# making a deadflat workbench top



## ernieb (Aug 28, 2007)

re-doing my shop and was wondering if anyone could recommend a specific material and/ or technique for a FLAT benchtop. my plywood supplier suggested 1 1/2'' mdf or if the $$ doesn't matter 3 layers of 3/4'' baltic birch. the top i want to make will be 4' x 8' .

thanks


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## affyx (Jan 1, 2008)

The dead-flat top table that I want to build soon is the one from Wood Whisperer video episodes 18 & 19… http://thewoodwhisperer.com/

Whatever you choose, please post it as a project!


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

A dead flat bench is only as good as the floor it's sitting on.
If your floor is uneven then everytime you move it you will have to re-shim it to keep it flat.

I would think that a table that size would flex unless you have a great base for it. I would worry
more about that the what you actually end up using for the top.


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## Betsy (Sep 25, 2007)

Ernie - I have seen "workbenches" that large, but they have all had massive legs and generally had shelving/cabinetry underneath. I would view a table this large as more of a work assembly station and not so much a "workbench" in the traditional woodworking sense.

Do you plan to put on any face and/or tail vises?

Also, how do you plan to put these three pieces of ply or mdf together. Screws or glue?

I also agree with Gary's thought on the flooring. My garage floor is very uneven and I generally have to shim everything to come up with something close to level.


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## RyanShervill (Dec 18, 2007)

A double layer of MDF makes a fantastic bench top! The only suggestion I have is to glue the layers together, then edge the sheets with 1 5/8" hardwood, keeping the hardwood flush wih the bottom edge. This will leave a 1/8" "lip" around the top. Can you guess what that lip is for?

Put a sheet of 1/8" hardboard as the "top layer", and the lip holds it in place, giving you a perfectly flat top. When the hardboard gets all messed up, just give it a scrape and flip it over…voila: New bench top! When you've done in both sides (you will….) Just replace it with a fresh sheet. At 6 dollars a sheet, it is a good investment 

Hope this helps!

Ryan


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

Torsion box!


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## shaun (Sep 16, 2007)

I second JC's comment - Marc Spagnuolo's assembly table is on my "to do" list if I ever get around to finishing the shop re-hab. Check out thewoodwhisperer.com I'm pretty sure the plans were also published in FWW. Marc's also an LJ member. Check out the podcasts on his site, they're pretty entertaining.


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## Tangle (Jul 21, 2007)

See my bench in my projects. It is 42×70 and has a a top that is 2 thicknesses of particle board and one of 3/4 Poplar ply. Works great.


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## jcash3 (Dec 15, 2007)

Mine is not as large as the ones above, 3×5, I got this design from a local furniture maker. I built a cabinet under this and put heavy duty casters under it. The top starts with a sheet of MDF cut to 3×5, the second layer is scrap mdf around the edges and spaced evenly to allow some spaces, to cut down on weight. these pieces get glued and screwed. when the glue dries remove the screws and add another sheet of MDF. Glue and screw this. remove the screws when dried. flip it over and add oak or poplar or maple along the edges and chamfer. cover the whole thing with several coats of poly and voila. new table top. mine is over 5 years old and probably has another 5 years of life. It's a little wide, but it does give enough room to work and assemble. The poly protects it very well. The torsion box design is on an episode of woodworks. I believe Marc apprenticed with David Marks, This looks like a great design for an assemble table.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

I agree …mdf, torsion box design, and Mark did it well, check him out and follow his lead


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## tworst (Aug 18, 2010)

I am trying to get a flat bench. Didn't even try getting the top flat via construction. I opted to put in adjusters. I drilled through my top into my bench risers. Then put connector bolts under the top so I can move top upwards using an allen wrench. There are also screws coming up from the bottom to pull down. I now have push/pull adjustments at multiple points to acheive both flatness and level and take out any warp. This is a new build and I will have to see how it all works in the end, but looking good so far. See links above, not sure I did it right, first time adding pictures.


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## ChrisMc45 (Jul 28, 2010)

Hi Ernie, all;

FWIW, I have had some mixed success with solid core doors. They are 1.75" thick, perfectly flat, very rigid, glossy smooth (smooth good for assembly, sometimes bad for clamping). The edges are ~1.5" of thin-ply LVL or sometimes real wood, while the cores I have seen are coarse particle board. I scored three doors for free (ungodly heavy, >100# each) by contacting distributor of "Graham Warnock Hersey doors". These were the type of doors in our office; found the nameplate, made some calls/emails, they were thrilled to give them away since they have to pay to take mess-ups to the dump.

Dead flat, the price was right, another option to consider. Cheers!


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## HamS (Nov 10, 2011)

I think that the base is much more important than the top surface in keeping a surface dead flat. My assembly table/outfeed was built with three layers of 3/4 board, 1×3/4 cdx, 1×3/4 MDF, 1×3/4 chipboard with fused melamin"surface. The top is wrapped with 2×3 beech. The top has 4" overhang on all sides to provide an easy clamp surface. Over ten years of use, this top has sagged almost 3/32" from the high spot where the table carcase supports it to the edge of the table. However, I have learned how to work with the surface. I have just not gotten around to making a new table and learning from my mistake. The next one will be a torsion box with a thinner skin and more ribs to try to make things more ridgid. I really like the fused melamin top, glue drips pop right off the surface and I don't have to wax or resurface it.


