Benchtop aaarrrggghhh

[gumbudah]

My totally indecisive nature mixed with my cheapism is making me chase my tail on benchtop selection!!! grrrrr.

I'm will have two thicknesses of 3/4" material for sure. Some of the options are 3/4" thick so they would take place of one thickness of material so I'm only counting the delta between what 3/4 cdx and the bench material costs.

Stainless.nice but waaay expensive
Plate Steeel. Got pricing on this option. $377 plus tax for two 10' long sheets 30" wide 1/4" thick. Not a bad price, comes out to $17.95/lf or 14.95just for the adder. Cheaper than ordered laminate countertop at $27.50/ft
Galvanized - good for looks, but a bit on the spendy side and need to order it. this is a real possibility... just need to get quote and order I guess. I'd think about $10/ft.
Menards stock laminates - great choice for some of the bench but it doesn't come in 30" width and ordering would be $300.... 24.50/ft adder bleh.
Melamine- maybe a good solution. Menards stocks black melamine on 3/4" particle board. I'd do this, but it'd be nice to find something in a lighter color. Grey would be best. I think about $2/ft adder.
BC Plywood with paint... considering this one, but not sure of paint type. thinking floor epoxy. Probably about $1/ft as an adder to a 1-1/2" top.
hrfnmrphfmrph
I'm sure there are a million others out there, rubber, bedliner material, vinyl etc...

I wish someone just dropped off 30' of plate steel.. the plate steel fairy.

 

[spotco2]

All depends on what you/re going to use it for.

How much does two 10' long sheets 30" wide 1/4" thick plate steel weigh?

 

[gumbudah]

10.2lb/sqft. It was $359 for a 5x10 sheet, and $18 for two cuts. total $377+7% tax or $404. or $8.08/sqft or $.792/lb. Total weight of the sheet would be 510lb or 255lb/10' section.
I want to use it probably rather gently, as I already have about 10' worth of plate steel benchtop cobbled together which would take the hard abuse. General bench work, pluuuus this will be my deer processing area. That's where it'd be nice to have actual countertop...

 

[mmhouse]

Check out 1-1/8" 2-4-1 plywood typically used for commercial floors. It's about a stout as it comes and since it's typically used for flooring (48" o.c. joist spacing) it has a relatively smooth touch sanded face with solid plies (no voids) underneath.

This stuff works great for a bench top. Just use a good deck paint. When it gets beat or scratched up a bit just put on a fresh coat of paint.

 

[AV tinker er]

Did you ever check out Ikeas dented and scratched section? Usually good deals on butcher block counter tops.

 

[norcaljr]

How much of a savings by using 3/16 vs 1/4 ?

 

[lowbucktruck]

Yep, I've been there. Find yourself a solid core door for a worktop. Decent looking, solid yet cheap.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I used two layers of 3/4" PT plywood with a coat of Rustoleum paint. Cheap, easy to touch up and durable enough for me.

 

[dan.oneufer]

I was considering visiting a local sheet metal place and having him bend a sheet to fits over the wooden removable top on my bench. If your price estimates are close, I think a good choice would be galvanized. Mine isn't for welding , but would keep it from getting oil stained or chipped. You could probably use anything (plywood, MDF, door, etc) as the core as long as it isn't flexible.

 

[PhantomEB]

Stained Plywood, cheap as hell and easily replaceable.

 

[hdhogman]

When I built my bench top I used 7/16 OSB. 2 sheets,ripped 16" off each sheet,laminated the 2 narrow pieces between the wider ones (glued) added 1/4 Masonite for the top (not glued). When the top is worn out,I will replace with a tempered type Masonite. Was cheap and seems to held up for over ten years so far.

 

[Jeff May]

why not build it out of 2x material and lay on a piece of 1/4" subfloor ply?
Just tack the 1/4" on and when it gets beat up, remove it and add new. It's still reasonably priced.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

...I want to use it probably rather gently, as I already have about 10' worth of plate steel benchtop cobbled together which would take the hard abuse. General bench work, pluuuus this will be my deer processing area. That's where it'd be nice to have actual countertop...

If you are going to process meat on that top then I would only consider a product used in kitchen or restaurants for sanitary reasons. Stainless steel, stone, corian, butcher block, or laminate. I would imagine plate steel would rust and also host pathogens like tetanus... Melamine wouldn't hold up to slicing with a knife and then the particleboard below would swell up and also host all kinds of nefarious critters.

That being said, I never processed a deer and have no idea how much cutting on a counter top is involved. You can read that as I am talking out my ****! ...but with good intentions!

