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Worktop surface
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Hi, all.
I'm about to build a workbench along one wall of my double garage.
It will be around 4m long.
It will have a fairly large vice installed in it, directly above one of the
supports.
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You'd probably find it more useful to fit the vice slightly to the
_side_ of a support. This will give room for awkwardly-shaped pieces
you might want to hold in the vice.
Assuming it's an engineers vice, don't forget to have the rear jaw
_slightly_ proud (say 1/8") of the front of the bench, so that you can
hold a long vertical job without the bench being in the way.
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I plan to make up 5 wooden trusses to be placed at 1m intervals, with long
strips of wood front and rear as additional supports for the topping. (
This frame will all be made from reclaimed timber approx. 3" x 1.5"
recovered from some massive packing crates we regularly recieve shipments
from the US in. )
As for the top, I reckoned on using cheapish 600mm 40mm thick worktop.
That will work out at around £116 for 4.1m length.
I could also use 2 thicknesses of 18mm ply as a cheaper option. Slightly
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A much better idea. You should be able to find spruce shuttering ply
that's strong and cheap. Not _the_ cheapest, but the cheapest you'd
actually want to live with. Birch costs a fortune and even the
rainforest stuff is more than the spruce.
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Yeah, that's what I did - an 8x4 sheet cut in half and folded lengthways.
Glued under weight (sacks of sand), fixed to a simple 4x2 frame and then
sanded & varnished. It's really solid - you can mount a heavy vice and
pound away at it all day (fnarr fnarr), really good workshop solution imho.
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2 x 3/4" sheets is the usual recommendation. Anything else is too
bouncy. Laminate them together with permanent glue, then lightly stick
(double-sided tape is fine) a layer of 4mm MDF on the top, which you can
replace when it looks chewed. Finish the top of this with varnish, or at
least wax polish, so as to keep the moisture a little at bay.
Splash out on some hardwood edging strip and do a decent job of it.
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But don't expect it to stay flat !!
I've a had a lot of problems recently with 18 mm ply warping - sometimes
quite badly. And it isn't cheap stuff - it's the best available at my local yard.
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You don't really need 2 thickness's for most jobs if its well supported. I
have a 15' x 2' bench wall mounted with an 18mm MDF top.
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more utilitarian looking, but I suppose I could veneer it in some way. That
sounds a bit hassly.
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Isn't veneering is a bit OTT for a workbench? :-)
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Use 18mm ply & top it with 3mm hardboard/MDF. When the top gets scuzzy just
replace it.
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Any other suggestions?
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My local market sells offcuts and damaged kitchen worktops. My main
bench is 3m of damaged (the laminate delaminated) 40mm top with a
hardboard facing. Cost about fifteen quid all in.
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Or any cheaper suppliers of utility-grade worktop?
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I have surfaced my 2 workbenches in hardboard (over ply). Over time the
top takes a lot of rough treatment and gets cut-up/drilled/painted/written-on.
Hardboard is cheap and since it's only pinned down, I can easily rip out
the old stuff and cheaply replace it when the time comes - which it will.
(I first saw this method on "The New Yankee Workshop")
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I got a damaged/chipped 3m worktop for my garage from B&Q for £18.
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Go to a local sawmill and see it they have any off cuts of hard timber
(oak etc) so you can glue, screw them together. A bench collapsing half
way though a job an fun
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I used floorboards as a bench-top, over a Dexion frame. The
intention was to replace it when it got too badly marked, but
that was 30-odd years ago and a re-making due to a house move
so...
I wouldn't use a Formica/vinyl kitchen worktop or any form of
similar hard covering. The top needs to stop you recovering
safely from the _occasional_ slip with a chisel, etc. :-)
Likewise you would make it difficult to add fixings for those
"essential" tools...
You could put a piece of beech or similar along the front,
giving a tool-well at the rear.
I concur with other comments about vice placing but also
consider a woodworking vice if that's what turns you on.
They're much better then engineering vices from woodwork (I've
got both...)
Also make sure the height is suitable for you. I find most
ready-made alternatives too low.
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