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For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench. I have
been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top with dog holes
and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked around
using several different less expensive materials. In recent years the
replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines. I forget what I
was building several months ago but I ended up having several pieces of 1/2"
Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed that they looked quite
substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's" of
strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. Basically the edges
of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down to form the top
of the top.

Ideas appreciated

Leon


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"Leon" wrote

For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench. I
have been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top with dog
holes and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked
around using several different less expensive materials. In recent years
the replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines. I forget
what I was building several months ago but I ended up having several
pieces of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed that they
looked quite substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's" of
strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. Basically the edges
of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down to form the
top of the top.

I am not sure if this applies or not. But I knew somebody who lived down
the street from a waterski factory. They had some monster 17 ply board. He
used to haul the scrap away. If I recall correctly, they were about 1 1/8"
thick and about 18" wide by about 5' long. He had hundreds of these things.
All of them very heavy, thick and straight.

He used them for everything. His shop floor was made from these. He made all
kinds of benched for himself and others from this. Big, heavy and thick. He
often used harboard as a replaceable top.

I wouldn't cut them on edge. If youhave enough plywood to make a tope, do
that. Lay it flat and cover it with hardboard. I have build a number of
shop benches and cabinets out of scrap. When there was enough materials, I
would build something else. This sounds similar.



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Leon wrote:
For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench. I have
been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top with dog holes
and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked around
using several different less expensive materials. In recent years the
replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines. I forget what I
was building several months ago but I ended up having several pieces of 1/2"
Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed that they looked quite
substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's" of
strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. Basically the edges
of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down to form the top
of the top.

Ideas appreciated

Leon




Best thing I have found for the top is a used solid interior door. I bought a discarded
hospital door for about $5 or $10 a few years ago. Would have cost me at least 10x that
much to build a hardwood slab like that.

Bob
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On Dec 22, 10:00*am, "Leon" wrote:
For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench. *I have
been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top with dog holes
and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked around
using several different less expensive materials. *In recent years the
replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines. *I forget what I
was building several months ago but I ended up having several pieces of 1/2"
Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed that they looked quite
substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's" of
strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. *Basically the edges
of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down to form the top
of the top.

Ideas appreciated

Leon


I take it none of the plywood pieces are large enough to glue up flat
to make the top. Given that, I think you could laminate what is
essentially a 2"-3" slice of a very, very thick piece of plywood. It
should make a reasonable top, at minimal cost, mainly the cost of the
glue, of which you will probably use a lot. I can only think of two
drawbacks which are probably easily worked around.

1) Since plywood is generally made of veneers glued up perpendicular
to each other, half of the grain of your bench top will be end grain,
oriented vertically, and the other half will be side grain, oriented
horizontally. This means that your bench top may be a bit less stiff
than a solid word version. If you are concerned about the stiffness,
especially if you don't make the top thick, you should be sure to
incorporate some support in the leg structure under the top to stiffen
it up.

2) The grain of the top will be half end grain, and half side grain.
You may be unsatisfied with the texture of the top with its varying
grain. You could work around this by applying some kind of uniform
thin top layer, such as a sheet of masonite, to be replaced when it
wears unacceptably.

Other than those two caveats, I say, "Go for it!" Recycling is the
way of the future, and we should try to appropriately use all of our
scraps instead of merely tossing or burning them. I just built a very
heavy bench out of some glulam beams from our neighborhood gas station
that were headed for the landfill (someone who can't read ran his too-
tall truck into the canopy). Now I have a really beefy bench and the
landfill has 600 pounds less wood in it, and it only cost me a bit of
glue and labor. My last bench was made of recycled 4x4's and oak
flooring. I used bolts I have gleaned from garage sales, keeping them
out of the landfill, and even made some barrel nuts for the stretchers
out of some scrap aluminum. I painted it with the tag ends of paint
that I am not allowed to put in the landfill, and that our county no
longer recycles. About the only way I can think of to have made the
bench "greener" might have been to use some kind of glue not made of
petroleum products, such as hide glue.

Good luck!
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"Leon" wrote:

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have
kicked around using several different less expensive materials.


