Work Bench Top Question

[TMcCay]

I have been putting off building the cabinets/workbench corner in my shop because of being undecided on the material for the top. I have an opportunity to get a room full of oak flooring and have been thinking it would make a suitable top for these cabinets/benches.

Has anyone used this for a bench top. The bench will be for woodworking and leathercraft. I thought the oak should be tough enough to stand up to the abuse that it will be facing. I am wanting a minimum of 1 1/2" for a bench top. This leaves me with either machining the bottom of the flooring flat and using 2 layers or more which there should be enough for this. Or cutting the tongue and grooves off, machining both sides for a flat surface and laminating the wood together to make the top.

I have plenty of experience with wood in general. I will need at least 36 feet of surface for the bench top. So has anyone done this? Any advice on proceeding? Suggestions are appreciated.

 

[racinfarmer]

36 square feet, or 36 feet in length?

 

[Jeff Ivers]

If it were me, I would put on a piece of 3/4 inch plywood and then lay one layer of the flooring on top, gluing it in place and using the tongue/groove to lock the pieces together. Save the extra for future expansion.

 

[ynned]

Many wood flooring boards have beveled edges. Quite attractive as a floor, but maybe detrimental to a work surface.

 

[Nowater]

If it were me, I would put on a piece of 3/4 inch plywood and then lay one layer of the flooring on top, gluing it in place and using the tongue/groove to lock the pieces together. Save the extra for future expansion.

What he says IMHO.

 

[jimreed2160]

I just reworked a cabinetmakers bench that someone's dad made. I think the top was a double thickness of 3/4 plywood with solid oak banding. Into the banding was inlaid a 1/4 piece of Masonite. It was pretty ugly so I pulled the Masonite and replaced it with snap flooring from HD. True that the edges are chamfered a bit. The flooring is slick to the touch but looks many times better than the Masonite. Total cost was $19 and the best part is that I can change it out quickly if I don't like it. You can see the project over on the Woodworking 101 thread.

I am happy with it but this is not my primary bench. If it were my primary, I would clad it with 4/4 soft maple or some other light wood. Good luck with your bench.

 

[Kaizen]

You didn't say if the flooring was used. I took up a room of maple and took it to the shop to use it. Never again. It was dirty and a pain. Ended up making a few cutting boards by cutting off the tongue and groove, taking out the nails, sanding the finish side and the surface planing the bottom so when glued together it was like end grain.... more like side grain. Not worth the work


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[matt_i]

Personally I like hard maple flooring, the old school unfinished kind. They used to carry it at the lumberyard in town but no longer. However it looks like Lumber Liquidators carries it for $2/sf. Then you can get the gaps tight, no bevels, sand it in place, etc. The only downside would then be it doesn't have an aluminum oxide finish for excellent durability. You would have to finish your own. I always used gloss polyurethane, couple of base-coats then scuff and apply semi gloss to cut the shine. My Dad always told me the gloss is much tougher.

 

[TMcCay]

36 square feet, or 36 feet in length?

36 lineal feet. This is used flooring in an old house. I will have to take it out but the labor is free and I figure it will take a day at most to do. I have plenty of experience in this from my childhood and being raised by a carpenter. The surface will be ran through a plainer or a jointer . I will decide that at a later date.
The old oak flooring doesn't have beveled edges as they just sanded the flooring back when it was installed before finishing it. At least that is the way that I have done in the past.

The idea of the plywood has crossed my mind. I will still have to machine the bottom side so that the whole piece is in contact with the plywood without the center void that is common with this flooring. This is why I have been toying with the idea of ripping the edges and gluing the faces together to make whatever width of board that will be the most economical. Thinking 4" by 8' long. I could use MDF to make a pattern and it wouldn't take long to knock it out. I am uncertain about if there is enough there for this.

Keep the ideas coming guys. I really appreciate it and it is giving me some other things to think about.

 

[rburke65]

As you said your labor is free and so is the flooring. My opinion....oak is really hard. I don't see a drawback. What's the worse can happen? So 10 years from now ya rip it out and redo it.

