Haynie
Member
Why are workbench tops Maple? Is it a tradition thing or is there a practicle purpose?
Mark, here is a link to plans for a work bench from popular woodworking. It's made from pine and has suited my needs. While I won't disagree that Maple is a better top, I personally don't see the need for it. I've had my bench almost 5 years and while there are some minor dings in the work surface, they are not any major ones.
$175 Workbench - Popular Woodworking Magazine
I would suspect that is because it is more common there just as Maple is more common here.Here in Europe, beech is more common.
Nice tables John. What is the tool on the left side of the last picture?
Nice tables John. What is the tool on the left side of the last picture?
Nice bench Dan. They shut down our middle school shop class. Cleared everything out to put a computer lab in.
Unfortunately they left all the benches like that on outside unprotected all winter. By the time of the auction none were salvageable. I even pointed out that they would get ruined in late august when I saw them. Their response was "no one will want them anyway." I said I would take two off their hands but they would not go for it. Lots of people at the auction were as saddened at the waste as I was.
ROTFLMAO! At one point (and I believe it was during Norm Abram's "New Yankee Workshop), a shop crafted maple top work bench became the "maker's mark" for quality craftsmanship.
In today's global economy, you can buy a superbly built 6' x 30" Maple top workbench of $199. That features powder coated steel frame and legs and designed to allow modular wheeled tool cabinets to "nest" underneath the bench or slide out for additional "modular" , "collapsable" workspace. The QUALITY of these pieces FAR SURPASSES what could be shop built.
The FUNNY part is these benches SELL ( at Sam's Club prices) for about $100 LESS THAN a pre-made maple TOP ONLY, or about $250 LESS than ordering the lumber to build your own.
My, the times, they are a changing.
Oh, and find cheaper wood dealers. I can buy all the lumber to build a 72 x 30 x 4 inch thick Hard Maple worktop for about $100.
Oh, and find cheaper wood dealers. I can buy all the lumber to build a 72 x 30 x 4 inch thick Hard Maple worktop for about $100.
And where would this be? Seriously. For me to get the material-white hard maple- at 12/4 thick is 12.99 a board foot. Plus a 7 hour drive one way to get it. The top alone would cause a divorce.
Oh, and find cheaper wood dealers. I can buy all the lumber to build a 72 x 30 x 4 inch thick Hard Maple worktop for about $100.
And where would this be? Seriously. For me to get the material-white hard maple- at 12/4 thick is 12.99 a board foot. Plus a 7 hour drive one way to get it. The top alone would cause a divorce.
The mill I've used for the past dozen years in Pennsylvania. Maple is much cheaper here in the East. $.80 per bf for 4/4, and 1.20 for anything over 12/4
Even at your listing of $1.20 per bf that still comes out to around $860 just for the lumber for the top of a 72 x 30 x 4 worktop, as that is 720 board feet. To get the lumber for the top at around $100 you would have to pay close to $0.15 per bf.
Oh, and find cheaper wood dealers. I can buy all the lumber to build a 72 x 30 x 4 inch thick Hard Maple worktop for about $100.
And where would this be? Seriously. For me to get the material-white hard maple- at 12/4 thick is 12.99 a board foot. Plus a 7 hour drive one way to get it. The top alone would cause a divorce.
The mill I've used for the past dozen years in Pennsylvania. Maple is much cheaper here in the East. $.80 per bf for 4/4, and 1.20 for anything over 12/4
Even at your listing of $1.20 per bf that still comes out to around $860 just for the lumber for the top of a 72 x 30 x 4 worktop, as that is 720 board feet. To get the lumber for the top at around $100 you would have to pay close to $0.15 per bf.
Oh, and find cheaper wood dealers. I can buy all the lumber to build a 72 x 30 x 4 inch thick Hard Maple worktop for about $100.
And where would this be? Seriously. For me to get the material-white hard maple- at 12/4 thick is 12.99 a board foot. Plus a 7 hour drive one way to get it. The top alone would cause a divorce.
The mill I've used for the past dozen years in Pennsylvania. Maple is much cheaper here in the East. $.80 per bf for 4/4, and 1.20 for anything over 12/4
Even at your listing of $1.20 per bf that still comes out to around $860 just for the lumber for the top of a 72 x 30 x 4 worktop, as that is 720 board feet. To get the lumber for the top at around $100 you would have to pay close to $0.15 per bf.
6 foot, by 2.5 foot is 15 foot. 4 inches thick is 60 bf.
Oh, and find cheaper wood dealers. I can buy all the lumber to build a 72 x 30 x 4 inch thick Hard Maple worktop for about $100.
And where would this be? Seriously. For me to get the material-white hard maple- at 12/4 thick is 12.99 a board foot. Plus a 7 hour drive one way to get it. The top alone would cause a divorce.
The mill I've used for the past dozen years in Pennsylvania. Maple is much cheaper here in the East. $.80 per bf for 4/4, and 1.20 for anything over 12/4
Even at your listing of $1.20 per bf that still comes out to around $860 just for the lumber for the top of a 72 x 30 x 4 worktop, as that is 720 board feet. To get the lumber for the top at around $100 you would have to pay close to $0.15 per bf.
Say what?????
Try this Board Foot Calculator