Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
light-to-medium workbench.
Thoughts?
Jim
[email protected] (PC Gameplayer) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
> I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> light-to-medium workbench.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Jim
Jim, I built seven workbenches out of construction lumber. If you make
one a planer comes in handy to surface the 3 1/2" faces prior to
gluing. Most construction lumber is not completely flat. A jointer
will do but more work. I would bore holes for allthread at
approximately 20" centers, keeps pieces tight if work area is subject
to heat and humidity changes.I saw the edges to remove the roundover,
after glueup I run thru planer to surface. I do this in stages because
my planer can do up to 13" wide.First bench was made for a large
millwork installation, boss liked so much he wanted one for home. The
rest of the benches were made for other tradesmen on this job to take
home. For a while I thought I'd never get back to installing millwork.
Each bench took me about 30 hours to make.
mike
[email protected] (PC Gameplayer) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> light-to-medium workbench.
>
> Thoughts?
Go for it. I built my bench out of SYP and it's been just fine. I
bought 2x10's as the 2x4's I was able to find were crap. Most of the
2x10's were "centercut", so I was able to rip off two strips from each
board a shade over 3" wide with pretty good (almost q-sawn) faces.
You can see it at: http://www.swt.edu/~cv01/bench03.jpg
Of course, since that picture was taken, I have drilled dogholes,
and in general beat the holy crap out of the thing. One of these days
I'll get around to re-planing the top, but it's not a big priority.
It's held up fine, and I'm not overly-concerned when I put a ding in
it.
Eventually I'll probably build another bench and retire this one to
being a sharpening station or such. But I'm in no hurry.
Chuck Vance
On 1 Dec 2003 12:30:16 -0800, [email protected] (PC Gameplayer) wrote:
>Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
>I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
>look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
>love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
>squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
>would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
There was a cheapie just like you describe in FWW a while back (I can
dig out the ref if you want) I built one and it's great. Solid like a
tank. I finished it with several coats of shellac and a lot of
soya-bean oil. No glue ever sticks to it. I drilled a grid of dog
holes in it, but add more as I need them. I did not keep track of the
exact cost, but it cannot have been more than $50-$60.
For the moment I have only 2 Chiwanese vices fitted, one on the end
and side. That will change, but it's OK for the moment.
I also built a lot of bench accessories from "The Workbench Book" and
"Making Workbenches" Both are must-reads.
Barry Lennox
Sure, if you say so.
--
Mike G.
[email protected]
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Dmitri" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mike G wrote:
> > Actually it's your logic that has a bit of a problem when you only
equate a
> > fine workbench with the wood used rather then the functionality of the
> > piece. It's somewhat like considering a chisel made of, say, as an
extreme
> > example, gold, a finer woodworking tool then one made of a good grade
steel
> > because of the materials they were made from. The former, while worth
many
> > times the latter, would be useless as a fine woodworking tool because it
> > would be incapable of performing it's designed function.
> >
> > Consequently, a well designed bench that performs in it's assigned role
year
> > after year.is a fine woodworking tool regardless of what it is made of.
One
> > that doesn't come up to snuff for whatever reason, and, no matter what
is
> > made of, is certainly not a fine woodworking tool.
> >
> >
> >
> I did not "quate a fine workbench with the wood". I was just trying to
> point out that drilling arbitrary holes by accident or otherwise does
> not seem to make bench a fine woodworking tool or improve its qualities.
>
> Dmitri
>
I built a bench out of 2x12's pine about 30 years ago ... moved it from
Florida to Texas to Florida to North Carolina (Whew at 50 cents a pound on
the Van lines).. but use it every day and it is still going strong... it has
been hammered, screwed, cut, spilled, stained and even burned with a
Oxy/Acetylene torch..
Have at it!
"Bill Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Greetings,
>
> Too soft or not depends on what you plan to do.
> Pine does often have sap in it. You may want to
> use fir instead and pay a little more. If you
> find the surface too soft and can live without
> seeing the wood grain, you could lay a .25 inch
> thick sheet of MDF on top of it and put molding
> aroung the edge to hold it in place.
>
> You will build a second workbench no matter how
> much planning and expense you put into the first
> one. You might as well cut costs on the first on
> by not using maple.
>
> Sincerely,
> Bill Thomas
>
> PC Gameplayer wrote:
> > Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
> >
> > I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> > look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> > love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> > squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> > would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> > light-to-medium workbench.
