I finally finished refurbishing an antique workbench that my grandfather and father both used in their businesses. My best estimate is that it was built about 1940-1945, was in my grandfather's service station until about 1958 and then was moved to my Dad's business where it remained until about 3 months ago. I had to repair a couple of the legs, replace the front piece and one end of the top working surface (red oak) and sand off about 1/8" or so of the top. It is made of hardwood and is held together by bolts. There are 6 - 1/2" rods thru the top section with a large spring on one end to allow for expansion and contraction. The top is made of tongue and groove construction with the pieces being about 3" thick. It is 10 ft long, 3 ft high and 32" wide. Weight has got to be close to 400 lbs! The top still has some worm holes and gouges, etc, but I think that it adds to the character of the bench. Here are some pictures.
Before
After
