Seeking advice on benchtop material

[irvin00]

I'm in the process of making a new workbench, an adaptation of the Roubo-style bench made popular by Chris Schwarz. The thing is I will not be adding any conventional vises. I'll rely on a combination of dog holes and Veritas' bench dogs and surface vice to accomplish the task of clamping things to the table. I figure that if my idea doesn't work, I can always add a vise at a later point, so that's not a big concern right now. The bench is a small one (60X20), because that size perfectly fits my needs (I'm a hobbyist working inside a tiny shop).

So, my question: would it be ok to use two pieces of 1" Appleply for the bench top? I'm considering face-gluing them to get a nice, stable, flat 2" thick top. The obvious drawback seems to be that, should I need to fix the surface at some point in the future, I won't be able to plane it down easily. Solid would would not present this problem, but it has issues of its own with wood movement and warping. While we are at this, I have read 3 of the most popular books on workbench constructions (Schwarz, Landis & Schleining), but the topic of benchtops using man-made materials is not given much thought - Schleining makes a little reference to them, but doesn't go into details of the pros and cons.

I'd like to hear other people's perspective on this issue. Your comments/advise are welcome and appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I'm a little skeptical that just the dogs will provide adequate clamping pressure, but you know what applications you will be doing and are the best judge of that.  In any case, it would be wise to leave room for a vise (they take up a lot of real estate under the top).

The other concern is how well dog holes cut into ply will last.  My guess would be that they will start to delaminate around the holes with a little force.

You would probably want to run some support boards under the 60 inch dimension to keep it flat.

If planing the top surface is an issue, just screw (and countersink) a sacrificial layer of hardboard on top and replace it when it gets dinged.

My personal preference for benchtops is maple butcher block.  You can buy it already glued up and finished for less than what I would have to pay for the rough lumber.

 

[joraft]

Have you seen the Roubo bench sToolman built?

He did a great job on the bench, and super job of documenting the project here: Benchcrafted Split-top Roubo Bench

It may not be exactly what you're trying to do, but you might get same ideas.

 

[irvin00]

Thanks for the info, guys. I had seen those threads during the extensive search I have done for this project.

Currently, I have a decent bench with dog holes, an end vice and a leg vise. The top is a 1.5 inch Ikea countertop that has been surprisingly flat and reliable. It has been a dependable table for some time, but as I have gone more into hand tools (mostly plaining, which I actually love!), I feel that a beefier bench with a simpler hardware arrangement will best serve my working routine. The reason I think I can get away with eliminating the vises is that I have experimented with planing against  stops, using the vise just to hold the wood and I have been able to do everything I can think of (the "a bench must allow you to work on the three faces of wood" priciple spoused by Chris Schwarz). So, the vises - at least in my case - are not being required to exert great force and the same holding power can be achieved with a careful arrangement of dog holes with smaller hardware (Veritas surface clamp, for example) on the top and from legs and front apron (including a dead-man).

@Jesse: you're absolutely right - the durability of dog holes on plywood concerns me, too. I know I can chamfer the opening to minimize delamination, but I don't really know what will happen long-term.

Time to think and research some more...

 

[Wood_Junkie]

Just an idea... haven't actually done this, but I recall reading about it somewhere as a technique for reinforcing holes/openings.

Rub a glob of thin epoxy around inside the dog hole and around the edge.  Clean up excess.
Sand and/or drill back to 3/4".  Should reinforce the laminations as well as help prevent splintering.