Jarrah Workbench Top Thickness

[Mooncabbage]

Ok, good info. I was planning on having some more lights over the bench anyway, I was just thinking the lighter wood might scatter and diffuse the light better. As for paint, I would be concerned that it would rub off on the work pieces, and it's not a particularly durable finish in my experience anyway.

[JDarvall]

Ok, good info. I was planning on having some more lights over the bench anyway, I was just thinking the lighter wood might scatter and diffuse the light better. As for paint, I would be concerned that it would rub off on the work pieces, and it's not a particularly durable finish in my experience anyway.

ply is pine…and pine is light….

Thats another advantage in ply….you can draw all over it. The grain doesn't grab your pencil. So you layout lines directly on your bench even. . Make quick calculations with your pencil straight on the bench etc etc. Whenever I make a template with notes all over it, its always with a piece of pine, because its hard to re-read writing off a dark material.

You can then screw supporting blocks for any jig straight into it, very quickly without having to bother about pilot holes.

If your not getting natural light down there, forget the jarrah for the top. The hassle having to flat tern it at the beginning might put you off woodworking altogether as well.

just an opinion.

[LGS]

I was going to suggest a MDF sacrificial top over the Jarrah. For the same reasons as Jake. All you need do is buy a piece of MDF that fits over the Jarrah top and use some screws at the corners to hold it down. This way, you have the beauty of the Jarrah available when you want to show off the bench and the utility of a throw away MDF bench top.

Regards,

Rob

[FenceFurniture]

Yep, I reckon there is merit to that too. You could actually have a slip on top (register it with the dog 'oles) with a small apron (say 30mm) around the sides of it. Make it so that it doesn't interfere with face vises. Extending that idea, you have another with a melamine surface which is great for glue-ups, anything else that involves liquids.

You could either screw them down for extended work or just use holdfasts for quickish jobs.

[Mooncabbage]

Ok, good info. Unfortunately i have to use jarrah for the top, because I can't afford an alternative material. I do like the idea of laying out on the top. I have ply, but it's CD stuff. I also have a decent bit of light pine i rescued. It's that bunnings stuff, 300mm x 12mm or something. Resawn it should easily cover the top. This is what i was considering using.

[orraloon]

I do not see any need to cover a bench top. If I am chopping out joints I just place a bit of scrap wood below the work piece. To be solid the cover will have to be either glued to the jarrah top or screwed otherwise it will be springy. Glued will be a bugger to get off later and screws will leave holes. Just my view.
Regards
John

[sercher]

I do not see any need to cover a bench top. If I am chopping out joints I just place a bit of scrap wood below the work piece. To be solid the cover will have to be either glued to the jarrah top or screwed otherwise it will be springy. Glued will be a bugger to get off later and screws will leave holes. Just my view.
Regards
John

Yea brother a bench is a bench, to be worked on. All bench tops good or bad have to be trued about every ten years or so, so use the bench for what it is for, to work on any more that that and it become a piece of furniture and should be in the house.