That's what apprentices are for!
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lol...
i am the apprentice!
:C
this apprentice is on holidays...
The top is as flat as I want it.
Now I need to do the under surface.
I won't do the final flattening of the top until it's all complete and glued together.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...1&d=1261887715
The original boards were ~10' cut to ~8' leaving 2' sections. Being both coincidence and planning, this gave me sections the width of the bench for the bottom shelf, the parallel bars, and the wheel supports.
Currently I have no access to a band saw, so I used my circular saw to re-saw the pieces. Was a little rough, but actually better and safer than I thought it would be.
I've left the pieces un-dressed; to allow the wood to continue to dry, and because the planner blades need a sharpen.
Because of the weight of the top I was thinking of making it in two. Now some benches had a slot in the middle, mostly for tools. But I knew I would fill it with dust or unsorted tools, so I wanted one section.
To join them I was going to use 3/4 dowel to center the pieces and make room for bolts to drop in.
I thought though, that's not what I really wanted, and every time it moved it would have to be flattened, and how would I align all the dowels with the precision needed... blah...
So I glued it together... upside down...
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...1&d=1262507113
I haven't been able to flatten it perfectly. It is cupped down (2mm at it's worse.) To correct it, I would loss too much wood and time. So I decided to flatten where the legs are and where it is exposed smooth it so to the touch there is no steps.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...1&d=1262507113
I have a little more planing, then belt sand.
Hi Boz,
Coming along now. Nice!
But,... That is not what I would call a heavy bench top. You need a few expletives/adjectives in front of the word 'heavy', something like 'bluddy heavy' or 'real bluddy heavy'. :)
Keep us posted.
Cheers
Pops
Good soluation to a problem.
Well... no one is perfect. There have been a few errors in the production so far.
1. Rough Cutting
- When I cut the pieces for the top, I used a circ saw, though resembly straight, slight curves needed to be jointed out.
- If my pieces were 11-12cm, and now 10.5cm... that's a fair amount of wood to lose.
2. Rough Pieces
- Under the table were some sections of rough timber, where I didn't feel it worth correcting, because it's the underside of a work bench...
- However, I have routed out these sections and replaced them with much less noticable timber
- I could have used the long scrap offcuts before gluing, would have been better, used less wood and as the joint was inside the table you'd never see it.
3. Circ saw
- To cut a thin strip to repair the underside (point 2) I had the circ saw blade held back by the fence. When I finished the cut, like I always do, I placed the circ on the bench... of course the blade was still exposed and spinning... good thing it was the underside of the bench, and not my thigh, or the concrete floor.
4. Drilling
- I used the drill press to drill all the holes (to ~7cm) planning to do teh remainder with the hand drill. As I marked these out, rather than using a fence, the hole aren't in alignment.
- With the straight edge the difference is <1.5mm at its worse. But you can see it.
You're going to need either a crane or a serious course of horse steroids to move that top.
If you adjust the height of the legs & rails the top might flatten it's cup out partly under its own weight.
That's interesting. I didn't consider it flattening under its' own weight.
The plan is to build a trolly system, so I can slide wheels under the legs, to move it.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...1&d=1263152631
Progress:
I've flattened, sanded, and shellac-ed the bottom of the top, and the long stretchers.
More progress, good stuff.
are you moving the top around by yourself or do you have help?