Bench tops - laminate, MDF, ply, IKEA or what ?

[AndrewC]

This seems to be a perennial question but I'm nowhere nearer making a decision than I was several hours of browsing ago

I'm making myself a small bench - basically a step up from my much loved and abused Workmate. It's going to be small, probably 120 x 70 cm - I don't do cabinet work, this is mainly for odd jobs and a mixture of woodwork and metal work. I plan to have a wood working vice in one corner looking down the length - I'll probably add some bench dogs down the length at some point. I'll put an engineering vice in the opposite corner.

Question is, what to make the top out of ? A "normal" top might be made of laminated beech but I can't find beech around here (bizarre, Brussels has a massive beech forest which is harvested but I think all goes to Sweden and comes back to IKEA). Options I'm considering:

1) Buy an IKEA Pronoma top, halve it and laminate. Gives me a relatively easy route to laminated beech

2) Stack a couple of layers of the thickest ply I can get

3) Laminate ply/mdf/ply

4) Thick MDF only - I don't really fancy that one

Anyone got any suggestions as to which way to go ?


Thanks, Andrew

 

[Paul Chapman]

Any of those would probably work well. I used MDF, originally as a temporary measure but it's been so successful that I've been using it over 10 years

Made from three layers of 18mm MDF, lipped with softwood.

I also have a couple of smaller bench tops/assembly/routing/tables made a similar way which I clamp in a Workmate. You could do something like this to try it out at little cost

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[AndrewC]

Hi Paul,

That's the problem with MDF - you need to edge it which is a pain. That's why I was thinking of ply/mdf/ply. Though that would also probably be better with a lip/facing

Andrew

 

[Paul Chapman]

That's the problem with MDF - you need to edge it which is a pain. That's why I was thinking of ply/mdf/ply. Though that would also probably be better with a lip/facing

I would always lip any man-made board. It's really very easy, provides a nice finish and helps with the rigidity of the whole piece. When I made the big bench, I lipped the three sheets of MDF individually before glueing them together - much easier that way, not least because of the weight of the finished worktop. I usually fit my lippings with biscuits.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[tnimble]

For what you descripe what kind of work the top is for I would recommend two or three layers of ply or mdf with ply on top if that would work out cheaper. Lipping the edgeds would in both methods be mandetory IMO.

 

[Karl]

Hi Andrew

I went for the MDF top after seeing Pauls bench. I had been considering a hardwood top, but the work involved is considerable.

Here is a thread on my "bench". I am in the process of getting the timber to make some doors for the cupboards and to lip the edge of the top. After 6 months or so of hard use (I do a lot of hand planing), the base is still rock solid and i've decided that there will be no need to upgrade to a proper frame.

HTH

Cheers

Karl

 

[kenneth cooke]

I would go with the majority. Although it would be very satisfying to make a bench from hardwood, preferably native hardwood I opted for a softwood version of the one made by Ian Kirby, an Englishman teaching in the USA, as detailed in The Workbench Book written by Scott Landis. Although the top is 50mm thick I place MDF bound pieces on to the top to suit differing needs. The pieces lock together to create a perfectly flat surface and as any of them start to wear I replace it. It works very well for me and when I am doing some furniture restoration I simply remove the MDF bound sections and work on the Cedar top which is no big deal if it gets marked. I store bench planes on a shelf below and fill the rest of the space with native hardwood stock which gives the bench added stability

 

[kenneth cooke]

Hi Andrew

I went for the MDF top after seeing Pauls bench. I had been considering a hardwood top, but the work involved is considerable.

Here is a thread on my "bench". I am in the process of getting the timber to make some doors for the cupboards and to lip the edge of the top. After 6 months or so of hard use (I do a lot of hand planing), the base is still rock solid and i've decided that there will be no need to upgrade to a proper frame.

