Plywood grade /thickness for work bench.

twincamman

Hi everyone..i have a steel workbench thats needs a top..its only a 7ftx2 ft bench .thinking of using plywood.any recomendations on grade /thickness

the_pen_turner

3 / 4 @ wbp.
cut sheet in half and glue together

twincamman

the_pen_turner wrote: »

3 / 4 @ wbp.
cut sheet in half and glue together

Thank you

jack of all

I made a bench and used ply for the top also, but I used a sheet of 3/4" pine shuttering grade ply, cut in half and glued together. Be careful what ply you use though- a lot of what now passes for WBP is that poor quality hardwood ply that comes from China- it has a nice (but thin) decorative face veneer and looks the job, but it's full of voids and delaminates very easily. All is good until you cut it and you see how poor it is.

I sealed the top of my ply bench with a mix of polyurethane varnish, white spirit and some boileed linseed oil. It's held up very well so far. The shuttering ply makes for a cheap top, which I can reverse when it gets chewed up.

foxy farmer

jack of all wrote: »

I made a bench and used ply for the top also, but I used a sheet of 3/4" pine shuttering grade ply, cut in half and glued together. Be careful what ply you use though- a lot of what now passes for WBP is that poor quality hardwood ply that comes from China- it has a nice (but thin) decorative face veneer and looks the job, but it's full of voids and delaminates very easily. All is good until you cut it and you see how poor it is.

Would it be like this stuff? Bought a few sheets Dec 15 to make a few concrete shutters. Did 1 job and noticed when I pulled them out in May last year the layers were peeling. Stored indoors dry and oiled before use. Had 2 out last week and now hardly fit for the fire. Coop was selling it as shuttering ply. Pure sh1te in my opinion. Hardly fit for interior use.

jack of all

I won't argue with you foxy farmer, you'd expect to get more than one use out of a shutter. I'm sure there are different qualites in shuttering ply too, though. The stuff I've bought and like to use is "parana pine", and while I've found some sheets can be a little twisted it has very little voids and doesn't delaminate like the "wbp" sold now. 15- 20 years ago I remember buying WBP ply that was 7 ply, all hardwood, little or no voids and a pleasure to use.

Calahonda52

Given the size, maybe look at some scaffold planks for strength and cover with ply which can be replaced if it gets guntered: depends on what you want to do with it.

tabby aspreme

Treat yourself to a sheet of 12mm Birch ply , 12 mm birch would be stronger than 18mm wbp and will not fall apart, should cost about €60

twincamman

thanks lads..i was told a sheet of mdf is good aswell

colm_mcm

twincamman wrote: »

thanks lads..i was told a sheet of mdf is good aswell

Until it gets damp. Ply is way better.

twincamman

im thinking of using a sheet of ply with a 3mm sheet of steel over it..any clues on what a 8x4 sheet of steel would cost?

colm_mcm

I dunno man, steel could be a pain in the hoop in comparison to wood for a workbench - what will you be using it for?

pablo128

A length of kitchen counter top is the right job for it. Cheap enough too.

aidanki

I rent and am moving to a new house v soon.

My bedroom doesn't have any drawers in it unfortunately. I know I could buy a set from some second hand furniture place but I'm toying with the idea of making them. I want the drawers for clothes.

Say overall size of chest. 4ft long 4ft height 2ft 6 deep, 5 drawers in total. The big thing I'm wondering is would I need slides on the drawers ?

I've plenty practice at metal fabrication so I think I will manage the making ok

Ideally I need to be able to take the frame apart so that I can move it to my next house whenever that may be

colm_mcm

I'd just go to Ikea tbh.

Probably not in the spirit of the DIY forum!

Dr_Colossus

aidanki wrote: »

I rent and am moving to a new house v soon.

My bedroom doesn't have any drawers in it unfortunately. I know I could buy a set from some second hand furniture place but I'm toying with the idea of making them. I want the drawers for clothes.

Say overall size of chest. 4ft long 4ft height 2ft 6 deep, 5 drawers in total. The big thing I'm wondering is would I need slides on the drawers ?

I've plenty practice at metal fabrication so I think I will manage the making ok

Ideally I need to be able to take the frame apart so that I can move it to my next house whenever that may be

Off topic to the OP's post but not worth your while making a chest of drawers unless you have a very specific space to fit them requiring a customised job. You'll pick up a chest on adverts for cheaper than what you'd buy the materials for. Something like this
http://www.adverts.ie/cabinets/chest-of-drawers/12615427