bench top

**JAS095** · 6th June 2010, 09:16 PM

Hi all I am new here and relatively new to woodwork but I will try my hand at almost anything once. I have finally convinced SWMBO that my shed is about half the size that it needs to be

, so she have approved the building of a new one

. So now I also need a new workbench

, the one that came with the shed when we bought the house is a bit of a mongrel, however it will supply some useful materials for the new one.

The question that I have is to do with what I will use for a work surface (to be 3000mm x 800mm), my though is I have 2 options .

Option 1)use jarrah floor boards and join them together, I know that they will be hard enough but will they be thick enough to take the load ect.

Option 2) the old bench has 2 pieces of jarrah that is approx 90mm thick and 2200mm long complete with some hole that have made to fit a vice , I have toyed with the idea finding someone to make 4 boards out of this approx 30mm thick which should give me enough timber for my top.

Does anyone have any comment on these 2 options, thanks in advance.

Jason

**Clinton1** · 6th June 2010, 11:38 PM

Think about using the Jarrah as an edge only, and the rest of the top could be MDF/Yellowtongue.
Lots of benefits to using particle board of some kind... tops get knocked around, and a particle board can be thrown out with less heart ache than solid timber boards.

Joining floorboards: lots of effort. Will you edge join or face join to laminate a stable top?

**JAS095** · 7th June 2010, 11:13 AM

when I am suggesting floor boards I am thinking of the tounge in grove as these fitted togeter shoukd make a nice flat surface as they would for a floor

**joe greiner** · 7th June 2010, 08:50 PM

Tongue and groove floorboards will create a nice flat surface. Since it's a work bench, expect the top to get beat up, more so than a kitchen counter. I suggest (and so does Nawm (Abrams, NYW)) overtopping with tempered hardboard, AKA Masonite, attached with box nails and no glue, to facilitate replacement when/if it becomes necessary. The nails should be placed only at the perimeter, so they don't interfere with the work. Ditto for MDF.

Cheers,
Joe

**Clinton1** · 9th June 2010, 06:50 PM

Good to have that point refreshed Joe.
The super benches look cool, but can be done cheaper and as strong.

**Chief Tiff** · 9th June 2010, 08:29 PM

The Jarrah floorboards will be fine providing that you give it a solid substrate, like 40mm particle board or a couple of layers of 19mm MDF. With a woodwork bench you want rigidity and as much inertia as possible to resist movement when your banging away with the mallet. If you do go down the floorboard route inspect every board before you buy and try to get quarter sawn boards with as little cupping or twist as possible but still expect to give the old hand plane a work out getting it all flat. What looks flat on a floor is unlikely to be flat enough for cabinet making!

The small bench I made a couple of years ago has a solid 30mm thick Tas oak top and it takes any punishment I choose to give it. I don't fret about the odd chisel gouge or hammer dent but whenever possible I use a sacrificial board under the work if there's a chance of a tool going through the work and hitting the top. I like to see a wooden surface on my woodwork bench and I didn't want to hide it with hardboard! I have another bench I use for metalwork and car parts; that one does get a sacrificial surface albiet only once every 10 years or so!

Don't forget to post a picture when it's completed!

Thread: bench top

Thread Tools

Search Thread

bench top

Similar Threads

Bench - big, solid, cheap, no tools, no bench to build on

When is a bench not a bench??

Saw bench

new bench

saw bench

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions