Help me decide between Gladiator bamboo or maple top workbench.

[Cruzomatic]

Hi all. I'm about to pull the trigger on a Gladiator Workbench. I can't decide between the bamboo or maple work top. I know it's probably a no brainer (maple) but would like to hear what you all think or maybe have gone with. The difference in price is considerable between the two, but I'm wanting to make the better purchase for the long run.

Thanks....

 

[rsanter]

whats the price difference?
which way?

bob

 

[Cruzomatic]

For the 6 foot adjustable maple $350.00 or the 6 foot adjustable bamboo $537.00

 

[Beemer533]

I like bamboo, but for that price I'd get the maple and use the difference to buy more tools

 

[drcliff]

I've thought about a bamboo workbench. We put down some stranded bamboo flooring in our master suite, and I tell ya, that stuff is HARD. Barefoot, it's like walking on tile. It was significantly harder to nail down than maple flooring.

It's the only room in the house that my wife's heels haven't dented all to hell.

 

[Cruzomatic]

Hummmmm.....

 

[rice rocket]

For that much money, I'd build my own.

 

[monomach]

Neither. My shop teacher, father, and grandfather all told me that there's a rule requiring a man to build his own workbench.

I figure for all three of them to say it, it has to be true.

 

[southalabama]

Maple sold as many bench tops is soft maple. The bamboo is probably harder.

BUT. As stated above I'd buy the cheaper and spend the rest on tools.

 

[nicksnothereman]

Hi all. I'm about to pull the trigger on a Gladiator Workbench. I can't decide between the bamboo or maple work top. I know it's probably a no brainer (maple) but would like to hear what you all think or maybe have gone with. The difference in price is considerable between the two, but I'm wanting to make the better purchase for the long run.

Thanks....

It's not "good" maple. Runs away.

Maple is a stronger wood as far as I know, if you're doing nick-level-idiocy stuff on it then you probably go with the maple. Does the bamboo look nicer (it might) or is it cheaper? If it's 100 bucks more for the maple (don't know your definition of considerable) I might forgo it for the bamboo if I'm not planning on going crazy on weight on the surface.

The real answer is: it depends on what you're doing. If your an electrical tinker or mechanical fiddler you probably go with the cheapest option. If you're rebuilding transmissions you probably go maple...actually even nick would do that on metal (though nick don't currently do that).

 

[Cruzomatic]

Hey guys......it's actually for my HD garage and I plan to put a couple of the floor cabinets under it to serve as additional storage. I have my home scratch built workbench in my 2 car garage. It probably won't see heavy use at all. I'll probably just go with the less expensive option.


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[Kevin54]

Hi all. I'm about to pull the trigger on a Gladiator Workbench. I can't decide between the bamboo or maple work top. I know it's probably a no brainer (maple) but would like to hear what you all think or maybe have gone with. The difference in price is considerable between the two, but I'm wanting to make the better purchase for the long run.

Thanks....

Maple cheaper than Bamboo.....if that ain't the ****.

Shop around. Do a search on CL to see if anyone has any Bowling Alley for sale. Other than that, for the price you are looking at, I'd get something like a hardwood flooring, and cover it with some of the thick bar finish material. The type of stuff they use on bars, or can laminate pictures and stuff underneath.

 

[Cruzomatic]

Good idea...


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[Modern Jess]

Maple cheaper than Bamboo.....if that ain't the ****.

Innit? I'm a big fan of bamboo, but one of its virtues is that it grows like a weed and is supposed to be a less-expensive alternative to traditional hardwood.

Kind of shocked that the maple comes in less. But since I'm also a big fan of maple, at those prices it'd be a no-brainer.

 

[Tejaas]

Maple sold as many bench tops is soft maple. The bamboo is probably harder.

Dead on, man.

"Maple top" used to be advertised as a sign of quality and durable/wear resistant work surface/flooring. You used to pay a premium because you were getting Rock or Black Maple.

