Approx cost of beech for a bench top?

[morrisminordriver]

Hi all,
can anyone tell me (very roughly) how much I'd need to spend to buy some beech for a work bench top approx 2" thick, 30" wide and 72" long.
I'd prefer it already planed and thicknessed.
Ta
Mike

 

[Alf]

Mike,

Too much :wink:

But seriously, get thee to British Hardwoods and South London Hardwoods and you can see what it might be if you can't get it cheaper locally. :?

Cheers, Alf

 

[Midnight]

I believe prices up here range between £18-25 / board foot, but that's roughcut.

ummmmm....make that a cubic foot...

<prone to the odd blonde moment......

 

[sawdustalley]

you could do what I did, and buy some maple or beech kitchen workshop - its aready nice and flat, glued up etc..

not sure if it would work out cheaper

 

[Gill]

Hi Mike

My solution was even cheaper and much more stable - a sheet of OSB faced with hardboard screwed onto the surface. But that wasn't the question you asked :wink: .

Yours

Gill

 

[morrisminordriver]

Thanks for your responses folks,
the beech option will take far more pennies than I have so its over to option 2 via a new thread.

Cheers, Mike.

 

[Chris Knight]

Unless you are dead set on a beech top, a pretty good alternative is to buy a solid core fire door from one of the places like Travis Perkins. They come in two types, a very dense chipboard variety and a block laminated wood variety, the latter being just like what you might make up yourself, except it is skinned with plywood.

I used one of these which I faced with decamil for a platten for vacuum veneering and found it very flat and stable so when a friend wanted to build a bench, he was persuaded to use a similar door as a top. I helped him build the bench and it worked very well. He used another thin sheet of ply as a sacrificial top, secured with few countersunk screws.

I recall I paid something like £70 for the door and at that price it beats making a heavy top up myself.

Chris