# Workbench design input needed



## hondo (Jul 13, 2017)

Hi everyone,

So I’m looking to build a new workbench in the next week or so, and wanted a few opinions on what I should do. First off I want a solid bench top, I can’t decide between 2×4’s and 2×6’s. I’m on a low budget but is it worth it to pay more and do the 2×6’s? Or will 2×4’s be better? I am thinking of making it 8 foot long and 24” deep, and the height I don’t really know about, I’m about 5’9”- 5’10”, so any height suggestions would be awesome!
Also if you have any designs I would appreciate them.

If you think of anything I should consider changing please let me know, I want to make this workbench the best I can
Thanks


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Construction lumber 2 X s*

Most if not all construction lumber will have rounded edges which will have to be removed to make a top that has no small ridges. That will require a table saw or planer and lots of work. :|

I would get one sheet of 3/4" plywood, cut it into 4 equal 24" widths, or just slightly less, and glue them together forming a top that is 3" thick and 48" long, and 24" wide. It will be strong, heavy, flat and will have a smooth surface, and it will be cheap, and require less work. They can cut it at the box store for you if necessary.


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

I am doing what you are talking about now. My last (current) bench, I used 2x3 construction lumber from home depot, and after removing the rounded edges and warp, I was left with a top that was 1 1/2" thick. That is why I went with 2x6s over 2x4s this time. I have ripped off the rounded edges and have 5" to work with now. Even if I need to remove 1/2" to get it flat, I will still be left with a nice thick top. If I went with 2x4s, I would most likely end up with a top that is a little under 3" thick. While that would probably be totally fine, I fully intend for this to me my workbench for a very long time, so I went for a thicker top. That way, I can plane it smooth and flat many times over the years as ig gets dinged up.

My current bench is 38" tall (based on advice I read from Paul Sellers), but I think that is too high for me. I am 5'11.

My current one has a front and back apron. While that gives it alot of lateral stiffness, I don't like not being able to easily clamp things to it with an F clamp. The apron gets in the way too much.

This time, it will be a Roubo style bench. It will be 35" or 36" tall. 

Here is my build thread: http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/roubo-bench-build-172394/


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

I think many workbenches are overbuilt. This is just my opinion but if you're not setting engine blocks on your workbench, you probably will be fine with 1 1/2" finished top as long as it's well supported underneath. Many of us will use sheet material on top. When it gets to looking bad we can turn it over and start again with a clean top. 
I've seen workbenches so pretty you would not want to use them and mess them up. What's the use of that? It's a workbench. Build a nice one and put your attention and detail on the projects you produce.


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## WesTex (Jan 5, 2014)

If you will be doing a lot of hand tool work, then I suggest that before you begin building (or even buying any material), obtain a copy of Christopher Schwarz's book "Workbenches from Design & Theory to Construction & Use". It's available from Amazon for $23.34. Also available elsewhere. I bought mine off the Woodcraft shelf. Even if you choose to not build either bench in the book it'll save you more than it's cost in whatever bench you build. 
This is my bench, built from 2/12 & 2x10 SYP & Titebond Extend. Leg vise is ash. Drawbore pegs are oak.








It holds up to a lot of abuse even though SYP is relatively soft. 


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

That's a beautiful bench. Your shop is larger than mine. I really like the shop floor. You have plenty of drawers behind the workbench. 
I have drawers in my workbench. I've built two workbenches with drawers. My son has my first one after 30 years of use. I put KV drawer slides on my second one but built it almost exactly like my first. I have to use all available space in my garage shop.


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## WesTex (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks, Toolman, for the good words. What you see in the photo is the hand tool side of my Grouch Cave. It's 13 x 20. 
Drawers in the bench would interfere with clamps & holdfasts for my work style. Something to consider when building a bench. 
I moved my bench to the other side of the room so I could keep my tools handy in cast-off cabinets. 








My bench today. 


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

WesTex said:


> Thanks, Toolman, for the good words. What you see in the photo is the hand tool side of my Grouch Cave. It's 13 x 20.
> Drawers in the bench would interfere with clamps & holdfasts for my work style. Something to consider when building a bench.
> I moved my bench to the other side of the room so I could keep my tools handy in cast-off cabinets.
> 
> ...


You've got a great looking shop. Well organized.


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## Adnick (Jul 13, 2017)

Hondo & all:

New here, came across this site/post while searching for small workbench designs, my daughter in law is looking for something to use in a small apartment...