Nowadays, generally you pay the premium for Hard maple (Rock/Black) and get Soft Maple (Red/Silver/Bigleaf/Box Elder) - especially on the prefab and box store/catalog order workbench/flooring stuff... In my experience, if it is NOT advertised/specified/voluntarily admitted as Rock or Black maple, it's probably a soft species.

"Worksurface maple" was intended to be Hard Maple, Soft Maple is used predominately in the kitchen industry (butcher block that doesn't dull knives as readily) and other applications that don't require quite the density.

Depending on the species, the soft maples are about half the Janka-rated hardness of hard maple.

As far as bamboo, it actually is harder than EVERY maple (hard or soft). That's kind of misleading... Because it has to be pressed into slats/ply to achieve that strength... It's a damn grass after all, haha. You don't see very many bamboo 2x4's, ya know?

I prefer rock maple tops between 1.5 and 3"--- but I would take a soft maple over bamboo anyday.

Especially if it's priced less than the bamboo!





~Tejaas~

WTB: Snap-On Orange Hard Handle SSDP63 in Very Good Condition!

 

[mtmgtz]

Maple sold as many bench tops is soft maple. The bamboo is probably harder.

BUT. As stated above I'd buy the cheaper and spend the rest on tools.

I think it depends on the bamboo. When it comes to flooring you'll see "bamboo flooring" and "strand bamboo flooring." The regular bamboo stuff is pretty soft. I was in Lowe's one day and I could make a dent in the sample with my fingernail.

Strand bamboo is extremely hard though. I installed it in my house and it has held up very well. I glued mine down for various reasons but it's a real b1tch to drive a nail through. You have to drill pilot holes to drive a finish nail through it.

That said, if it's a low use workbench, I'd save the money and get the maple as well.

 

[darwyn]

Out of curiosity I priced a 6ftx2ft sheet of 3/16" stainless steel at stainless supply. It came in at $557.76, of course then you have to ship it, but it lends some perspective on the matter.

 

[Paul1956]

I have the maple one... happy with it.

Being Canadian... I am partial to anything maple.

Before someone tells me to hand in my man card... I have previously
built several workbenches.

I'm tired building workbenches... decided to buy this one... no regrets.

The Gladiator is one solid bench. It comes with me if I move.

 

[rice rocket]

Their workbenches are so basic though, it's not worth the price they ask. Legs at Home Depot are $40, top is what, $100 at the lumber yard? There's not much building involved other than screwing together.

Check it:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Edsal-33...stable-Height-Work-Bench-Legs-ABL30/204417821

 

[Paul1956]

Compared to the Gladiator legs... those things are like toothpicks.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

I just assembled the Gladiator bamboo workbench for friend this last weekend. It's a very nice workbench for someone whom doesn't use tools. It's good for light duty stuff and will look nice next to a Lexus in the garage.

The metal legs assembled easily and are quite nice to support the wood top. I wouldn't put anything heavier than a 50 weight on it and be sure to secure it to the wall as it is rather tipsy.

No lower shelf or any sort of storage. That does free it up to be modified easily. No bar in the front at the bottom, so you could use a stool with ample space for your legs.

It's a good bench for maybe a bar. A work bench where you're going to be bolting a vise to it, pounding or working on nasty stuff on top? No. Not without spending a lot to rebuild it into something robust.

For the $300 he paid for it, I'd say he paid $200 too much. It's on par with the Harbor Freight blue or black work bench kits that sell for $99 on sale. Take one of those and put on a good top and you might be okay. Or better yet, just build your own. Work benches are a bit of an art form and should show your personality in their design and construction.

It's your WORK bench. Not your DISPLAY bench. USE it.

 

[BikerDad]

Simple question:

Do you plan on ever flattening the top? If so, go with the Maple. The bamboo does not plane well, to put it lightly. It has essentially "interlocked crazy grain". It doesn't matter WHAT direction you plane, you'll get tearout.

 

[Fcvapor05]

If you want a 'real' work bench that's cheap, easy to assemble, and tougher than s*** buy (or make) one made from recycled pallet rack. I wouldn't say the Gladiator stuff isn't nice, but in my opinion it can't hold a candle to similarly priced alternatives that don't have nice websites and slick marketing.

