Laminated 2x4 Bench Top?

[Chips O'Toole]

I built my own workbench years ago, and I had no idea what I was doing. I couldn't weld, so I made it from 4x4 supports with 2x6 crossmembers and a 2x6 top. It must weigh 250 pounds.

I added "features" as I went along. I made my own Moxon vise, and I put holes in the top of the bench for bench dogs. I wanted to be able to do woodworking as well as general work. I even welded on it once I learned how. The trick is to quit welding just before it catches fire.

Anyway, I want to build a new bench. Bench dog holes don't really work with a general-purpose bench (goodbye, small parts), and I need casters. I am thinking a simple 2x2 3/16"-wall tubing frame with a top made from a bunch of 2x4's laminated together so it's 3.5" thick. I figure I'll replace my old bench with it, and then I'll make another bench for woodworking.

Has anyone here made a bench with a laminated top like this? Seems like a great idea to me. Woodworkers do it all the time. Lumber has come down a lot in price, I hate MDF, I don't like plywood on bench tops, and a laminated top would be extremely sturdy and easy to replace. Also, when a wooden top gets rough, you can plane it down to fresh material.

 

[Cadillac]

I would think it would be a great top.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I see nothing wrong with holes for bench dogs, just plumb them up like the pockets on a pool table.

 

[Karl_T]

I've built a couple benches using butcher block from home depot. I used solid 3/4 plywood for the sides and back with 2x4 reinforcements. Made one rigid table.

Search Results for butcher block at The Home Depot

Get free shipping on qualified Butcher Block Countertops products or Buy Online Pick Up in Store today in the Kitchen Department.

www.homedepot.com

 

[DavidR8]

My lathe bench top is a chunk of laminated quartersawn fir beam from an industrial building. It's 3" thick x 26" wide. Stout like nobody's business
If you can, pick 2x4's with the growth rings running from long edge to long edge vs. short edge to short edge. That way they will tend to cup less.

 

[Boswell]

've built a couple benches using butcher block from home depot.

Just built a bench using Home Depot Butcher block top. $78 for a 3x6 butcher block.

 

[Chips O'Toole]

At my local Home Depot, the cheapest piece of butcher block costs $200, and it's only 1.5" thick.

 

[ChazzC]

I built my own workbench years ago, and I had no idea what I was doing. I couldn't weld, so I made it from 4x4 supports with 2x6 crossmembers and a 2x6 top. It must weigh 250 pounds.

I added "features" as I went along. I made my own Moxon vise, and I put holes in the top of the bench for bench dogs. I wanted to be able to do woodworking as well as general work. I even welded on it once I learned how. The trick is to quit welding just before it catches fire.

Anyway, I want to build a new bench. Bench dog holes don't really work with a general-purpose bench (goodbye, small parts), and I need casters. I am thinking a simple 2x2 3/16"-wall tubing frame with a top made from a bunch of 2x4's laminated together so it's 3.5" thick. I figure I'll replace my old bench with it, and then I'll make another bench for woodworking.

Has anyone here made a bench with a laminated top like this? Seems like a great idea to me. Woodworkers do it all the time. Lumber has come down a lot in price, I hate MDF, I don't like plywood on bench tops, and a laminated top would be extremely sturdy and easy to replace. Also, when a wooden top gets rough, you can plane it down to fresh material.

Years ago I saw a reference to a bench with a top made from 2x4’s (2” W x 4” T orientation) held together with all-thread, then surfaced with a belt sander. Strong and if you damaged part of it you could replace “strips.” Must have weighed a ton!

I have a benchtop made with 1-1/2” (actual) finger joint plank that has held up well.

I made the “plinth” for my mini-mill from three layers of 3/4”, 13-ply plywood: solid & uniform and I’d recommend the construction, but for a workbench I think I’d go with two layers of the 13-ply with a too layer of 3/4” MDF, laminated with wood glue in a vacuum press if possible and finished with multiple thinned coats of polyurethane. (But then I have access to the press; lots of clamps would be ok)

 

[extropic]

I built my own workbench years ago, and I had no idea what I was doing. I couldn't weld, so I made it from 4x4 supports with 2x6 crossmembers and a 2x6 top. It must weigh 250 pounds.

I added "features" as I went along. I made my own Moxon vise, and I put holes in the top of the bench for bench dogs. I wanted to be able to do woodworking as well as general work. I even welded on it once I learned how. The trick is to quit welding just before it catches fire.

Anyway, I want to build a new bench. Bench dog holes don't really work with a general-purpose bench (goodbye, small parts), and I need casters. I am thinking a simple 2x2 3/16"-wall tubing frame with a top made from a bunch of 2x4's laminated together so it's 3.5" thick. I figure I'll replace my old bench with it, and then I'll make another bench for woodworking.

Has anyone here made a bench with a laminated top like this? Seems like a great idea to me. Woodworkers do it all the time. Lumber has come down a lot in price, I hate MDF, I don't like plywood on bench tops, and a laminated top would be extremely sturdy and easy to replace. Also, when a wooden top gets rough, you can plane it down to fresh material.

When you say "laminated together" I'm thinking glue and clamp. Is that what you have in mind?

What are the width and length dimensions of the top you plan?

The first thing that occurs to me is what kind of wood? If you mean Douglas Fir, you'll want kiln dried, smooth 4 sides, because common construction lumber is too wet (green) and too warped to deal with. That's going to be well over $200 (out the door) for a 3' wide, 8' long top.

One additional idea is to drill through each board (maybe at 2' centers) for a 1/2" all-thread through all the pieces. T-nut in the back and counter bore (w/plug) in the front.

Way too much work for my taste and we haven't discussed the work involved in making it smooth and flat.

Alternatively, laminate as many sheets of plywood as you want and cover with a sheet of tempered Masonite. If/when the Masonite gets too funky, cover it with another sheet.

 

[ChazzC]

Years ago I saw a reference to a bench with a top made from 2x4’s (2” W x 4” T orientation) held together with all-thread, then surfaced with a belt sander. Strong and if you damaged part of it you could replace “strips.” Must have weighed a ton!

I have a benchtop made with 1-1/2” (actual) finger joint plank that has held up well.

I made the “plinth” for my mini-mill from three layers of 3/4”, 13-ply plywood: solid & uniform and I’d recommend the construction, but for a workbench I think I’d go with two layers of the 13-ply with a too layer of 3/4” MDF, laminated with wood glue in a vacuum press if possible and finished with multiple thinned coats of polyurethane. (But then I have access to the press; lots of clamps would be ok)

Getting old is a blessing & a curse: it takes a while to remember where you saw something (like car keys): the article about the “workshop bench” was in the 1 October 1976 issue of Model Engineer. The one phrase I recalled pointed me to the source, speaking about assembling the pieces of the top with steel rods threaded at the ends: “ . . . and the whole tightened up until it sings.” The article also notes that “The whole assembly should now be heavy enough to be almost immovable.”