Work bench thickness

[phil harold]

How thick should I make my work bench top?
I have a good supply of 2" rough sawn ash

[Keith Young]

Mine is 4". Is your ash 8/4 (2" thick)?

[glenn bradley]

Mine is 3" but some vise options are easier on a thinner top.

[Jim Koepke]

Is it 1X2 or is it some other dimension?

I am thinking that I would not want a top much less than 2". Thicker if the wood allows. This is for use with hold fasts.

Depending on what you plan to do and use, the options are endless.

jim

[Richard Gonzalez]

I know that most advise that thicker is better, and perhaps it is for weight purposes. I used the sagulator (http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm) and found that even with a 300 pound concentrated load that the deflection of my 1 3/4 thick bench would be less than .010 inch. This is also thick enough for bench dogs to grab. I think your 8/4 ash will be plenty thick. Using fewer, wider boards will probably get you to a usable bench with less work.

Richard

[Andy Hsieh]

my bench top is 2 1/4 and works fine for hold fasts and bench dogs/pups whatever. I do however wish it was just a bit heavier - 2 3/4 to 3 would be my next top thickness - not sure how much more value other than weight or if you are doing a longer span between legs that anything thicker would get you.

if it is 2" rough sawn, after flattening etc... will you wind up about 1 3/4?

[phil harold]

Is it 1X2 or is it some other dimension?

I am thinking that I would not want a top much less than 2". Thicker if the wood allows. This is for use with hold fasts.

Depending on what you plan to do and use, the options are endless.

jim

2x16 wide

plans?
there are plans for benches?
where do I get some free bench plans?
I was just going to wing it after I build the top

[Frank Drew]

Thicker is better if you think you'll be doing any chopping on your bench, because a thick top absorbs and dampens vibration better than a thinner one. 3.5-4" is nice.

[Jon Toebbe]

2x16 wide

Wow, those would make one helluva nice Nicholson-style, English workbench! Leave a gap between two boards for more clamping options or for a tool/shaving/dust tray if that's your bag.

[David Gendron]

Just rip the 2x16 in just over 3" and laminat, then flaten the top, you should be ablle to get close to a 3" finished top and that would be plenty. as for bench plans, if you go to popular woodworking, and go to there squetch up link you should find a lot to feed your need!

[David Keller NC]

2x16 wide

plans?
there are plans for benches?
where do I get some free bench plans?
I was just going to wing it after I build the top

My Lord, yes, there are loads of bench plans. But before you put blade to wood, do yourself a huge favor and buy Chris Schwarz' "Workbenches: From Theory and Design to Construction and Use". Not only do you get plans for 3 different "old-school" benches, but there's loads and loads of analysis on which vises to buy, how wide to make the top, how thick, where to put the holdfast holes, and a whole bunch of other stuff. And if you buy if from www.lostartpress.com, you get a CD with it that has the plans for the 3 benches in the book, plus another one.

[Rob Fisher]

...do yourself a huge favor and buy Chris Schwarz' "Workbenches: From Theory and Design to Construction and Use"...

I'll second this recommendation. I have recently purchased and read the book and it has definitely affected my thinking on building a bench. You don't have to follow Chris's benches at all, he just gives lots of good advice on the details.

Rob

[phil harold]

Wow
lots of options for benches

I think I will aim for around 2.75"
I thought I would just build the slab and mount it on some cabinets I have

But it looks like I want a wagon vise

any one got detailed plans for this I can modify?

thanks for all the info

[Bob Easton]

Yet another vote for David Keller's recommendation. The Schwarz book will answer not only the bench top question you have now, but a lot of the other questions that will follow.

While everyone is saying thicker is better, I am extremely satisfied with my bench which has a to only 1 1/2 inch thick. It gets it's strength and rigidity from being a Nicholson design which is actually a torsion box. Pounding, chopping, jumping up and down. No matter, it takes it all. It is also heavy enough for rough milling and planing work. That's due to it being 12 feet long (built for boat building work). As an aside to rigidity, I added a third set of legs in the middle of this very long bench. I made them 1/16 of an inch shorter than the others to prevent a teeter-totter effect. I can't put enough weight on the bench to get those legs to touch the floor.

To Jim Koepke's point about holdfasts, I added a doubler strip along the row where I drilled dog holes and holdfast holes. That boosted thickness enough.

More about my bench here: http://www.bob-easton.com/blog/?p=223

[Al Navas]

Since you are starting from scratch, make sure to visit BenchCrafted.com - Jameel has plans for a split-top Roubo workbench. And he also sells plans for the benches. Of course, his leg vise and wagon vise are terrific options, too.

As others have suggested, you need the Workbench book, and the BenchCrafted plans. By the way, BenchCrafted won the Popular Woodworking magazine's 2009 Best Tools award, along with 11 others!

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