Since you are in the "Biz", you can appreciate that material is maybe
30%-35% of the final project cost.

Given the "top" represents maybe 80% of the material cost, the "top"
is maybe 25% of the project cost.

If you save 50% of the "top" cost by using inferior material, you only
save maybe 15% of the total project cost.

For a "one shot", personal, last a lifetime project, is saving 15%
worth it?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Lew






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I'm kind of with Lew on this one. If you shop for relatively cheap wood
(common rather than select and 5/4 rather than 8/4 stock) you will have
alot less invested in a top than vises.

Not to say that there is anything wrong with a bench made from recycled
material, I applaud that. It just seems a bit inconsistent with the
premise:

"For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench."

-Steve



"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
...
"Leon" wrote:

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked
around using several different less expensive materials.


Since you are in the "Biz", you can appreciate that material is maybe
30%-35% of the final project cost.

Given the "top" represents maybe 80% of the material cost, the "top" is
maybe 25% of the project cost.

If you save 50% of the "top" cost by using inferior material, you only
save maybe 15% of the total project cost.

For a "one shot", personal, last a lifetime project, is saving 15% worth
it?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Lew






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On Dec 22, 1:18 pm, "Lee Michaels"
wrote:
I wouldn't cut them on edge. If you have enough plywood to make a top, do
that. Lay it flat and cover it with hardboard. I have build a number of
shop benches and cabinets out of scrap. When there was enough materials, I
would build something else. This sounds similar.


Yeah, if they aren't big enough on their own get a sheet of 1/4" then
piece together your scraps on top of that. Run them through the drum
sander first to make sure the thickness is consistent on each layer.
Then flip the sucker over or put another 1/4" layer on top.

Or they'd be good for building drawers to go under it.


-Kevin

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"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...
Snip


I wouldn't cut them on edge. If youhave enough plywood to make a tope, do
that. Lay it flat and cover it with hardboard. I have build a number of
shop benches and cabinets out of scrap. When there was enough materials,
I would build something else. This sounds similar.




My concern with a hardboard or MDF top is that the holes for the dogs would
eventually deteriorate. AND while I would make the MDF of hardwood top
replaceable I think I would want something a bit more permanent.


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"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
Leon wrote:
For



Best thing I have found for the top is a used solid interior door. I
bought a discarded hospital door for about $5 or $10 a few years ago.
Would have cost me at least 10x that much to build a hardwood slab like
that.



Hummmm, I'll keep that in mind.


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Not to say that there is anything wrong with a bench made from recycled
material, I applaud that. It just seems a bit inconsistent with the
premise:

"For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench."

-Steve


LMAO!!! I peed a little.

No offense to the OP, because we are all like that are sometimes, but it
reminds me of the posers in Nashville who post ads for "professional
musicians" who inevitably have no budget to pay them.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply


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wrote in message
...
On Dec 22, 10:00 am, "Leon" wrote:

Leon


I take it none of the plywood pieces are large enough to glue up flat
to make the top. Given that, I think you could laminate what is
essentially a 2"-3" slice of a very, very thick piece of plywood. It
should make a reasonable top, at minimal cost, mainly the cost of the
glue, of which you will probably use a lot. I can only think of two
drawbacks which are probably easily worked around.

I'm thinking buying a sheet or two for the sole purpose to rip in to 3 or so
inch wide strips. those turned on edge and the faces glued together. It
would be like a 360-400 on edge ply top when considering that 1/2" BB comes
in 9 ply to start with. Thicker pieces would actually save me some glue up
time and would use less glue.



1) Since plywood is generally made of veneers glued up perpendicular
to each other, half of the grain of your bench top will be end grain,
oriented vertically, and the other half will be side grain, oriented
horizontally. This means that your bench top may be a bit less stiff
than a solid word version. If you are concerned about the stiffness,
especially if you don't make the top thick, you should be sure to
incorporate some support in the leg structure under the top to stiffen
it up.


Right, but I am considering at least 3" thick so I don't think that the
possibility of sag would ever be a problem. And unlike regular plywood
Baltic Birch is all hardwood with no voids if you can get the real stuff.