 

[DC73]

I built 24' of workbench top using new oak flooring that I picked up at Home Depot. Unfortunately, HD around here no longer carries the unfinished oak flooring and I'd like to find some more to top a portable work bench.

Anyway, I put down 3/4" plywood first and then glued and nailed the oak flooring. I glued the backside as well as the tongues and grooves.

I cut the tongues and grooves off of some of the boards and used them as face trim to hide the edges so the plywood layer couldn't be seen.

I used bar clamps to force some of the wood into place before nailing down. Not sure you need to be concerned about the center void on the bottom of the boards. As long as you glue the back along with the tongues and grooves, you should be good to go.

Very happy with the results. I'd do it this way again.

DC

 

[Stuart in MN]

My old garage had a workbench with a top made of oak flooring. As far as I know it was installed in 1948, and was still in good shape (although oil stained) when I replaced the garage in the late 1990s.

 

[TMcCay]

DC73,
Have you looked at Lumber Liquidators for the flooring? The website show's they carry it, just no prices that I could find. I think I'm going to pull the trigger and call the owner and take it.

 

[Revtor]

It would make a hard-wearing unique top thats for sure. Glue it down over 3/4 ply, don't worry about the groove in the back -you're doubling the work at least by making yourself remove it. rent a floor sander, sand it, stain it, poly -a great bench top for sure!

Only you really know if the less than absolutely smooth top would be a detriment. I dont see why it would..

go for it. (And post pics!)

~Steve

 

[Jackfre]

I would do a mix given that you need 36' of it. Oak is an open grain wood and will "absorb" filings etc, so be careful. For a bench I don't think you want a hard slick finish. I use Daley's Sharkfin oil on my stuff including the kitchen cabinets, windows and all the fir trim in the house. I would clean up the flooring and laminate it vertically. Thick, level and stable is number one, imho. That will give you a more substantial oak top in that area. Adjoining that the doubled plywood, banded with oak would be really good. I keep a section of 1/4" tempered hard board next to the bench for covering when I need it to protect the top. It is good to have an assortment of surfaces for all the various types of work you get into.

 

[sst30399]

I utilized the oak flooring for the top of my bench in my race shop. I built 2 x 4 structure frame underneath on 2' centers then put down 3/4" OSB finishing with the oak. This top can take everything I can dish out including transmissions, cylinder heads and fabrication.

 

[kbs2244]

By the time you get it up, most used flooring is good only for firewood.
When they put in down they use glue and a lot of nails to prevent squeaks and that makes it a real PITA to remove.
If you like the look I would go with new.

For a workbench sized surface the money saved just is not worth it.

 

[Falcon67]

FWIW - I don't do much of any wood work but I do abuse my bench. The top is 3/4 ply with a layer of 7/16" OSB topped with 1/8 hardboard. The front has trim flush with the top. The hardboard is stuck down with daubs of silicone so it's replaceable. I've reworked cast iron cylinder heads on that top and it's still in decent shape. Very dense top and takes a pounding. I picked the layers to leave a slight lip on the back side of the bench from the 2x6 backer of the 2x4 framing.

 

[James-W]

By the time you get it up, most used flooring is good only for firewood.
When they put in down they use glue and a lot of nails to prevent squeaks and that makes it a real PITA to remove.
If you like the look I would go with new.

For a workbench sized surface the money saved just is not worth it.

I am in complete agreement. Many years ago I helped a buddy rip out some hardwood flooring in a house. We had a terrible time getting it up and when we did get the flooring up most of the pieces were broken and splintered. Not only that, we did quite a bit of damage to the sub-floor as well. In our case that did not matter, we were replacing the sub-floor and the hardwood floor anyway. But the few pieces we did manage to get up without breaking had pry marks on them so they weren't exactly a prime candidate for making a decent top on anything.

 

[Stuart in MN]

By the time you get it up, most used flooring is good only for firewood.
When they put in down they use glue and a lot of nails to prevent squeaks and that makes it a real PITA to remove.
If you like the look I would go with new.