> >
> > Thoughts?
> >
> > Jim
>
Greetings,
Too soft or not depends on what you plan to do.
Pine does often have sap in it. You may want to
use fir instead and pay a little more. If you
find the surface too soft and can live without
seeing the wood grain, you could lay a .25 inch
thick sheet of MDF on top of it and put molding
aroung the edge to hold it in place.
You will build a second workbench no matter how
much planning and expense you put into the first
one. You might as well cut costs on the first on
by not using maple.
Sincerely,
Bill Thomas
PC Gameplayer wrote:
> Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
> I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> light-to-medium workbench.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Jim
> Yet another reading-the-replies thread, so I'm not sure exactly what the OP
> was after.
>
I'm the OP, and your answers (plus those of others) were what I was
looking for. My plan is to use 2Xsomething's, get them to about 3"
thick, and laminate them together. And it won't exactly be
"butcherblock" like I said...I'll use just about the full length of
the 2Xsomethings...in other words, my plan for the bench top is to
take 10-12 1.5X3 (finished length) boards, laminate them together so
the benchtop ends up being 3" thick, and cut it to a 6 ft. length.
I'll look for SYP first, and settle for pine/whatever if I can't find
it.
And I've gotten similar replies from other folks--along the lines of
"it'll do do until you can upgrade to something better". That's all
I'm looking for right now--something that I can use for a few years,
(potentially) beat the crap out of, and not feel too bad about it. :-P
Thanks, all...
Jim
I'm also planning a new bench and a maple top is way over budget. I
happened to be at Lowes and priced some Glulam (engineered wood beams
of glued up 2-by pine). They could order a couple 14"x66"x3.5" pieces
for around $60 - seem perfect to glue together for a nice top.
Wouldn't cost much more then buying a pile of 2x4's and save a lot ot
time and frustration laminating them together. The Glulam sample they
had looked real nice. Anyone try this for a top?
Steve
[email protected] (PC Gameplayer) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
> I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> light-to-medium workbench.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Jim
"Mike G" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
|
| The really good thing about it is I don't go into a complete panic every
| time something spills or a drill bit or chisel slips and gouges things up
a
| bit.
This is why I don't see spending kilobucks on a bench. Well, of course
sometimes you're paying for the usability features -- vises, etc. -- that
really do aid your work. But I don't see spending money on fine wood and
finish for a table on which I'm going to be banging, scraping, slicing,
painting, etc. I gotta have something I don't feel bad about progressively
destroying as I work.
I'm in the process of building some small benches. (Most of my projects are
small.) But right now I have a set of old kitchen cabinets with a big slab
of ply across the top. Every so often I sand it down a bit and slap on some
varnish to keep stuff from soaking in. I don't care what it looks like;
it's a utilitarian surface.
I remember a church that put a theatrical stage in their parish hall. They
put a hardwood floor on it and finished it like they would have done a
basketball court. And of course they jealously guarded the floor, with the
result that nothing theatrical could ever really be done. Contrast that
with the hardwood floors of actual working stages. We drive screws into
those, paint them, scrape them up, etc. Part of owning a stage means
accepting the cost of putting down new wood every 7-10 years when it gets
too chewed up to be useful.
--Jay
chefbob wrote:
> Built my bench a couple of years ago out of pine, upset me the first time I
> messed up and drilled into it, now getting close to planing it, the thing is
> a workhorse, like a wood hauling truck, gonna get dings, would really hate
> to have a nice bench to worry about.
By that logic we should not have any fine tools ether. They may get
broken after all. There is something wrong with this approach. By the
way, my bench is also butt ugly but still...
Dmitri
Mike G wrote:
> Actually it's your logic that has a bit of a problem when you only equate a
> fine workbench with the wood used rather then the functionality of the
> piece. It's somewhat like considering a chisel made of, say, as an extreme
> example, gold, a finer woodworking tool then one made of a good grade steel
> because of the materials they were made from. The former, while worth many
> times the latter, would be useless as a fine woodworking tool because it
> would be incapable of performing it's designed function.
>
> Consequently, a well designed bench that performs in it's assigned role year
> after year.is a fine woodworking tool regardless of what it is made of. One
> that doesn't come up to snuff for whatever reason, and, no matter what is
> made of, is certainly not a fine woodworking tool.
