How do I smooth workbench top

[Robert Ducharme]

I am going to make some workbench tops that are wider than my planer and sander. These are made of soft maple glued together (with edges up). I expect to make multiple tops in 2 sections (width wise) and then attach them together. At the attachment, although I will try hard, I do not expect to have it dead on smooth. I have seen many posts and items about planing, scraping, winding sticks, straight edges, ...

This leaves me wondering what is a good, efficient way to get this straight. The following lists the process I think I am going to use but any experiences people have to revise this list would be appreciated.


plane/sand the two sections so they are smooth
using a PC bisquit jointer, join the two major sections together. Note that if this does not seem flush, will try to make it flush with just clamps. If it is not flush, probalby something wrong with my technique (and since this is the first time I am trying this probably will meet at a right angle).
The clamps will be clamped bottom/top alternating to avoid curving the table top - it will be checked with a straight edge when it is clamped and before it sets to see if it is twisted. What if it is not straight, what do I do?
When dry, unclamp and remeasure with straight edge. mark with pencil all high spots.
Now what? Should I plane the high spots or scrape them.?
How do I avoid taking off too much material?
What plane should I use (buy)
What scraper should I use (buy)
If I buy those, I need a sharpening system. I planned on getting japanese water stones. What do I use before them?
scrape - scrape - scrape - plane - plane - plane
sand - sand - sand ????
arm and sholder traction with bed rest
Now square off ends and attach to the next section of the table


Did I forget anything? Since I have a lot of these to make, I did not want to make it too difficult

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Looks to me like you have it down pretty good. The idea is to just do it and take your time. Planing or scraping will produce the same result. Planing will be much faster and less work. Just take your time and check with your level and winding sticks OFTEN. If you see you are running into a particular problem then come back and ask for help. Have fun, that is what it is all about.(-:

[Robert Ducharme]

Thanks for the feedback. Still desire to know what plane and/or scraper since I do not even own one. I see all the articles about people with so many it is not clear which one (or more) I should get and start with (end with?) on this project.

[Charles McKinley]

I should get and start with (end with?) on this project.

Once you buy one the virus sets in and MANY more will follow.

When I made my bench I used a piece of laminated beam that was given to me. The overlaps in the lamination made it way out of flat. Soooo, I made a planing jig for the router then used my No. 5 to smooth it out. If you don't have a router I think I would go to a No. 7 with the corners rounded on the blade to flatten it out or a large wooden jointer.

I'm just starting on the neander side so I'm sure some one with way more experience will chime in.

Have fun

[Jamie Buxton]

Robert ---
You're posting in the Neaderthal section, but you seem open to using power tools on this job. Considering that you're planning on making lots of these.... well, I'd use power tools. Here's two possible ways to do it.

1) Find a mill or a cabinet shop with a planer wide enough to handle your tops. Glue them all up, and take the shop the whole bunch. Big machinery does lots of work in a very short time. Because it is very fast it turns out to be quite affordable.

2) If you want to do all the work in your own shop, look into a router jig for flattening slabs. There's a pretty standard jig which is easy to build and use. It is described in all the router books, and had been described on this forum many times. It can make a surface good enough that you can start sanding with 100 grit.

[Robert Ducharme]

I actually expect to use power tools as well as hand. I plan on using the power tools to get to the last glue-up and then use hand tools to finish it off.

I could take the tops to a large shop and have them finish it but there are several reasons not to.

First, my wife approved some tool purchases so I did not need to make the trip.

Second, the trip is about 75 miles one way.

Third, how will I ever improve my techniques if I always farm them out?

The table tops are no more than 36" deep (at this time) so my planer and sander can handle the two 18" pieces. Its that seam where I finally join them up that I need to handle.

If I use power and hand tools does that mean that I will be a schizo neanderthal? Besides, I can't be a neanderthal until I actually own a hand tool.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Robert, use cauls and slow setting glue to put the two halves together. Then use #5 or #7 to flatten the seam. The longer the plane, the easier its going to be to flatten the joint. You shouldn't be off much and it should go pretty quickly

[Mark Singer]

I have used a guy with a wide belt Cemco sander for large tops...my drum sander is 24". I have also prepared many wide tops in my shop using hand and power tools. The key is the preparation of the sections and only glue one joint per gluing setup. That will give you more time for alignment. Have several "strongbacks" at hand and small clamps to run in the short direction. When you glue up here are a couple of time tested tricks. The boards should be planed slighly concave on edge...1/16" or less. Start with a center clamp and apply about half pressure...with a large mallet tap the end till the boards are aligned perfectly flush....place a clamp on that end and thighten very tight. Do the same thing on the other end....and then at the center. Add clamps as required to fill in ....doing the same thing...tapping with the mallet and tightening. take and old framing square or straight and run across (short direction) checking for flatness..strong back in at least 3 places using small clamps. Remember to make sure each board is planed or jointed square...edge to face. You finished top shoulg be within 1/32 of an inch at each joint max! That can be scraped or sanded...a Stanley #80 scraper or LV new model are very good and take less experience than a Sandvck type scraper . This is an important skill and takes a bit of time to perfect...but is essential to most furniture building. If you are using pipe clamps alternate the up and down of adjacent clamps...otherwise it will create "curl"

[Robert Ducharme]

I did a web search on cauls - do you mean a metal plate to place at the seam on the bottom (screwed in tight to line up the joints?

