gaps in bench top lamination
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- This topic has 13 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 6 months ago by Dave.
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Hello,
I’ve started a bench build and have my stock milled and ready to be laminated.
when I rehearse my glue up I notice small gaps I can not clamp out….
what is the best method to remove hairline gaps prior to glue up?
Also, how important is it to get both top and bottom flat? or do I check just the top side?Hi Trevor,
Do the gaps start off as larger gaps that with clamping pressure reduce to hairline gaps? You may have spend a little more time planning.
Getting the bottom flat and twist free is important, if you attach your h frames to a twisted bottom they will be out of alignment.
jim
the gaps are reduced to hair line size once clamped. keep planning the ends? or the middle to create a spring joint…
and if I understand, the topside of my glue up will become the underside of the bench so I should orientate the best side down (which will become the top)
thanksWhen I built my bench it was really my first exposure to hand planing. What I did was to squeezed the adjacent pieces together with my hands and if the gap closed then I was ok. Have you seen Part 1 of Paul’s Workbench video?
He demonstrates the planing of the laminations and at about 5:15 say’s “Don’t worry about getting these boards pristinely straight”
I am sure that I had some gaps in my top. I glued up the top with the rounded over 2x4s and then removed the round over during flattening.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by Jim Braun. Reason: link was not working
The entire bottom doesn’t need to be perfect, only where the legs attach. The middle of the bottom can be all out of wack and won’t effect much. In reality even if the bottom is completely out, you could make adjustments with the leg lengths to fix it and then just flatten the top. I would plane the laminations until you can clamp out the gaps.
18 October 2016 at 9:56 pm #141589What type of hair do you mean? Blond fairy hair or yeti fur? How long, how deep?
I think, you can ignore a few tiny gaps, if the glue grabs well in most of the other areas. You could even use filler or glue mixed with sawdust to hide them. They will probably fill up quickly anyway, if not already with the glue, once you start working with the bench.
But you can also use a straight edge and look for high spots. If the gaps are low spots, it would be much work to remove them, and you might produce new low spots in the process. But if there are high spots only, it should be easy enough to remove them. If you don’t trust your planing skills, use sandpaper or a file instead, it doesn’t matter, nobody will ever find out!
For reassurance, look for a video series by wranglerstar on youtube. He builds the same workbench and runs into trouble several times. Watch, how he deals with that and finally still gets a real nice workbench. It is a very good example of how to limit worries to a reaosnable level.
Dieter
PS: Yes, the upper and lower surface will be planed flat after lamination, so there is no need to get them perfect right now.
29 October 2016 at 5:25 pm #142004It depends on the severity of the twist. You might be able to clamp the twist out when the apron is installed. If the twist is too severe it becomes a judgement call. If too much material needs to be removed, then the apron will be too thin to be effective.
I would first plane it as needed to remove most or all of the twist. If it ends up too thin (less than 1-1/8″ IMHO), I would remake the apron.
thanks Brian, I did think about making another apron…alas, locating another quality 2×12 and ripping it on a buddies table saw seemed like more effort then planning out the twist.
(I hope !?!)
I do suspect i clamped this twist into the apron.
how is this avoided?
i had a go at planning the opposite corners on each side. This has reduced the twist somewhat.
I see you are also in Ontario, where abouts?[quote quote=142004]
I would first plane it as needed to remove most or all of the twist. If it ends up too thin (less than 1-1/8″ IMHO), I would remake the apron.
[/quote]Thanks Greg, what is your method for planning the twist out?
I’ve been hitting the opposite (high) corners and continue flipping to remove equally from both sides. -
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