Thread: Laminating a bench top will biscuits do it?

With radiata, PVA should do the job so long as the boards are properly squared/jointed. I'd prefer epoxy, as it will fill any minor gaps, but I'd also prefer a hardwood top.

A spline can be easier to implement than biscuis, depending on what tools you have to hand... eg. if you don't have a bisuitter but do have a TS. Either way, they're really only to stop creep during glue up; they provide little extra strength once the glue has dried. A good glue joint is usually stronger than the grain... esp. with radiata.

So long as the underside of the benchtop is flat and fully supported across it's width by rails on the carcase, then you should see well over 12 months worth of thumping on it.

Trev
provided your pine is straight and square, and you have enough clamps, PVA will be plenty strong enough.
Biscuits or a sline or a tongue and groove joint will help keep the boards aligned as you glue them together, but so will cauls.
Personally, unless you already have a semi decent biscuit jointer, I wouldn't bother ith biscuits

Biscuits don't do a lot except help you to align the joints, and dowels will do a better job of that anyway. I'd go with a series of 8-10mm dowels instead. A spline would be better still, but more effort for no reward really. PVA is fine for pine, but if you want to be cautious get hold of some yellow glue. Of course, no matter the glue, if your joints aren't clean and square you're wasting your time, be sure to get this right and it will hold up well.

[QUOTE=Skew ChiDAMN!!;990712]With radiata, PVA should do the job so long as the boards are properly squared/jointed. I'd prefer epoxy, as it will fill any minor gaps, but I'd also prefer a hardwood top.

Back to the "properly squared joint"

At this stage I am not sure that I have the gear to do a good job on the squaring part the only thing I have is a router table that I could trim the edge on. What sort of epoxy glue should I use and where do I get it from if I need to go that way. Thanks

Originally Posted by Trev6

Back to the "properly squared joint"

At this stage I am not sure that I have the gear to do a good job on the squaring part the only thing I have is a router table that I could trim the edge on. What sort of epoxy glue should I use and where do I get it from if I need to go that way. Thanks

Your 180 x 45 radiata. Is it dressed all round or rough sawn?
how many clamps do you have that are long enough to span the top you intend to make?

I don't think you'll have much joy squaring 45 thick pine if your only tool is a router table and you haven't done this before.

you may want to rethink the design ...

an option, in addition to or instead of glue, is to hold the top together with 10mm (or 12mm) threaded rod passing right through the top — I suggest a 200mm long power auger bit (2mm bigger than the rod) plus a 300mm long bit extender to drill holes every 400 mm or so. snick up the bolts and you should be right

If your boards are DAR, simply lay them side by side and clamp together with clamps both over the top and under the bottom. (If you clamp only over the top, for example, it can cause a cupping effect from clamping pressure.)

Provided they pull together tightly with minimum gaps and stay relatively flat, then you can probably get away without jointing.

You may need to rearrange the boards a few times until you get the "best match" and if you go to this effort it's a good idea to mark their order & which side will be "up" so that once you apply the glue you can re-clamp them in this order.

If they're bad enough that you have to square the edges, then the best option is to use a jointer. A 2nd best option is to run them through a tablesaw with a long fence. (It's at this stage that Iain's idea of endless threads start to really look good. )

At 180 wide, I'd feel no qualms about using a hand-held circular saw & straight edge to trim the boards. (I can already hear the purists cringing at the mere thought of this! ) It probably won't cut the edges perfectly squared, but if you cut one board face up and then it's mating edge on the next board face down, then you know the result will be squared with respect to each other.

However this takes a good circ. saw (with the blade known to be parallel to the baseplate) a good, long straight edge and a smooth, confident cut. No stops'n'starts and the baseplate must be kept hard up against the straight edge throughout the whole cut. I know I can do it - wouldn't be perfect, but close enough for a workbench - but whether you have the skills or not...?

Then again, another options is to put up a post on these forums asking if there's anyone nearby to you with a jointer who can assist.


Glue. Glue. West System epoxy is the best 2 part epoxy, IMHO. But a bit exxy & can be hard to source. I've been hearing a lot of good things about Selleys Durabond (Aquadhere) but haven't tried it for myself. Apparently it's a Polyurethane glue which has a good bond strength & gap-filling properties. And easily obtained from most HW stores.

I'll have to buy some to see for myself...