196 Re: Workbench material
Description
This article is from the Woodworking FAQ Collection 5, by multiple authors.
196 Re: Workbench material
From: Heartbreak Kid <hbk@shivasys.com> 27 Dec 1995
I'm guessing that the general consensus of workbench here is the
Neander type with 3"+ thick type top made butcher block style and
super heavy duty legs to hold it all. That being the case, I've
got no business being in this thread as I'm not much on Neander
tools since the invention of electricity. However, since I'm here,
I thought I might pass on a few "tips" that I've stolen from other
guy's shops over the years as far as materials used.
Tops: Every city of 50,000 or more has, someplace in it, a place
that repairs the floors of semi-trailers. To find one, look
in the Yellow Pages or call 2-3 trucking terminals and ask who
they use. Semi-Trailer floors are made of mixed red oak and hard
rock maple butcher block that is produced in 40' lengths x widths
up to 24" wide. It is available in thicknesses of 1" to 3" in 1/2"
graduations. They'll chainsaw off any length you want and it's sold
by the square foot. If you're lucky enough to live close to a place
that repairs railroad box cars, you can usually find large chunks of
it in their scrap heaps....free for the hauling off. I've never made
a workbench out of it but I have made several dining room tables and
two bar tops for use in Country Clubs from it so I reckon it's pretty
enough for even the most discerning Neanderthal's tools to lay on.
Once in a while, guys I know come across a bowling alley that's being
refurbished. Bowling alley lanes are solid hard rock maple butcher
block, usually something between 2" & 3" thick. Time was, when
the price of it was the labor to haul it off (it's been 7-8 years
since I saw the inside of an alley so this may no longer apply).
For stretchers and legs, it's hard to beat the strength of glued
up 3/4" veneer core plywood. My miter saw table is 4' x 8' and has
drawers and drawers under it all the way around as it's on casters.
The frame is 21 ply (3 runs) of 3/4" thick 7 ply ripped 2 1/2" wide
Birch plywood used in place of 2" thick solid wood. Lotsa gluing
and clamping required but no planing required and (help me out here
on the numbers, Doug Dawson) at least 50 times as strong as solid
hardwood and 100% warp and expansion free. Mine is white enameled
(to match the Formica'd doors) but, sanded smooth and natural
finished, the various plies are real purty and have been considered
a "fashion statement" in some of the finest European furniture
produced since the end of WW II. Based on a market price of $38.00
per sheet, that works out to $1.18 per BF for 100% usuable stock
as opposed to $1.50 per BF or more for Poplar or Maple 4/4 stock
that's going to yield only 70% usuable stock....and not be as strong.
Pound for pound, veneer core plywood stood on edge is stronger than
steel (so sayeth the National Plywood Association) and it's been
around since the Pyramids were built so it's not real "newfangled".
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