Need help with workbench lamination

[Luke Sanders]

Hello! First time poster looking for some collaborative woodworking wisdom. I decided to go for the Popular Woodworking 2-day workbench that Chris Schwarz put out. It's been anything but a 2-day workbench so far. For those not familiar, it involves laminating together 2 Ikea 8' x 2' beech counters for the top, with douglas fir for the base. I'm still working on finishing the tops. I would describe these things as anything but flat (it looked so easy in the video...). They're cupped across their widths to varying degrees all the way across. I have the two laminated together, with some gaps here and there that I plan to fill with epoxy. After getting them together, the edges don't line up across the sides and ends. During glue up, one of the tops moved a little bit, so it's a tiny bit cockeyed. Tried as I might, I couldn't get it perfectly lined up, and decided I'd deal with it later before the glue started drying.

I'm looking for help getting these edges squared. Can I run this mammoth through a tablesaw to clean up the edges? Should I do that after flattening the top? I'm a little nervous with this thing on a tablesaw since it's so big and heavy. I plan to do handwork on this bench, so I would like things as squared up as I can get them.

What are some other options to square up the edges? Can I run a jointer plane down what will be the front edge to get it flat? I'm fairly new to handplanes but will give it a shot if it's possible.

If photos will help, let me know and I'll snap some pics. And thanks in advance.

[Don Huffer]

I'd love to help. Let's start with some pics because you seem to have a few problems.

Don

[Don Huffer]

Do you have a router and a circular saw? Sounds like your going to need them to flatten the top and square the sides.

Don

[Paul Incognito]

I'd say you need to get one edge trued up first. Either use the table saw or a circular saw with an edge guide, or if it's not too bad, the hand plane. Once you have one edge that's true, you can square the ends up and make the other edge parallel.
Flatten it with hand planes, first going diagonally across the top then with the grain to clean things up.
Hope this helps,
Paul

[Myk Rian]

Should have laminated them with the convex sides together. Like this )(

[Luke Sanders]

I agree Myk, this is my first big lamination, so I'll chalk it up to the learning process. The top piece is concave, which was on purpose. No matter which side I seemed to use for the bottom, it always seemed to be a bit convex, in one area or another.

I do have a router and circular saw as options if the table saw is a no-go. Have a roller table and several roller stands to support this if that's the route I need to go.

On to the photos. Not horrible, but I'd like a consistent square edge. There is one corner that is just about perfect, but as I'm a lefty, that corner won't do me much good...

First photo, I leveled out the top across it's width in a couple places so that it can be flat on the supports for the base. Wasn't planning on flattening the entire underside, unless that's something I should do.

2nd and 3rd show one long edge, with the slab on top not quite lining up with the one on the bottom. Would a handheld router and a flush trim bit clear this up?

Last two give you an idea of the crown on the bottom.

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[John Lanciani]

Location? Lots of people here with lots of hardware (myself included) that would be happy to help. Many of us could help you take care of your problems quickly and without breaking a sweat if we knew you were local.

[Luke Sanders]

Hm. Thought I set that, I'll check my settings. I'm in Austin, TX.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I built a version of the 24 hour workbench, out of Popular Woodworking as I recall, though it might have been some other magazine. It avoids this problem by laminating 4 layers of 3/4" birch plywood into a beam 3" thick, banded with pine. I have not had any troubles with it not staying flat, or twisting.

Doc

[Brian Tymchak]

2nd and 3rd show one long edge, with the slab on top not quite lining up with the one on the bottom. Would a handheld router and a flush trim bit clear this up?



If you have a straight-edge long enough to span the length of the top, then you can set the straight edge to guide the router or circ saw to clean up one edge. Once you get the edge straight you can rip the other side with table saw.

[Erik Christensen]

top is pretty close to flat and plenty thick enough - use your router to get it flat - I'd practice on the bottom and do the top after - setup take s a while along with building the sled - took me maybe 3 hours - actually flattening the top maybe 20 minutes tops

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtkBZHLJyD0