Advice need on 30" wide workbench top

[Johnny Kleso]

Let me add 30" IMHO is to wide for a work bench top but might be good for an assembly bench..

My bench is 32" wide but has a 18" work surface 6" tool tray and then another 6" wide work surface after that..

I use it for working wide and narrow parts and know that anything wider than 24" is a long reach across the bench..

Gluing up boards is much more easy than you can think of of especially if the top is thick..

[Chris Fournier]

Thanks for all the responses.

A clarification: it is soft maple that is available to me.

I like the idea of using the quartersawn pieces from the slab and gluing them together. I'll let the sawyer know that. I wasn't really interested in having a 30" wide top, but that's what the Colonial Williamsburg benches have, according to their post on the Anthony Hay blog.

I wasn't interested in the looks of the top; I just wanted the easiest way to get a wide top.

Don't look for the easiest way to get a wide top, look for the best way to get a stable top.

I have built three full on cabinetmakers benches for myself and four with other woodworkers that asked for help with their first benches. I can tell you that a top built up of "edge up" laminations has proven to be the most stable out of the gates and over time. My go to bench has "slab" laminations and it still moves a wee bit over the seasons after being re-flattened for many years.

Easy is not a useful or important criteria when you're talking about a workbench; everything that you build on that bench will only be as good as your bench!

[Rick Cicciarelli]

If I had access to a 30" piece of Maple I would save it for a really nice chest of drawers. I always admire extra wide boards in the antique furniture that you really just don't see any more. Seems a shame to use it on a bench, especially when I think a glued up bench would be more stable/functional. But that is just me.

[John-Paul Volkenant]

Don't look for the easiest way to get a wide top, look for the best way to get a stable top.

I have built three full on cabinetmakers benches for myself and four with other woodworkers that asked for help with their first benches. I can tell you that a top built up of "edge up" laminations has proven to be the most stable out of the gates and over time. My go to bench has "slab" laminations and it still moves a wee bit over the seasons after being re-flattened for many years.

Easy is not a useful or important criteria when you're talking about a workbench; everything that you build on that bench will only be as good as your bench!

Chris, you make good points. My current bench is made of laminated 2x yellow pine; its 4 inches thick. It has been very stable. The problem is I want a English/Nicholson bench, and my current bench top won't work for it. Its too short for one.

Do you see any problems with the Chris Schwarz cherry top Roubo? What would be the problem with using the quartersawn pieces from the 30" wide slab?

I appreciate your input. Thanks.

[Michael Titus]

Soft maple is renowned (infamous?) for movement. Laminating quartersawn boards would be much more stable.

[John-Paul Volkenant]

So that the edge of the quartersawn board is facing up?

[Frank Drew]

Good points from Chris and Rick.