Hey all,
My name is Jeff from Omaha, NE and I have recently picked up woodworking as a hobby. My first project will be making a traditional workbench that is flat enough and heavy enough, but not terribly expensive.
I’m thinking of buying a pre-fabricated butcher block benchtop made out of red oak that is 2ft by 4ft and 1 3/8″ thick ($67), and then adding some reinforcement to the bottom with some plywood until i achieve adequate thickness then build a fence going around all 4 sides to conceal the plywood. The bench top will then mount onto two wooden sawhorses, held in place with some dowels L-brackets.
Does anyone have any input on this project? I’ve picked a lot of people’s brains about this already in person, and most people have told me to just go the cheapest route possible and only use plywood or something like a solid core door, but I really want a bit of aesthetic appeal on the top even though its my first bench.
I am still accumulating tools, but I have lots of hand tools and clamps, cordless drill, hand saws. I could probably borrow anything else if needed.
One other approach I have considered is buying a bunch of oak 2×4’s (or as close to 2×4 as possible) and sandwiching them together form the top, but then of course I would have to flatten it by hand with some planes. Since I don’t have a workbench yet, I feel this would be hard to accomplish.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
-jeff
Replies
Jeff,
Welcome to this site and to Woodworking the best trade/hobby you can learn ! My opinion; Build it to last. The first bench I made never had to be replaced - yes things added e.g. vise, shelf, hold downs, foot pads, but my first bench has been a workhorse that's served my purposes. No fancy joinery or exotic woods - basically rough construction using lumberyard materials.
I used 4 x 4's for the legs, 2x4's for the upper and lower stretchers, and 2 inch wide x 1-1/4 inch thick maple slats glued together for the top. The bench is screwed and glued together - it's lasted the test of time
SA
benchtop
Welcome. I bought a great bench when I started woodworking 20 years ago, and I've never regreted the investment. It's the most expensive tool in the shop, and I use it every day. I've flattened it once. That's one route. Lie-Nielsen makes a nice one. It's like, you almost need a great bench to make a great bench, unless you have a lot of experience.
What's your budget? Do you want to go low? There's a nice video artice going on this site now (the not-so-big woorkbench) which might give you some ideas.
John
For now, just get the oak top and use it as it is. You may have to add a small filler for that vice you showed but maybe not. The oak will move, the plywood won't and the two joined will cause problems. The joints on the perimeter if you add a "fence" will open because of the movement of the oak. A good bench doesn't have to weigh a ton but it does have to clamp and hold your work in a wide variety of ways. Although daunting to look at, or to build, traditional work benches like the Lie Nielsen's represent centuries worth of woodworker's knowledge and needs. In time, you will appreciate why they are made they way they are.
design and usage
A couple of additional thoughts: how you will be using the bench should be considered in your design.
For example, if you plan on occasional mortise chopping, having a thicker bench top would be a big advantage, since thicker tops absorb striking force better, rather than "bouncing". Face-glueing 2x4s of a less-expensive species (e.g. Southern Yellow Pine) might be a good alternative in that regard. If, on the other hand, it will simply be a work surface with little or no pounding, a thinner top might suffice.
It's probably not a good idea to assume that a commercially-made butcher block will be as flat as you want. So, you might still end up flattening the surface with hand planes, long straight edges and winding sticks.
If you laminate multiple sheets of plywood or MDF to make a thinner top, you'll want to make sure the bottom sheet is dead flat before you start the glue-up. If you are using a folding conference/picnic table to support the work, you might need to use shims under the bottom sheet to achieve "flat".
Free Woodworking Bench Plans
Hello Ralph Berker,
I have found the various woodworking plans for free here - Free Woodworking Plans
Here you will also get a free plans for the bench.
Ralph - thanks for the advice. I figured I'd probably have to do some flattening even on a pre-fabricated bench top, hopefully it wont be too bad, but I think the tools I have should be able to deal with that if it is a problem. I'm thinking I won't be doing that much intense whacking on the workbench (at first, anyway).
Joe - Thank you. I have done a lot of reading and all of the designs that Chris Schwarz utilizes are the traditional Holzapfel style that I am trying to emulate. I'll try to track down some Southern Yellow Pine and see what I can do.