>
>
>
I did not "quate a fine workbench with the wood". I was just trying to
point out that drilling arbitrary holes by accident or otherwise does
not seem to make bench a fine woodworking tool or improve its qualities.
Dmitri
Built my bench a couple of years ago out of pine, upset me the first time I
messed up and drilled into it, now getting close to planing it, the thing is
a workhorse, like a wood hauling truck, gonna get dings, would really hate
to have a nice bench to worry about.
"PC Gameplayer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
> I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> light-to-medium workbench.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Jim
I am a newbie and currently building this bench:
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/fea.asp?id=1069
I am using Southern yellow pine, like they did. It is harder and stronger
than 2x spruce, etc ( white pine). I bought seven 2x8x12' #2 common SYP
boards and ripped them down to app. 3 1/2" ( which I will plane and joint
down to 3") for the top and other parts. I was able to get 4 pieces for the
top from each 2x8. The lumber cost me about $56.00 at Lowes. I spent some
time at the store selecting decent stock and laid out the rips to eliminate
as many knots and defects as possible. You would be better off spending a
couple more dollars and going to real lumber yard and buying #1 common (less
knots, etc.). SYP, of course, is not as good as maple, etc, but I would
rather spend my money on fine wood for furniture and other projects. SYP is
often used for floor joists where extra strength is necessary, pressure
treated lumber, and is also commonly used for flooring and unfinished
furniture. Another good choice would be Douglas Fir. Again it is harder and
stronger than the regular 2x4 lumber. You should also consider plywood for a
bench top. Laminating 3-4 3/4"sheets together would yield a very flat and
heavy bench top. The new Popular Woodworking has an article detailing how to
build just such a bench. I chose solid wood because I wanted to gain the
experience of the various milling and jointing steps. Below is another link
to a workbench built out of regular 2x lumber if you are interested:
http://www.terraclavis.com/bws/beginners.htm
"Frank Shute" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 1 Dec 2003 12:30:16 -0800, PC Gameplayer wrote:
> >
> > Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
> >
> > I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> > look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> > love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> > squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> > would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> > light-to-medium workbench.
> >
> > Thoughts?
>
> What you could do is use hardwood just for the areas that see heavy
> action eg. dog-holes and the front of the bench.
>
> My bench is a mixture of 4x2 pine, some 4x2 oak, some 4x2 ash, some
> 1" ash and a few other bits:
>
> http://www.esperance-linux.co.uk/photos/workshop1.jpg
>
> If you look carefully you'll see a slab of 10x1" ash at the front with
> the rest of the surface doubled up 3/4" ply. Have also put some 1" oak
> supports under the ply where I've got dog-holes.
>
> I'll take some better pictures of my bench sometime.
>
> I don't know about laminating pine & hardwood together though -
> differing rates of expansion/contraction could spell problems.
>
> --
>
> Frank
>
[email protected] (PC Gameplayer) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
> I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> light-to-medium workbench.
>
> Thoughts?
>
Compared to no bench at all it'll be great. COmpared to a bench made
from kiln-dried maple, beech, or birch it'll be cheap.
If you can get Southern Yellow Pine or Douglas Fir cheap where you
are located, then it'll be about as good as any hardwood bench.
--
FF
my pine/fir bench top has been steaming long fine now for quite a few years.
The really good thing about it is I don't go into a complete panic every
time something spills or a drill bit or chisel slips and gouges things up a
bit. Every couple of years I take a plane to it and clean it up. I've
probably got another fifteen or twenty years of that left before I have to
make up a new one.
--
Mike G.
[email protected]
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"PC Gameplayer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
> I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> light-to-medium workbench.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Jim
On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 03:19:52 GMT, Chris Merrill
<[email protected]> scribbled
>PC Gameplayer wrote:
>> But would pine be too soft?
>
>Depends on the pine. Southern Yellow Pine is actually pretty
>hard. Douglas Fir (most 2x4s) is much softer...and many call
>it pine, even though it isn't.
Achshally, Doug Fir is not much softer than the hardest yellow pines
and harder than some species (e.g shortleaf pine), at least according
to the tables in FPL's "Wood as an Engineering Material" handbook. My
bench is made of Doug Fir, and it's plenty hard. Nowhere near as hard
as maple or birch (or beech, Jeff), but still pretty hard.
You must be thinking of SPF (Spruce-Pine-Fir) construction lumber,
which is all fairly soft.
