Building a workbench out of softwood?

[PennineRider]

Afternoon,

I'm a beginner to woodworking and I want to make a nice workbench. To keep costs down, I want to make the frame out of 4x2 softwood, then top it with a solid oak kitchen worktop. The frame will be joined with pegged mortise & tenon joints. Basically, two trestles joined with stretchers.

So: Will the world come to an end if I build a workbench out of 2x4 kiln-dried pine from B&Q?

 

[pcb1962]

Why buy from B&Q? You'll find better and cheaper timber at absolutely any proper timber yard or builders merchant.
A quick google brings up this: http://www.yorkshiretimbermerchants.co.uk/

 

[MrTeroo]

No the world won't come to an end, the hardwood top isn't essential either.

Have a look at this:

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD39949332C7FB168

This is one I made by following those instructions

 

[bugbear]

Afternoon,

I'm a beginner to woodworking and I want to make a nice workbench. To keep costs down, I want to make the frame out of 4x2 softwood, then top it with a solid oak kitchen worktop. The frame will be joined with pegged mortise & tenon joints. Basically, two trestles joined with stretchers.

So: Will the world come to an end if I build a workbench out of 2x4 kiln-dried pine from B&Q?

No.

What tools/benches do you have (or have access to) to help your build along?

It's easiest to build a bench if you have a bench !!

(a friend with tools, a bench, a workshop, good advice, and TEA is recommended)

BugBear

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you can avoid it, don't use CLS - it'll only give you hard work and grief.

 

[Stormer1940]

I've made a bench using the same method a MrTeroo has illustrated.

The legs were chunky 94mm x 94mm joinery softwood, Apron linings were 32mm x 219mm joinery softwood. The legs were braced with rails like in the picture above but I also put rails along the length, all mortise and tenon construction.

The top was made up of 2 x 44mm x 219mm pieces of joinery softwood at the sides and the middle infilled with t&g floorboards nailed.

As bugbear has mentioned it would be handy to know someone with the tools to give you a hand.

P.s. The bench construction is as strong as an ox #NOTGOINGANYWHERE.

 

[marcros]

nothing wrong with softwood. The Chris Schwarz Roubo ones were made with a softwood- Southern Yellow Pine. This was chosen because it was readily available in their DIY places.

I have found that the timber in 8 or 9 x 2 is better than the stuff in 4 x 2, at least at my local place. So if it is an option, it may be worth ripping the bigger stuff down. If you dont have a saw to do so, it probably isnt worth doing so, but if you have a table saw or bandsaw, then it would be worth having a look at what the yard has.

I am not sure exactly where you are, but http://james-chambers.co.uk/ would probably be a better bet than b and q.

 

[eddieperkins]

It will be fine, I have built a couple using buiscuit and screw joints with normal (chipboard) work tops and they were nice and sturdy. It just depends what you intend doing with them I suppose.

 

[novocaine]

don't quote me on this, but workbenches were typically made from soft wood as it is was less likely to mar or damage hardwood, instead being damaged itself.

my bench is made from 3x2 CLS from B&Q, it's solid as a rock, heavy as hell and more than up to the task's I put it though. it has a face vice and an engineers vice on it and a thin layer of MDF at one end so I can get it all dirty then whip off the mdf for a nice clean bench.
through mortices and a wedged top mortise made it more than rigid enough without pinning.

I didn't even take the round off before laminating the top, a decent scrub plane and half an hour had it down to flat, a further half hour had it finished with minimal effort.

in short, if B&Q is all you have, go for it, be selective and find the straightest piece you can. make sure you've got a few hundred clamps and a set of trestles, make the top first then make the legs on the top.

this thread needs a picture, so here's mine (because I like to roll this shot out every now and then).

The bench by David Rees, on Flickr

 

[ED65]

Other details are far more important than the species of wood used, principle among them well-done joints if you're building the bench traditionally from stick elements.

As you probably know many modern benches use ply, chipboard or MDF for their tops but you can even use those to build the understructure. A very solid and long-lasting bench can be made entirely from plywood. And by combining board materials with softwood you can make a bench with no traditional joints in only one or two days that's as strong and resistant to racking as one made from beech featuring proper joinery throughout.

