My workbench materials, I have a solid Beech worktop and had B&Q cut two 19mm MDF sheets to size to be laminated together and screwed into the Beech top.
In the plans after he had made it, in the comments section, he added,
" if I was to do this again, I'd not use MDF for the under layer. The original plans called for two layers of MDF, and I decided to use a layer of Ikea oak countertop over it. I thought, at the time, that MDF wouldn't be tough enough to hold up, over the long term, and it turned out I was right. The problem I encountered was with the holdfasts. These work with a "cantilever pinch", which depends for its holding strength on the pressure of the holdfast against opposite sides of the top and bottom of the hole.What happened, over time, is that the bottom of the hole crushed the MDF, resulting in a holdfast that wouldn't hold. See the first picture. So, I flipped the bench upside down (using the same block-and-tackle rig I'd used in building it, and then screwed some strips of hardboard into the bottom, covering the holes. After flipping it back on its feet, and redrilling the holes
through the hardboard, I had dog holes that would work with a holdfast. Hardboard is tougher than MDF, so this should last longer. And when it crushes, it'll be easy enough to replace.
Lesson learned? If you're going to use MDF for a workbench top, design it so that it has a sacrificial hardboard layer both on top and on bottom. "
I'm thinking I could screw and glue some suitable timber to the underside of the bench to avoid this problem? Perhaps complete boards, side to side or to reduce cost, squares places over the dog holes.
What species of timber would be suitable for this job?
As ever any help and advice, much appreciated.
In the plans after he had made it, in the comments section, he added,
" if I was to do this again, I'd not use MDF for the under layer. The original plans called for two layers of MDF, and I decided to use a layer of Ikea oak countertop over it. I thought, at the time, that MDF wouldn't be tough enough to hold up, over the long term, and it turned out I was right. The problem I encountered was with the holdfasts. These work with a "cantilever pinch", which depends for its holding strength on the pressure of the holdfast against opposite sides of the top and bottom of the hole.What happened, over time, is that the bottom of the hole crushed the MDF, resulting in a holdfast that wouldn't hold. See the first picture. So, I flipped the bench upside down (using the same block-and-tackle rig I'd used in building it, and then screwed some strips of hardboard into the bottom, covering the holes. After flipping it back on its feet, and redrilling the holes
through the hardboard, I had dog holes that would work with a holdfast. Hardboard is tougher than MDF, so this should last longer. And when it crushes, it'll be easy enough to replace.
Lesson learned? If you're going to use MDF for a workbench top, design it so that it has a sacrificial hardboard layer both on top and on bottom. "
I'm thinking I could screw and glue some suitable timber to the underside of the bench to avoid this problem? Perhaps complete boards, side to side or to reduce cost, squares places over the dog holes.
What species of timber would be suitable for this job?
As ever any help and advice, much appreciated.
