My old workbench top was put together from 2x6 lumber and a sheet of hardboard back in the late eighties. The construction of the top emulated that of one my dad had built and used for many years so I knew it would work well. It sat on a crudely-welded and not-quite-level metal frame cobbled together from industrial shelving. I bought the frame from some guy in the Airport Industrial area based on a newspaper classified ad (remember those?). It served me well for many years but I've always liked laminated woodworking bench tops. The problem with actual woodworking benches is that most of them are modest in size while my bench was a relatively huge 39 x 93". I liked the practicality of the larger size, and despite the crudeness of the frame it was quite space-efficient and decently strong.
I decided to keep the frame and replace only the top. You can of course buy bench tops although models as large as I wanted are rather thin on the ground. I was able to find a laminated birch countertop that was of adequate width but unfortunately still too narrow. I considered buying two to achieve the needed size but that seemed wasteful especially since I don't work on the back half of the bench (plus my cheapness gene was expressing "don't spend that much" proteins by the bucketfull). So I decided to just use the 24"-wide laminated top and add the extra width to the back in plywood.
The top was ordered from Home Depot and I fashioned a similar-thickness panel by laminated a couple layers of plywood to make up the back portion, and then fastened it all together, filled the joint and varnished it all. I made a few minor improvements such as making it slightly larger, having more space for clamps at the front, making it more level and adding a lip at the back. The new bench is much brighter and flatter than the old one and I no longer have little bits of hardboard chipping off. This was a pretty simple project as described
here.
| Material: | Laminated Birch, Aspen plywood |
| Finish: | 4 coats Miniwax Fast-Dry Poly, Clear Satin |
| Size: | 96" wide x 40" deep x 1.5" thick |
| Done: | April 14, 2019 |
