Thread: Can I use yellowtongue flooring as a benchtop?

I can't see why it wouldn't work, provided that you made a decent frame for it to sit on. The only times I've seen it warp when used as flooring were always due to other faults. eg. Insufficient support, bad fixings, or serious wetness problems.

Purely for the sake of over-engineering I'd build the frame to give a maximium of 450mm free span and maybe laminate 2 sheets together to make up the top.

FWIW, I wouldn't run a good handplane over it for flattening. A winding stick and ROS (with good dust extraction) will do as good a job as you're willing to spend time on.

I just found this information sheet on another thread:

http://www.chhwoodproducts.com.au/us...5/File/585.pdf

Sadly, I'm a bit out of my depth here. I'm hoping it might help you wise ones answer my question though

no issue using it, i would put the wax side down

I have often thought of this as bench material and wouldn't hesitate to use it. One advantage is that you can produce a bench up to 3600 x 900 with one sheet. If you don't want the wax finish you can buy orange tounge even cheaper but it doesn't have the water resistance.

Also agree that you shouldn't use a plane that you care for. I had to plane some some swollen joints on an 8m x 5m floor when I built my extension. I took one look at my makita electric plane and put it back in the shed. Went to bunnings, bought a $20 xu1 plane, did the job and threw it away. Good decision.

Danny

yellow tongue should work just fine

however you can't flatten it because being chip board, once you you through the very hard top layers you're into the wheat bix
Also the flatness tollerance required for flooring is a whole lot less than that required for a bench you intend to build furniture on -- but for more general use, go for it

Well, I actually was hoping to make furniture with it, but only until I can scavenge some respectable hard wood.

I might just stick a 90x45 on the underside to give depth to dog holes.

How would I laminate two sheets together?

Go for it,I have used it twice with it turning out well,put the waxed side down fix a good timber edge at the front and sides then give the whole lot a couple of coats of poly and that will take care of any spills of stain or paint.

My kitchen benchtops are based on it as a base and Redgum planks as the surface. Worked so well that when the surface started to fail on my computer benchtop I stripped that off dressed up some Merbeu decking and bicuit jointed that and glued it to the top, Sanded it and coated in dewaxed Shellac and it looks great. As a surface for a woodwork bench Im not so sure, wouldnt it tend to break out in chunks if it got damaged ? .

Provided the frame you attach it to is solid and square then It should be flat enough for most woodworking. I would go 2 sheets thick. glue and screw the sheets together.
I have done this for a lathe bench and it was flat enough to bolt the lathe bed to so see no reason it cant be used as a work bench top also.
Regards
John

I built a similar bench (sadly it is still in the house where I built it)

I wanted a real hardwood top but couldn't afford what I wanted
I saw an idea for a table in Popular Mechanics that used recycled floorboards as the top and incorporated that into the benchtop.

I used two sheets of yellow tongue and topped it with floorboards
framed the benchtop with the same floorboards and after planing a couple of coats of poly

worked great for years

I'm sure it would be flat enough for most anything.... tolerances from other processes would likely exceed any problems from lack of board flatness (especially with my skills!). I'm damn sure yellowtongue is flatter than what I could produce with solid timber and hand planes!
I say go for it.... if it gets damaged, pull it up and replace....

Originally Posted by orraloon

Provided the frame you attach it to is solid and square then It should be flat enough for most woodworking. I would go 2 sheets thick. glue and screw the sheets together.
John

Exactly how I made up a couple of benches some time ago.
One I sadly have to give away due to moving house. As a general pupose bench top they are great. Gets quite heavy.

Why would you put the waxed surface down?

The waxed surface will not sand well,I gave mine a couple of coats of poly.
When it gets dirty or the odd spill just sand it and recoat,comes up like new.
Good luck