recommendation for a bench top?

SVanderkolff

SVanderkolff

Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Messages
979
I need to replace the tops of my work benches. I have two that need replacing , they are both 8' long by 2' deep. Can anyone recommend a good nearly indestructible bench top. I have thought of having some stainless steel tops made but I am not sure thats a good idea. possible laminate some 2 X 4s together edgewise and give them 27 coats of varnish. Figured I should ask the collective wisdom of the folks here first before wasting my time and money.
Thanks
Steve
 
For one of my bench tops, I screwed and glued 4 pieces of 1/2" OSB together for a nice, solid and heavy top, then I finished it off by cutting a piece of 1/8" hardboard (kind of a high density fiber board, similar to what they typically make peg board out of). I also screwed and glued some banding around the outside edges to protect the edges of the OSB.

The nice thing about the hardboard top layer is that it's fairly cheap, durable, and easily replaceable.

I will say, it doesn't like sitting moisture though.
 
Stainless or a butcher-block type top would be nice, but that sounds expensive and like a lot of work.

Good old fashioned 5/8" plywood has worked well for me for years. Just screw it down to your frame and slobber some paint on it to help it resist oil and other liquids. I just used white exterior primer on mine... protects the wood and the light color helps brighten up the shop a little. I used a hole saw to cut access holes for all the power cords, so they go right through the top and down to outlets mounted behind/below the surface of the bench... that way I don't have cords tangled up all over the bench.

Counter-top would work great too I think, especially if you can cobble together some remnants for cheap. I wouldn't trust it to hold a screw, but I have my grinder, drill press, vise etc mounted to the bench with through-bolts and wide washers anyway, so that wouldn't be a problem.
 
My favorite benchtops are made of some solid core doors I scavenged from a school remodel. That said, of the others I've made, two layers of 3/4" MDF with a top layer of 1/8" hardboard is a workhorse top as well. I glue everything together with contact cement so you don't have to worry about hitting screws when you drill holes for mounting tools or vises.
 
I've bought quite a few butcher block tops from grizzly. They have lasted really well. Easy to drill through and bolt things down. I have one all metal workbench with 3/8 steel top that I only use for welding. Not as easy to drill and mount things, but not really all that more work either, unless you tap the holes. The steel top rust's and has to be regularly maintained. Recently here in Vegas humidity hung around 56% for about 3 weeks. All my metal surfaces that I normally do not oil because it's so dry here, have rusted and need to be sanded down. Both are really good tops, but the wood is easier to move and work with, and easier to replace.
 
jimmyseymour said:
I've bought quite a few butcher block tops from grizzly.
Click to expand...

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Solid-Maple-Cabinet-Top-96-Wide-x-25-Deep-x-1-1-2-High/H9691

I've looked at those
If you want maple tops, it's the cheapest ready to go I've found.
-but NOT cheap - you could do the stainless for that price



The recycle stores sell solid core doors cheap, especially if they are scarred up.
You can cover that with stainless sheet pretty cheaply if you keep the stainless thin.
You can probably get a lip bent on the front edge.


If you plan on beating it heavily, thin sheet will dent, but then 2x4's are soft and will ding too.

Of course with scavenged stuff like that, you won't get them eight feet long.



Do they have to match?
If you talk to the the contractors that do kitchen remodels, they may be able to save you a pulled out kitchen counter top
They have nice swelled front lips and coved backs to a backsplash.
Small parts will roll off the edges less.


Home depot sells white melamine sheets, you can use as a pretty white benchtop over a structural base.
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/5-8-inch-4x8-melamine-white/964161
That would do 2 tops
But the base mdf is susceptible to moisture swelling


You don't have to pay full price for metals.
12" x 12" one square foot of 1/4" is 10 pounds = $10
At scrap yard rates, you can buy thick plate steel for maybe $ 0.10 or $ .20 per pound.
2x8x1/4" is 160 pounds. = so maybe $30

For the price of a plywood sheet, or the laminated 2x4 top; you may find thick steel plate.
If you orbital sand and wax it - it should stay pretty - your shop is heated basement ?

I'd still put some plywood or solid wood beneath to kill the bell-reverb factor
 
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Yeah, definitely solid steel, if you can find it at scrap prices, or thick plywood.


Paying for anything else is IMHO just money down the drain, you could spend on other tools. I'm not a tightwad with tools, but in my experience, the other structures, come and go. For my grinders, (and this is the 10th iteration or so btw, since the shop keeps getting re-arranged), I just built a 2x8ish table with thick walled tubing frame and two layers of 3/4" plywood. Works great, bolted it to the wall, and it's not going anywhere.

I do most of my in-shop work on a 5x5' all steel fab table made up from plate and large tubing. I've got my disc grinder (probably going to move this, since it keeps taking collateral damage), and a large vise mounted to this. This is my beater surface, and most of my welding, free hand cutting, etc, gets done there. Considering that, I didn't see any reason to deal with a plate top for my other bench.

All my finish work gets done inside the house, where I have a better chance at not ruining stuff through carelessness or general shop chaos.
 
Sounds like I may want counter top or sheet steel. These two benches are not for mounting things just for working on. They are in my basement which is heated and relatively dry. I may get one and see how it works.
Steve
 
I have a 2" thick OSB workbench, coated with bar table epoxy. As long as you aren't grinding on it, its pretty durable and easy to clean/touch up. I have a 6' long steel welding table that I grind and weld on. If I did it again, I would PL glue 2x4s together for the workbench, and coat those with epoxy. I have used sheet steel topped work benches but found them noisy. I prefer wood, or thick steel. My current welding table is 1/4" thick, and would definitely go to 1/2 or preferably 3/4 in future. I spray pam (the no stick kitchen stuff) on my welding table. Stops rust, and works to keep splatter from sticking.
 