For a workbench sized surface the money saved just is not worth it.

I've never come across it glued down, but then again my experience is with 100 year old houses. That may be a more recent building method.

Once you get the first row or two pried out (they get sacrificed) the rest will come up pretty easy with a flat pry bar. It is tedious to remove the old cut nails and then clean up all the gunk and dirt that collects in the tongues and grooves, but it can be done without damage to the wood.

I probably wouldn't go out and lift up a floor just to build a bench, but it's not all that hard to find some that's already been removed by someone else.

 

[DC73]

DC73,
Have you looked at Lumber Liquidators for the flooring? The website show's they carry it, just no prices that I could find. I think I'm going to pull the trigger and call the owner and take it.

Thanks for the heads up. We have a LL store here. I'll stop by sometime and see what they have available.

DC

 

[Sawdustmaker]

I was fortunate enough to have some wood flooring (Maple) left over from from my family room project. Used it to put a new top on my workbench over a base of 1.5" particle (3/4" glued together, yes it was free). Turned out great. With the thickness of the Maple I can probably get two, maybe 3, sandings and refinishings done before I need to replace. Banded the edge with 3/4" pine (will replace with Maple as soon as another project is done).

There are the tiny grooves where the T&G joins, but not a big deal. I read an article where Pergo was tauted as a good workbench top.

 

[GordoVB]

I struggled with this for a bit, but with the insight of this forum, I went with 3/4 inch plywood tops, and got some flooring (Pergo for workbench and Bamboo for others). I glued and pin nailed the front and rear rows-turned out pretty well. If I need to rip any out in a few years, its worth the effort. You'll see an L shaped work bench, and a top I made for the table saw (old Craftsman) as well as by the garage door I have an elevated dog crate placed near my compressor-my lab just hangs out in there with door open while I putt around the garage/watch baseball.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

36 lineal feet. This is used flooring in an old house. I will have to take it out but the labor is free and I figure it will take a day at most to do. I have plenty of experience in this from my childhood and being raised by a carpenter. The surface will be ran through a plainer or a jointer . I will decide that at a later date.
The old oak flooring doesn't have beveled edges as they just sanded the flooring back when it was installed before finishing it. At least that is the way that I have done in the past.

The idea of the plywood has crossed my mind. I will still have to machine the bottom side so that the whole piece is in contact with the plywood without the center void that is common with this flooring. This is why I have been toying with the idea of ripping the edges and gluing the faces together to make whatever width of board that will be the most economical. Thinking 4" by 8' long. I could use MDF to make a pattern and it wouldn't take long to knock it out. I am uncertain about if there is enough there for this.

Keep the ideas coming guys. I really appreciate it and it is giving me some other things to think about.

My workbench top for my basement hobby area is unfinished 3/4" hickory flooring from Lumber Liquidators. Because it was unfinished it wasn't grooved. Mine is installed over 3/4" BC plywood. I rented a pneumatic flooring nailer from HD to install the top on the bench. Laid out the pattern and pieces I wanted, nailed them in place then routed the ends flush. I'm just using Danish Oil to finish mine. Hickory grain is a little tighter than oak, but what I did was add the fine sawdust to some Danish Oil and used a drywall knife to float and push the slurry into the gaps. Let it dry and repeated it twice. Then kept oiling the top.

You can do the same sawdust slurry in a finishing epoxy if you wanted too, then add another coat of finishing epoxy. I went with Danish Oil because it's easier to touch up gouged or scratched areas.

You definitely want the plywood sub-top.

Pics are in my thread in my signature.

 

[Roses]

Fast and easy - a big formica covered particle board countertop from Home Depot or Lowes in the appropriate length. I first made bases out of 2X4s and 4X4s but later welded up bases from thin wall square tubing. It's damn near indestructible - the backsplash keeps stuff from getting behind the bench and the little raised front edge keeps stuff from rolling off. I built my first one in 1985 and it's still in decent shape. I do layout and calculations on the top with a sharpie and then it all cleans up easy with simple green and Comet.