 

[uniballer]

I was wondering if this could be used as a benchtop?

http://lynchburg.craigslist.org/mat/3742557801.html

 

[bjaspud]

I've been very happy with the scratch and dent sink top with backsplash from Home Depot. The formica holds up well to chemicals and pounding. I screwed a 2 x 2 sheet of stainless to one end to be my 'welding table'. Works good for me. I love that the backsplash keeps hardware from rolling off the back of the bench. Best $70 I ever spent in the garage.

 

[NUTTSGT]

If you are going to process meat on that top then I would only consider a product used in kitchen or restaurants for sanitary reasons. Stainless steel, stone, corian, butcher block, or laminate. I would imagine plate steel would rust and also host pathogens like tetanus... Melamine wouldn't hold up to slicing with a knife and then the particleboard below would swell up and also host all kinds of nefarious critters.

That being said, I never processed a deer and have no idea how much cutting on a counter top is involved. You can read that as I am talking out my ****! ...but with good intentions!

I missed that Tim, glad you caught it. I wouldn't use anything but stainless for that. I'd consider a older stainless kitchen counter for that.

Maybe find something like this and keep the top just for deer processing time.

http://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=743&acctid=2728

 

[Kevin54]

Any benchtop I have ever made, I make a subframe for the top out of 2" x 4" @ 16" on center and cover it with 3/4" MDF. The desk I made in my garage is the same way, but I was indecisive on what to cover it with. I had some left over Laminate flooring so I thought, what the hell? It turned out fairly well.

I don't have conventional legs that go straight down. I have (2) 2" x 4"'s going down at an angle. The same thing with my workbench as far as the legs go. I did use a standard laminate countertop on the workbench. The desk I made is 30" deep x 5' wide and with the way it is built, it will hold 250 lbs. easy. I know because I have stood on it. Here is a couple of pics showing what it is like. If I get tired of the top, I can always pic up some cheap laminate and cover it with something else. I do have a large piece of lexan on it though just so I have a place to write without poking my pen through the paper in the cracks.

 

[acer66]

Since you are processing food on there you might want to look into a restaurant supplier who offers used stainless steel kitchen tables.

At our last job we build a restaurant and the owner got all that stuff used.

 

[53 hemi]

Just sayin' - I keep a roll of black roofing paper around specifically to process deer. Cut a piece, tape it to work top, cut away. Easy cleanup and removal. My roll of paper will probably last forever.

 

[gumbudah]

For the meat processing, I have some large cutting boards that I put out in order to do all of the actual cutting on, and I put all the meat in bowls, so the only contact that is made is "incidental" contact... Just didn't want folks thinkin that I cut it up directly on the bench.
I decided what to do today.

For a 17' section, I am going with the .25" thick plate steel sheared to width (29.5") (will cost $404 or less), placed over a 1-1/4" OSB base (3/4" layer plus 1/2" layer). Then put a 1.5"x.125" flat bar across the front of the OSB to hide the edge. I tried to start scabbing some plate together that I already have, but ran into some bigtime warping issues.

For a 12' section, I am going to put in 2 layers of BC plywood, smoothe side up, then put on a sheet of laminate from menards ($40 for the laminate... not bad). Just need to figure out what to use to cover the front edge. I'm thinkin some sort of trim board.

The whole thing is an L shape, and I have some hose reels under the top in the corner so need to be able to remove the corner piece. Havn't quite nailed down what to do there but I'm thinking laminate as well.

Got the big section covered with the OSB today. Hopefully getting the plate tomorrow depends on if this snow ever quits.

 

[Boomer343]

Why not use a strip of the laminate on the front edge? Rip it off the sheet and glue it on router the strip flat then glue and lay on the top piece.

In the past I have also used solid wood and even aluminum but I always put the edge on first then the laminate over top.

I'd also advise not to use the latex based contact cement....just never liked the stuff and found it doesn't perform as well.

 

[Clik]

Frame it, using scrap skid boards (FREE) and fill with concrete (CHEAP). Nice thick and heavy. I've seen kitchen counters done that way and they look good. Heavy legs can be fabricated by doubling up scrap skid boards.

 

[VegasSteve]

I used solid core 1-3/8" thick door blanks, covered with plastic laminate.... very solid. We used these as table tops in my architecture studio for decades... works awesome! I bought a pick-up truck tailgate bed liner to put down for banging on stuff that would otherwise slip around on the p-lam.

 

[cbracer]

Lowes has solid doors for $30ish, cheaper then 2 4x8 3/4 plywood I think and 30" no problem.

 

[WarrenJ]

Kevin,
Did you tie the angle legs into the wall studs before drywall or toe nail them after drywall?

