Plywood Workbench Such a Success

You can watch the 3rd episode of building the plywood workbench on YouTube now and the 4th episode on woodworkingmasterclasses as well. I hope you enjoy both. Both are of course free.

The plywood workbench has really hit the mark. To those who are following and making I will gladly show pictures here if you send them in. I could never have imagined it would be so well received and if course I am using both of mine day to day when I can. The amazing thing is that there is absolutely zero wood movement in any of the component parts. I have been testing the moisture levels in the plywood periodically and the atmosphere varies quite a bit. I measure the same piece of plywood at 10% MC and then when it was down around 5% and there is no difference in size be that width, length or thickness. That is never the case with solid wood of course. This is the Finnish birch 13 ply plywood I am using. Well worth the extra. So with all of the parts remaining exactly to size there is no discrepancy and no distortion either.

On the upgraded version, the apron drawer and sliding well boards open exactly as they did on day one. Again this shows the absolute stability plywood brings to the project. I do compare both my secondhand wood version made from pine or spruce, with my pine one and then my plywood one and of course these benches are near perfect with regards to functionality. There is a little more movement with the softwood versions and of course there would definitely be with hardwood ones too. i have enjoyed the plywood look as well. So get on your bike down to the plywood store and pick up the wood. Better still, get it delivered!