What glue is recommended?

Mark: I understand your post. I can do that but was thinking of glueing up about 16 at at time. Say a measurement of 8' by 20" by 1.75". I was going to lightly clamp the boards along the 20" edge (getting them straight as possible by hand/mallet). Then I would take some wood through the jointer. Those pieces I would put on the top and bottom of the material (the 1.75" width) and clamp them down (this on the ends and edges. The ones used in the interior could be convex so the center is squeezed more when the outside edges are clamped. Then I was going to tighten up the clamps squeezing the 20" way. I figured one of the top/back setups every 2' would keep those semi straight.

After setting, I would plane it (or sand it). Would the above sequence work as well as only glueing up two strips at a time?

[Mark Singer]

Robert,
If you have a thickness planer...glue up as many as you can but don't exceed the width of the planer say 12" then run each glued uo section through the planer. Now each one is like a single board... If you plan to plane by hand it will be a lot of work. The more stips you glue in one session the more deviation you will have and the more planning. I love hand tools , but I have a complete shop and try to do what makes sense....

[Robert Ducharme]

Mark - Thanks for the info.

[Matthew Springer]

A couple extra point that may or may not apply. I did basically what you describe on a 2" thick, 28" wide maple laminate that is used as a work table. I had had almost 0 experience with handplanes before this. And lots afterward.

I rough cut the pieces on my table saw. Basically I found that my 8/4 stock wasn;t even close to the same thickness the whole way through. I was gonna turn all the pieces 90 to get quartersawn grain across the panel (actually more of a slab). After I did this, I had about 30 strips ~thick roughly 2.5" thickand and 8/4 nominal wide.

The basic thing I found out was that as you glue up the strips/beams, you can only really get one side even semi-flat. Hopefully this will be the good side. The other side will be the error in the width of you rip cut, which for me was signifigant. California wood is horrible, so you may have better luck.

What I did was push all the error to the underside of the slab. The top came out with only about 1/32" height unevenness, whereas the back side had places that were out ALOT more. I used mostly the 5-1/2 on the top, but the underside still has some serious scrub plain markage.

Any that is the way it'll stay!

-Matthew

[Robert Goodwin]

If you are not required to pump these things out quick, I would laminate sections that your planer can handle, use cauls and or splines during the final glue up, and then have fun with the hand planes. A router will make quick work of flattening the top, but can also ruin a top is a split second of something were to go wrong.

Rob

[Robert Ducharme]

Thanks to all that have replied. :)

I will try planing this after glueing the two sections together. I understand that I should use a long plane. Is a 5 plane longer than a 7 plane and what do the numbers mean. You can see how seriously clueless I am in the matter of hand tools.

What I think makes the most sense is to finish reading the pages of this section and ask specific questions later on what brand/size plane to get and how to sharpen it if I cannot figure it out from the articles.

thanks again

[Robert Goodwin]

Thanks to all that have replied. :)

I will try planing this after glueing the two sections together. I understand that I should use a long plane. Is a 5 plane longer than a 7 plane and what do the numbers mean. You can see how seriously clueless I am in the matter of hand tools.

What I think makes the most sense is to finish reading the pages of this section and ask specific questions later on what brand/size plane to get and how to sharpen it if I cannot figure it out from the articles.

thanks again

A 7 is longer then a 5. A typical #7 is about 22" long. I am still trying to find a reason for the plane numbering scheme, because a 60 1/2 is a version of a block plane which is smaller than a #4.

Use the #5 to take down the high spots with a more aggressive cut. Use the 7 for final leveling.

[Chris Padilla]

A router will make quick work of flattening the top, but can also ruin a top is a split second of something were to go wrong.

Rob

Ha! That reminds me of a tire shop using an impact wrench to put the nuts back on to secure the tire. Nothing crossthreads faster than an impact wrench! :) DAMHIK! :mad:

I agree with the folks saying to glue up several boards no wider than your planer can handle.

Since you can expect flatness problems, why not just build the darn thing with the boards proud??

Here is how I might approach this:

Let's say you have 10 boards that if glued up, would fit nicely through your planer. Why not make the boards on either end a little lower than the rest of the stack or vice versa, why not make the other 8 slightly proud? The boards on either end will ride on the planer bed first to flatten the top. Then flip the blank, run it again. Flat blank!

Now there are several ways to make the other 8 boards proud. I tend to collect old credit cards and credit card stock. If anyone has ever measured a credit card, you will find they are all dead on at 1/32". Really...go measure some in your wallet with a caliper. Where I work they often send out little placards with all sorts of stuff written on them for ISO purposes. We are supposed to wear them with our badges.... Well I collect them and keep them. They are all 1/32"...they make fantastic spacers for lining up drawer fronts, etc. Also, cut with special zig-zag shears (ask your LOYL), make good glue spreaders.

Lay several credit card blanks (for expired ones, cut off the section with the raised characters) on your table for the amount of proudness you are going for (say 1/16" maybe?) and glue up. Thin sheets of plywood would work as well. You could also dado gooves into your top to set the two ends lower. There are a myriad of ways.

So the moral? Instead of tyring to glue up a perfectly flat top...glue it up, on purpose, NOT perfect. Maybe this is easier? Also, start saving those credit cards!! They come in handy so many times.