Workbench top design

[sprucegum]

When I built my shop I needed a bench and had some thoughts on what would work for me. I made a bolted together ash frame and installed a double layer 3/4" particle board top 3' x 7. Overall it's working well for me. I have a good stash of rock maple and am thinking about upgrading the top. I'm wondering what others have done to their tops that work well, things like bench dogs or tee bolt trac. I currently have two vices on opposite ends of the same side that works well for me. Because I consider the top sacrificial I just shoot screws though blocks of wood as needed for stops and dogs, that's not going to work with rock maple . I'm learning toward some sort of tee trac system but open to ideas. Whatever I do needs to be versatile because as many of you know my woodworking interests are all over the place.

 

[SENC]

We need pictures, of course!

I'm not a fan of t-track on a work surface - just tends to get filled with sawdust and crap for me. Clamped pieces or clamped stops work great is your table allows them.

A new bench is on my project list after my boat, so I'll be watching. I'm somewhat contemplating hold-down dog holes, but after watching a lot of Paul Sellers videos I'm just not sure they'd add much value.

 

[sprucegum]

We need pictures, of course!

I'm not a fan of t-track on a work surface - just tends to get filled with sawdust and crap for me. Clamped pieces or clamped stops work great is your table allows them.

A new bench is on my project list after my boat, so I'll be watching. I'm somewhat contemplating hold-down dog holes, but after watching a lot of Paul Sellers videos I'm just not sure they'd add much value.

I'm thinking probably a winter project so pictures are a ways off. I hadn't considered sawdust in the tee trac good point. I question how much I would use hold-down dogs. I use stops a lot for belt sanding and sometimes to hold things with the lift up dog on my vice.
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[SENC]

I'm thinking probably a winter project so pictures are a ways off. I hadn't considered sawdust in the tee trac good point. I question how much I would use hold-down dogs. I use stops a lot for belt sanding and sometimes to hold things with the lift up dog on my vice.
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I meant pics of the existing bench.

 

[sprucegum]

I meant pics of the existing bench.

I'll probably need a day to clean it off

 

[Nature Man]

I'm thinking probably a winter project so pictures are a ways off. I hadn't considered sawdust in the tee trac good point. I question how much I would use hold-down dogs. I use stops a lot for belt sanding and sometimes to hold things with the lift up dog on my vice.
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I haven’t built a workbench yet, but in my mind I had been thinking of a combo of T-tracks & hold-downs. What I don’t think I would include is a tray, which would be a catchall for junk and sawdust. I’m not even to the design stage yet, so it’s too early to know what I will eventually build. But I will be following along with this build, and any others that follow. Chuck

 

[Mike1950]

I haven’t built a workbench yet, but in my mind I had been thinking of a combo of T-tracks & hold-downs. What I don’t think I would include is a tray, which would be a catchall for junk and sawdust. I’m not even to the design stage yet, so it’s too early to know what I will eventually build. But I will be following along with this build, and any others that follow. Chuck

My tray bottom is loose. Just take out to clean.

 

[Mike1950]

2 vise, tray, and a long wooden stop to be able to push against.
First bench had pop up stops, in theory great, reality, only worked nice just after you cleaned every speck out of them

 

[Sprung]

In my small outfeed table/bench in my previous shop, I had installed a couple Kreg Clamp Plates that could be used with their bench clamps. I really liked that and have been meaning to add the plates to my workbench I built several years ago, since that outfeed table is now the stand for my radial arm saw.

The clamp plates appear to have been discontinued, but there appear to be places that still have some in stock, taking a look through the search results on Google Shopping.

The setup was this, with the two clamp plates I had inset flush into the top.



I still also need to drill some dog holes in my "new" bench as well. It's still "new" because it's not yet finished. But it's also been in use for several years now!

 

[DLJeffs]

My only recommendation is to think about how you would clamp stuff down to work on it - flat for planing, on edge, sticking out past the edge of the bench for sawing, etc. I didn't do that well with my bench so there are times I have trouble holding work pieces and have to constantly move clamps around.