At this point I am tending more towards using a basic 4 leg design with stretchers. I realize this aspect of the bench maintains a lot of stability. However, out of all the videos and diagrams i've seen, its a bit ambiguous as to what mechanism is used to join the top to the base. If I'm using a top that is only 1 3/8" thick, whats the best route?
Maybe I should just use the oak top for some other project, and see if I can find some decent priced pine.
Anywho, thanks again everyone. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on the progress of this winter project. I'll be out of town for the next week on vacation, but when I get back.... its GO TIME.
Top attachment
The "best" method depends on how the top is constructed. Solid wood tops must be allowed to move with seasonal expansion/contraction, while MDF or plywood tops don't.
Wooden cleats on the inside of the stretchers can be used to screw into the bottom of the top. Solid attachment at the front and "loose" attachment at the rear can be used to direct any movement to the rear edge of the bench. That maintains registration of the front elements - top edge to stretcher face, vise alignment, etc.
In contrast, the bench I helped my neighbor friend with used laminated MDF sheets, hardwood edging and a (replaceable) hardboard insert. The MDF was screwed directly to the support structure prior to placing the hardboard insert.
With really heavy solid wood tops, I've also seen heavy alignment dowels used that simply fit into mortices in the bottom surface of the top, with no screws. The weight of the top holds it in position.
You can have it permanently attached to a bench so that you can cut wood in your workshop without any difficulty. Movability is a very big advantage. Of course, since it is portable, it is not going to be very heavy. Means that a single person can easily handle this bench. As a maintenance point of view, the bench top saw is very advantageous because it can be put away in a dry & cool place when it is not being used. Make sure to protecte from humidity, rust and other such complications .
Hello Jeff
I wanted to share some free benches tutorials
http://www.makeitems.com/10-awesome-bench-projects/
Type 'workbenches' in the search box on this site. You might find answers you like there.
Mikaol
Welcome to the hobby. I built a starter workbench base using laminated birch 1x12X48 boards that I got from a box store. The legs are glued up from 4 boards and are roughly 2 3/4 inches square. I ripped and glued boards together to make stretchers 1 1/2 thick X 6 wide" in the front and back. Stretchers on sides are just 3/4X3 with two per side - top and about 1/3 of the way up from floor. The legs are rabbeted at top and dadoed below for the side stretchers. I used "bench bolts" from Lee Valley to attach front and back stretchers through the legs - this base turned out to be quite rock solid. I built Baltic plywood cabinet w/drawers to sit on the front and back stretchers - adds quite a bit of weight with tools. I used removable bench casters that slide into mounting plates from Rockler to allow moving if needed. I attached the top using cleats, glued to each leg into which I drilled slots to allow for movement of the top. Ran 1/4" lag bolts through the slots into bench top. For the top, I went a similar direction to where you say you might be headed - I used a 1 3/4x27X60" birch laminated top from a sale special at WoodCraft. It didn't stay flat and one corner is warped/low to an extent that planing would waste away alot of thickness. So, I do have to say I regret not just gluing up 3 layers of particle board and/or MDF and putting edging around it from the start. If I had to do it over again and as my recommendation of an option to you, I think I would start out by building Bob Van Dyke's starter workbench (same as used at his school - you can look up the article on this site). You could then put your money into a decent quick release cast iron vise, and then get started building some projects. I found that as I built, over the course of many projects, I started to figure out what I would really like to have for a bench.
Another idea you might consider is a solid core door, you can possibly find a scratched/damaged one at the lumber yard for an even cheaper price, I’ve been using one for 20 plus years.i built a set of legs to support it and it is heavy/solid for any work you want to do , plus I covered it w/a piece of 1/4” hardboard so if it gets damaged or glue all over it just swap the hardboard and it’s like new again
I made a base out of pressure-treated 4x4 pine and topped it with 1x4 maple. Maple, birch or the ever-popular oak make nice hardwood tops. Or you could look at Bally Block on Woodcraft.com
Oh, only you will see the plywood. No one's gonna point & giggle.
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