 

[NOZZLEMAN]

If your dismembering deer... absolutely nothing permeable; that means NO WOOD !! not even painted, coated, stained or anything else

Consider solid Poly board... like a plastic cutting board but thicker (3/4") and in the size you need. Look in the yellow pages & you should find a wholesaler in a decent sized town

It's used for a multitude of purposes, I'm familiar with it as used to fabricate water tanks in firetrucks and we made a number of brackets, boxes and utility items out of it. Oil proof, water proof, you can cut on it and it's non-permeable

Good Luck Brother

 

[d.mcfarland]

Stained Plywood, cheap as hell and easily replaceable.

I doubled up on plywood and have had some pretty heavy stuff on the spots without supports underneath them and there is honestly no flex. I vote this option for value. As for looks or durability, I would def use a nice piece of steel.

 

[Richard D]

Remember, 3/4" ply is really 23/32", or is there really 3/4" plywood?

 

[joa65]

I used 2 x 10's and topped them with Laminate flooring. I glued all the Laminate seams. I also used alluminum angle for the edging and sealed that to the Laminate with RTV. I masked the RTV area to make it look nice. That was at least 10 years ago. It is looking a little beat up now. But, it can be replaced for $80 if you figure 40 sq feet at $2.00 a sq ft. (You can do better than that) Laminate flooring is tough stuff!

 

[Nostraquedeo]

I have 3" of dyed and sealed concrete on 3/4" osb.

 

[dittle fart around]

I was considering visiting a local sheet metal place and having him bend a sheet to fits over the wooden removable top on my bench. If your price estimates are close, I think a good choice would be galvanized. Mine isn't for welding , but would keep it from getting oil stained or chipped. You could probably use anything (plywood, MDF, door, etc) as the core as long as it isn't flexible.

Get sheet metal ungalvanized (if there is such a word) Easy to keep clean just stick a scotch bright pad on a grinder. You can't stain it, trust me I've tried.

 

[Kevin54]

Kevin,
Did you tie the angle legs into the wall studs before drywall or toe nail them after drywall?

After the drywall. Here are a few pics. The first one is the old benches I had before but decided to get rid of those. I like to keep as much off the floor as possible, as I normally keep the garage washed out.

 

[WarrenJ]

thanks, you had told me how stable they were (legs), but I wasn't sure how you fastened them. I may use that idea on my conversion later this summer.

 

[Kevin54]

thanks, you had told me how stable they were (legs), but I wasn't sure how you fastened them. I may use that idea on my conversion later this summer.

I'm sorry. I used 3" deck screws on everything. I fastened the top into the studs using deck screws and fastened the legs using deck screws. Basically the screw in the legs is just to keep them from moving as the weight from the top is pushing the bottom of the leg into the bottom plate and stud. All the screw does is keep it from moving sideways.

 

[WarrenJ]

Thanks for the additional info. I'll let you know what I do. I only have a 1 car space, and need to plan it all out. With no basement, I need to use some room for house storage

 

[Kevin54]

Thanks for the additional info. I'll let you know what I do. I only have a 1 car space, and need to plan it all out. With no basement, I need to use some room for house storage

I see that you are fairly new. Welcome to Garage Journal.

Post up a pic(s) of the area that you have to work with. With all of the members that we have on here, I certain we can help you with your storage problems. There is one thread on here that targets ones with single car garages. If I find it, I'll post it up, or someone may already know where it's at as they have a single car area.

There are many threads about storage. Overhead, underneath, storage in the rafters or hanging below.

Post up a couple pics and let us know how or what you want to use the area for and the Garage Journal Design Team will get you up and running.

 

[Marco84]

Recently built a workbench for my single garage and am currently using caberdeck flooring for a top. Keeping a look out for some oak or beech worktop offcuts on eBay

 

[WarrenJ]

Kevin,
Thanks for the offer. I'll be working on the project in the summer time I hope.
Since I found GJ, I have slowly reading posts. Some of the 1 car areas are certainly interesting.

 

[Kevin54]

Kevin,
Thanks for the offer. I'll be working on the project in the summer time I hope.
Since I found GJ, I have slowly reading posts. Some of the 1 car areas are certainly interesting.

Just a little word of advice, set a folder on your computer desktop and name it something like "Garage ideas". Then any picture that you see that you may want to incorporate into your garage, save that picture to that folder.

Also keep a notepad by your computer that any idea that comes to mind, jot it down, or jot down the website so you can go back and reference it later.

There are a lot of other sites where you can get some great ideas and some have been on here, but Family Handyman is one site to get some storage ideas. Kregs is another site that shows a lot of projects made with the Kreg Drill Jig. One site I also like is Houzz.com Type in what you are looking for and there will probably be quite a few pics pop up. Sometimes the search on here can leave a little to be desired but it has gotten better. If you are searching for something on hear, usually a few of the members are quick to jump in and tell you which thread to go to, to find it.

Looking forward to seeing your project when you get started.