2) The grain of the top will be half end grain, and half side grain.
You may be unsatisfied with the texture of the top with its varying
grain. You could work around this by applying some kind of uniform
thin top layer, such as a sheet of masonite, to be replaced when it
wears unacceptably.

Other than those two caveats, I say, "Go for it!" Recycling is the
way of the future, and we should try to appropriately use all of our
scraps instead of merely tossing or burning them. I just built a very
heavy bench out of some glulam beams from our neighborhood gas station
that were headed for the landfill (someone who can't read ran his too-
tall truck into the canopy). Now I have a really beefy bench and the
landfill has 600 pounds less wood in it, and it only cost me a bit of
glue and labor. My last bench was made of recycled 4x4's and oak
flooring. I used bolts I have gleaned from garage sales, keeping them
out of the landfill, and even made some barrel nuts for the stretchers
out of some scrap aluminum. I painted it with the tag ends of paint
that I am not allowed to put in the landfill, and that our county no
longer recycles. About the only way I can think of to have made the
bench "greener" might have been to use some kind of glue not made of
petroleum products, such as hide glue.

Good luck!

Thanks


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"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
...
"Leon" wrote:

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked
around using several different less expensive materials.


Since you are in the "Biz", you can appreciate that material is maybe
30%-35% of the final project cost.

Given the "top" represents maybe 80% of the material cost, the "top" is
maybe 25% of the project cost.

If you save 50% of the "top" cost by using inferior material, you only
save maybe 15% of the total project cost.

For a "one shot", personal, last a lifetime project, is saving 15% worth
it?

Inquiring minds want to know.



Well there is that to consider and one of the reasons I am not sold on a
sacrificial top. Having said that however the Baltic Birch plywood top
would be all solid hard wood. I think ultimately it would be stronger than
the same sized solid wood slab and less likely to be affected by climate
changes.

;~) Being in the "BiZ" I have a lot more labor in the price than 65-70% of
the price. Typically on the skinny side my labor is at least 75% of the
total price and more often closer to 80%. And then again it all depends on
whether I am building fine furniture or a fence. ;~) I am really not
trying to save money in this situation so much as building a top that would
be just as strong as a top with all the wood grain running in the same
direction, and perhaps easier to actually cut up and glue.

Thanks for the reality check.


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"StephenM" wrote in message
...
I'm kind of with Lew on this one. If you shop for relatively cheap wood
(common rather than select and 5/4 rather than 8/4 stock) you will have
alot less invested in a top than vises.

Not to say that there is anything wrong with a bench made from recycled
material, I applaud that. It just seems a bit inconsistent with the
premise:

"For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench."

-Steve



;~) My whole idea of using Baltic Birch over solid stock is to hopefully
speed up the preparation of the materials for glue up. I am not really
looking for a cheaper way out although it seems it would be significantly
cheaper with new Baltic Birch plywood over solid stock.
My thinking is if I buy solid wood stock and rip it to width for glue up
there is going to be some bow in some of the pieces after being cut and that
will have to be dealt with. Baltic Birch on the other hand should stay
straight after being cut and should eliminate some of the problems that
solid wood present from the equation during assembly. It's the stability of
the product that I am interested in more so than saving on expense.


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"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
Not to say that there is anything wrong with a bench made from recycled
material, I applaud that. It just seems a bit inconsistent with the
premise:

"For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench."

-Steve


LMAO!!! I peed a little.

No offense to the OP, because we are all like that are sometimes, but it
reminds me of the posers in Nashville who post ads for "professional
musicians" who inevitably have no budget to pay them.



Yeah he got me there.. ;~)) I guess legitimate was probably not the
correct description. I am actually trying to steer towards a bench with
less steel than wood. ;~)


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zxcvbob wrote:

Best thing I have found for the top is a used solid interior door.


I think the first order of business is to determine what the bench will
be used for...

For instance, a door or replaceable MDF top might make a good assembly
bench or machine table.

If you're going to flatten faces of boards with a hand plane, flatter
than the thicknesser leaves it, you're going to need a surface than can
be trued up on occasion with hand planes or cleaned with a cabinet scraper.

