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6th May 2013, 11:36 PM #1SENIOR MEMBER
- Join Date
- May 2009
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- Coffs Coast
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- 115
dressing hardwood for benchtop help?
I'm starting my bench build shortly.. big heavy hardwood top with old 5" house stumps for legs. Not sure on vices yet. Will be 2.4m long and 600 wide. Probably split top, with wedged tenoned frame to allow moving the beast.
I found some decent recycled 4x 2's ( hardwood ) for the top but I'm looking for someone with a big thicknesser to help dress it down after I laminate it up in two parts. I've looked for a cabinetmakers workshop to help but the first few calls came back blank, so I'd thought I'd try here first.
Anyone in the Coffs area able to assist? I'll dress the wood down on my little ryobi thicknesser then laminate so any nails missed by my detector will have already been shown up by trashing my blades not yours.
Any takers or suggestions?
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7th May 2013, 07:33 AM #2
For my build I found the hard part was cleaning up for the lamination stage. To my surprise flattening the laminated top by hand was relatively easy. What hand planes do you have? Have a look at this How to build a workbench - (Part 2) Planing and preparing the top - with Paul Sellers - YouTube
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7th May 2013, 07:53 AM #3SENIOR MEMBER
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- May 2009
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- Coffs Coast
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- 115
dressing hardwood for benchtop help?
Fuzzie,
Looks like Mr Sellers is soon doing it easy there with his wood - I'd to see him with some 50 year old 'north coast select'...
Yes the cleaning up will be painfully slow but doable with help from my little neighbour annoyer. I expect lots of interlocked grain in the old house framing timber that I have. My krenov style with hock blades will handle it fine, but I expect I can do more productive things with the time it takes to dress it down as I don't think my thicknesser will do a very good job. I'll already be doing a lot of hand jointing to get the lamination done.
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7th May 2013, 08:15 AM #4GOLD MEMBER
- Join Date
- Nov 2011
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- Sutherland Shire, Sydney
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- 71
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Something else to consider
You could try an electric plane to do the majority of the work, then finish off with a hand plane or belt sander.
Good luck with your project.
Alan...
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7th May 2013, 08:26 AM #5
Do you have a jointer/thicknesser to get the individual boards fairly close to same dimension before laminating??
If you use some sort of registration aid along the edges for glue up (e.g. domino or biscuit joiner), the top should come out reasonably flat.
If so, final flattening can be done with a big drum sander. We have a timber flooring guy locally who will put benchtops, tabletops, etc. through his for a small charge. Maybe you can find the same near to you?
Of course, if you are unable to dress the boards before laminating a sander will be too slow to remove bulk material.
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7th May 2013, 08:39 AM #6
That's what I thought too when I was building mine out of 30 year old Ironbark decking joists. But you might be surprised like I was.
Attacking the top with a plane was A LOT easier than trying to get the individual pieces flat, straight and square.
...+edit
Also the weight of the assembled top might become unmanageable. My top was 100kg.
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7th May 2013, 08:57 AM #7
What about laminating it into 2 or 3 section under 12" then it should fit through your thicknesser. Should get you at lest part way there?
…..Live a Quiet Life & Work with your Hands
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7th May 2013, 09:11 AM #8SENIOR MEMBER
- Join Date
- May 2009
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- Coffs Coast
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- 115
dressing hardwood for benchtop help?
yes technically my machine is a 12" jobbie. Just it can't dress hardwood that wide, the motor just isn't up to it.
and yes I can do it in little bits, but I'm just trying to save time.
I will use biscuits for alignment too.
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7th May 2013, 09:16 AM #9
Another reason to try and find a local industrial drum sander - no matter how carefully you line the boards up, there will likely be some sections of reversing grain in the finished assemblies. Unless you have a thicknesser with helical cutterhead, you'll likely get some tearout from these sections. This won't happen with a drum sander....
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7th May 2013, 11:17 AM #10
Not only can you expect a better finish, but around here it's easier to find a shop with a suitably sized drum-sander than a 18"+ thicknesser!
- Andy Mc
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8th May 2013, 07:34 AM #11Senior Member
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Coffs Harbour
- Posts
- 222
Hi Elver
I have a 400mm jointer and a 500 mm thicknesser ( 3 phase ) if that's of any help. Haven't got a drum sander.......Yet
Have to tell you up front though that I'm a noob. Just getting started.
I'd also like to build a bench, so I'll trade you use of my machines for some guidance on my bench.
Hows that for a deal.
Of course if we hit nails that will be on your shoulders.
Cheers
PM me if you'd like.
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8th May 2013, 08:21 PM #12
build a jig and use a router with a wide planing bit.
best part - you make the jig as wide as you want and re-use it for table topsCan you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can? -- Sun Tzu
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8th May 2013, 09:41 PM #13SENIOR MEMBER
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- May 2009
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- Coffs Coast
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- 115
dressing hardwood for benchtop help?
barterbuilt,
will pm. sounds like a geed deal! Thanks.
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12th May 2013, 02:55 PM #14SENIOR MEMBER
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- May 2009
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- Coffs Coast
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12th May 2013, 03:09 PM #15SENIOR MEMBER
- Join Date
- May 2009
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- Coffs Coast
- Posts
- 115
dressing hardwood for benchtop help?
enelef - ignore me. found pics.