# How thick should a laminated woodworking bench top be



## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

Hello all. Looking for advice on this and haven't really found an answer yet. I've been reading a few books and looking at a few things online and decided to use Yellow Pine for my first bench top. I'll be getting it from the local Lowes/Home Depot spots since it's plentiful and it's my first bench so I really want to do it right, but cheaper than building it with Oak, Maple, Mahogany, or one of the other more expensive hardwoods.

I'm planning on building the bench to about 5ft long and between 28-32in wide. I know 2×4 would probably be too thin and I'm thinking that 2×8 would be too wide and create too thick of a bench and would require longer clamps to hold things on the edge. Problem is, I don't see any 2×6 SYP lumber in either one of my stores. They sell 2×4,8,10,12. I thought about using 2×12 and ripping in half and using the cut ends for the top.

My thinking about the larger size lumber is that using a 2×8 would be too large and not let me use hold fasts and such. Am I wrong on this? Would using 2×8 be better? Would it make a difference?

Thanks
JTMcD.


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## TheWoodenOyster (Feb 6, 2013)

My bench is 2 3/4" or 3" thick and I have never needed or wanted it to be any thicker. On thing though, I don't use benchdogs, and I do know that the thickness of the bench will affect the performance of those - hopefully a hand tool user will chime in on that. But, other than that, I see no reason to go any thicker than the width of a 2×4, unless you are just trying to add weight.


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## DonBroussard (Mar 27, 2012)

I built my bench of 2×4s turned on edge after slicing off the rounded ends. The finished top is just under 3" and it works well with dogs and holdfasts. The bench is stable when hand planing. Good luck with the design and construction of your bench.


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## ClintSearl (Dec 8, 2011)

A workbench is for working on. I have two benches, both of which are topped with 2×4's on the flat with 3/4 ply screwed on top of that. The ply has been replaced once on the twenty year old bench. They work just fine.


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## RichardHillius (Oct 19, 2013)

I used some 4X6's for my bench. You can get the clearer select ones from some lumber yards if you ask for not much more than the big box store prices and it really cuts down on the glue lines. 3" or so is plenty thick enough for a bench and will last you a lifetime. The most important thing is the bench top is stiff so it doesn't sag or flex when your pounding on it and that your choice of holding fixtures works in the top. Bench dogs won't have a issue at 3" neither will hold fasts. In fact much thicker and some of the holdfasts won't hold as well and you will have to drill a oversized hold on the underside of the bench to allow the hold fast to sit at enough of a angle to grip.

The biggest problem's I have had with big box lumber is it tends to be wet and warps like no tomorrow and has a lot more knots than some of the clearer grade stuff you can get from lumber yards. There is nothing wrong with sticking with yellow pine for a bench top just do yourself a favor and get it from a lumber yard.


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## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. My problem is that there really isn't any other lumbar yard places around my area that I know of. The best I could get is the main stores and other than 1x and 2x, the only 4x's they sell are 4×4's and they've all got rounded edges so, by the time I cut them off flat, it'd be more like a 3×3. I guess I should start googling and driving around the area and checking our places.


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## Bogeyguy (Sep 26, 2012)

No matter what you use you only have to trim the round edges from the top side. Stick stack the lumber in your shop to let it dry evenly before glue up. 2X4 will be plenty strong enough.


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## TheWoodenOyster (Feb 6, 2013)

I think it is pretty unanimous from everyone that 3 inches thick is a great thickness for a benchtop, so 2×4's will work for you just fine. I really don't think it is worth the trouble to make it any thicker than that. 3" thick will do everything you want.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

Yup-3" is very usable-I made mine from 2×4" ripped from 2×12" SYP. After planing, down to about 3" thick.


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

If you want to get the full 3 1/2" from a 2×4 you can rip or plane the faces off giving you a board roughly 1 1/4" thick, but you'll have 20% more glue lines across the top.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

Even though my current bench top is just a hair under three inches and has worked just fine for what it has been. On my Roubo bench build, the top is going to be roughly 4-5 inches thick (haven't decided which yet) red oak. Overkill? Probably, but it's also something that I want to excede my lifetime to become an antique.


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## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

thanks for all the input. I guess I'll take another look at the basic 2×4 instead of the larger boards. I kinda like the idea of shaving the boards from the wide side instead of the narrow. It would give a larger glue up surface while leaving the total size of depth of the table at 3 1/2 inches. And, the narrower boards would give me a couple of additional boards in the same width of table top. It's after midnight and I'm not up to figuring the totals right now but roughly 2-3 more 2×4's added into a 30ish inch table.

This will be my first real "heavy duty" table so I'm sure, somewhere down the road, I'll use that table to help build a different one.

Thanks


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I would humbly suggest you reconsider the 30" wide idea.

I read the workbench books by Chris Schwarz and followed his recommendation to make the bench ~24" wide;
never regretted this decision. My bench is actually 25 1/2" wide by 84" long.