A surface used for lots of hand work is usually better without a
slippery film finish. On the other hand, the right film finish will
protect against glue, sharpening oils and water, etc...

I have surfaces ranging from melamine to urethane coated MDF to
unfinished pine and ash, depending on the use.

Lots and lots of very nice old benches have pine or fir tops that still
survive today. The surface doesn't have to be a hardwood.



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On Dec 22, 1:00*pm, "Leon" wrote:
For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench. *I have
been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top with dog holes
and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked around
using several different less expensive materials. *In recent years the
replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines. *I forget what I
was building several months ago but I ended up having several pieces of 1/2"
Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed that they looked quite
substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's" of
strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. *Basically the edges
of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down to form the top
of the top.

Ideas appreciated

Leon


I picked up a used kitchen table with an Oak top and put two layers of
plywood underneath.

The table top was the standard country style top with running bond
blocks of Oak. Cut the table to width and used the remainder to edge
band everything, if you didn't look underneath you would think it was
3" thick Oak.

I used cauls to clamp the layers flat using the TS as a backer and
ended up with a damn flat top.

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"B A R R Y" wrote in message
...
zxcvbob wrote:
Best thing I have found for the top is a used solid interior door.


I think the first order of business is to determine what the bench will be
used for...

For instance, a door or replaceable MDF top might make a good assembly
bench or machine table.

If you're going to flatten faces of boards with a hand plane, flatter than
the thicknesser leaves it, you're going to need a surface than can be
trued up on occasion with hand planes or cleaned with a cabinet scraper.

A surface used for lots of hand work is usually better without a slippery
film finish. On the other hand, the right film finish will protect
against glue, sharpening oils and water, etc...

I have surfaces ranging from melamine to urethane coated MDF to unfinished
pine and ash, depending on the use.

Lots and lots of very nice old benches have pine or fir tops that still
survive today. The surface doesn't have to be a hardwood.


That bit of information probably would have been helpful. ;!) I am wanting
a "flat" work bench to shape wood and or use for assembly of furniture. I
really want to get something bigger than my TS top. LOL


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Leon wrote:
For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench. I have
been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top with dog holes
and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked around
using several different less expensive materials. In recent years the
replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines. I forget what I
was building several months ago but I ended up having several pieces of 1/2"
Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed that they looked quite
substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's" of
strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. Basically the edges
of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down to form the top
of the top.

Ideas appreciated

Leon


I've built a couple of benches over the past 20 years and the best top
was made from a hunk of bowling lane I picked up when one of the local
establishments went out of business. I regret the day that I decided to
leave that bench in the basement of a house we were renting.

Regards,

Larry
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"Leon" wrote in message
news

"StephenM" wrote in message
...
I'm kind of with Lew on this one. If you shop for relatively cheap wood
(common rather than select and 5/4 rather than 8/4 stock) you will have
alot less invested in a top than vises.

Not to say that there is anything wrong with a bench made from recycled
material, I applaud that. It just seems a bit inconsistent with the
premise:

"For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench."

-Steve



;~) My whole idea of using Baltic Birch over solid stock is to hopefully
speed up the preparation of the materials for glue up. I am not really
looking for a cheaper way out although it seems it would be significantly
cheaper with new Baltic Birch plywood over solid stock.
My thinking is if I buy solid wood stock and rip it to width for glue up
there is going to be some bow in some of the pieces after being cut and
that will have to be dealt with. Baltic Birch on the other hand should
stay straight after being cut and should eliminate some of the problems
that solid wood present from the equation during assembly. It's the
stability of the product that I am interested in more so than saving on
expense.


I'm preparing to re-top my primary workbench in the spring. It is 2' by 6'.
I'm going to extend the top by a foot. I'll be using a layer of 3/4" ply
and then a 1 1/8" thick butcherblock countertop from Ikea. The 1 foot
extension will give me a place to install at least one vise (that I already
own) and probably a 2nd going the other way and allow a cutout for tools at
the opposite end. It'll start out with a good solid flat top and I'll be
able to resurface it at least 2 times (and probably a couple more). It'll
be easy to remove that countertop layer and replace it if and when the time
comes.