Would suggest 2x6s or even 2x8s find them more stable if ripping is required.

Here's my bench mostly out of reclaimed old growth long leaf pine heartwood, 10 feet long 34inchs high, 5 + inches thick, split top with one side 20 " and the other 12" 

Benchcrafted crisscross leg vise and Lie Nielsen tail vise recently added an insert case of drawers..

The book by Chris is very good but believe he is wrong about bench heights, his recommendations are way too short for me. "The Workbench" book by Schleining is also excellent....

Good luck,
Andy


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Masterpiece workbench. Excellent use of space with the drawers. I bet that bad boy's heavy.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

hondo said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> So I’m looking to build a new workbench in the next week or so, and wanted a few opinions on what I should do. First off I want a solid bench top, I can’t decide between 2×4’s and 2×6’s. I’m on a low budget but is it worth it to pay more and do the 2×6’s? Or will 2×4’s be better? I am thinking of making it 8 foot long and 24” deep, and the height I don’t really know about, I’m about 5’9”- 5’10”, so any height suggestions would be awesome!
> Also if you have any designs I would appreciate them.
> ...


I made my work bench of 2x6's. However, I see no need of having then laid on their ends. I laid the ones I used on their side. That is plenty strong for anything that I can think of. Did not worry about how close together that they fit because I then laid a sheet4 of 1/8 masonite(also called hardboard) on top. Unless you are going to park your car on top of your bench you do not need 2x4's laid on their 2" side.

That gave me a very solid bench with a smooth top that can be easily replaced when it gets dirty or damaged. I also worry less about just what happens it it as it is so easy and cheap to replace.

George


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## WesTex (Jan 5, 2014)

Beautiful bench, Adnick. It also appears quite functional. I see what appears to be rectangular dog holes along the bench edge, and a holdfast in the top. Do you have some round dog holes too? I can't tell from the photos. Never mind. I can see them in the last photo. 
I think bench height is a matter of preference. I have a squatty body (5'7" when I stretch), and built mine 34" tall. This works well for me for most hand tool work. Kinda low for dovetails. I've been considering building a Moxon Vise. Did you build yours? What hardware did you use - Benchcrafted? 
I'll have to check out Schleining's book. Maybe I'll find something in it to apply to my bench. Or to build another one. 


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## Adnick (Jul 13, 2017)

Thanks for the compliments, my bench is probably close to 1000 lbs with tools, it weighed just under 500lbs without the bottom shelf or drawer cabinet.

I'm mainly a hand tool guy, the bench build was 90% hand tools, did use a bandsaw for some of the large ripping. 

Bench thickness comes down to vibration and give, I can chop mortises anywhere on my bench without any vibration, and there is no racking during heavy duty plane work or sawing. Personally I'd never go thinner than 4" on the top, unless it was extremely dense wood, or a torsion box design.

The Moxon, it's BC hardware, was moved to a dedicated Jointer bench, but with a real tail vise, I don't use the Moxon much. Almost all my dovetails and mortises are done at the tail vise.


Yes I have "The Workbench" book, it's good, and when coupled with CS books on workbenches, you don't need anything else.

Here is the Jointer bench

Westex: BTW I'm in the Texas Hill Country, where are you in west TX?

Regards,
Andy


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## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

It really boils down to preferences. I went with 2x4s so mine is a bit over 3 1/4 after planing off the round edges which was a LOT OF work. I didn't have a decent table saw when I built it nor a really good plane for that matter so there are a few bumps here and there, but 3 years later it's still holding up very well with the exception that my face vise is getting loose and no longer square to the apron. I didn't bother to plane the bottom side of the top.
I'll probably just flip it around someday and use the opposite side and use longer lag bolts to hold it (the vise) in place. I've considered rebuilding it with hardwood or maybe yellow pine instead of the softer white pine.
I have no problem with the legs, but I would like to add a decent leg vise someday instead of the junky one I slapped onto the old crap bench along the wall I still haven't torn down although I keep saying I'm going to someday. 
Maybe it's just me, but I just can't seem to get motivated enough to want to sweep up the floors on a regular basis so that becomes a major major problem trying to get motivated to sweep the floor when I do get around to it every 3 months or so.. I end up filling up the trash bins completely whenever I do get really ambitious..lol


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## WesTex (Jan 5, 2014)

Andy, I'm about an hour WSW of Abilene. 
I do my dovetails at my coffin vise, but I've played with a Moxon Vise a bit & like the added height it gives for sawing. 
I fully agree that heavy is best for hand tool work. The bench stays put. No creeping, no racking, no moving at all. Great for chopping & sawing.
Is the jointer bench free-standing or attached to the wall? If free-standing, does it try to move on you when sawing?


