Buying a work bench top ? Or make one ?

[John Timmins]

I'm thinking about a 30 inch x 48 inch work bench top for my new work bench. Where can I buy a glued up top made from strips maybe 2 inches high? I'm not too picky what kind of wood it is - oak, maple or even pine.

I thought about buying the planks and having them ripped and glued up but getting all the clamps I don't have is starting to make this project more of a hassle. Maybe I should just buy a top?

I've seen Craigslist bowling alley lanes for sale but the sizes are way too big and out of my budget anyway.

I need some help with places to buy tops preferably cash and carry. If I have to I'll do plywood but I really don't want that. Thanks in advance, John

 

[SVTchris]

I did a 10' top from here and really like it.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Sol...913?utm_campaign=zPage&utm_source=grizzly.com

 

[Shiftless]

What kind of work do you plan for the bench? 100% woodworking? Greasy disassembly work? General homeowner little bit of this, and a little bit of that?
Makes a big difference.
My bench has one layer of structural 2x6s topped with 1/4 inch hardboard.

For a bench your size, you could get one sheet of plywood cut crosswise into thirds and have a 3 layer 32x48 work surface. If you edged it with 1x2 hardwood and threw on a few coats of varnish, it would look great and be easy to wipe clean.

 

[Jon_E]

It's technically cheaper to buy the wood for a glued-up butcher block style workbench top, but then you need the clamps and the time to put it together. I would second the purchase of the Grizzly top mentioned above. The alternate would be edge-gluing some decent 2x stock, which would be relatively cheap, and investing in some decent clamps.

Also here are the websites of a couple other places I have bookmarked. I have no affiliation with these companies.

http://www.perfectplank.com/index.html

http://www.butcherblock.com/product/industrial-bench-top/

 

[bwringer]

I believe it's considered traditional around here to salvage some sort of material from a dumpster...

 

[Rory Bellows]

Look on Craigslist in furniture. Search wood table and put your price limit too. I've bought two tables just for their tops off CL. One was a massive 2"x36"x60" butcher block top dining table I got for $80. The second was a 3/4"x30"x36" cheap butcher block kitchen table for $20. Both of mine were just tables with no chairs. You probably will refinish it anyway so bad condition = lower price. Plus on CL there will be pics. Just get a table big enough as you can always cut it to fit.

 

[Kent Skinner]

IKEA has "butcher block" wood countertops in the kitchen department. Similar to the Grizzly link above, but if there's an IKEA nearby, you can save on shipping.

 

[Homey78]

I literally just finished my bench today and was thinking about doing butcher block as well. I changed my mind and went with cold rolled steel sheet glued to MDF. Looks amazing and it's super strong. I didn't have to cut a thing, I had the metal shop cut the steel and Home Depot cut the MDF. I just had to glue it together.

 

[Shiftless]

I believe it's considered traditional around here to salvage some sort of material from a dumpster...

haha...
I got my dimensional lumber from the two twenty foot long 2x12s used to palletize a small load of Trex like decking I bought a couple of years ago. It was cull lumber but I ripped it in half and just cut out lengths from the middle that I needed. Gave away about 50% of it to my neighbor who heats with wood.
Screwed it down to the framing and spent about 10 minutes with a big belt sander before I laid down a piece of 1/4 inch Masonite on top. I had to pay for that!

 

[AG Camaro]

I made two work benches from solid core doors I sourced from Craigslist. Paid $20 for 4 solid core doors. They have taken everything I've thrown at them. They are heavy and solid.

 

[Mustang1167]

I used butcher block countertops from ikea. They have a few different options. Cheapest I remember is about 120 for a slab.

 

[John Timmins]

I like that Grizzly top posted above. My friend had a cabinet shop that his son owns now. Using his sources he couldn't get anything for that price.

I will use the work bench mostly for my restoring hobby of vintage Mercury outboard motors. I'll make one of those paper towel holder looking things and put it on the end to hold a roll of butcher paper like the guy uses at the meat market. I like working on clean paper when the parts are oily.

I might add a few holes for bench dogs. I won't keep a vise on there full time but might add some things from the KREG catalog.

So far I have found the KREG work bench kit to be my favorite with a Grizzly top.

 

[MFolks]

I've got a 6' long X 30" deep Grizzly bench top,with a "2X4" frame work bench. The ends are doubled "2X4" for strength,with 6 3" rollers and a braking device made up of 3/8-16 treaded rods,that can be turned with knobs to stop it from moving.

 

[DC73]

I've been making workbench tops with tongue and groove unfinished oak flooring glued and nailed to a sheet of 3/4" plywood. I then rip the tongue and groove from some pieces of the oak flooring and use that to hide the edges of the flooring and plywood underneath. Works very well.

My Home Depot used to carry 19 sq. ft. bundles of the unfinished oak flooring but they didn't have any the last time I made a bench top. I ended up finding it at Lumber Liquidators.

DC

 

[tab2]

Lumber liquidators has them as well. 3' x 6' maple for $369. I'm not sure what you're looking to spend. I have a walnut one and despite the finger joints I really like it.

 

[brownbagg]

to me the best work top surface is a sheet of steel about 3/4 to one inch thick

 

[drmarkr]

to me the best work top surface is a sheet of steel about 3/4 to one inch thick

Geezus....show us the bench underneath that top?!?

 

[GRX]

I will use the work bench mostly for my restoring hobby of vintage Mercury outboard motors. I'll make one of those paper towel holder looking things and put it on the end to hold a roll of butcher paper like the guy uses at the meat market. I like working on clean paper when the parts are oily.

Highly recommend a metal top then. Wood and oil are not good together.

 

[maxpower_hd]

Home Depot carries several different sizes and thicknesses. I have one in my basement with 2x4 construction under that has held up for many years.

http://www.homedepot.com/b/Storage-...butcher+block?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5

 

[John Timmins]

this is the base I want. https://www.kregtool.com/store/c42/...44-universal-bench-with-standard-height-legs/

I disassemble outboards and take to a machine shop where they get washed in a parts washed in soap and water. It put them in my blast cabinet to bare metal blast the parts with glass media at 60 PSI. What oil that gets on the work bench sits on a sheet of 1/8 stainless about 1x2 feet with a 1 inch 90 degree bend on the front. I like working on clean paper or cardboard because I often write measurements or notes as I disassemble.

OK I could go to a saw mill and get the strips of wood and take them to a wood place that has the glue up stands and that big drum sander....but now the price of the wood and the $80/hour for sawing strips, planning and glue-up is making that $238.95 Grizzly look pretty good.