Ed

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Leon wrote:

That bit of information probably would have been helpful. ;!) I am wanting
a "flat" work bench to shape wood and or use for assembly of furniture. I
really want to get something bigger than my TS top. LOL


I built a very flat assembly torsion box, with a melamine top, that sits
on my hand tool bench, outfeed table, painter's steps (for tall
projects), or even the floor.

When I'm not assembling, I really prefer an unfinished wood top, with
end and face vices, a board jack, and surface dog holes. In addition
to hand tool work, the "hand tool" vises and dogs easily clamp router
dovetail and pocket hole jigs, and even nicely (and QUICKLY) holds
boards for biscuiting!

Whatever you build, don't forget pop-up planing stops, as they work as
well with belt sanders as they do with hand planes. Mine are just 4/4
white oak boards mounted in strategic locations with hanger bolts and
wing nuts through slots. With the proper screw tension, I can pop them
up and push them down without touching the screws.

While you're building stuff for yourself, I also like the mini-bench I
built a few years back that brings the work to chest level. I followed
a FWW article to build it from 8/4 maple and some veneer press screws.
It's nice not having to bend over to use paring chisels and the like.
If you end up doing a hardwood top, you could probably build the
mini-bench for free.

I've been thinking of building a copy of Popular Woodworking's "21st
Century Bench", the Bob Lang bench unveiled last fall. Check that one
out, too.


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I'll look into all of that , Thanks.


"B A R R Y" wrote in message
...
Leon wrote:

That bit of information probably would have been helpful. ;!) I am
wanting a "flat" work bench to shape wood and or use for assembly of
furniture. I really want to get something bigger than my TS top. LOL


I built a very flat assembly torsion box, with a melamine top, that sits
on my hand tool bench, outfeed table, painter's steps (for tall projects),
or even the floor.

When I'm not assembling, I really prefer an unfinished wood top, with end
and face vices, a board jack, and surface dog holes. In addition to hand
tool work, the "hand tool" vises and dogs easily clamp router dovetail and
pocket hole jigs, and even nicely (and QUICKLY) holds boards for
biscuiting!

Whatever you build, don't forget pop-up planing stops, as they work as
well with belt sanders as they do with hand planes. Mine are just 4/4
white oak boards mounted in strategic locations with hanger bolts and wing
nuts through slots. With the proper screw tension, I can pop them up and
push them down without touching the screws.

While you're building stuff for yourself, I also like the mini-bench I
built a few years back that brings the work to chest level. I followed a
FWW article to build it from 8/4 maple and some veneer press screws. It's
nice not having to bend over to use paring chisels and the like. If you
end up doing a hardwood top, you could probably build the mini-bench for
free.

I've been thinking of building a copy of Popular Woodworking's "21st
Century Bench", the Bob Lang bench unveiled last fall. Check that one
out, too.



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"TD Driver" wrote in message
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I've built a couple of benches over the past 20 years and the best top was
made from a hunk of bowling lane I picked up when one of the local
establishments went out of business. I regret the day that I decided to
leave that bench in the basement of a house we were renting.



I bet that worked out well, did you find any nails in the wood?


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On Dec 22, 12:00*pm, "Leon" wrote:
For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench. *I have
been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top with dog holes
and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked around
using several different less expensive materials. *In recent years the
replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines. *I forget what I
was building several months ago but I ended up having several pieces of 1/2"
Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed that they looked quite
substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's" of
strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. *Basically the edges
of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down to form the top
of the top.

Ideas appreciated

Leon


I think it's going on four years ago that I built mine with a three-
layer MDF top. Someone had given me two really nice vintage quick-
release vises, I had a load of rough-cut oak 2x4's (two inches by
four, real measurement) I got cheap, and I had some MDF from some
shelves I'd taken down. I finally decided if I didn't make it out of
what I had, it wouldn't get built for years, so I laminated three
sections of MDF together, and edged it all around and built the bottom
frame with those oak two by fours. Round dog holes and retractable
casters. Finished it with Waterlox.

