Edging-finishing benchtop, assistance please

[Ruslan]

Hi All,

I would like to ask you kindly woodwork lovers for advice how to finish the edge of the benchtop I made. I am a beginner, don't have an experience yet and many special tools possibly I need for what I'm doing.

Anyway, on pics you can see I used Tas Oak flooring boards (85x19mm) to build that benchtop; glued them together as they are and on top of 3 mm MDF. Because the room is not very big and the benchtop nearly entry door (on the left side on first pic) I cut it shape you can see. Now I can't use T-Oak timber strip to cover the edge (several attempts to bend some strips filed) as I was going to do if it was square table. Total length of that curve is about 1800mm.

Thanks,
Ruslan

[HappyHammer]

You might be able to buy a laminate strip or veneer.

http://www.homesite.com.au/diy/proje...ting-benches/1

Or thin down some Tassie Oak until your able to bend it around the bends. They don't look that tight.

HH.

[artme]

Welcome to the madhouse.
As HH says very thin strips of Tas. Oak,a superior quality glue and some edge clamps.
Steam the strips so they are more pliable. Steam so that you apply staem on the outside of an inwadr curve.
Failing this you just call in an expert at great expense!

[astrid]

you can buy iron on laminate in oak. its very bendy and easy to put on
trim it with a craft knife after you iron it on.
Astrid

[jerryc]

Hi Ruslan,
As a beginner I don't think you'd have access to edge clamps and you would need several. Astrid's suggestion of iron on veneer has merit but one thing worries me. The photos show that much of the bench is end grain, which is notoriously difficult to glue.
An iron on veneer would most likely have some form of contact adhesive and to get a grip would need time to cool down without too much stress.
I would suggest you get some panel pins ( a form of small nail) and a tack hammer. It would be best treated as a two person job with one ironing the veneer on and the other following with the pins. When I apply pins I hold them with needle nose pliers. Also don't forget to put small pieces of thin mdf or ply under the head of the pins so they can be taken out easily later on.

Jerry

Everyone is entitled to my opinion

[Ruslan]

Thanks for your ideas guys!
Now i know I had to think before and plan every steps.

Do I need to prepare surface before ironing, something like put timbermate in holes, etc?

From other side it would be better look if the edge thickness goes to more than 5mm and up to 8mm. Don't think an iron on veneer so thick.

Or can epoxy resin be used to make an edge in my case with sanding after? The benchtop is not fixed in place yet, so I can take it back to shed and work on it. If I clamp two sheets of MDF on each side (top and bottom), so they'll make 'U' channel, position the desk vertically, and than fill with resin... will it stick and stay without cracking or not?

Ruslan

[astrid]

yes it would look better, but unless you can steam timber to bend it, your going to hve to put up with a thin edge.
no you dont have to fill holes on the edge first unless they are more than about 1cm.
the iron on adhesive wont stick well to filler.

astrid

[Ruslan]

... some edge clamps.

As a beginner I don't think you'd have access to edge clamps...

The Google showed me what edge clamp is, never seen such thing before

[Ruslan]

yes it would look better, but unless you can steam timber to bend it, your going to hve to put up with a thin edge.
no you dont have to fill holes on the edge first unless they are more than about 1cm.
the iron on adhesive wont stick well to filler.

astrid

Hi Astrid,

We have 1L steam cleaner, my wife uses it time to time for kitchen needs, will it be OK for my bending job? Do I need to steam while bending or give a good steam to timber and bend after? And bend and clamp to place or bend to appropriate radius and glue it after? And PVA for outdoor use is OK or something else?

I have a lot of questions, my appriciation for your time

Ruslan

[astrid]

sorry , I have no idea how to steam bend timber, ask artme,
And whats PVA outside got to do with anything?
PVA is a water based wood glue and not suitable for outside.
Im confused
If you have a list of general questions.
List them separatly please and someone will be happy to answer .
Astrid

[Evan Pavlidis]

Hi All,

I would like to ask you kindly woodwork lovers for advice how to finish the edge of the benchtop I made. I am a beginner, don't have an experience yet and many special tools possibly I need for what I'm doing.

Anyway, on pics you can see I used Tas Oak flooring boards (85x19mm) to build that benchtop; glued them together as they are and on top of 3 mm MDF. Because the room is not very big and the benchtop nearly entry door (on the left side on first pic) I cut it shape you can see. Now I can't use T-Oak timber strip to cover the edge (several attempts to bend some strips filed) as I was going to do if it was square table. Total length of that curve is about 1800mm.

Thanks,
Ruslan

You can purchase thin strip tassie oak veneer without the iron on glue backing. To glue these on the edge use standard PVA glue and hold them in place with masking tape. You'll be surprised at the holding strength until the glue sets. I generally leave overnight then do any trimming if necessary with a sharp craft or stanley knife. Your veneer doesn't need to be thick; 1-1.5mm is plenty.

Cheers, Evan

[orraloon]

Evan,
I have some steam bending experience from making archery bows. As a first timer and for you'r application it is not the way to go. You would first have to construct a form of the shape so there is time and money. Then to steam that length of timber you need to construct some kind of steam box. This seems a lot of trouble when you can glue and pin a thin strip, or use iron on veneer.

Regards
John

[Evan Pavlidis]

Evan,
I have some steam bending experience from making archery bows. As a first timer and for you'r application it is not the way to go. You would first have to construct a form of the shape so there is time and money. Then to steam that length of timber you need to construct some kind of steam box. This seems a lot of trouble when you can glue and pin a thin strip, or use iron on veneer.

Regards
John

John,

It's not for me, it's for Ruslan; read the first post.

[Master Splinter]

Rule of thumb for steam bending is one hour per inch of thickness as a starting point; you need to construct a steam tube (old length of metal downpipe works well, with one end crimped shut and the other with some sort of removable lid) to fit the length of wood, and you then have steam going in one end and out the other - the more the better! (so no, a little steam cleaner wouldn't really cut the mustard).

Once the wood has had a good steaming, take it out (wearing thick gloves as it will be hot) and clamp it up against the edge following the curves. You may need to build a former to help you clamp it, or heaps of clamps. Let it cool and dry, then glue it on.

Outdoor grade PVA should be ok to use, but I would not say that its an ideal glue for such an application - PVA can creep with time under stress loads. Polyurethane or epoxy would be better.

I find the iron-on veneers a bit too thin in situations where they are going to get a bit of wear - they can chip/tear at the edge. I'd buy a length of tassie oak moulding that was 4-5mm thick and start playing; you may be able to achieve a suitable bend radius by soaking it in boiling water rather than steaming.

Alternatively, you could get non-iron-on veneer and apply it in half a dozen layers with epoxy; that'll give you a thicker edge and the glue lines are hardly visible after sanding. (do it one layer at a time, that way you can clamp it with just masking tape while the epoxy sets up...but don't use five minute epoxy otherwise you may end up in a very sticky situation. Vinegar will clean off uncured epoxy!)

If you wanted to be different, you could use a PVC or rubber edgebanding (like you find on commercial office furniture where they don't want to use solid edges), or a strip of aluminium epoxied on for a modern look.

[martrix]

you do realise you're trying to glue long grain onto end grain? What happens when the timber top expands/contracts? Split, stretch, de-laminate goes the edging.

I would suggest your best option with that end grain is to just route a small pencil round on both top and bottom. Sand and finish.

Any particular reason why you chose to run the floorboards in that direction?