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I am at some point going to make a workbench similar to the LN workbench and I was going to use European Beech but came across some one inch thick europly maple plywood and it got me thinking about using it instead. I want the top to be four inches thick and if I buy two sheets I can have a 24 inch by 8 foot top. The plywood is made by Columbia Forest Products and the core is void free birch. Each sheet weighs about 115 pounds. My question is will a top made out of euro ply be suitable for a work bench? The cost are similar between the euro ply and European Beech but the euro ply top is much easier to construct. The top will have a classic Record 52 1/2 inch vise and a Emmert K1 pattern makers vise.
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Hard to resurface. On t'other hand, my workbench, made from a scavenged (painted!) commercial solid-core door, is still pretty darned flat over 30 years after I installed it. Ugly as day-old sin, and pocked with repair plugs from this and that, but still quite usable.
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I would think that the ply would be fine.
It might be a little more challenging to do the inset for the K1 vice (in terms of tear/chip -out) on the ply.
I would suggest chamfering the top and bottom of the dog holes at least 2 plies in. That is to avoid the end of a hold down snagging on the way in or out of the hole.
"the most important safety feature on any tool is the one between your ears." - Ken Vick
A wish for you all: May you keep buying green bananas.
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I tried a similar thing when making my first bench top. I got my hands on some fingerjointed pine and tried laminating it that way. My biggest problem was clamping in the middle (I was a beginner and didn't understand the necessity of using cauls). The result wasn't great. When a friend offered me an old maple bench top from a bench from a school I jumped on it.
That said I think using a better technique it would have worked (either cauls, or screws for each layer that I later removed).
No idea on the holdfasts and durability of plywood for that.
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Generally plywood is much softer than solid wood, resulting in too much flex for a hand tool bench. I’d pass on the plywood. Beech is a better choice.
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Thank you very much for the replies. I am leaning towards the Beech mainly because of the weight of the Emmert Vise. It is heavy. I have another question concerning the base of the bench. I plan to build the bench very similar to the LN style bench and I noticed several people use hard wood for the base. Is there any issues with using Poplar or Douglas fir (Douglas fir is plentiful where I live and inexpensive) for the base?
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(07-13-2022, 12:32 AM)amtc Wrote: Thank you very much for the replies. I am leaning towards the Beech mainly because of the weight of the Emmert Vise. It is heavy. I have another question concerning the base of the bench. I plan to build the bench very similar to the LN style bench and I noticed several people use hard wood for the base. Is there any issues with using Poplar or Douglas fir (Douglas fir is plentiful where I live and inexpensive) for the base?
As I understand it, polar is pretty much what you start with is what you stay with.
On the other hand, Doug fir (and some of the other evergreens) have a reputation of getting harder as they age.
If you might add a leg vise later, I would think that the Doug fir would be a better choice for that leg.
Other than that, I expect that either would be fine for the base if you are staying with vertical legs like the LN workbench.
"the most important safety feature on any tool is the one between your ears." - Ken Vick
A wish for you all: May you keep buying green bananas.
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Doug Fir will work just fine.
I scored some large pieces at HD years ago and have never had a
problem.
My bench top is a two and a half inch thick piece of laminated maple
salvaged from a local HS woodshop. The previous owner of our house
left it behind for me!
Here is an old photo:
Mark Singleton
Bene vivendo est optimum vindictae
The Laws of Physics do not care about your Politics - Me
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Facebook has been cluttered lately with people trying to sell old bowling lanes. Lanes are made of 2 different woods. The first 30', approach area included, is hard maple. The rest is pine. They are 42" wide, and there are 42 boards across. When new, they are ~ 2 1/2" thick. After many years of, they may be downs to as little as 1 1/4" The boards are nailed together with cement coated hardened screw nails, at random. There are T bars screwed to the bottom every 4' to keep them flat. They are usually, but not always treated on the bottom with a sealer to prevent moisture absorption. Trying to drill holes through them for bench dogs and such, might be problematic. They can be sawn with a 10" carbide blade. Smaller if you want to make 2 passes. If you go to buy even a 10' section, take 4 people with you. They are a tad heavy. They do make nice work benches.
Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut, and have the world think you a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
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(07-12-2022, 12:32 AM)amtc Wrote: I am at some point going to make a workbench similar to the LN workbench and I was going to use European Beech but came across some one inch thick europly maple plywood and it got me thinking about using it instead. I want the top to be four inches thick and if I buy two sheets I can have a 24 inch by 8 foot top. The plywood is made by Columbia Forest Products and the core is void free birch. Each sheet weighs about 115 pounds. My question is will a top made out of euro ply be suitable for a work bench? The cost are similar between the euro ply and European Beech but the euro ply top is much easier to construct. The top will have a classic Record 52 1/2 inch vise and a Emmert K1 pattern makers vise.
I have built from this material. Last project was a cello podium. The material looked to me like it was made from maple. It is dense and it is stiff. I spanned 4' wide x 8' long for the podium and it does not flex with a cellist sawing away upon it. Last concert they put a harp on it to good effect. The cellist loved it because it was so solid. Base on my experience 1 layer of it would do for my bench needs, except such a thin bench would have problems other than stiff.
Bill Tindall
