Workbench Top Thickness

[LeftyTom]

What is a good thickness for a benchtop I want to drill for holdfast's?

I have one table made out of 2x6's which could be used. Plenty room beneath the top for the 8" holdfast's. But it is 2'x2', so it is only useful for working with small pieces.

My other tables are 2'x4' or 5', but are recycled pallets. Most have a later of 1"x6" over the pallet (yes, not the smoothest of table tops, but I didn't have woodguy disease when I cobbed them together).


Or should I plan on building a bigger, better, super-dyna-whopping table?

[LeftyTom]

I wouldn't mind building a super-dyna-whopping workbench, if only I could get the materials for free

Heaven help me, because if I build a suitable workbench, I'm jonesing to make a shoulder vise. If only my ability would rise to the level of my desire.

[jmauldin]

My workbench top is 31/2" luguna with a tail vise. I have holes for dogs down both sides, plus I have drilled 3/4" holes down the center so I can use the iron bench dogs. I have never had any problem with swag and it stays perfectly flat. I have the bench legs anchored in concrete. That way it doesn't move. I also have a 4'x6' workbench that I rescued from an old factory. It has a 4" hard maple top and massive cast iron legs. However, it is not as flat at the other, however. I just haven't taken the time to level it.
Jim in Mayberry

[striker]

Tom,

I believe I made my workbench top roughly 2 3/4 thick. IMO, having a good level surface is job one. I think building a good workbench would be an enjoyable task, one you can take pride in and inspire you to do high quality work on in the future. It doesn't have to be the largest work bench, just sized to the work you intend on doing.

Good Luck with your bench,

Stephen

[pcooper]

The bench I made has a thicker top where the bench dogs go, and some thinner where the back of the bench is (a place where only weight of material is). The bench dog area is 3 1/2" thick, the rear is only 2" thick. The bigger the bench, the more weight, the less likely you'll be chasing it across the floor when you need to do things like hand planing. If you don't have room for a big whopping bench, build as much as you can as thick as you can, then grow into another one later. I collected stuff for years before being able to build the bench I have now. I used the bench style that Norm Abram built for almost 15 years before building my new one, and it did fine except it was too light and I could push it around while using a hand plane or belt sander.

[LeftyTom]

Thanks for the replies. The tables I have are on simple 2x4 legs, so I should think of building a bench with sturdier legs (2x6's or stacked 2x4's) to support the weight of the top. I do have the lumber I removed in my deck re-do, but I gotta dig up that list of what is there. Through a good guess while "legging" the pallets, I have found that a 28" table height works best for me.

[Gofor]

As for the base, I would think that stacked 2 x's would give deeper tennons and reduce the possibility of the base "racking". I used Monty's design for mine, (altho I used SYP instead of hard maple), and it is working very well. If you are not going to put a cabinet in the bottom, I would still go with a top and bottom rail, as opposed to just a wide center rail, as it also will reduce the racking by giving lengthwise support to the top and bottom of the legs as opposed to just the center.

2 x 4s will support the weight (they hold up a house's roof), but won't do much to prevent lateral or longitudinal movement as the top is stressed with side-to-side or end-to-end movement (whichever direction the narrow width is facing). If the base is also supported by a cabinet, etc,2 x 4s provide an excellent frame, with the cabinet sides providing the torsional strength.

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