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## StanDouglas (Dec 16, 2011)

I am currently building my shop work bench. It's going to have a top 160" x 28" plus the edging. I was planning on using interior 28×80 inch doors as the "torsion box" and covering that with MDF and posible a 3/4" layer of formica or melamin board. If the doors are satisfactory as the base box, they would seem to be the way to go versus the labor and truing tools involved in making a torsion box. I have used these doors in the past as a top over some old kitchen cabinet bases. Where I was doing assembly I just used a sheet of Formica or melaimin 3/4" board over the door.

I have looked for solid doors, but that seems to be not possible and/or very costly.

Any comments welcome. In the mean time I'll work on the base. which will be along the order of the woodwhisperer base in episode 19, but half the width and longer.

Cheers

PS: I primarily build RC model airplanes and some basic furniture.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

10,000 lbs. of cold rolled steel, surfaced ground, placed on inserts in a slab, leveled with a laser…...............On and on and on.
Ain't no such thing in a wood shop as far as I know. After all, the world IS round. Is anything flat?
(My humor for the day.)
Bill


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

OK, someone needs to say it… Hardwood. Since you are "re-doing" your shop, IMO, then it is probably time to consider a REAL workbench, and not just another "... what can I get by with…" workbench. THIS ONE IS ABOUT YOU.

You may really owe it to yourself to build your dream of a workbench. After all, this is NOT your first workshop or workbench… Hmm…

P.S. The Devil made me do it… *;-)*

My workbench project.


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## StanDouglas (Dec 16, 2011)

Hum, are any of the last two posts supposed to be help full or just large egos showing superiority to us with less experience and skills? Does anybody actually answer the questions with out being a smart ass?


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## bernierunns (Jan 24, 2012)

I agree with HorizontalMike. Hardwood and heavy.


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## devann (Jan 11, 2011)

ernieb,

I have a 48"x96" workbench. It's got a plywood 1 1/2" thick top. As others have stated, the floor has a lot to do with a surface that size. Shooting the laser across the top I had to shim the corners and add 3 legs down the center. Yep it has seven legs. The thing anit pretty but now it's flat and level. For what I do, level to me is as important as flat. Mass does help to keep it from moving around.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

*Stan SAID: "...Does anybody actually answer the questions with out being a smart ass?"*

Stan maybe you did NOT read for content, or perhaps you missed checking out the link to my workbench project. Try again… once you have completed your profile on LJs that is. I think it will answer your concerns about your own lack of skills/experience. ;-)

BTW, my workbench project WAS MY VERY FIRST BUILD PROJECT! I had ZERO experience prior to this. I had never built anything from the bottom up before, much less anything of the size of my workbench. As I said on my Projects page, "...it exposed me to constructing with tongue and groove, dovetails, and through mortise/tenon joints all in one project, not to mention all the milling of 8/4 Ash and thick laminate glue-ups for the top working surface…." It took me about a total of 8 months to complete because of a little fall off the ladder that broke/fractured 23 of my ribs and backbone vertebrae that slowed/stopped me for a period of time.

Call it a large ego or call it dedication, I could care less, but I DID manage to come back from a debilitating accident and complete my workbench with NO MORE skills or experience than you claim to have. So Stan, you can live vicariously on LJs, OR you can actually DO some woodworking. So which will it be Stan?

And to tell the truth, I will always prefer to be a smart ass as you call it over being a dumb ass if given the choice, every time. And THIS last sentence IS a smart ass comment. *;-)*


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## StanDouglas (Dec 16, 2011)

I was planning on using interior 28×80 inch doors as the "torsion box" and covering that with MDF and a 3/4" layer of formica or melamin board, over that. These doors are constructed with card board honey comb. Has anyone tried this? The doors seem to be fairly true.
Horizontalmike: very nice work bench. Not practical for me however. Glad you have recovered from your fall and happy that you have all this wonderful experience and skill learned from your project. Ever tried a interior door?


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

I think lots of people get by with an interior door. I've seen lots of references to them being used.

Quick. Easy. Readily available. Cheap.

But the hollow-core part means they won't be very strong, so … if you're going to pound on it much … you could have a bit of a breakthrough ;-)

Solid-core door would probably offer all the upside with none of the downside.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Stan, was not tryin' to be a smart ass be any means. Just thought that a bit of levity might not hurt.
In my world, getting any flat with the materials available today is a pain in the caboose anywa.
Bill


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

BILL: Stan, was not tryin' to be a smart ass be any means.

Uh Bill, I agree. Stan was accusing ME of being the smart ass, though Stan did happen to succeed in showing all of LJs his own, minus the intelligence of course… And he did so on his very second post EVER, here on LJs. Not exactly the best way to win friends and influence people, IMO.

Welcome to LJs Stan. May you find LJs a learning experience. BTW, Beener has it right about the hollow core door(s). Very rigid, true, AND weak. I used one for years as a workbench, but that was a workbench for building RC sailplanes NOT furniture sized pieces.


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## StanDouglas (Dec 16, 2011)

Work bench project is proceeding. I finally located some solid core doors 80×36 and around 100 lbs each. They came from a motel remodel and are rated as fire doors. I got 5 of them for $20 each. In the process of trimming them down to 80×30 I manged to torque my right knee and pull something in my right upper arm. Bummer. The problem was
1) I was working too long and was tired but decided to do the 4th door.
2) I was cutting with a skill saw along a 8' cutting board to get a straight cut.
3) I was cutting from the left to the right and since I'm right handed I was reaching across my body with my right arm and controlling the trigger.
4) I was somewhat off balance.
5) The saw blade bound up pulling further off balance torquing my knee and wrenching my arm.
It's been 8 days and I can use my arm again, but my knee is still screwed up.
Other than that I have the bases for three work benches done. Still need to do the drawers and cabinet doors.

Be careful &
Cheers


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