Originally Posted by
Gerry Grzadzinski
Do you mean "flat" flat, or consistent thickness?
My vacuum press is a frame press with a torsion box table that's been CNC machined flat. So I'm assuming it will be pretty flat, if presses top face down.
But I can see where it might be off a few thousandths.
I had planned on cnc milling the bottom, but after I do that, I'll flip it and take .01" off the top as well to get two flat face that are parallel. Face veneers on batic birch are usually at least .04" thick, so it shouldn't be an issue to flatten both sides without going through the faces. Even if it did, I don't think it would matter with 3 layers of ply and 1/8" metal skins top and bottom.
My biggest concern is the flatness of the steel. There's not a lot that I'll be able to do with it if it's not. It looks like only about 10 of these have been built, and I haven't read any issues about the steel, so I'm hoping it's OK. If not, then I may explore the granite option. I'm hoping that I don't need to.