong with 25 to 40mm muck (MDF) covered with Masonite.
Good Oz formply is now very expensive but would make a great glue up bench.
H.Jimcracks for the rich and/or wealthy. (aka GKB '88)
-
20th June 2023, 10:00 AM #7GOLD MEMBER
- Join Date
- Apr 2018
- Location
- Nsw
- Age
- 64
- Posts
- 1,364
Another option if you want slippery/ smooth is a sheet of melamine.
-
30th June 2023, 04:32 PM #8
Like others have said it will be great as the saw table outfeed but not so good for other woodworking. Formply would also be good for a router table top. Building a saw into a bench has become popular on line but it means clearing the bench every time you want to cut something. That could get to be a pain after a while. Fair enough if space is so limited you have to but it would be a last ditch resort for me.
Regards
John
-
30th June 2023, 05:28 PM #9
As I've posted several times before, a solid core door is sufficiently flat and heavy to make a good bench top. Made in volume, so cheap as chips from Bunnies, no laminating of sheets required. If you're really keen, attach a sacrifical layer of 18mm ply to the top to bring total thickness up to about 50mm.
-
30th June 2023, 05:30 PM #10
Just a moment...
Or there is even a 40mm thick version for a few more $$. Bosh.
-
30th June 2023, 07:21 PM #11GOLD MEMBER
- Join Date
- May 2009
- Location
- melb
- Posts
- 1,125
what is the solicore made of? Pine or MDF/particle board type product
-
30th June 2023, 08:15 PM #12
WD,
I had a workbench once with a build in Tablesaw,(Dewalt), an I unfortunately found it a pain in the A, ever time I wanted too use the saw, an the bench as an out feed table, meant moving everything else that ends up on Benches.
Cheers Matt.
-
1st July 2023, 10:54 AM #13
The ones I used to make benches years ago were definitely tree wood cores, not MDF. My latest bench has been made using an old IKEA melamine benchtop which I had lying around (32mm thick and very solid/heavy) as the bottom layer, with one of Bunnies many timber panels laminated on top of that (screwed through from underneath).
Just a moment...
Total benchtop thickness almost 60mm, very heavy, very flat, pretty cheap. Frame underneath is made from reclaimed 100 x 100mm hardwood that a neighbour was throwing out - looked grey and crappy, but machined up very nicely on the jointer/thicknesser. All joints mortice and tenon by hand, pulled in tight with drawbored dowels. It'll see me out.
-
1st July 2023, 04:51 PM #14Senior Member
- Join Date
- Jun 2010
- Location
- SW Victoria
- Posts
- 184
-
1st July 2023, 07:03 PM #15Novice
- Join Date
- Jun 2020
- Location
- Victoria
- Posts
- 11
I used to have a paulk workbench with 17mm form ply top and it was great, especially for gluing, nothing sticks to the stuff.
I currently have a workbench with a formply top on the patio and it seems to handle the weather OK
Similar Threads
-
LVL Formply?
By Robert8 in forum WOODWORK - GENERALReplies: 4Last Post: 16th March 2021, 05:52 PM -
Formply furniture
By dave_c in forum WOODWORK - GENERALReplies: 10Last Post: 19th January 2021, 10:39 AM -
Is Formply waterproof?
By Drongo in forum WOODWORK - GENERALReplies: 12Last Post: 22nd May 2016, 10:16 PM -
Is Film Ply the same as Formply
By mat in forum WOODWORK - GENERALReplies: 1Last Post: 27th September 2008, 10:04 AM