 

[ChevyEFI]

If you want a 'real' work bench that's cheap, easy to assemble, and tougher than s*** buy (or make) one made from recycled pallet rack.

I would be happy to see examples of those.

 

[Fcvapor05]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103863

 

[nicksnothereman]

I would be happy to see examples of those.

I recently took apart a pallet and used the good wood as a surface. Twas a pain in the proverbial **** because they used "ribbed" nails. The wood is good, though the boards I got weren't in great condition. Even poor condition maple is 5 times stronger than softer species wood which means less warpage with weight. The point is that sometimes places "get rid" of pallets and often times they're actually made of hard wood. Easier to just use the pallet in whole but you can do it other ways. Needs to be planed if you want a level surface though.

 

[Cruzomatic]

Simple question:

Do you plan on ever flattening the top? If so, go with the Maple. The bamboo does not plane well, to put it lightly. It has essentially "interlocked crazy grain". It doesn't matter WHAT direction you plane, you'll get tearout.

No, I won't be flattening it.

 

[monomach]

I recently took apart a pallet and used the good wood as a surface. Twas a pain in the proverbial **** because they used "ribbed" nails. The wood is good, though the boards I got weren't in great condition. Even poor condition maple is 5 times stronger than softer species wood which means less warpage with weight. The point is that sometimes places "get rid" of pallets and often times they're actually made of hard wood. Easier to just use the pallet in whole but you can do it other ways. Needs to be planed if you want a level surface though.

If you look closer, those aren't just old school ribbed nails like you use in drywall. Those sons of ******* are scrails...nails with screw threads. One brand even comes coated in resin that hardens up into a glue, too.

Pop a demolition blade on a sawzall and go right through the bearer board where the scrails are; zero damage caused to the deck boards. Then you just have to get out a nail punch to remove the heads. Took me a while to get to trying it out, but I can take a pallet apart in about three minutes now.

Before that, I was jerking around with chisels, hammers, and pry bars. All I was doing was taking an hour per pallet to split the **** out of the wood.

I've got free hardwood 1x's coming out my rear now.

 

[Trey T]

what type of wood are the bowling alley floors?

 

[len42]

Before buying any wood bench tops check out Ikea. I'm too lazy to hunt down links right now, but IIRC the 6' butcher block top I got from IKEA cost about $90. It's probably made of mystery wood but it has held up fine for 5 years.


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[porschedude996TT]

At that price I would go to Ikea Furniture Store and buy there Numerar Countertops (Birch, 96-7/8" X 25-5/8" X 1-1/2") $169.00 each.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50086416/#/30086417

If you don't have a local store they will Freight Forward to you, call for shipping estimate.

and these legs from Amazon $73 each and free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DD0XZ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

If you have an Ikea Store near you the cost would be $315 and you would need to provide the wood screws to assemble. Way better than the $500 plus benches you are looking at.

I have eight of these in my shop and they are milled in Norway or Sweden or Finland, I get those countries all confused and mixed together...LOL

Really quality materials and workmanship.

 

[Fcvapor05]

I recently took apart a pallet and used the good wood as a surface. Twas a pain in the proverbial **** because they used "ribbed" nails. The wood is good, though the boards I got weren't in great condition. Even poor condition maple is 5 times stronger than softer species wood which means less warpage with weight. The point is that sometimes places "get rid" of pallets and often times they're actually made of hard wood. Easier to just use the pallet in whole but you can do it other ways. Needs to be planed if you want a level surface though.

Not made from a pallet. Made from pallet rack.

 

[ugosplat]

Just saw this on slickdeals (and picked one up myself) but sears has the maple for $250 -> http://www.sears.com/gladiator-6'-a...p-00959091000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

 

[Cruzomatic]

Just saw this on slickdeals (and picked one up myself) but sears has the maple for $250 -> http://www.sears.com/gladiator-6'-a...p-00959091000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

I just went ahead and ordered one myself....maple won!

Thanks all.