Laminated 2x4 Bench Top?

[Chips O'Toole]

Have you done much woodworking? Putting a laminated top together is not hard. I'm not sure you and I are thinking of the same process. You just take cheap 2x4's and clamp them together.

You don't use all-thread to put wood together. Glue joints are as strong as solid wood, and there is no drilling involved.

 

[JRaut]

I am thinking a simple 2x2 3/16"-wall tubing frame with a top made from a bunch of 2x4's laminated together so it's 3.5" thick. I figure I'll replace my old bench with it, and then I'll make another bench for woodworking.

Has anyone here made a bench with a laminated top like this? Seems like a great idea to me. Woodworkers do it all the time. Lumber has come down a lot in price, I hate MDF, I don't like plywood on bench tops, and a laminated top would be extremely sturdy and easy to replace. Also, when a wooden top gets rough, you can plane it down to fresh material.

I've got a bench like this --- a bunch of 2x4s laminated together the strong way using lots of glue and lots of clamps. Took forever to plane reasonably flat, but it was quite satisfying. I didn't get it 'woodworking' flat, just flat enough to not bug me.

It's about 7' long x 30" deep. I made the legs and some cross-members out of more laminated 2x4 and 2x6s.

Weights a damn ton, but it's sturdy as all get-out.

I tacked down a sheet of masonite (slippery side up) on top, as I do a lot of parts cleaning on top of it. The masonite is a lot easier to clean off than the 2x boards.

 

[ChazzC]

Have you done much woodworking? Putting a laminated top together is not hard. I'm not sure you and I are thinking of the same process. You just take cheap 2x4's and clamp them together.

You don't use all-thread to put wood together. Glue joints are as strong as solid wood, and there is no drilling involved.

Depends on how resilient you want the top to be: a work working bench top or a bench on a metal working shop that is going to need to take a beating.

 

[snoopdog]

LVL's are stupid strong, and scraps are available at almost every home construction site, around here anyway.

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

I would caution that it's a case of money saved vs. time spent.

I built my own woodworking bench out of pine off of my property that was milled 2" thick. A neighbor with a mill did it for free, I paid for the trees to come down and they left the log sections also for free. I was lucky with this.

I considered glueing up a bench top, but the more I looked into the more I realized that it's a LOT of work. To get a good outcome you need 2x4s that are in really good shape or need to be willing to mill them flatter and squarer than they typically come from the box store.

If you are lucky or diligent and end up with good even glue joints and a relatively flat top, it still can take huge amounts of time to get it flat, sq and smooth. I ended up just going with the thickest maple bench top I could get (2 1/4") from an industrial supply company - think it was Global Industrial Supply.

The top was not cheap, but for 2 1/4" 72x30" laminated maple top the price was reasonable. This was 15 years ago, so I don't recall then price. Shipping kicked it up a lot but I feel it was worth it.

Making your own top and having come out good is going to take a decent amount of time and serious woodworking equipment. For me buying the slab top made the most sense. It still took several weeks of free time to get my bench built and to mount my pattern makers vise on it. All the joinery is mortise and tenon with glue and pins. The joints have not moved and are the most solid wood framework I've ever done.

I'm sure you will have fun either way.
-Dave

 

[Chips O'Toole]

I didn't think about putting something on top of it. A surface like melamine would be great, but I don't think sheets exist, and I would lose the renewable surface.

I wonder if linoleum is still manufactured.

I made a tool shelf for my lathe and put adhesive tile sort of like linoleum on it, and it's indestructible.

 

[DavidR8]

I can tell you the the top on my lathe bench is a two-person lift.

 

[DavidR8]

I didn't think about putting something on top of it. A surface like melamine would be great, but I don't think sheets exist, and I would lose the renewable surface.

I wonder if linoleum is still manufactured.

I made a tool shelf for my lathe and put adhesive tile sort of like linoleum on it, and it's indestructible.

I bought a large drio pan from Napa Auto parts and stuck it under my lathe. Works like a treat.

https://www.napacanada.com/en/p/BTE8114000

 

[Chips O'Toole]

RE making the top, if skinny old Paul Sellers can do it, I can.

I have a planer and jointer, so getting the lumber ready is quick work.

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

RE making the top, if skinny old Paul Sellers can do it, I can.

I have a planer and jointer, so getting the lumber ready is quick work.

I have no doubt that you can do it! : )
The question is do you want the satisfaction of spending the time doing it by hand from scratch or would you rather be using your bench?

Just watched the video and man, he knows what he is doing with that hand plane. I can use one but that's a lot of work for benchtop.

Have fun.

EDIT- I just watched more of the video: Have you ever tried 2X4 laminated glue up? The legs of my bench where 2 pieces each, Just getting two 4' sections lined up clamped and straight was a challenge. I've also made segmented tubes - It's not as easy as it looks, but it does get easier the more you do it - Ha!