Thread: Can you have timber running crossways for a benchtop?

If not why not, it's your bench? I would say you would need the supports right on the edge so you don't hammer or put pressure on the overhang.
You will probably want to up grade down the track, and if it's not a good idea that track will be shorter.
Have fun

Thanks Duke I was thinking the same thing. I was mainly asking to see if anyone had already done it and found out why it was a bad idea and save me the trouble. Looks like ill just have to find out for myself haha

Good question.

Every bench I've ever seen has had them running length ways. Thinking about this, I could imagine its so the glue up is more simple.

Glueing 3 or 4 battens together in groups, then glueing 3 or 4 of these groups together seems easier than doing this 20 (?) times over.

Many builders add flourishes such as ornate timbers in amongst the boring bits or randomly mix it up like a chopping board, but overall, I can't see much of a strength issue - the glue is stronger than the wood, plus the top is supported on all four sides by the skirts.

I considered the vices (such as wagon or tail) and how they might mount, but this is a misnomer as the tail vice in a tradtional setup sits on end grain.

One thing I can see as being a potential challenge is from when I make big gnarly cutting boards. I like to do endgrain ones. Getting everything to align nice and straight, plus flat can be a pain.

When it comes to getting it all flat, flattening out 12 long pieces might be easier than 50 or 60 short pieces. (????.... Ive done quite a few tables and this isn't quite true...)

If you had Frontline clamps (or a homemade setup, which I intend building ASAP) it would make it much less prone to height variances therefore easing the flattening job.

How about an end-grain workbench..... Now THAT would be a big job, and very very nice too....hhhhhmmmm (project ideas Ev?)

Ah, expansion.

Lengthways the seasonal side expansion would be small, change the direction to vertical and the expansion/contraction could be considerable, especially with big thick meaty timbers.

A 60 inch bench made with 60 pieces of 1 ior 2 nch wide timber shifting by a few percent each would add up to a lot....exactly how you accommodate for timber flooring.

You could make bigger slip tennons though. (securing them via the top?)

You will get more wood movement and your vize is screwed into end grain. If you think the base can solve these problems then go for it.

Good luck.

There is no reason why you can't glue shorts pieces together to make a long board. Like the way bricks are held together.

Originally Posted by Evanism

Ah, expansion.

Lengthways the seasonal side expansion would be small, change the direction to vertical and the expansion/contraction could be considerable, especially with big thick meaty timbers.

A 60 inch bench made with 60 pieces of 1 ior 2 nch wide timber shifting by a few percent each would add up to a lot....exactly how you accommodate for timber flooring.

You could make bigger slip tennons though. (securing them via the top?)

+1. I think that timber movement would be your biggest problem, and for this reason alone, I personally would not do it.

Hmmmmmm,
Thanks for all the valuable information everyone it's very much appreciated.

I have an ikea oak kitchen benchtop that is made up of little pieces laminated together and it is screwed down to the base cabinets. It has been in for over a year now and I haven't noticed any movement (cracks in calking or joints). I know the wood runs length ways but it seems very stable even across the wood so I would have thought a workbench top made in a similar fashion would prove just as stable. If I was to build a workbench top in this fashion what would be some of the problems you would likely see?

Last year I built a mobile bench for my workshop. I had a multitude of short stud timber and wanted to use them for the top. In the end I screwed them to the metal tube frame at a 45 degree angle instead of straight across. It's fine for my application but agree that wood movement makes it not ideal for a nice piece.

I had never given this any thought before as all the work benches I have seen have the boards lengthwise. I guess this is done as it is the easy way to build a bench. Most traditional woodwork benches rely on a big chunky top providing the strenth of the structure and legs to hold it up. In the Rubo design there are no aprons as the top is giving it all the rigidity. To lay the top the other way then you need aprons(big ones)to take the downwards forces fo woodworking. Also as others point wood novement, so yours will have at least 3 times what a traditional design will. I am not saying it is not doable as you see all sorts of amazing work on this forum.
Regards
John

Hey it's got to be worth a try!
Just need to set up the man shed at work first as the crappy drop saw I own cant even cut straight. I didn't realise how much slop in the blade there is in my cheap one.

You also need to consider how you are going to flatten the top. Joining the timber crossways means you will be planing across the grain. I don't like your chances of keeping it flat once it starts to move as well. All in all not a good idea IMO.

At least if I make it I can document why no one else should ever do it! Lol

It's definitely do-able, but you will have to make due allowances, in particular, allowing for expansion & contraction. I made a bench from old fence material the same way many years ago, but I didn't glue the boards together, just nailed them to the top rails. You can get away with that better than glueing the boards together, because each board moves individually, and nails are more forgiving, as in a house floor. If glued up into a solid board, the whole thing now acts as a single wide board, and while you may not notice much movement in your Oak bench top, it's there alright, just not so much over 600mm or so. Over a width of 1.8 metres or more, I reckon you are going to notice it plenty.

To me, it seems far more practical to slip-lay your short pieces as someone has already suggested, so that you end up with the grain running lengthwise. If the pieces are 50-60mm deep, or more, you will have acres of glueing surface & all side-grain to side-grain, so as long as you get good mating of your surfaces, and stagger the end joins, the glued-up top will have pretty much the strength of solid wood. Personally, I would find this much easier to do, too, because it's much easier to keep everything lined-up when clamping narrower widths. If you were to lay the pieces side to side for a full bench width, not only will you need very long clamps, but keeping it all straight & square will be a big challenge. As someone else has already pointed out, running the grain along the top will make it much easier to plane level than if the boards are all going the other way.

Apart from the PITA of planing cross-grain to level your glued-up top, you have all end-grain "looking" at you, which will make it harder to attach an apron, if your bench design calls for it. If you don't need/want an apron then that's not a concern.

So yes, you can do it, but I think there are better ways....

Cheers,