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Thread: What size should a workbench top be

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Cockeysville, Md
    Posts
    1,805
    Allen, i keep telling myself to build it myself but i don't have a reliable way to flatten it (other then a router bridge) and i just don't have that much free time. Our daughter just got her first house and it's a fixer-upper so since i know how to cut a board to length, i also the "hired carpenter'

    It' looks like some of the custom kitchen counter top builders can make me one but i have to submit an RFQ

    Brian
    The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.

    The penalty for inaccuracy is more work

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Collin County Texas
    Posts
    2,417
    Brian, when I buy a pre-made top it will be from the Bally Block people. They make a variety of bench tops and the 30x96 is available in 2 1/8 thickness.
    Best Regards, Ken

  3. #18
    as big as you please.
    I have one that I can't reach all the way across without using tiip toes.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    15,332
    Brian,

    Building a flat workbench top isn't all that complicated...think in terms of a torsion box.

    With appropriate shimming and support, you can create a flat enough surface in your garage/shop to build a very, very flat torsion box.

    Now this torsion box could be the next benchtop or assembly top. Now everything you build upon the flat torsion box will be flat, too.

    Here are my plans for a laminated benchtop:

    Maple end-grain or butcher block top (I have several 12" wide, 2.5" thick maple planks 10'+ long just waiting...I mean drying! ) about 3/4" thick...maybe more, maybe less.

    3-4 sheets of 1/2" MDF

    1 sheet of 1/2" (maybe 3/4") maple plywood for the bottom

    I will skirt the whole thing in maple and maybe some walnut.

    I have a Veritas Twin Screw Vise whose jaws might be maple/walnut combo

    I plan to laminate the whole thing with Unibond 800 and I have those fancy adjustable base/legs.

    I plan to build the top upon my own MDF torsion box so it should be pretty flat.

    Fun, eh?

    Oh, the size? Tough call...very personal choice if you make your own of course. I plan to custom-size mine to a particular spot in my garage...should work well. Will be about 28-29" wide by about 74" long--including the vise sticking out on the end.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Trinity County California
    Posts
    729

    what size

    30x98. I'm just putting it together. Beech top is 2". Base is Western Maple.

    More depth would get in the way. The length would be fine at a minimum of 78". My shop in a new home is only 3 weeks old and already I am seeing the truth in the statement from Tage Frid about Americans not liking tool trays.Without a tool tray on the bench, I am dropping a lot of tools.

    gary curtis

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Barberton,OH
    Posts
    100

    workbench size

    Brian,

    My workbench is 64" x 108", 3" thick soft maple. I glued the top up in 16" wide pieces so I could take it apart and run it thru my planer when it gets all banged up. The legs are 6" x 8" doug fir I had left over when I built my timberframe addition. Makes for one soild workbench. Plenty of room for a lot of case goods, beds, tables, and also great for patternmaking. It also has two Emmerts hanging off it.

    Jeff Singleton

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