Ken Platt
06-08-2009, 9:53 PM
Folks -
I just came home with an old workbench slab I found for $50 on craigslist. It's 8 feet long, 29" wide, and a very solid 3 1/2 inches thick. It appears to be made of maple, 16 pieces. It's a bit rough, and will need some surfacing. It seems to be bolted rather than glued together (see the pic). If it was ever glued, then a lot of the glue joints have failed, as there are separations here and there between the boards. Also, some of the boards area a bit higher or a bit lower than the adjacent boards.
So, I'm wondering if I should try to take it apart and work on each board individually, then glue up in the usual way, or if there's going to be this giant SPROING and all the boards are going to try to turn into pretzels when I release them.
It'd sure be easier to handle as individual boards, as I could put them through my drum sander to clean off the grime. It'd be a PITA to joint and plane 8' long pieces, but I can do it. I've never glued up anything this large, either, but the Schwartz book has some tips, so I figure I can do it.
If I leave it as a slab, it's flattening with winding sticks and my belt sander, I suppose. I don't have a jointer plane, largest I have is a LN 4 1/2. I guess I could try getting a cheap hand power planer from HF, also.
I have no idea how old this thing is, but I'm going to guess at least 20 years from the patina and wear on it. The guy I got it from said he got it when a woodshop closed. He'd intended to make it into a workbench for himself but never got around to it, and wanted it out of his garage.
Anyhow, anyone want to venture thoughts on the best way to get this slab back into shape?
Thanks -
Ken
I just came home with an old workbench slab I found for $50 on craigslist. It's 8 feet long, 29" wide, and a very solid 3 1/2 inches thick. It appears to be made of maple, 16 pieces. It's a bit rough, and will need some surfacing. It seems to be bolted rather than glued together (see the pic). If it was ever glued, then a lot of the glue joints have failed, as there are separations here and there between the boards. Also, some of the boards area a bit higher or a bit lower than the adjacent boards.
So, I'm wondering if I should try to take it apart and work on each board individually, then glue up in the usual way, or if there's going to be this giant SPROING and all the boards are going to try to turn into pretzels when I release them.
It'd sure be easier to handle as individual boards, as I could put them through my drum sander to clean off the grime. It'd be a PITA to joint and plane 8' long pieces, but I can do it. I've never glued up anything this large, either, but the Schwartz book has some tips, so I figure I can do it.
If I leave it as a slab, it's flattening with winding sticks and my belt sander, I suppose. I don't have a jointer plane, largest I have is a LN 4 1/2. I guess I could try getting a cheap hand power planer from HF, also.
I have no idea how old this thing is, but I'm going to guess at least 20 years from the patina and wear on it. The guy I got it from said he got it when a woodshop closed. He'd intended to make it into a workbench for himself but never got around to it, and wanted it out of his garage.
Anyhow, anyone want to venture thoughts on the best way to get this slab back into shape?
Thanks -
Ken