Should a twisted bench top be planed out?
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- This topic has 10 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 7 months ago by joeg.
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10 September 2016 at 6:05 pm #140041
Just got the top onto my Paul Sellers workbench. I was very careful to make sure the bottom was twist free so it didn’t pull the bases all out of whack. The top, although it’s flat, has some twist. The top is 7 feet long and 15 inches wide. In this span there is about a 1/4 inch of twist.
At the expense of sounding lazy, is it worth taking the time to get this out? Am I asking for problems later if I leave it?
Kevin
I suspect the top of my bench has some twist in it also but it never causes me an issue. If you want to use the benchtop to confirm the flatness of your workpieces then yes plane out the twist but if not then I can’t think of any downside to leaving it frankly.
17 October 2016 at 4:58 pm #141508I would say yes also. There are times when I found a flat bench top to be very helpful.
19 October 2016 at 2:02 am #141599I often use my bench top as a reference surface, so I would say flat is better. 1/4 inch twist shouldn’t be too hard to fix.
19 October 2016 at 5:03 am #141602If you know its twisted then try to fix it. Mine is so twisted! It gets more complicated when the vise gets mounted and so forth. I’m in the process of making a new one.Not only because of the twisted top but realizing what type of bench and work holding I like.
28 August 2017 at 4:50 am #314701The answer is yes. If your projects are small, then it shan’t be an issue. On the other hand for example, I glue up the tool chest and as a larger piece just a quarter inch of a 5foot bench gave my Box a noticeable twist. I probably spent more time leveling the box top and bottom than it would have taken to grab the number 5 jack and some winding sticks, make some shavings and have a dead flat surface.
29 August 2017 at 1:38 pm #314731As a novice, I have to ask how the top can be flat yet have some twist?
3 September 2017 at 3:10 pm #315471Imagine taking a small board and planing it perfectly flat. Now take that small board and hold it with both hands. Now imagine twisting it slightly from end to end along the long axis of the board. At any one point along the length a straightedge would show the board to be flat across the width. But if you used a pair of winding sticks it would show that from end to end the two points would be on a different plane.
Paul shows this in detail on the video about preparing stock.
Kevin.
4 September 2017 at 1:27 pm #315495Thanks. I keep thinking of a flat board as being flat overall, not just flat between selected points.
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