Your Workbench, is it perfectly flat?

[John R. Allen]

Is your workbench flat?  I made a workbench top out of two layers of 3/4 material.  I tried to be really careful in the construction and the  glue up but when I put a 3 foot level on it, it turns out that it was not perfectly flat, some places are 1/16 to 1/8 higher or lower.  So, I think that if I make a table or chair, and assemble on the workbench, it's ultimately going to have contact with the floor in an uneven manner and thus "rock" some amount. 

Any ideas how to resolve this?  I notice in quite a few books I read they say that for the money, it's faster and easier to buy a maple or birch top.  My experience so far would support that idea even though prior to making the top I thought I could make it cheaper than buying it.

John

[Gary roofner]

How do you know the surface you had level on to start with was level?

[John R. Allen]

Gary,
I don't know if it was level or not. I know it was not flat (that's what is the issue) because I put the level across the top and I can see gaps between the level and the workbench top. If I slide the level around the top, there are gaps and high spots. That's what makes me think that a table assembled on the top will rock when I set it on the floor and use it.

Gary roofner said:

How do you know the surface you had level on to start with was level?

[John Schaben]

"I made a workbench top out of two layers of 3/4 material."

What kind of material?
I build mine with 3/4 ply, for strength, top with 3/4 particle board, for flatness/hardness, top that with 1/4" masonite/hardboard for protection. Sometimes I'll poly the top.

[Mark Lesch]

John if your top needs to be flatend you can do this with a router by making a jig that your router rides in it is a u shape that will go all the way across the table top with a slot for a router bit to stick thru you will have to make rails for both sides of the table that the u shape will ride on then level the rails start with your router at the lowest point on the top and just move your router back and forth across the top moving the u shaped sled as you go . If you go get a stair tread bit they are a larger diameter and will take less time.
If when your done your top is rough try sanding or add a 1/4" peice of hard board .

[Hugh Clare]

Just to establish a point of reference, you may run the same test on the floor in your house. How flat is it? You may take great pains to get your bench flat only to find out floors aren't any better. I work with dimensions to four decimal places and I'm constantly having to remind myself that when out in my garage, I'm not building an airplane. By the way, I built my bench tops the same way you did, and I've not noticed any issues with the flatness. :)

[Bill Bumpus]

I saw a good podcast on the Wood Whisperer about how to make your own flat surface assembly table. It was really sharp. I put it on my to do list.

Bill

[John R. Allen]

I ended up buying a maple bench top through Amazon. It is supposed to be flat, maybe not machinist flat but flat none the less. After I factored in the material cost and the time cost of making a really flat bench top myself, buying it was way less expensive and probably a better product. So, that top is on its way to the shop and I will be putting it on to the frame of the work bench soon. I'll post some pictures of it so you can see how it looks. I can use the material I purchased already for some shelves in the soon to be constructed storage area in the garage.

Now I am moving on to the next project, a chop saw table.

John

[Joe Nash]

Google "torsion box assembly table". It sounds like a chore, but one develops some skills along repetitive way, that's for sure.