My top is 3 1/2" thick and I do have trouble getting holdfasts to grip sometimes. Wish I had made it 3" thick.


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

I, too, followed the Chris Schwarz specs and found them very helpful. A couple of more comments about thickness.

I know some folks on LJ have built workbenches like works of art-they are stunning. I am jealous. On the other hand, I am not the type that could do justice to that type of workbench. I will spill finish, bang it with a mallet, drop something on it, etc. I don't want a bubinga/zebrawood table that I'm scared of using. I used Ash to sandwich my SYP on the vices-that's as exotic as it gets.

Second, I also found Schwarz's suggestion that workbench tops were something one reengineered every few years according to your needs. I built mine a couple of years ago and already want to go to a split top. I don't have that much invested in my top and I could make a new one pretty quickly.

Further, since I made my 3" top I can't ever remember thinking to myself-this thing isn't substantial/stiff enough for my needs-it is rock solid. I don't know what I would gain with a thicker top-and mine works with hold fasts.


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## mramseyISU (Mar 3, 2014)

I really respect what Chris Schwarz has to say about benches but I did deviate from his advice a bit with my benchtop. Mine is a sheet of 3/4" MDF glued down to a piece of 3/4" plywood I have a twin screw veritas vise on the front with a set of 3" x 6" white oak jaws. I have an apron around the rest of the bench that is a 4×4 post with a 1/2" white oak face covering up the layers. The 4×4 apron was added about a year after I finished the bench to stiffen things up.


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## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

I've not really decided yet on the actual depth yet. I know I want it larger than 24" but not something hugely out past 36". I know how high I'll build it but I'm constantly looking at and measuring different tops. This past weekend, I was checking out the length/width of bedside tables at the hospital. They're about 32" and I can reach from end to end very easily when about waist high. I'm 6'3" with long arms. I'm probably leaning toward about 28ish inches.

On the idea of wood.

As CharlesA mentioned he split down 2×12's into 2×4's. Would doing that be better than using precut 2×4's? I read a lot and see the comment many times that getting the widest and longest boards are usually the better way to go as they are typically better quality.

Would doing something like this increase, decrease, or make no difference on how the wood settles and seasons over times after it's been cut and made into a bench? Just asking for my own knowledge.

Thanks


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## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

John,

The 2×4's at the stories I have easy access to are really squirrelly, so I ripped the 2×12s. There is not doubt that the SYP in the 2×12s was of much higher quality than the 2×4s.

But . . . I picked through the 2×12s at HD and found very straight boards-I was very pleased with them. However, when I ripped them, there was a fair amount of twisting in the resulting 2×4s. The wood is definitely denser and stronger than the generic wood 2×4s, but construction might have been easier had I chosen the straightest 2×4s at HD.


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## diverlloyd (Apr 25, 2013)

Look up Paul sellers on YouTube his bench is nice and he discusses the width and height issues.i prefer my benches around 42" tall and use hand planes on it and such. The height has cut down on back and neck pain for me. The top is just 2×4s and two 3/4" pieces of ply on top of that.


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## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

Thanks. I'll look closely at the choices between the local areas for the 2×4's when I get started. I am planning to buy the 12-16ft lengths and bring them home to let dry fully before I build. Then, hopefully, the longer lengths will have less warpage since I don't own a planner or joiner to be able to flatten boards with. right now, I have a new Stanley#5 that I'll start with for all my planning work. I will get a better blade for it though.

I've been watching a lot of Mr Sellers videos on Youtube for the past couple of months since learning of him. I actually spent a whole Saturday watching all of his build a workbench video and many of his others on tools, uses and techniques. I'm so new to all this that, I've been reading and watching everything I can get my hands on.

Thanks again for all the advice and input. I promise I'll put it all to good use someday.


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## Crank50 (Jan 31, 2014)

The 2×6 and 2×8s at my local Home Depot seem to be the best quality for some reason.
Didn't use them in my bench, but have some other work tables and equipment stands where I used them.
I suppose it is because these sizes are often used for rafters and joists that they are dense and straight.
Don't know this for a fact, it's JMHO.
I was actually able to find a lot of 2×8s where I could rip them down and loose the pith and wind up with quarter sawed boards. These worked really well for the last thing I made.


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

Some years ago I made a 12'+ long wall unit which sat on a pine base. (The boodcase itself and shelves were made of oak and oak vaneer ply. ) The 2×4s I originally bought for the base would not lay flat on the floor. I carefully selected a 14' long 2×10 and ripped 2 2×4's out of it which essentially had no knots at all. The only knots were in the center strip of the 2×10 which I did not use.

At the time, I did not own a truck so carrried the 14 footer home stuck through the sunroof of my '89 Nissan Maxima. And since my "shop" was the back screen porch, I had to open the back door of the house and push the wood into the house from the porch to get a 28' straight path to rip the 14' 2×10!

-Paul


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