"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
I'm about to start building the "furniture" for the hangar. After a
lifetime of
building "manly" workbenches out of DF 4x4s milled to take 2x4
crossmembers, and
having the concomitant rot and deterioration of wood, I'm considering
making the
framing out of 1¼ PVC Schedule 40 pipe and fittings. The problem is what
to use
for the bench tops and shelving underneath.

So far, all my "heavy duty" workbenches have been made out of 3/4" plywood
with
a 2" doubler plate along the front and back, and my electronic workbenches
have
been either solid core or hollow core doors with an appropriate varnish or
Deft
coating on them.

However, since I'm going to a new method of framing, I'd like thoughts on
what
you have used as workbench/shelving materials. The benches will be about
2'
wide and 6' long. Yes, I know, solid moulded Teflon would be best, but
quick
and cheap is high on the list of attributes I'm looking for.

Thoughts appreciated.

Jim
Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

The best workbench top I have ever seen was an old bowling alley. It seems
that a local alley was damaged by fire but several of the alleys survived.
A friend of mine talked the insurance company into giving him the alleys if
he would remove them to clear the site for rebuilding.

It took a lot of friends with chain saws and a rented truck with a crane but
two of the alleys made it back to his shop and became spar benches. They
were dead flat, about 6" thick, and made of very hard laminated wood. They
sat on welded 2" square steel tube frames. My friend is long dead but the
work benches are probably still in use.

Bill Daniels