HTH

Cheers

Karl

Has anyone never mentioned to you about not placing bench planes sole down on the bench- but laid on their side to save damage to the iron

 

[cambournepete]

I'm actually building a bench at the moment, and the top will be a laminate, made up of some 40mm worktop I rescued pre-skip, two layers of 18mm plywood topped off with 6mm of sacrificial MDF. Kind of inspired by one Norm made, but I now see that Paul and Karl have the same, so I'm feeling rather good about the deicision

 

[dicktimber]

Whatever you build a bench from the best advice I can pass on is that it must be flat.
Don't try cutting biscuits in on an uneven surface, you will end up with alignment problems and steps, particularly on long work pieces..
If you make a bench from planks, make sure you alternate the growth rings.
There is nothing wrong with using redwood for the top, so long as you make it thick enough.

Ensure it's flat, and that can be a long process by hand.

I would cap off with MDF, but use a substantial thickness arrd 18 mm.

Mike

 

[jasonB]

Another option is to use a fire door, my metal working benches are reclaimed 54mm doors. They are like lammin board but newer ones would likely be a chipboard core with ply facing. I just edged them with 20x70 timber and they take a good bashing.

Jason

 

[wizer]

My workbench is 2 layers of 18mm Ply with a 9mm MR MDF top edged with 2x4 softwood. It is rock solid and the top is replaceable should it ever get tired.

 

[AndrewC]

Thanks for the inputs - I'll take myself off to Gedebois tomorrow and see how the prices work out.

 

[Jake]

Has anyone never mentioned to you about not placing bench planes sole down on the bench- but laid on their side to save damage to the iron

I reckon we need one of those QI noises here, myself.

 

[Rich]

Hi Andrew

I went for the MDF top after seeing Pauls bench. I had been considering a hardwood top, but the work involved is considerable.

Here is a thread on my "bench". I am in the process of getting the timber to make some doors for the cupboards and to lip the edge of the top. After 6 months or so of hard use (I do a lot of hand planing), the base is still rock solid and i've decided that there will be no need to upgrade to a proper frame.

HTH

Cheers

Karl

Has anyone never mentioned to you about not placing bench planes sole down on the bench- but laid on their side to save damage to the iron

I am led to understand that the side of a plane is referred to as the "Arris" I am told this led to the phrase of putting someone on their Arris, often confused with axxe.

Does anyone know any different?

Rich.

 

[misterfish]

One of the things always worth checking when at IKEA is the area next to the checkouts where ex display, damaged and 'various odd components' are displayed usually at huge reductions. Last time we went there was an assortment of worktops at low price as well as a rack of assorted MFC panels that were free.

We got some Bravad units with oak worktops really cheap.

Misterfish

 

[AndrewC]

You know, that was my idea as well but Belgium seems to be special. I'm pretty bilingual so it's not a language problem but when you ask if they have any damaged or returned goods you are met with a blank, incredulous look. Not just Ikea, you can go into a an ordinary shop and they'll try and sell you a display model with dings at full price and get all huffy if you ask for a "new one in a box". It's partly because they don't have a culture of "buy and return". Or perhaps it is just "stiff the foreigner". Mind you, they are struggling with the concept of election => government !!!

 

[dicktimber]

Please stop talking IKEA......
How can anyone consider sub standard rubbish for anything?
Let's get real here......enough advice to make even a simple cheap work bench, has been given here.
OK some people don't have lots of cash to spend. but you must remember this quote.....

'When the price has been forgotten, the quality still remains'......and that goes both ends of the spectrum

Mike

 

[Jake]

The bulk of my workbench is a damaged Ikea kitchen worktop - cost £25 or something. Cheaper and thicker than two layers of el-luxo MDF. The front 4" (on which one pounds) is 6" thick beech.

It's only a workbench.

 

[cambournepete]

Please stop talking IKEA......
How can anyone consider sub standard rubbish for anything?

Whoa - hold on there a minute, my kitchen is Ikea, as is the furniture in my son's room and our bookcases! :evil:
For the money the quality is excellent. Sure they sell rubbish as well, but the stuff they do well they do very well.