Finishing bowling alley workbench top

[Jay Yoder]

Greetings all, I just used a router sled to "flatten" my old maple bowling alley workbench top and the next is do I finish or not? Also, the bowling alley had grooves between some of the glue lines of the laminated boards. Should I fill these in before putting a finish on? I was thinking of taking some of the maple sawdust and mixing with glue and making my own paste to put in the grooves and then sand it all flat. Any thoughts on whether to finish or not? Or my wood filler idea? Thanks in advance!

[Jim Koepke]

How big are the grooves?

Are they big enough to fill with strips of wood?

Pictures might help.

jtk

[Jay Yoder]

Jim, the grooves are between 1/8-1/16" or smaller and are uniform in depth along their length...I will try to get pics tonight...

[Pat Barry]

I had no idea that a bowling alley had grooves in it. That's weird.

[Mel Miller]

It sounds like the strips in the piece of bowling alley have separated a little. I had a couple of pieces of that stuff several years ago and found that it was nailed together rather than glued. Lots of nails, which made it nasty to try to cut to length without hitting any nails. Those sections could be flexed a little when you moved them around and the joints were opening up from that.

[Bill White]

My bench is made from maple alley too. I added 2 pcs. of angle iron to the bottom side to prevent any flexing from the nailed joints.
Been in use for almost 20 years without any issues.
Bill

[Jay Yoder]

I am not sure that it has separated but hard t tell...I was discussing with a "seasoned" co-worker and he stated he has indeed seen bowling alleys with grooves in them...I have attached some pics...297246 and...297247

[george wilson]

Yes,bowling alley wood is all nailed together. So,use a CHEAP circular saw blade when trying to crosscut it. The nails are quite numerous.

[Kurt Cady]

I'd use epoxy before yellow glue and sawdust. Epoxy can be much much thinner and get into the grooves. Epoxy will also be a bit more of an adhesive, a bit more structural

[Jay Yoder]

I'd use epoxy before yellow glue and sawdust. Epoxy can be much much thinner and get into the grooves. Epoxy will also be a bit more of an adhesive, a bit more structural

Interesting ideal...how would one level the epoxy if it overflowed the grooves?

[Joe Rogers]

The slab I had was nailed and loosely tongue and grooved and the strips were injected with a thermoplastic filler to stabilize the slab. The slab was bedded on angle iron and had a jute like layer between the iron and slab. When I removed the iron the slab was very flexable. I split out the long maple strips and pitched the shorties. The strips are useful and the quality of the maple is great. BTW...the disassembly of the slab was a royal pain in the azz. The thermoplastic filler is nonpenetrating and easy to remove with a heat gun and a scraper. The nails...not so much. A better source of bench-top is Bally Blocks IMHO.
Joe

[Kurt Cady]

A block plane would work

[Pat Barry]

Jay, if you were to put some bar clamps across the width of the alley, could you actually close up the gaps? If so, injecting glue into the cracks and then clamping it together would probably hold things together. If not, you could mix up some epoxy and squeegee it into the cracks, kinda like grouting ceramic tile. Squeegee off the excess from the surface and then sand it flat after the epoxy cures fully.

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

I have a few sections of bowling alley lane in my shed, and had planned to use it for building a bench top. I have been uncertain for a while, though, whether I will ever use it. What I have runs from about 1&15/16" to around 2&1/8" thick. The finish on the top is extremely thick and very hard. A few years ago, a bowling alley manager told me that the lane has to be oiled at regular intervals. They put a thin layer of oil on the alley, especially near the line, this is to prevent the ball from "grabbing," I assume, when it hits the lane, and allows it to slide somewhat.

I have read that the oil they use is a silicone oil, and you all know how that affects glues and finishes.

The sections of lumber in the material I have are fairly short, although this probably varies, depending on the quality of the lane. I do have one slat that I pulled off that may be 6' long but most are 2' to 3' long at best.

When I took the angle iron sections off of the lane sections I have, as was mentioned above, they became extremely flexible across the width of the lane, not ridged at all. They are a bit more ridged than 1/4 inch plywood, maybe as flexible as 3/8ths inch plywood from my recollection.

Based on my experience with the stuff, I think that there is absolutely no way that you can pull the gaps up tight with clamps. Still I have to admit this is opinion only, because I haven't tried it. If possible to do, I think that it would take a bunch of clamps, because it will strongly resist being pulled together. The nails are twisted type, maybe #8 or #10s, probably common nails instead of box nails, and twist steel. The end of the nail is flat, not pointed. They look like they have been put in by a very big and powerful nail gun.

There are a bazillion nails in it, and worse, they are hardened nails. I have ruined the claws on two very good hammers years ago trying to pull hardened nails with them. I have pulled a bit of the lane apart, and it resists such efforts strongly...it doesn't want to come apart. To get it apart I used prying irons, and used them in groups, not singly, and once one section was removed, I drove the nails out from the back side as far as possible. Then pulled them, but I didn't use a good nail puller for fear of ruining it. In some cases I had to grab the nail with an ancient pair of vise grips, and then use a wrecking bar on the jaws of the vice grips to be able to pull the nails out, this after I had driven the nails out as far as possible from the back side.

If I do end up trying to use it for a bench top, I will pull it apart, try to plane the individual sides of the slats flat, and then glue them up. From what I can see of the tongue and groove, they will not fit together well enough to glue well, thus the reason for planning it. I tried fitting the tongue and grooving together, terrible fit at best if I recall. I don't think the tongues and grooves are really designed for glue up. I have doubts as to how well the edge on the plane iron will hold up against the thick hard finish of the lane material too.

A friend made a bench top without pulling the slats apart, I got to look it over and examine the result. I think any Neander would quickly conclude that the resulting bench was of only fair quality at best, and OK for use by a casual do it yourselfer, but it would be an abomination for any sort of serious woodworking. It amounted to a somewhat flexible top with thin gaps between the slats, and a surface with a thick hard and slick finish on it which remained from it's life as a bowling lane.

The friend that built the bench is the guy that gave me the sections. For what it's worth, he moved and had to leave his bench at the old house, because he built it right onto the wall of his shop. I offered to give him back enough of the lane to build another bench with it. For what it's worth, he didn't want any back, which tells me what he thinks of the material for a bench top.

I might add one more thought. The width of the gaps between the slats looks to be about 1/32nd right now, but for us it has been humid for the last half of the summer, or more. Last year it was extremely dry, and we were in the middle of a very bad drought, and the gap then was more like 1/16th or so. Thus the gap seems to vary with humidity. I am concerned with trying to fill the gaps with epoxy. The contraction and expansion might want to tear the top apart because of the nails.

Regards,

Stew

[Joe Rogers]

A way better write up of bowling alley than my post and exactly what my experiences are Stew.
Joe

[Stew Denton]

Joe, thank you for the nice comment. When I read your post, I certainly related to it, and although shorter, it was exactly my experience. Your post was the one I was referring to about the flexibility of the lane without the angle iron stiffeners.

I did have considerable interest in one comment in your post, and that was to use Bally Blocks for a work bench. I am uncertain what they are and where they can be found. If they are excellent for a bench top, and are affordable, I am very interested.

Can you advise a bit about them?

Thanks and regards,

Stew