 

[Sprung]

I do agree with the above disdain for t-track as part of a work surface. It fills in with debris so easily. It also disrupts the flat surface so much, a great place to set something down wrong and have it spill or things to get caught. And the aluminum will easily deform on the backside over time, depending on what style of nuts you're using and how tight you tighten things, so nothing will eventually slide smoothly.

 

[JonathanH]

I think that you are referencing a stationary bench attached to a wall. Those are great.

Ive been thinking about something like this:

 

[sprucegum]

I haven’t built a workbench yet, but in my mind I had been thinking of a combo of T-tracks & hold-downs. What I don’t think I would include is a tray, which would be a catchall for junk and sawdust. I’m not even to the design stage yet, so it’s too early to know what I will eventually build. But I will be following along with this build, and any others that follow. Chuck

I am considering a tray. Like you I'm sure it would be a catch all but when I'm working on a project I always have necessary tools on the bench that end up getting in the way or knocked on the floor.

 

[sprucegum]

In my small outfeed table/bench in my previous shop, I had installed a couple Kreg Clamp Plates that could be used with their bench clamps. I really liked that and have been meaning to add the plates to my workbench I built several years ago, since that outfeed table is now the stand for my radial arm saw.

The clamp plates appear to have been discontinued, but there appear to be places that still have some in stock, taking a look through the search results on Google Shopping.

The setup was this, with the two clamp plates I had inset flush into the top.

View attachment 277008

I still also need to drill some dog holes in my "new" bench as well. It's still "new" because it's not yet finished. But it's also been in use for several years now!

I

In my small outfeed table/bench in my previous shop, I had installed a couple Kreg Clamp Plates that could be used with their bench clamps. I really liked that and have been meaning to add the plates to my workbench I built several years ago, since that outfeed table is now the stand for my radial arm saw.

The clamp plates appear to have been discontinued, but there appear to be places that still have some in stock, taking a look through the search results on Google Shopping.

The setup was this, with the two clamp plates I had inset flush into the top.

View attachment 277008

I still also need to drill some dog holes in my "new" bench as well. It's still "new" because it's not yet finished. But it's also been in use for several years now!

I have one of those that was in my dad's shop when we cleaned it out , it looks like it would be handy but I've never found a place that I wanted to mount it.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Now that I'm retired maybe I can get back on my workbench build and fish it up. I will be drilling dog holes in the top. With dog holes there's many types of stops and hold downs that can be used.

 

[SENC]

Not settled, yet, but I'm leaning towards building this bench.

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[sprucegum]

Now that I'm retired maybe I can get back on my workbench build and fish it up. I will be drilling dog holes in the top. With dog holes there's many types of stops and hold downs that can be used.

I've been wondering what happened to the bench build

 

[sprucegum]

The more I think about it, the more I think trying to use my old frame with a new top is a bad idea. That one was made to support particle board which needs a lot of support. 2.5" is the correct thickness for my vices, a 2.5" laminated maple top requires no support other than the ends. Building 2 end supports is a pretty simple project.

 

[DLJeffs]

I do agree with the above disdain for t-track as part of a work surface. It fills in with debris so easily. It also disrupts the flat surface so much, a great place to set something down wrong and have it spill or things to get caught. And the aluminum will easily deform on the backside over time, depending on what style of nuts you're using and how tight you tighten things, so nothing will eventually slide smoothly.

My neighbor up the street used T track on his bench but he put it along the front face, not inset into the top. So he can run various types of clamps into the T track to hold a long board vertically against the face of his bench (for working on the ends; he can also clamp a long board parallel to his bench along the front face for example if he needs to plane or sand the long edge of the board. He uses it like a third hand when gluing long pieces also. With the T track inset into the face, it doesn't fill up with sawdust and glue bits etc. Seems to work pretty well for him.

 

[vegas urban lumber]

i recently bought 1 1/2 semi trailer loads of cull fir lumber and beams from local lumber distributor. bulk of it is in 4"x6" x 16' long and bigger.

i ordered 6" and 8" timber screws, and intend to build a number of various heavy thickness bench tops. i'm thinking 4" thick 30" wide and 7 ft long for starters