Work table top idea

[Pete Kurki]

I need to build a large and sturdy work table for medium duty tasks (computer assembly, small appliance repair, etc). I have a large amount of rough sawn knotty oak around (I'm guessing #2 common), that I would like to utilize for this project. My thought was to plane a bunch of boards and cut them into 2.5" wide strips, then select strips with least knots on one side and glue them together so that the edges with least knots form the upside of a 2.5" thick table top. Then I would pour a layer of epoxy resin on the top to fix the knots.

I have no experience with pourable resin table tops whatsoever, so I would like to hear any feedback for this plan. For example, how wear resistant would this pourable table top coating be? Overall any reason to think that this might be a bad plan? At this point I'm really open for any suggestions inside and outside of this plan, as long as it includes using this lumber for making a heavy duty table top. The appearance is not a top concern, but it should not look entirely horrible either.

Pete

[Jim Foster]

One idea that may be easier would be to just use bondo or a similar mixed filler. Depending on how you do with the knots, you may find your much better off in the end than you thought you'd be. A two part epoxy that is troweled on/in with a putty knife may also be an easy solution.

[Joe Spear]

Make the top out of the knotty pine strips. Then top it with a piece of tempered hardboard. Fasten with screws around the perimeter and replace it when it is dinged up more than you care for.

[Jamie Buxton]

Knots tend to chip/dull planer knives. I'd use the lumber unplaned for structure, and cover it with something smooth. Or I'd cut around the knots and assemble the resulting shorts into a big knot-free table top. That's how "butcherblock" counters are made.

Pourable resin on solid lumber doesn't work very well. The lumber expands and contracts with the seasonal changes in atmospheric humidity. The epoxy does not. The result is that the table top cups. A butcherblock counter won't cup, and will look a lot better than plastic.

[Stephen Cherry]

If you want an epoxy coating, I have used west system epoxy with the coating hardener with pretty good success (it's semi held up for over 10 years on my mahogany boat seats with very little attention). You still need something for UVs though.

That said, I think that used commercial solid core doors are number one for cheap bench tops. Super flat, super cheap, etc. I found a bunch of them in the local craigslist materials section.

[Pete Kurki]

Thanks for all the great ideas.
Even though this table will be sort of a work bench, it will be located in my house, so within limitations I still want to make it somewhat furniture like. That's why the otherwise good ideas about hardboard topping and solid core doors don't work too well this time.

Jamie, I was thinking about the cupping possibility too, but then I thought about all the bar tops and wooden boats where the resin coat has been succesfully used for years. Why arean't those cupping? I do like your suggestion about the butcher block as well. How thin do you figure I could make it? Would 2 or 2.5" be too thin for butcher block to be rigid? How about protection? Usually butcher blocks are just oiled, but I would need something better for stain resistance. Any suggestions for that?

[Jamie Buxton]

... I thought about all the bar tops and wooden boats where the resin coat has been succesfully used for years. Why arean't those cupping? ..

They're likely plywood. Because of the crossed grain direction of plywood, it doesn't expand and contract the way solid lumber does.