Workbench top laminated perpendicular to length?

[mike*]

When making a workbench top from laminated sticks standard practice is to laminate lengthwise. That is, if the length of the bench is 1.5m, we laminate 1.5m pieces together.

But might you use shorter sticks and laminate them perpendicular to the length, gluing across until you get the length desired?

I appreciate this means more initial wood prep and glue ups (in stages) and the final lamination will need very long clamps or another method of holding together. And flattening the final surface will be planed across the width. But structurally, is there any reason for not doing this?

My reason for asking is because I have a load of construction timber that is less than 1m in length and I'd like to put them to good use rather than buying more timber.

Mike

 

[Dee J]

Laminating 'the wrong way' will exaggerate any problems with timber movement and instability and lose strength along the main long axis. I think, in your place, I'd laminate lengthways with staggered butt joins in each strip.

 

[Richard_C]

I have 2 long IKEA kitchen worktops, real beech, been in for 12 years dead stable. Sticks are longitudinal and staggered, seemingly random overlaps so there are no weak points. The suggestion above seems a good one.

 

[Jameshow]

Laminating 'the wrong way' will exaggerate any problems with timber movement and instability and lose strength along the main long axis. I think, in your place, I'd laminate lengthways with staggered butt joins in each strip.

Or finger joints to connect...

 

[mike*]

I wasn't sure if simple butt joints would be an answer but more than happy to accept that as a solution. Presumably plenty of glue on the end grain joints and clamped cauls to apply pressure across the length?

 

[Dee J]

I wasn't sure if simple butt joints would be an answer but more than happy to accept that as a solution. Presumably plenty of glue on the end grain joints and clamped cauls to apply pressure across the length?

If you stagger the joins well enough then every butt join will be partnered by several adjacent strips, so no need to worry unduly about the butt joins.

 

[Sideways]

If you have tall rails under the benchtop across the front and the back to provide stiffness in that direction (could be an "apron" across the front with a batten behind it to support the edge of the top) , then a top made of sticks running front to back that span the rails should make for a strong surface.
It's not the conventional layout but structurally it sounds OK to me.
Without those two timbers below, it will sag or worse.