Doug Fir (and the western larch it is graded with) and the southern
yellow pines are not dissimilar in appearance. About 10-12 years ago,
my mother-in-law in Guelph, Ontario wanted a valance to cover her
curtain rods. All the woodwork in the ca. 1940 house was stained
Douglas Fir (or, at least, that's what it looked like to me and
further research confirmed it). So, being a good little western
Canadian, I innocently headed to the local borgs to get some clear
"double-dressed" Doug Fir, as we call it. No luck. None of the borgs
had any Doug Fir, which really surprised me. Some did not even know
what it was. Finally, I went to a hardwood dealer that was a few
blocks from her house. After I wiped up all the drool, the guy told me
they didn't have any Doug Fir either, but he suggested using SYP
instead. Same grain pattern as Fir, except the colour had less of an
orange cast.
After getting them to rip the two boards I bought, I built the valance
with some old hand tools. I was quite proud of myself for having done
a really nice job with crappy tools. I got a lot of admiration and
earned many brownie points, not for the fine woodworking job, but for
the fine finishing job and the match with the colour of the rest of
the trim. All I did was get a few small cans of stain, and mixed them
until I thought it was close, and sloshed the RBS (tmLJ) on with a
rag. Go figure.
Luigi
Replace "no" with "yk" for real email address
On 1 Dec 2003 12:30:16 -0800, PC Gameplayer wrote:
>
> Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
> I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> light-to-medium workbench.
>
> Thoughts?
What you could do is use hardwood just for the areas that see heavy
action eg. dog-holes and the front of the bench.
My bench is a mixture of 4x2 pine, some 4x2 oak, some 4x2 ash, some
1" ash and a few other bits:
http://www.esperance-linux.co.uk/photos/workshop1.jpg
If you look carefully you'll see a slab of 10x1" ash at the front with
the rest of the surface doubled up 3/4" ply. Have also put some 1" oak
supports under the ply where I've got dog-holes.
I'll take some better pictures of my bench sometime.
I don't know about laminating pine & hardwood together though -
differing rates of expansion/contraction could spell problems.
--
Frank
Chris Merrill wrote:
> PC Gameplayer wrote:
>> But would pine be too soft?
>
> Depends on the pine. Southern Yellow Pine is actually pretty
> hard. Douglas Fir (most 2x4s) is much softer...and many call
> it pine, even though it isn't.
Yet another reading-the-replies thread, so I'm not sure exactly what the OP
was after.
My workbench top is made out of standard 2x6 construction grade mystery
lumber. Looks and smells like one of the lighter flavors of pineywood, not
SYP.
I planed off the high spots and lag screwed a supplemental top made from
someone's old, discarded table. The table is walnut veneer over poplar,
which is another not-very-hard wood.
It has held up pretty well so far, except the time I got pissed off at a
finger joint and beat the crap out of it to jam it together (in a test
piece, mind you...) I made a pretty ugly finger-joint-shaped dent through
the veneer and into the core.
It's not exactly a long-wearing solution, but I think it will get me through
to a point when I can afford to do something better at least. If it gets
too ugly, I can just cover it with hardboard without losing an unacceptable
amount of working range from the pop-up dog on my front vise.
Having a reasonable facsimile of a proper workbench with dog holes and
whatnot has been *very* useful, and I don't regret this a bit. Much better
than nothing.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
On 2 Dec 2003 05:21:23 -0800, [email protected] (Conan the Librarian)
wrote:
> Of course, since that picture was taken, I have drilled dogholes,
>and in general beat the holy crap out of the thing.
I think that's one of the neat features about an inexpensive bench.
If you need a new hole, ya just DRILL one! lol
I often put a screw in here and there...when I need a stop in a
special location...then just take out the screw when done.
Have a nice week...
Trent
Dyslexics of the world ... UNTIE !
A built a workbench out of construction lumber. The lower part is 2x4
framing. Joinery is nothing fancy; mostly rabbet and half-lap joints
with plain old drywall screws for fasteners. It's also got a plywood
back and sides, mostly to stiffen the structure (almost like sheathing
on a house). The top is 5/4 x 6" pine screwed into the 2x4 base with
countersunk sheetrock screws. The top is 8 feet long by about 36 inches
deep.
I built some big drawers out of 3/4" pine, which are filled with tools.
The extra weight of the tools adds to the overall stiffness of the thing.