I figured the dog holes would deteriorate but when they did I'd drill
a bigger hole, plug it with hardwood and drill a new hole. Turns out
so far I haven't needed to. Maybe because I don't pull the dogs in and
out a lot. They've held up pretty good. The whole bench has. I thought
I'd have built another by now but this one keeps doing what it's
supposed to.

It's nice and heavy. Stays put when it's not on wheels. (It's kind of
frustrating when I forget that) It sure has stayed flat. But if it
ever goes out of flat I won't try to fix it. I'll make a hardwood top
now that money's not quite so tight and I've found a couple good
suppliers.
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On Dec 22, 3:18 pm, "Leon" wrote:

;~) My whole idea of using Baltic Birch over solid stock is to hopefully
speed up the preparation of the materials for glue up. I am not really
looking for a cheaper way out although it seems it would be significantly
cheaper with new Baltic Birch plywood over solid stock.
My thinking is if I buy solid wood stock and rip it to width for glue up
there is going to be some bow in some of the pieces after being cut and that
will have to be dealt with. Baltic Birch on the other hand should stay
straight after being cut and should eliminate some of the problems that
solid wood present from the equation during assembly. It's the stability of
the product that I am interested in more so than saving on expense.


Well if its about saving time and effort, not money, it's hard to do
better than when the wood has gone to the trouble of already
assembling itself into a top for you.

http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2008/Main/270

But I really can't see where ripping the plywood into strips and
gluing up is going to save you time. There is no way you're going to
get it all aligned perfectly to be *flat* without surfacing it after
glueup anyway, versus just stacking three 3/4" sheets together which
will be plenty thick and heavy and flat and stable. You could even do
ply-MDF-MDF-ply if you want to get it silly thick and heavy, and the
ply at the top and bottom will take most of the abuse in the dog
holes.

That bit of information probably would have been helpful. ;!) I am wanting
a "flat" work bench to shape wood and or use for assembly of furniture. I
really want to get something bigger than my TS top. LOL


Assembly tables usually want to be bigger than workbenches, but don't
need to be as sturdy or heavy.

-Kevin
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B A R R Y wrote:

While you're building stuff for yourself, I also like the mini-bench I
built a few years back that brings the work to chest level. I
followed a FWW article to build it from 8/4 maple and some veneer
press screws. It's nice not having to bend over to use paring chisels
and the like.


When I got my first bench not too long ago I realized it had been designed
for users half a foot shorter than me. So the first thing I did was make a
riser for the base to bring it up to a more comfortable level, and I was
pleased that the finish on my addition was good enough to make it
indistinguishable from the original. Of course that's because nobody can
see the snapped-off screws etc. on the underside of the riser, but hidden
(and nonfunctional) incompetence is more or less tolerable at this stage.




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Stuart wrote:

The top for my new bench came from Ikea - see Pronomen or Numerar.

I chose the Beech option. 6ftx 2ft


I almost went the same route until I found a bench kit that had everything I
wanted including vises at a reasonable price. It would be tough to beat
Ikea's prices on laminated hardwood tops even if they intend them for
kitchen cabinets rather than work benches.


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"Leon" wrote in message
...
Right, but I am considering at least 3" thick so I don't think that the
possibility of sag would ever be a problem. And unlike regular plywood
Baltic Birch is all hardwood with no voids if you can get the real stuff.


The high price for BB gives you quite a few options. For example, 4/4 hard
maple for $2/bft:
http://www.woodworkersshop.com/index...n=Custom&ID=10. (250 bft
minimum for that price, though.)


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On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:00:32 -0600, "Leon"
wrote:

For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench. I have
been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top with dog holes
and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked around
using several different less expensive materials. In recent years the
replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines. I forget what I
was building several months ago but I ended up having several pieces of 1/2"
Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed that they looked quite
substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's" of
strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. Basically the edges
of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down to form the top
of the top.

