Major surgery on workbench top?

[Steve Mathews]

I purchased at a very reasonable price a nice workbench made by a member here. It has served me well but one of the reason it was let go was because the PO wanted to make another workbench, a better one learning from the experience from the first. It comes time for me as well to build something better. The major problem with the one I have now is the glue joints have separated in places. The top is also uneven and needs to be resurfaced. Wood is very expensive here in Northern Arizona and the top alone would cost well over $1k based on pricing a few years ago. The top is made out of 1 3/4" x 3 1/4" maple. There are no end caps. Is it possible to salvage the top by separating the individual sections by perhaps sawing along the glue line, jointing and gluing it back together again?

[Derek Cohen]

Steve, can you post a few pics?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Kevin Jenness]

"Is it possible to salvage the top by separating the individual sections by perhaps sawing along the glue line, jointing and gluing it back together again? "

Yes. Is it worth the effort? Depends how bad it is. Is it affecting the bench's functionality or is it a cosmetic issue? Is it getting worse?

[Brian Tymchak]

The major problem with the one I have now is the glue joints have separated in places. The top is also uneven and needs to be resurfaced....

The top is made out of 1 3/4" x 3 1/4" maple. There are no end caps. Is it possible to salvage the top by separating the individual sections by perhaps sawing along the glue line, jointing and gluing it back together again?

I would certainly try to save the top by ripping the glue line with a high quality rip blade. Make absolutely sure there is no metal rod or bolts in the top. You will lose some width so if the top originally set flush with the legs, that could be an issue. Depending on how many glue lines you need to fix, possibly think of adding a single lamination and resize as needed.

Make sure you use plenty of glue on your joints. The problem you are fixing may be due to the joints being "glue starved" where either not enough glue was used or the clamp pressure was too much and squeezed the joint dry.

[Mel Fulks]

I would not spend a lot of time fixing it. More work than starting from scratch. Glue it where glue will work and use
PL Premium urethane adhesive where glue won't work. Screw plywood to both sides. Some restaurant supply places
sell used butcher block stuff, and sometimes it smells like bacon!

[John TenEyck]

A bench just needs to be flat, not pretty. I would flatten the top with a router sled and then skin it with a sheet of 1/8" or 1/4" tempered Masonite. You can make a router sled in less than an hour and flatten the top in another. Then attach the Masonite with a few brads or spots of glue so that you can peel it off and flip it over when it gets too nasty to look at.

You'll have a nice flat top again in less than a morning's work.

John

[Steve Mathews]

Here are some photos of the top. It's 3" thick not 3 1/4" as mentioned before. I like the overall size but think end caps covering up the planks end grain would look nice. The tool tray has worked out well too. I'm not crazy about the Veritas vise. The biggest issue though are the gaps between some of the planks. I realize those of you back east have much better access to affordable wood. Unfortunately it's very expensive here and that has to factor into my decision to start from scratch or build on what I already have.

PS Skinning the top with Masonite isn't goin' to happen. It just doesn't seem right.

Workbench Top 001.jpgWorkbench Top 002.jpgWorkbench Top 003.jpgWorkbench Top 005.jpg

[David Publicover]

Why not just fill the gaps with some epoxy resin and flatten the top? You could probably add end caps to your current top and change the vice if you felt strongly about it. Good luck!

[John TenEyck]

Here are some photos of the top. It's 3" thick not 3 1/4" as mentioned before. I like the overall size but think end caps covering up the planks end grain would look nice. The tool tray has worked out well too. I'm not crazy about the Veritas vise. The biggest issue though are the gaps between some of the planks. I realize those of you back east have much better access to affordable wood. Unfortunately it's very expensive here and that has to factor into my decision to start from scratch or build on what I already have.

PS Skinning the top with Masonite isn't goin' to happen. It just doesn't seem right.

Workbench Top 001.jpgWorkbench Top 002.jpgWorkbench Top 003.jpgWorkbench Top 005.jpg

OK, then fill all the cracks with epoxy and sawdust and then flatten it with a router sled. You can add the Masonite at any time.

John

[Jim Becker]

Honestly, that's a good starting point. Fill the gaps with resin, flatten it and be done. The most important thing about a bench is that it is flat; looks are secondary. Filling the gaps with resin will stabilize them and remove the recess for dust, etc., to collect in. IMHO, of course.

While end caps look nice, they bring requirements to deal with wood movement. Consider something like Derek recently posted where the "end cap" is really an adjustable planing stop that you can move up and down. It will "cover" the end grain that you don't prefer but actually have a function.

Vice type is pretty personal. You can add a face vice or some other accommodations if you prefer.

[Derek Cohen]

I would rip it apart. The reason I asked for photos was to determine if the top was worth the work, and it looks to be. Also why the boards are coming apart. Not sure on the latter - movement?

A quick-fix is rarely satisfying or satisfactory. In this case, if the top continues moving, you would wind up with widening gaps with epoxy hanging out. Ugh!

Slice up, joint and re-glue the weak sections. You may need to do more than you want, and then require adding to recover the width.

You may wish to read this article of mine for inspiration http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...edaBullet.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Steve Mathews]

I like the idea of filling the gaps with resin and/or resin mixed with sawdust. If that doesn't work I can always revisit the major surgery idea. Any recommendation on a type of resin if there are differences? I suppose it should be thin enough to run down into the small gaps.

[Wes Grass]

Epoxy and sawdust ... just put the masonite on. You're not gonna want to look at that anyway.

I think I'd cut it apart and reglue. And I'd go with the bandsaw if possible. But if you can rip 3" thick on the tablesaw and get a glue ready surface it'd save a lot of work.

[Jamie Buxton]

How are you going to rip that top along the glue lines? At over 3" thick, it is too thick for a 10" table saw to cut. Also, my guess is that the cracks say that there's some tension in the wood, so ripping it on the table saw may pinch the blade enough to scare you. A band saw would give you less danger from blade pinches, but it would have to be pretty big to handle that top. No track saw I know of will cut 3" deep, nor will the usual circular saw. There are beam saws (large diameter circular saws) which could be used with a straight edge. Or you could use a sawzall. The trouble with a sawzall is that it is rather uncontrolled. That approach will probably eat a lot of lumber as you straighten out the uncontrolled saw lines.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, the sheer size is one reason I suggested filling and flattening. Ripping it apart by sawing requires pretty stout equipment to do it safely.