It's fairly ugly, but strong as all heck, and I'm not afraid to beat on
it. Overbuilt would be a good way to describe it. I drill dog holes in
the top where and when-ever I happen to need them and don't fret that
I'm damaging something that looks like a piece of fine furniture. Ditto
for glue spills and the like. If I ever wanted to, it would be pretty
straight forward (and inexpensive) to tear the top off and screw down
something new.
I've got another table which is basicly a recycled drafting table, of a
portable design. The top is 3/4 birch plywood with several coats of
poly on it. It's not strong enough to take serious pounding, but I use
it when I need a really smooth & flat surface for assembly work. It
also does double duty as a big outfeed table when needed. These days,
most of the time it lives folded up against a wall of the shop, out of
the way (I can set it up by myself in about 20 minutes, quicker with
some help).
PC Gameplayer wrote:
> But would pine be too soft?
Depends on the pine. Southern Yellow Pine is actually pretty
hard. Douglas Fir (most 2x4s) is much softer...and many call
it pine, even though it isn't.
--
************************************
Chris Merrill
[email protected]
(remove the ZZZ to contact me)
************************************
Actually it's your logic that has a bit of a problem when you only equate a
fine workbench with the wood used rather then the functionality of the
piece. It's somewhat like considering a chisel made of, say, as an extreme
example, gold, a finer woodworking tool then one made of a good grade steel
because of the materials they were made from. The former, while worth many
times the latter, would be useless as a fine woodworking tool because it
would be incapable of performing it's designed function.
Consequently, a well designed bench that performs in it's assigned role year
after year.is a fine woodworking tool regardless of what it is made of. One
that doesn't come up to snuff for whatever reason, and, no matter what is
made of, is certainly not a fine woodworking tool.
--
Mike G.
[email protected]
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Dmitri" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> chefbob wrote:
> > Built my bench a couple of years ago out of pine, upset me the first
time I
> > messed up and drilled into it, now getting close to planing it, the
thing is
> > a workhorse, like a wood hauling truck, gonna get dings, would really
hate
> > to have a nice bench to worry about.
>
> By that logic we should not have any fine tools ether. They may get
> broken after all. There is something wrong with this approach. By the
> way, my bench is also butt ugly but still...
>
> Dmitri
>
On 1 Dec 2003 12:30:16 -0800, [email protected] (PC Gameplayer) wrote:
>Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
>
>I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
>look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
>love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
>squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
>would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
>light-to-medium workbench.
>
>Thoughts?
>
>Jim
I just saw one today, Jim...at Home Depot. You might wanna stop in
and take a look at their setup.
I have 2 benches...1 MDF & 1 1/2 plywood. Most times, when I drill
into some stock, I don't even put down a scrap piece of stop! lol
The holes kinda give it character.
Are you gonna glue them? I wouldn't even do that. Just lay them side
by side and run some countersunk screws into 'em.
Good luck.
Have a nice week...
Trent
Dyslexics of the world ... UNTIE !
The current Shopnotes has an article on a folding workbench for your garage
that used Duglas Fir for the top. The article said it should hold up but
they were designing a bench for a home do it your self kind of situation and
not for every day pounding. I have re read this article a few times and I
think I am going to build a small top like this for a secondary bench. Maybe
40" x 16" that will go on the wall opposite my current bench (that always
has a big pile on it). My thinking is a couple of 2x10's ripped and glued
should last a while and would be cheap to replace.
"Steve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm also planning a new bench and a maple top is way over budget. I
> happened to be at Lowes and priced some Glulam (engineered wood beams
> of glued up 2-by pine). They could order a couple 14"x66"x3.5" pieces
> for around $60 - seem perfect to glue together for a nice top.
> Wouldn't cost much more then buying a pile of 2x4's and save a lot ot
> time and frustration laminating them together. The Glulam sample they
> had looked real nice. Anyone try this for a top?
> Steve
>
>
> [email protected] (PC Gameplayer) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > Hope y'all had a good Turkey Day...
> >
> > I'm going to build a workbench and I like the "butcherblock"
> > look--multiple pieces of wood laminated together to make the top. I'd
> > love to do maple, but can't spend the bux for that. I thought about
> > squaring off the ends of pine 2X4s and laminating those together. But
> > would pine be too soft? I'm not doing production work, and it'd be a
> > light-to-medium workbench.
> >
> > Thoughts?
> >
> > Jim