Ideas appreciated

Leon


Any wood will work. My benchtop is glued up 2x4 pine studs, finished
with danish oil. Spent lots of time flattening the top. I redo the
top every 3-4 years. A good bench should be large, sturdy and
heavy.
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"Leon" wrote:

Well there is that to consider and one of the reasons I am not sold
on a sacrificial top. Having said that however the Baltic Birch
plywood top would be all solid hard wood. I think ultimately it
would be stronger than the same sized solid wood slab and less
likely to be affected by climate changes.


Baltic Birch harder than vertical grain maple pieces laminated
together??????

;~) Being in the "BiZ" I have a lot more labor in the price than
65-70% of the price. Typically on the skinny side my labor is at
least 75% of the total price and more often closer to 80%. And then
again it all depends on whether I am building fine furniture or a
fence. ;~)


Which makes any material savings achieved by material substitution
even smaller.

I am really not trying to save money in this situation so much as
building a top that would be just as strong as a top with all the
wood grain running in the same direction, and perhaps easier to
actually cut up and glue.

Thanks for the reality check.


Don't know what size table you want to build, but consider a 2'x6'
table.

Make the primary surface from 3/4" x 2-3/4" maple vertical grain
laminations.

Surface both sides of the glue-up with a drum sander to about 2-1/2"
finished.

Rip a 5 x 5 x 3/4 BB panel into two (2) 24x60 and two (2) 11-3/4x60
pieces which get laminated on bottom side providing a 4" finished top.

Epoxied together, be tougher than a bull's pecker in fly time.

Lew


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Leon wrote:
I'll look into all of that , Thanks.


Ping me if you'd like pics or article references of anything.


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DGDevin wrote:
When I got my first bench not too long ago I realized it had been designed
for users half a foot shorter than me. So the first thing I did was make a
riser for the base to bring it up to a more comfortable level, and I was
pleased that the finish on my addition was good enough to make it
indistinguishable from the original.


I know what you mean. I'm 6' tall, and mobile bases usually add just
enough to machines to be right for me. Even if I'm not wanting a
machine to move, I like the extra height.

To make matters worse for taller folks, lots of traditional style
benches are low to better facilitate face planing.
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"B A R R Y" wrote in message
...
Leon wrote:
I'll look into all of that , Thanks.


Ping me if you'd like pics or article references of anything.


Yeah, thanks, I'd like any thing you could send that would not be a bother
to you. I am also thinking about adding a fold up/down extension on the
back side of the bench to increase work area. I now have a 30" x 60" steel
table top that I would like to use.


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I haven't seen it mentioned yet but I'd suspect that plywood won't
wear very well. I think you'll find the intermixed grain in the plies
will wear differently and leave you with lines and dips. The only way
to resurface will be taking the whole thing to a drum sander.

I've seen a lot of benches made from 2x4 studs and they've worn pretty
well. Mine was made with recycled wood. The wood came from a
subdivision that was being fitted with utilities. When steel pipe is
hauled in for sewers, it's racked with 4x4's of different species. A
few minutes with a power planer to clean off tar, rocks and dirt is
all it takes to get some usable wood. Then it's a matter of sizing,
squaring and glue up.

I'd also recommend putting a square of old car/truck tire under each
leg of your bench. It keeps the bench from vibrating back when you
pound on it. It's so much nicer to use a bench that absorbs impact
and responds like dead weight. Wood legs on a wood or concrete floor
will vibrate.
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I got lucky when I worked for a builder.
We had some glue lamb beams that were ordered wrong and couldn't be
returned ,they were 2 ft' x 10 ft' ,it made one hell of a work bench.
You can even glue up 2x 4's with P L 400 construction glue.

Jerry


http://community.webtv.net/awoodbutc...oodWorkingPage


http://community.webtv.net/awoodbutcher/1974Tryke

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On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:53:52 -0600, Leon wrote:

My concern with a hardboard or MDF top is that the holes for the dogs would
eventually deteriorate. AND while I would make the MDF of hardwood top
replaceable I think I would want something a bit more permanent.


Somewhere recently I read about a woodworker that equipped his bench with
T-slots instead of dogholes.

I haven't really considered all the pros and cons of it, but the idea is
interesting. Anyone here done this? Any opinions?