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## NoNails (Jun 6, 2016)

I myself am starting another bench, and as stated earlier highly recommend Christopher Schwarz's book. Also, check out Paul Sellers YouTube videos on benches, then build something to suit you! Mine is developing into a mongrel (a combo of several aspects I like).
If you use commercial lumber, I recommend bypassing the 2x4, &6's as they most of the time will be "white wood/white pine" go on down to the real lumber the 2x8's/10's/12's you'll find the quality is superior in that they are SYP (Southern Yellow Pine); much tougher. I'm using 2x12's ripped in half with all faced jointed flat and glued triplet for my legs. My top in going to be red oak (real 2x4's from a local sawyer) glued face to face after jointing flat. Hoping for a 3 1/2 top.


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## Adnick (Jul 13, 2017)

Westex:

My Moxon is attached to the wall with lag bolts, attached the two legs the same, so it's easy to convert back to a bench top Moxon....one thing to keep in mind, the depth of the Moxon may not be deep enough for some projects when it's attached directly to the wall 

First realized this when making my drawers, had to space the vise out form the wall a few inches, and mine was much deeper than the proposed BC design, I had added a tool space for chisels and saws, it's also a bit wider than BCs plan

Here's a photo that shows it from above,

Andy


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## WesTex (Jan 5, 2014)

Very nice vise! I'd be afraid I'd spill the contents of that cup on it.  


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## JBrianBaker (Jun 28, 2017)

This is the bench I built a couple years back for general use and was about $75 in materials, https://www.familyhandyman.com/work...ld-a-workbench-super-simple-50-bench/view-all

I made one modification to mine. The area above the peg board that's open in the back, I also put peg board up but behind the 2x4s whereas the pegboard below is in front of the 2x4s.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

JBrianBaker said:


> This is the bench I built a couple years back for general use and was about $75 in materials, https://www.familyhandyman.com/work...ld-a-workbench-super-simple-50-bench/view-all
> 
> I made one modification to mine. The area above the peg board that's open in the back, I also put peg board up but behind the 2x4s whereas the pegboard below is in front of the 2x4s.


That looks like a nice,, solid workbench.

George


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

A lot depends on what you're doing with it. If you're mostly using power tools, 2x4 or even a little thinner is fine. If you're mostly using hand tools, 2x4 or thicker with really solid joinery will be a lot more pleasant to work on. In any case, I think the primary argument for cutting it down from wider lumber (2x12, usually) is that you can usually get wood that's closer to quartersawn out of wide boards.

In any case, I would only remove the roundovers from one side of the 2x lumber: it doesn't actually matter if the underside of the bench is textured, and it's a lot of work if you don't have power tools to do the job.

You can also use plywood: my current bench is four layers of 3/4" ply, and it's been solid and reliably flat for something like six or seven years. I edged it with pine 1x4, ripped and planed to the right thickness. It's about 50"x25", and I find it's about 4-6" deeper than it needs to be. Mostly the last of that space is used for storing large tools and garbage, so I think my next bench will be only about 20" deep. That's personal preference, though, and 24" is pretty common. This is an old (and not very good) photo, but it should be enough to see how it fits together.

Bench 1 by a_mckenzie_4, on Flickr


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## JBrianBaker (Jun 28, 2017)

GeorgeC said:


> That looks like a nice,, solid workbench.
> George


George,

It is. I was quite surprised. Obviously it's not specifically made for wood working as seen from some of the nicer wood working benches in this thread but as a general use workbench for the price to make, I've been very satisfied with it.

One other modification I forgot I made. Instead of plywood for the top and shelf, I used flatter MDF then sealed it with shellac. None of the local plywood I found was smooth or flat enough.


