Thread: Workbench - Benchtop Material? - What to use

I used red tongue flooring for the top of one of my benches.
Tough, cheap and available in 3600mm lengths.

From memory, the red tongue is 22mm, yellow tongue is 19mm and there's a 25mm one as well.

I'd suggest researching torsion box construction. I made one from ply and it's a ripper. If you want dog holes, just put some solid timber ribs inside for where you'll want to drill through.

On anything but an aesthetics ground, it's very hard to beat yellowtongue/redtongue. Hard, tough, resin bonded to be water resistant, cheap enough to throw away without a second thought, and the plastic tongue comes in handy as a pull-through for ceilings and walls. The only possible alternative would be cheap formply, which would get the job if I thought there was going to be a lot of gluing on the bench.

Cheers guys, thanks heaps..do any of you have a photo of your workbench top that you can show me? cheers guys

Here's some from my bench build about 2 years ago.
The smaller bench/table has a double thickness of red tongue as it's the lathe bench.
Last picture is more recent when I finally got around to putting a bottom shelf in.

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Here's some from my bench build about 2 years ago.
The smaller bench/table has a double thickness of red tongue as it's the lathe bench.
Last picture is more recent when I finally got around to putting a bottom shelf in.

Cheers mate, appreciated

I made one from 2 sheets of 2400x1200 17mm ply ripped down the middle. 3 pieces are laminated with pva glue for the top and the remaining piece becomes the shelf. Then put a 5mm sheet of masonite on the top. Frame is made from 90x45 pine. I think that benchtop is as solid and heavy as you might ever need.

That does look pretty damn solid )

hey guys I was just having a look at pictures of it on the web.

It looks like particle / chip board to me?

I thought particleboard is very weak and affected greatly by moisture etc?

Cheers

Originally Posted by Arry

Cheers guys, thanks heaps..do any of you have a photo of your workbench top that you can show me? cheers guys

untitled3.jpg untitled11.jpg

Have yet to put drawer fronts etc on it. It's on my 'I'll get around to it one day' list.

I went to Bunnings today and had a look.

They had red tongue and green tongue. Except for the colour and the thickness I could't tell the difference between them.

So you think a couple of sheets of that together would be as strong as PLY or MDF?

Cheers

I think that it's the frame that needs to be heavy and strong. Bash-worthy so it won't walk around.
The top could be anything for as flat as you need it. Make the top replacable, I didn't and I regret it.
I don't need "flat" very often. I have a large, top-loading food freezer in the shop. Quite flat & white top.
So, I drew a grid of lines with black felt marker on the freezer. Those really are a big help in assembly.

My bench top is 6 x 96" lengths of softwood, probably spruce, what we call 2x6. So the top is about 96" x 33".
All kinds of 3/8" bolt holes drilled all over the place. Bolts, strap clamps, stop blocks, whatever I want to do.
Would have made a heap more sense to top it off with a sheet of 1/4", good-one-side, Douglasfir plywood.
If I had done that, right now I'd be thinking about replacing it. . . . the bench has taken a beating over the past 10+ years. 2x4 ladders and 2x6 legs for a frame, bolts and 2.5" #14 screws. The Law of Gravity holds the top in place.

Bench top bandsaw, drill press, power miter saw and router sit on the 4 sides of an island bench. Somehow, it was even more over-built = a real grunt to move for any reason.

Originally Posted by Arry

hey guys I was just having a look at pictures of it on the web.

It looks like particle / chip board to me?

I thought particleboard is very weak and affected greatly by moisture etc?

Cheers

In essence it is chipboard; but it's chipboard with not only exterior grade adhesive, but an added waterproofing wax as well. It's used in house construction (floors) and it's rated for 3 months outside exposure. The 19mm thick stuff is good for a load of 2 kilonewtons when supported at 400 centres. And it's only about $40 for a 3600x900 sheet.