# Building a work bench



## gsjulich (Nov 5, 2010)

I am in the process of designing a new woodworker's bench for the small shop I have in my one stall garage. I have a fair amount of quarter sawn white oak that I got from a friend when he closed his cabinet making business. I'm wondering if quarter sawn oak has any advantages or disadvantages over plain sawn lumber for the purpose of building a work bench. The main reason that I want to use the quarter sawn is that I already have it on hand. In a perfect world I'd save the quarter sawn for a furniture or cabinet project.

Thanks for the help
Gabe


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

If the oak is free and can easily be replaced use it. Reluctantly.

Normally I would rather use pine because of cost.

George


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## tybrune (Nov 3, 2010)

if your loooking for a cheap way to make a work station and avoid using the oak you have, check out unfinished kitchen cabinetry and a counter top. or you can check online for used cabinetry. its cheap and a pretty good working hight. plus storage and you can keep the oak to build something else. just an idea.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

*WELCOME TO THE FORUM*

If you check the price of QS you'll see why it's worth saving. There's plenty of ideas on bench design for free. For this bench, get some experience with some 2x4's, and then do some thinking about a top. Benches can be very inexpensive to build, and as for a top, ultimately your top material can be capped with tempered Masonite, which is cheap and can be easily replaced.












 











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## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

I'm very happy with a workbench I built from plans I bought from plansnow.com. I think it was $5 or $10. 2x4s, pine stock and solid door for the top. But use the masonite for the top as mentioned above.


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## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

Quarter sawn white oak will be stable/won't warp so it would be a good choice in my opinion if you won't use it for anything else. You can find a lot of old benches made from that stuff but that was when it was cheap.

There are other ways to get a bench that will stay nice and flat, like engineering your frame for your top with lumber made from three strips of 5/8 or 3/4 plywood, face glued, stapled then jointed and finally ripped to final width. Another way is to use a solid core door for your top if you can find one somebody has laying around. I've done both and both work well. Definitely do as cabinetman suggests and put on some kind of 1/4" over your top, either masonite or melamine.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

As has been mentioned,the QS Oak can be put to more profitable uses............which allows you to buy>Maple butcher block.If you do just a little digging you can snag them @ distributer pricing.To the effect that you can't buy framing 2x4's for what the pre-finished butcher block can be had for.

Another resource is;Find the folks in your area that do "truck bodies".They will have Oak in 12" wide,1 1/4 thick laminted sections in 20' lengths.They always have drops.....we've used them for workbenches,bartops,ramps,cribbing,ect.,ect.They're usually cheap to free.

Our benches are simple framing lumber,2x8's n 10's cvrd with 1/4" masonite.Heck,you can't see any of them anyway for all the drill motors,nail guns,note pads,parts.BW


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## burkhome (Sep 5, 2010)

I want a QS White Oak bench...Alas any QS White Oak I procured is marked for more elaborate projects. Oh to be rich.


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## gsjulich (Nov 5, 2010)

BWSmith,

I'm not sure what you mean by "truck bodies". Can you explain further?

Thanks.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Trucks are often sold without a bed or body.There are co's that put these on.The floor,when its not ply,is usually Oak.Apparently they get it in the 12" widths posted above.Its random lengths,fingerjointed,and glued up into 20' slabs.I'm not sure how "they" put it together....we just glue it up to whatever total width necessary.Its not the prettiest of Oak,duh its a truck bed,who cares.Have done a few bartops with it,more often we use as described above.BW


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