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## sgibby88 (May 28, 2015)

JBrianBaker said:


> This is the bench I built a couple years back for general use and was about $75 in materials, https://www.familyhandyman.com/work...ld-a-workbench-super-simple-50-bench/view-all
> 
> I made one modification to mine. The area above the peg board that's open in the back, I also put peg board up but behind the 2x4s whereas the pegboard below is in front of the 2x4s.


i built the same bench for my basement to work on all my rc cars and other small misc projects. It is a pretty solid bench. I put peg board all the way up to the top so i could hang every thing to keep the actual bench top as clear as possible

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## JBrianBaker (Jun 28, 2017)

sgibby88 said:


> i built the same bench for my basement to work on all my rc cars and other small misc projects. It is a pretty solid bench. I put peg board all the way up to the top so i could hang every thing to keep the actual bench top as clear as possible
> 
> Sent from my App Runtime for Chrome using Tapatalk


By putting the top piece of peg board behind that 2 x 4 brace I gained a small 2" x 4" ledger on which to also set items.


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## Brian(J) (Feb 22, 2016)

If there is an Ikea nearby another option that will work for some is a solid birch 1 1/8" x 74" x 12" countertop for $119. I have two and it works well for me, I like working on a hardwood surface and have two large a project backlog to build workshop tops, so it was money well spent. If you expect to chop mortises in the middle of it you would need a center leg, at least. Other than that it doesn't flex noticeably.

The big box stores sell similar but sometimes the wood is an unknown species.


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## Misplaced Hoosier (Aug 19, 2021)

WesTex said:


> If you will be doing a lot of hand tool work, then I suggest that before you begin building (or even buying any material), obtain a copy of Christopher Schwarz's book "Workbenches from Design & Theory to Construction & Use". It's available from Amazon for $23.34. Also available elsewhere. I bought mine off the Woodcraft shelf. Even if you choose to not build either bench in the book it'll save you more than it's cost in whatever bench you build.
> This is my bench, built from 2/12 & 2x10 SYP & Titebond Extend. Leg vise is ash. Drawbore pegs are oak.
> 
> 
> ...


I have Chris' book, and have been leaning heavily on it. Love your bench. Very similar to the one I'm currently building. 22" x 5"x 8' with 6x6 legs laminated from 2x8's. Top is laminated 2x6's and hand planed. VERY time consuming, but loving the shop time doing it. Plus I don't have a dust issue. Like yours, my legs will be flush to the face and drawbored. Have been going over tenon sizes for the leg/top connection. Current layout is 4 3/4" x 3" x 3 1/2" deep. After looking at several other references regarding tenons, these dimensions seem a little off. Any suggestions before I make anything permanent?


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## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

If you really want to go heavy with pine (SYP grows like weeds here in SC) you may want to get 2x12s, rip out the pith so that's out of the way and you still have enough for a darn thick top.. I've made quite a bit of furniture with SYP and always cut out the pith because the board will always want to cup around the pith unless you happen to be lucky enough to find old dry lumber that's not cupped..
I dunno..I built mine with 2x4 lumber and hand planed all the rounded edges off. I could still park my truck on top if I had to and I seriously doubt it would bow. I wish I had used 2x8s at least and cut out the pith, but boohoo.. With 12s you could possibly get 3 boards if you leave the pith in one of them with easily a 3" top..
I can't think of anything I'll ever do to actually wear out a 3x(bench width) top short of having a bonfire under it every day for a few weeks..
Something else to think about..drilling through a 3" top to put dog holes or whatever through it isn't easy. Try 5 or 6" top. You may have to buy a drill bit company..and IT WILL get really freakin heavy and trust me on at least one thing if you don't believe a single word I've ever said..You WILL get old and heavy is not your friend when you're old..

Edit: Well crap.. Another necroposting.. Brought back from the dead..


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## JoseFernandes (Aug 3, 2021)

hondo said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> So I’m looking to build a new workbench in the next week or so, and wanted a few opinions on what I should do. First off I want a solid bench top, I can’t decide between 2×4’s and 2×6’s. I’m on a low budget but is it worth it to pay more and do the 2×6’s? Or will 2×4’s be better? I am thinking of making it 8 foot long and 24” deep, and the height I don’t really know about, I’m about 5’9”- 5’10”, so any height suggestions would be awesome!
> Also if you have any designs I would appreciate them.
> ...


Hi Hondo.
You got many nice suggestions here, and very nice pictures. However, keep your budget in mind, and the fact that the bench is where you do the work, not the work itself. The design and materials also depend on how you work, machine driven or hand tools, or a mix. I have a benchtop of laminated ply, and another using a solid core door cut to size. I use a sheet of hardboard pinned on top of both benches for protection. As for height, I'm 5'9" and I use 34". If you go for the solid core door, consider covering the edges with some hard wood like oak or ash. These strips don't need to be very thick. Good luck with your new bench.


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