Attatching a hardboard top(Glue or screws)

[Marc Prudhomme]

Hello,

I recently finished my CMS workstation and I am going to cover my plywood top with 1/4 hardboard.I want to use screws so it could be replaced if needed,but I dont think that it will go through a lot of abuse anyway which is leaning me toward gluing it.
I will be routing a 3/4 wide slot for a t-track so I might have to add more screws after the middle is routed out to keep the edges near the t-track from bowing up. Any thoughts?
marc

[Joe Mioux]

I don't use glue, just some 18ga brads.

It's awhole lot easier to pull off when necessary

joe

[Marc Prudhomme]

Ya,
thats starting to sound good to

[Grant Charlick]

the way i did mine was run some solid stock up past the edge of the table the same thickness as the hardboard and cut the peice of hard board to fit tight. In your case the t track might need to be installed first. If you do it this way you won't have to fight taking it up at all. Works great for me.

[Steve Clardy]

A few well placed brad nails

[Matt Meiser]

Which kind are you using--tempered or non tempered?

My experience with glue and non-tempered hardboard is that when the glue dries you can pull the hardboard off easily--the layer of material that the glue sticks to delaminates from the rest very easily. I've used staples and brads, but my favorite is screws because they look the neatest and are easies to remove. Tempered seems to glue well with yellow glue, or at least it did on the the drill press table I just made. I rolled it out with a roller on both surfaces and weighted them overnight to dry.

[George Bregar]

Double sided tape

[Jim Becker]

Double sided tape

That's what I was going to suggest. Thin double sided tape and have your bench edging proud by the thickness of your hardboard to keep it in place. No muss...no fuss...

[Lee Koepke]

I hit mine with brad nails (before I read the double sided tape idea ) ... well, I still have a few benches to make, so maybe next time.

[Marc Prudhomme]

I would think that the doublesided would unstick after a while.Especialy in a basement shop

[Marc Prudhomme]

Is there such a thing as a low adhereing glue that would come off a little easier??

[Jim Becker]

I would think that the doublesided would unstick after a while.

It doesn't need to do much holding down with an apron holding the piece in place. If you think that would be an issue, use a pinner with 1/2" 23 gage pins in place of the tape but still with the apron surround.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

IIRC....Norm when building his on NYW...just used finish nails.....that way you could remove and replace it when it need it. As long as the apron is level with the hardboard it really won't take much.

[Jim Becker]

That's why I was thinking pins, Ken...I use them for my temporary jigging all the time with 1/4" MDF and they hold very well until I want them to stop holding! And you don't need to remove them after you pull off the 1/4" material...just bang them flat. They literally disappear!

[Joe Mioux]

The next time i replace the hard board tops, i will shoot the brads in an X configuration. In the past I just shot them in straight up and down. They do have a tendency to loosen up over time.

joe

[Steve Clardy]

Is there such a thing as a low adhereing glue that would come off a little easier??

Hmm. How about some rubber glue?

[Larry James]

IIRC....Norm when building his on NYW...just used finish nails.....that way you could remove and replace it when it need it. As long as the apron is level with the hardboard it really won't take much.

That's a good idea - you could use a nail set to drive the finish nails down and easily remove the top. If you had 3/4" MDF or ply below what nail size would you suggest? 6d?

Larry

[Rob Diz]

My RAS table has BRASS nails. That way if I were to ever cut into one on the "field" I wouldn't have an issue destroying my blade.