Work Surface for Bigbox

[DavidtheDuke]

So every now and then I need to hammer something into oblivion, and my box is right there, but I don't want to dent the top of it; so I have to go to the work bench across the shop. SO's work surfaces are, even the wood ones, out of my price range ($300+). Has anyone fabricated a wood top themselves?

 

[PAToyota]

Yep. At the quick-n-dirty end of the spectrum, I've run 2x4s through the planer to get all four sides squared and then glued them up with all-thread run through them about every two feet and recessed fender washers and nuts to draw the whole thing together. Another option is to grab a stack of old pallets and cut them up to do similarly - just stagger the joints.

 

[davestlouis]

One of the guys in my shop made his own butcher block top with 2x4's, glued and screwed them together, sanded the hell out of the top surface, laid some kitty hair across the top to further smooth it off, then put multiple coats of gloss black on it, painted the Snappy logo on it in silver and cleared over that. The thing is too pretty to use, but when he wipes down his black box and top on Friday it's amazing. One lesson is this: black boxes get DUSTY in a body shop.

 

[fourfeathers]

An option for you could be truck flooring. 1-1/8 or 1-3/8 x 12" wide. It is not real cheap, but has the rabbet already, and is oak, so it's probably forever. I would even rout the edge to make a bullnose pfofile, and route the rabbet a bit cleaner. Factory leaves a nib on it to allow for expansion, but leaves a slight gap when placed. You could polyurethane it for a finish.

 

[dxdexter]

I've made a few butcher block counter tops from maple. Using hard wood gives you a hard, longer lasting surface than soft wood. If you don't have the proper wood working tools then you can buy the boards already "dressed", with the edges jointed and ready for glue up. Just get some water proof glue (Tite Bond II or III) and clamp the boards together and then trim to the final dimensions with a table saw.. A local wood working shop should be able to plane the entire top in a large planer for a small fee.

Many wood working shops will also make the top for you at probably half the price.

If you do the work yourself the total cost should be around 30% to 40% or less than the Snap-on price. You can finish the surface with mineral oil.

 

[DavidtheDuke]

Many wood working shops will also make the top for you at probably half the price.

If you do the work yourself the total cost should be around 30% to 40% or less than the Snap-on price. You can finish the surface with mineral oil.

Unless it gets around 80% as much as SO, I think I will try to do it myself as I rarely work with wood and a small project like this couldn't hurt.

 

[NSXSOON]

You might want to consider one of these pre made solid maple tops that Grizzly Tools sells:

http://grizzlyindustrial.com/products/Solid-Maple-Cabinet-Top-72-Wide-x-25-Deep-x-1-1-2-High/H9690

They make them in several sizes (widths, depths, thickness) and the price and shipping charges are not too bad. I priced the raw wood alone and more than these finished pieces.

 

[NSXSOON]

You might want to consider one of these pre made solid maple tops that Grizzly Tools sells:

http://grizzlyindustrial.com/products/Solid-Maple-Cabinet-Top-72-Wide-x-25-Deep-x-1-1-2-High/H9690

They make them in several sizes (widths, depths, thickness) and the price and shipping charges are not too bad. I priced the raw wood alone and it was more than these finished pieces.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I made mine out of a solid core 36" oak door. It was just enough to where I could rip the keyhole side off. I routered some pieces to trim out the sides. I ran a rounding bit on the top and bottom of them, the side pieces actually stick up about 1/8" above the rest of the surface, it keeps things from rolling off. I routered out part of it and glued some luan in, then cut a piece of plexiglass in there. It holds pictures, cartoons (dilbert fan), etc.

 

[Chris Adams]

I made my work bench out of one of those solid core doors. A very cheap way to get something 72x36x3 that holds up well. That bench has seen numerous engines, transmissions, small block heads, and every kind of abuse. 20 years out and it still gets daily beatings.
And it doesn't have the support a tool box would give it, just 8 legs.

Last year I cut it down to 60x28, with no problems.
A cheap solution.


You could also cut a pickup truck bed mat down. For about 60 bucks and some cutting you could get a non-slip very thick rubber mat that could take any abuse, look pretty good and last a long time.

 

[russlaferrera]

Strip oak flooring, Comes ready to assemble, put it on top of MSB, or plywood. Screw it from the bottom. Buy the unfinished stuff, quick sanding, finish with tung oil

 

[nissan_crawler]

I remembered another thing I've seen that works GREAT. It's not a hard surface like wood, but a few guys at work have horse stall mats cut to fit the top of their box. They look new 5 years later.

 

[PoorOwner]

Some day I would like to order a commercial cutting board to overlay the top of my workbench. It won't mar the parts i am working on, no porous. It is HPDE and I don't think brake cleaner attacks it.. similar plastic that holds all fuel and all kinds of chemicals. It will withstand some heat also (compared to maple anyway), when it gets too much damage flip it over. I guess you can do that with maple also.

I read some review on the grizzly maple tops on Amazon they say it's not truely flat and shipping damages occurs.