Advice on Workbench Top

[jt]

Hi all. I am in the middle of making a workbench out of reclaimed (or very cheap) timber. For the top, I have a single sheet of 20mm roofing ply, plus several off-cuts of 40mm beech worktop.

I'm undecided how to fasten the bits together to make the top, and was hoping for a bit of advice:

* Should the ply go on top of the beech, or vice versa?
* Would glueing the beech offcuts separately onto the ply be sufficient, or should I try and join the beech offcuts into one large piece before fixing to the ply?
* Should I screw the two layers together as well as / instead of glueing?

Hope the above makes sense, any advice would be much appreciated.

Jim

 

[OPJ]

Hi Jim and welcome to the forum.

What sort of plywood is this? WBP? Shuttering ply? If it's only softwood ply then it won't be as durable as the beech. In which case, you could either place it below or, screw it on top but, look upon it as a disposable surface - that way, once it becomes worn and tatty, you can replace it with a brand new sheet. :wink:

I'd prefer to work on the beech surface, personally, because of the durability over ply. If you can as well then, yes, I'd say edge-join the bits of beech you have to create one large surface. You could then screw the ply on, which would help to keep the timber flat. I don't think there's any real need to glue the plywood on...

 

[matthewwh]

Hi Jim,

Welcome to the forum.

I would offer my two pennorth but it's the same as Olly's, so I won't.

Any chance of some photos to help illustrate your dilemma?

 

[jt]

Thanks for the welcome and replies.

I think the ply is softwood - I can dent the veneer quite easily with a thumbnail, but it is nice and flat. Durability hadn't occurred to me so it sounds like a beech surface with ply underneath may make it a bit more long-lasting.

I'll try to get some pictures of my "creation" up tomorrow evening to demonstrate a bit more clearly - after overcoming my embarrassment having seem some of the fantastic benches on show in the projects forum!

 

[crazylilting]

When you say 40mm worktop off cuts are you talking about say a couple of pieces that is about 5 feet long and two feet wide?

If so join them together and get yourself a bit of 4 x 2 or even 6 x 2 hardwood to wrap around it. Make sure your joinery allows for the beech top to expend and contract. Then make your legs and use the plywood as the top on the legs and then slip the top over it and screw from the bottom. I wouldn't glue it to the plywood, allow the beech to expand and contract. It may not be a problem it may be stable enough but who knows how it was stored etc...

If you are talking about a bunch of odd size 40 mm pieces join together to make a worktop and do the same as above. You can use a reversible joining bit to join the beech, it works very well. hmmm if they make them that big for a router.

Any how looking forwards to the pictures good luck.

 

[Boz62]

Welcome Jim,

I'm currently building a hardwood kitchen worktop based workbench (vice bolt holes drilled this morning ). Here was how I made a nice thick worktop from a cut up large piece. Might give you some ideas.

Good luck

Boz

 

[jt]

Hello again. Thanks for the additional replies. Here's a few photos to clarify where I've got to so far:

Workbench frame - mostly reclaimed palette wood & a couple of B&Q 2x4's

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae25 ... /frame.jpg

Frame with plywood top laid on top:

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae25 ... ly_top.jpg

Beech offcuts on top of ply - the piece to the left has the grain going in a different direction to the other bits - I will most likely slice this down the middle and use one half at each end (unless advised otherwise):

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae25 ... ch_top.jpg

Close-up of the two tops - the beech has only been rough-cut with a circular saw at the moment, will square the cuts with a router before continuing (or a no7 plane if I'm feeling energetic):

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae25 ... loseup.jpg

I was originally going to leave it at just the ply top, with a hardwood surround to bring the front of the top out level with the rear vice jaw, but found it very noisy to work on. Then I read Boz62's worktop thread (thanks for that!) and found that the beech offcuts I had laying around could be hacked into shape, so that's what has led me to where I am now.

The general consensus seems to be that I should join the beech bits into one slab, and just screw to the top of the ply.

For edge-jointing. I'm not sure my budget router would be up to the task of one of those reversing bits crazylilting mentioned. I've found a couple online which look big enough, but they seem to have 1/2" rather than 1/4" shanks which I don't think my router will accept.

Do you think that routing a simple 1/4 or 1/2 inch groove along the edges of the offcuts and using a spline-type join would be strong enough? I'm thinking there would be a certain amount of support from the ply underneath, but as I'm sure you can tell by the level of my questions and the not-so-pretty pictures I've attached I'm only just starting out with woodwork![/img]

 

[crazylilting]

After seeing the beech i would recommend that you try and get the grains going the same way. If it doesn't leave you enough to cover the entire top i would make a tool tray which would also allow you the expansion needed. I would also encourage you to hook up with someone on the forum in your area that has a big enough router to accommodate the reversible bit for joining. If i lived in your area i would help for sure. A good bench is important enough that others would help.

I built mine about 20 years ago and the top is made from 3/4 inch birch cut two inches and laminated together and glued together with (fameldihide *spelling) glue. the outside is made of 6 x 2 and a bit birch which i dovetailed together. The only thing i would change on it if i could is the top i would tenon the ends into the frame like a bread board for expansion and you have the opportunity to do so on yours.

I like the tool tray it stops tools from falling on the floor and they are always on hand.

I want to build a new bench 12 feet long, right now i joined my bench together with the outfeed of my table saw just to try out the size and really like it. The only bad part is travel time around it. I got the fine woodworking bench book and have fallen in love with the shaker bench and will be what i'm building.

Good luck with yours and hope it works out well for you, they last a long time so keep that in mind when you build this one.