Any suggestions on a type of material to use for a shop bench top. Making it 30 inches wide by 7 feet with an l for another 4 feet?
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What's the primary use of the bench?
Plywood, MDF, MDO, Oak, Maple, Birch, etc.
Depends on your budget and the intended use of the bench and whether you want this to become an heirloom.
Formica over ply. Cheap but effective. Sorta like me.....
Scott.
find an old solid wood solid core door slab
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion"
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
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If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
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according to statistical analysis, "for some time now, bears apparently have been going to the bathroom in the woods."
I like Masonite or plywood for a work surface.
Trying to get stuff off the floor?
We all know work benches primary purpose is to set stuff on to put away later----- or maybe that's just me.
As others have asked what's the purpose of said work area?
I do a bit of welding & hot work so rough top wood is a fire just waiting to start.
For my woodworking stations I do prefer masonite over whatever cheap strong stuff I can get my hands on.
hardboard faced, solid core, 2 1/4" thick, commercial doors. 36" x 84". Well over 200lb each. Completely flat. Best workbench tops I've used.
j
hard board covered LVL...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
2x6 SPF framing lumber. Tough, basic, cheap.
Red pine 2x6 roof decking if ya wanna be fancy.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
I made three rolling workbenches (locking castor feet) out of cut off scraps of LVL 6"x18" garage headers from a nearby condo complex that was recently built.
My father built his bench out of oak (I think) pallets that he cut up and set on edge like a butcher block.
Tu stultus es
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
I made the top of mine out of laminated (glued) sheets of MDF to a total thickness of about 3.5-4 inches. I put an edgeband of 3/4 inch hardwood on the outside edges to cover the laminations and to have a harder wood for the edges. It is solid as a rock, and when the top gets a little battered I just sand the top smooth again and it is good as new. I made it over 10 years ago and would do the same thing again if I needed a bench elsewhere. I have a vice on it, and I drilled holes in it to accept bench dogs and clamps.
Two pieces of 3/4" OSB, laminated together, then varnished. Rigid, can easily screw to it when you need to, cheap to replace when it gets hacked up.
2 pieces of gluelam bolted together to get to 30 inches. I've got an 18 inch piece for a bench top now and it's a hoss! 6 inches thick with no give at all.
Of course, it would be good to have some idea as to what type of shop/workbench this is. General purpose, fine woodworking, etc?
What the others said, identify what type of work then go from there. The classic woodworkers bench is made of thick, tight grained hardwood, the two most common being hard maple or beech. It should be heavy and perfectly flat.
I'm in the same boat. I've been meaning to build a good wood bench for the last 20 or so years to be finished by next Tuesday's breakfast, but ...ah well, you know.
Anyhow, I did a floor install some years back of wide plank ash and have several long pieces left over, plenty for a bench top. Been thinking of using that, but I need another 20 years before I come to a solid conclusion.
For now I have been using a 3'x7' piece of fir AC plywood that I mounted to 2x8 that covers the entire under side area. This in turn is mounted to two overbuilt horses with supportive shelving built in under them. Just under the front of the bench runs a shelf where I put my tools that I'm not using at the moment. On the right side is mounted grandpa's old heavy quick-release wood vise and I have drilled several holes along the length of the bench for the home made bench dogs. God, it works great! Electrical boxes adorn the front where it's handy to plug in all my tools, it's so handy when you do that. The top has had the snot beat out of it, but I have lovingly sanded it and filled any accidental saw kerfs or holes then oiled it with a penetrating oil. It has taken on a beautiful "shop" patina and there are marks where I remember what job I was doing and what certain part of my life-career I was in. There's one kerf that I won't fill, and that is the one my son made when he was a tot and wanted to "help daddy". This is my temporary bench I made 24 years ago.
It's what I use, and it will have to do for now.
"Real isn't how you are made", said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
The Velveteen Rabbit
That was a great story! And since I'm looking for additional reading material, I'll have to add the Velveteen Rabbit to the short list.Thanks!And for the record, my bench is nothing more than some fold up horses by Stanley, the ones with the slot in the top for some 2x. The top is just some extra 3/4 ply with a bunch of holes drilled through. Lightens it a bit, and makes for good places to clamp. Plus I'm thinking of adding some bench dogs that attach to a saw rail, so I can easily line up some cuts (straight or on 45 deg). Nice thing is that it all folds up and goes away when I need to clear the room.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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I just came up with a piece of white Corian I am using on my shop bench. (covering masonite over steel)
I rebuilt a chain saw and a weed eater the other day and it worked great.
You rich guys with your Corian workbenches, man oh man. I can't even afford laminate. lol
I thought EVERYONE has corian in their shops?:
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And to the left...
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What's that pipe in front of the monitor for?
That's his internet connection.
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
Woot!Mucho bandwidth.
There are dust collector inputs in the ceiling to the left and right of the picture. These are parts of one of the input blast gates.
Since, I've completed the floor with a nice sanded clear epoxy. Soon, I'll put a woodworking bench under those wall cabs. And then a hood over the sink.
that's not a shop thats a freakin nail salon....
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
.
.
.
If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
.
.
.
according to statistical analysis, "for some time now, bears apparently have been going to the bathroom in the woods."
Cereally, a shop surface employs a number of different functions. Not all are best done on a piece of OSB. My aforementionerd woodworking bench will accomodate the hard hammering and such. The sink is SS. This bench is for drawing/writing/modeling etc. I wanted a nice smooth clean surface for such. Yet, each can back up the others. Free standing equipment will provide their needs.
To heck with you guys, I'm going with granite.
IMHO granite is a horrible choice, in the kitchen or the shop. In the shop I will be breaking the granite pounding on it. In the kitchen, anything you drop on the granite, breaks.
Yeah, I've found that true with my wife's biscuits.
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
So it wouldn't be any good for welding and hammering metal? Come on, it's rock, right? ;-)
I have some granite scraps in my garage. It isn't that tough.
"You rich guys with your Corian workbenches, man oh man. I can't even afford laminate. lol"I got it for free. It was on my wife's F-150 tailgate, a gift from the cabinet guy. She used it as a desk in the field.I wasn't going to sacrifice it on our "clunker" deal
Nah, don't settle for anything less than real granite!
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
What do you think, 2 inches thick or 3?
Definitely 3.
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
Here's what i used on mine on top of 2 layers of 3/4" MDF. Very flat
and stable.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80145749