I use a plywood base and screwed replaceable thin (&cheap) plywood on top.
The base can stay for 100yrs+ and the top can be replased easely when desired
 
It also depends on the bench use. Steel is good for fabricating but a little overkill for smaller work. I like 2 thickness of plywood with a layer of particule board where needed.
 
I used tongue and groove maple flooring over fir 2X6's. It comes in random lengths, but I made sure each piece that I used went from front edge to back edge. They use special nails, and it helps to predrill the nail holes in the maple to avoid splitting (about 20% undersize).
 
Like Patrice mentioned, and IMHO, the intended use for a bench is going to have the biggest influence on material choice.

For example: my fab table has a 4'x8'x1" thick plate steel top, one of my handwork benches is butcher block, another couple have formica, my grinder benches are just topped with 3/4" thick plywood, and I'm building another couple benches from a rail-car decking bench that came from my Great-grandfather's sawmill.

For benches where you're doing hand work, glue-up, etc... then I don't think you can beat a Formica top. Find a builder surplus supply store near you, and you'll be able to buy remnants or even full sheets of Formica for CHEAP. There's a place near us that sells rems that would cover your 2' x 8' bench for about $20 each.

They also sell those pre-fabricated kitchen counters like Sam (12345...) mentioned with the integral backsplash and front lip at really low prices. They have many that are 10-12' long!

Formica is really easy to put down, it's super easy to clean-up, and it's impervious to the nasty things we use like Acetone, Denatured Alcohol, etc.

Of course if you're going to be doing any hot cutting, welding, etc... then formica would be a horrible choice.

My main handwork bench is a 2'x8' Craftsman butcher block bench. It's pretty, and it's warm/welcoming to work on, but--- it's some kind of soft, imported hardwood... and it has gotten very beat up after only a couple years. And that's with a guy who's careful.

The really high quality butcher block tops like you will get with Lista benches are beautiful and very durable, but VERY VERY expensive.

I've looked at the Grizzly tops many, many times but have zero first-hand experience with them. Nice to hear Jimmy say they work well.

I don't know about Ontario, but around here, you can almost always find someone on craigslist selling reclaimed bowling alley lanes (butcher block) material for use as counter/bench tops. I always figured if they hold up to a bowling ball 10 zillion times, they should work well as a bench top. ;) :)

Oh, and stainless is nice for keeping clean... but it's not very nice to work on, IMO.
 
If you can find some fairly priced bamboo flooring that stuff is great. It's highly weather/moisture repellant, impact resistant, and darn near indestructible. During testing it measures almost twice as hard/tough as red oak flooring. .You can use OSB, plywood, etc. as a foundation, then lay the bamboo flooring on top for a work surface. Just be sure and research all the manufacturers, some brands are harder than others.
 
NickWheeler said:
Like Patrice mentioned, and IMHO, the intended use for a bench is going to have the biggest influence on material choice.
Click to expand...

Definitely. To a lesser extent, your personal "style" of working makes a difference too. I for one am a complete slob (Nick, you would probably have a heart attack if you saw my metal-working/fab bench right now :D) and it just wouldn't make sense to for me to build a pretty top on it... It'll just get ruined anyway. Hence, plywood works for me. The most maintenance I've done to it in 4 years is to vacuum it off from time to time and slobber epoxy into the gouges when I have extra left over from a glue-up. It's overdue for a coat of paint, but that's not a huge priority.

My "handle" bench is built about the same but it's in much better shape simply because it's not constantly subjected to drill swarf, steel dust, machine oil, etc.

In our leather room, it's a different story... we're using a re-purposed office desk and the formica-type top is great for keeping stuff clean.
 
Where I have my welder and angle grinder I have floor tyles as a surface.
I had them laying around and sparks etc. don´t hurt them
 
I've had a bench topped with solid core doors, it was a sturdy bench...for a while. too bad it was outdoors and the doors were interior doors.

The benches in my current shop are 3/4 or 1 1/8" plywood with a layer of 1/4" MDF on top. They get a coat of paint once in a while, and every 2 or 3 years when there are enough saw cuts and glue blobs accumulated we replace the MDF. Everything from wood working to MIG welding happens on those benches. (torch welding and plasma cutting have their own bench with a fire brick top)
 
I used 3/4 plywood and glued 1/2" hardibacker(cement board), which is used as a tile sub floor. I think its great. It is durable and not too expensive. I actually wish I had saved a little money and used the 1/4 board instead.

With that said, there is also a cement board called durock, I would stay away from this for bench top purposes. It is actually cement held together by like a fiber mesh. it is brittle and not very uniform, very different from the above mentioned Hardibacker.
 
If you only need the bench to be 2' deep I would just use 2"x12"x8' pine board. It is easily found at your local home center. Lay them flat one in front of the other to get your 2' depth. Cover with 1/2" plywood to smooth it all out and top off with Masonite hardboard for a smooth replaceable work surface. Throw on some trim around the edges to make it look nice if you want. It makes for a very sturdy bench.
 
I found a neat table that is probably one of the most stable work surfaces I have ever used. It's a reinforced concrete table. 3" slabs bolted together.

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