Dropped $400 on a fancy workbench top and it was a total waste

Do you have any advice for someone thinking about building their own bench? I want something I can actually abuse without worrying about looks or stains.

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_barnes352d ago

Oh come on, a $400 workbench top is NOT a waste if you actually USE it right. People baby their benches way too much and then complain they didn't get their money's worth. You want something you can abuse? Then buy a solid maple or butcher block top and just let it get beat up. Stains and dings add character, they don't ruin anything. I've got a bench that looks like a war zone and it's still going strong after 10 years, that's just the price of having something functional instead of pretty.

mitchell.shane2d ago

Totally agree @alice_barnes35. It's like people who buy trucks then never haul anything.

wren3012d ago

Butcher block top for $400? That's actually a really good deal if it's solid maple. Most decent butcher block countertops run closer to $600-$800 for a standard size. The thing people miss is that "solid" doesn't always mean what they think it means. A lot of those cheaper butcher block tops are actually edge-glued strips with voids and filler in between, so they'll split or cup way faster than a proper maple workbench top from a woodworking supplier. Sounds like yours was the real deal though if it held up a decade of abuse. Just saying, keep an eye out for those quick-drying wood glues in the joints, they're not all made the same and will crack under heavy use.