 

[thetyreman]

I used redwood PAR pine, and it came out fine.

Don't be fooled into thinking hardwood is better, that is why I be writing this letter.

 

[jlawford]

Built mine out of redwood PAR too. 3x3 for the end frames, made with handcut mortise and tenon joints and a tenon'd stretcher at the base. The top was an apron housed into the leg frames, with the top table glued to the frame and apron. Rock solid. The link to the Paul Sellers workbench a few posts above will get you there but don't be afraid to adapt like I did as I had little experience at the time.

 

[PennineRider]

A helpful and inspirational set of replies as always, chaps. Thank you.

I didn't even take the round off before laminating the top

Ha I was just mentally wrestling with what to do with the rounding. I only have a No. 4 plane so I thought I would use my table saw to strip 5mm off each top edge then smooth the whole thing with the plane once glued up.

FWIW my design is closely based on this, although I won't be adding the drawers straight away!

And I'm realising that it's going to cost me the same in clamps as it will in timber :evil:

The top was an apron housed into the leg frames, with the top table glued to the frame and apron.

Yep I'd build with an apron and I appreciate it would add serious rigidity. But I can't see how you can add a vice if you have a deep apron...?

 

[jlawford]

The top was an apron housed into the leg frames, with the top table glued to the frame and apron.

Yep I'd build with an apron and I appreciate it would add serious rigidity. But I can't see how you can add a vice if you have a deep apron...?[/quote]


Mark out for the vice on the apron, drill a hole to start then cut out with a jigsaw. The vice slides through the apron cutout and screws into the underside of the table top. Pack out between the table top and vice to get it in the right spot.

 

[Jacob]

The best bench is still the standard model which was pretty universal when wood was big business. I wouldn't bother with those fashionable fancy foreign types!
Softwood best too. This is a typical example, though it comes with many variations:

a. hardwood bench stop - through the bench - knock it up from below. If it gets a bit battered you just plane a bit off the end.
b. rest for planes - keeps blade off the surface
c. hardwood inset above vice back jaw
d hardwood or ply facing for face of vice
e Record vice - the only sensible option
f drawer!
g support for end of long piece in vice
h is a rebate housing the apron into the top. This is important because these two items are the main feature and need to be structurally well joined
k bench hook - several pairs in different sizes handy
n tool rack on back - handles all below bench top height

The legs want to be housed in the aprons for extra rigidity
If the front beam is planed flat it's very easy to square up the top of the back apron to get it all co-planar. Much easier than flattening one of those pointless all-solid-wood tops

Here's my version. The lath plus G clamp is in place of g. above.

 

[whiskywill]

in short, if B&Q is all you have, go for it, be selective and find the straightest piece you can.

Wickes is cheaper for CLS.

 

[bugbear]

Yep I'd build with an apron and I appreciate it would add serious rigidity. But I can't see how you can add a vice if you have a deep apron...?

Just make a big ol' 'ole in the apron!

BugBear

 

[MrTeroo]

Just make a big ol' 'ole in the apron!

BugBear

 

[disco_monkey79]

Wickes timber is much much better than bandq. At least, it is at my local stores. I used 95mm (or thereabouts) Wickes softwood for the legs on my bench, and it's fine. A bit of 3/4 ply across the back and I couldn't get it to rack if I wanted to. Another bit of ply across the bottom stretchers gives somewhere to store wood, and means it's nice and heavy so now planing is a pleasure, rather than a chore.
Good luck with your build.

 

[worn thumbs]

The two prime requirements in my mind are enough weight,so you don't have to chase the bench round the workshop and a top that is free from dips or humps.I have used benches with mdf tops on tubular steel frames,all softwood benches and one or two that hard hardwood tops.None of the variations were significant or had any effect on the work done.

As an aside,has anybody in Britain ever worked on the type of bench the American hobbyists seem to worship?You must have seen pictures of them-all wood vices and even a wooden tail vice,rather than the quick release Record most of us use over here.