Work bench table

[ct03911]

I live in CT and drove 75 miles, in a pickup, to the “Eco Building” outlet in Springfield, MA recently.
They have maybe 4 lengths of bowling alley hard rock maple flooring. Pretty wide. 48” or more. Nice looking thick bench material.
Probably 16’ long or more.
My plan was to go up with a circular saw, buy one for the $200 asking and cut a nice 9’ bench haul it home and size it to my liking.
They don’t allow saws on the property.
I wasn’t going to then rent a flat bed and then find an outlet so now I have an old island workbench that while wide is a tad short for me at 76” or so.
I would really like to score some of the billing alley stuff.
Anyone around CT/Ma that wants to gameplan some nice bench material and has a way to get it off site and cut it, let me know.

 

[Jon_E]

The only time I have ever dealt with bowling alley material, I found out that is was all nailed together. Not glued as you would expect, but old-fashioned, spiraled steel hard nails. Destroyed multiple saw blades getting through it. I don't know if it's all like that, but I would certainly be wary of the possibility.

I would think that if you can get it into the back of a pickup bed and literally get it off their property, even on the side of the street, and cut it in half with a cordless sawzall, you'd succeed in your plan. Good luck.

 

[gungatim]

LGR!

 

[ct03911]

Thanks for the comments. Still considering another go at it.

 

[Eslader]

I would think that if you can get it into the back of a pickup bed and literally get it off their property, even on the side of the street, and cut it in half with a cordless sawzall, you'd succeed in your plan. Good luck.

That's what I would do. Even if it's illegal, by the time the cops get there, you're done and gone.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

for really long loads, HF sells their haulmaster hitch extension for something like $50. I've hauled 12' lumber using it. I don't use it often, but this is the perfect use for one.
https://www.harborfreight.com/truck-bed-extender-69650.html

This is what I would use. I still have mine from when I had my truck, I used it for 12' and 16' boards in the pickup bed, a few long ladders, and if you have other stuff in the bed, you can flip the L-section around and it should match up with the roof height of a pickup.

 

[gungatim]

This is what I would use. I still have mine from when I had my truck, I used it for 12' and 16' boards in the pickup bed, a few long ladders, and if you have other stuff in the bed, you can flip the L-section around and it should match up with the roof height of a pickup.

yep. I used mine originally to haul a canoe when towing the camper. I even contemplated turning it into a deer hanger for the hitch but haven't gotten around to it yet...it's a useful tool for the money.

 

[mechanic217]

That's a good price, I would rent a car trailer and go for it, cut it when I got home.

 

[Lelandwelds]

I live in CT and drove 75 miles, in a pickup, to the “Eco Building” outlet in Springfield, MA recently.
They have maybe 4 lengths of bowling alley hard rock maple flooring. Pretty wide. 48” or more. Nice looking thick bench material.
Probably 16’ long or more.
My plan was to go up with a circular saw, buy one for the $200 asking and cut a nice 9’ bench haul it home and size it to my liking.
They don’t allow saws on the property.
I wasn’t going to then rent a flat bed and then find an outlet so now I have an old island workbench that while wide is a tad short for me at 76” or so.
I would really like to score some of the billing alley stuff.
Anyone around CT/Ma that wants to gameplan some nice bench material and has a way to get it off site and cut it, let me know.

Shipping containers have decent floor for benches. I made a temp bench out of 1.125 osb sub floor. That table deserves to be repeated with a nicer base. I still will probably just double up plywood.

I like 2 x4 three legged benches.

 

[Garagetime]

That's a good price, I would rent a car trailer and go for it, cut it when I got home.

I too would go with renting car trailer.

 

[matt_i]

My Dad said he was involved with a friend making a bowling alley bench and echoed the same comments about the ridiculous amount of nails in it. I think Freud makes a demo blade these days which is designed to take on a certain amount of nails without totally shredding.

I would do this. Assuming you can get loading help, a 16' length will ride very nicely for short distances in an 8' box pickup truck with the tailgate down. Would be a good idea to have some ratchet straps to keep it engaged for the ride. I'd take a set of sawhorses and find a place you could plug in and cut it off. If you had a generator capable of 20A you could slice it with a circular saw in a large parking lot.

 

[Scott H in Wheaton]

I would get a store markdown on a damaged 8' slab of butcher block at Menards.
When shopping for my workbench top they had 3 slabs in stock, two of them were roached on the edges from forklift damage. Got those two marked down, then plan on cutting to size anyway.