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"MikeWhy" wrote in message
...
"Leon" wrote in message
...
Right, but I am considering at least 3" thick so I don't think that the
possibility of sag would ever be a problem. And unlike regular plywood
Baltic Birch is all hardwood with no voids if you can get the real stuff.


The high price for BB gives you quite a few options. For example, 4/4 hard
maple for $2/bft:
http://www.woodworkersshop.com/index...n=Custom&ID=10. (250 bft
minimum for that price, though.)



Yeah that would depend on where you live. LOL.. I'm betting there would be
a pretty good shipping charge on tat liquidation price. I just referbed a
kitchen with Maple and it was a tad more than $3 per linear foot in S4S 1x6.
I paid premium but I did not want to go through milling the stock on a
paying job aside from the veneer that I made for the cabinets. IIRC s2s
was around $4.50 per BF. I can get 5'x5' 1/2" BB for just under $30 per
sheet. If my top is going to be 3" thick 24" wide and 60 " long I would
need a bit more than 30 BF considering waste. Basically $135.00 for s2s.
Baltic Birch would be about $45.00 cheaper.



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"Leon" wrote in message
...
For years I have been threatening to build a legitimate work bench.
I have been using fold up ones and steel ones but I want a wood top
with dog holes and a couple of vices.

Because there is a rather large investment in the "TOP" I have kicked
around using several different less expensive materials. In recent
years the replaceable MDF top has been popular with many magazines.
I forget what I was building several months ago but I ended up having
several pieces of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood stacked up and noticed
that they looked quite substantial.

I am wondering if any one has used Baltic Birch ripped in to "lot's"
of strips and glued up on the faces to make a bench top. Basically
the edges of all the Baltic Birch plywood would be facing up and down
to form the top of the top.

Ideas appreciated

Leon


Here's one I did a few years back and Bernie Hunt kindly made it
available on his site.

http://www.huntfamily.com/work_bench.htm

Bob S.



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"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:53:52 -0600, Leon wrote:

My concern with a hardboard or MDF top is that the holes for the dogs
would
eventually deteriorate. AND while I would make the MDF of hardwood top
replaceable I think I would want something a bit more permanent.


Somewhere recently I read about a woodworker that equipped his bench with
T-slots instead of dogholes.

I haven't really considered all the pros and cons of it, but the idea is
interesting. Anyone here done this? Any opinions?



IIRC I saw that too. WoodWhisperer maybe.


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"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
...
"Leon" wrote:

Well there is that to consider and one of the reasons I am not sold on a
sacrificial top. Having said that however the Baltic Birch plywood top
would be all solid hard wood. I think ultimately it would be stronger
than the same sized solid wood slab and less likely to be affected by
climate changes.


Baltic Birch harder than vertical grain maple pieces laminated
together??????


Not harder, stronger.






;~) Being in the "BiZ" I have a lot more labor in the price than 65-70%
of the price. Typically on the skinny side my labor is at least 75% of
the total price and more often closer to 80%. And then again it all
depends on whether I am building fine furniture or a fence. ;~)


Which makes any material savings achieved by material substitution even
smaller.


Yeah but this is for me. ;~) I think I am stering back away from the
plywood however.




I am really not trying to save money in this situation so much as building
a top that would be just as strong as a top with all the wood grain
running in the same direction, and perhaps easier to actually cut up and
glue.

Thanks for the reality check.


Don't know what size table you want to build, but consider a 2'x6' table.


I am using a 60 inch table now and like the length but am also considering a
telescoping end.. The problem is the steel top.




Make the primary surface from 3/4" x 2-3/4" maple vertical grain
laminations.

Surface both sides of the glue-up with a drum sander to about 2-1/2"
finished.

Rip a 5 x 5 x 3/4 BB panel into two (2) 24x60 and two (2) 11-3/4x60 pieces
which get laminated on bottom side providing a 4" finished top.

Epoxied together, be tougher than a bull's pecker in fly time.

Lew



Thanks Lew.


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"Bob S." wrote in message
...



Here's one I did a few years back and Bernie Hunt kindly made it available
on his site.

http://www.huntfamily.com/work_bench.htm

Bob S.




Thank you Bob.


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