Making a Workbench: Applying the Crack Filler

HI!

So, I'm not sure I want the top of the workbench riddled with cracks. The GluLam beam, on both sides, has surface cracks running from one end to the other, and especially on the bottom there are a number of knots. All the cracks and the knots are depressed. So, I'm going to experiment on the bottom, applying a coat of the same crack filler putty that floor installers use. It says on the can to trowel it all over, let dry, and light sanding will remove all of the material that's not filling a crack.

So here's the bottom face of the top with two patches installed, planed off smooth but not sanded. It looks pretty good, and I probably would have no issues with using it just the way it stands. The patches are made of Poplar and of Purple Heart; both are hardwoods with very close grain, so I doubt if they will require any crack filler putty.

















This is the wood filler I picked to fill the cracks. Turns out that the stuff in the tube is too dry to squeeze out easily and there's not enough in the tube anyway, so I didn't use it.

This stuff is runny, so I poured it on, and used a trowel to smooth it out. I've tried sanding this kind of material before and it turns out to pretty difficult. I'll let it dry and then try scraping it off before doing any sanding.





Here's the coated table ....... sort of dry scale all over it.

We'll see how this works out!

CHEERS!

Phil

UPDATE: 

What a mess. The stuff dries to a consistency very close to concrete. It's almost impossible to scrape off so I used my plane ...... it did come off, but there are many, many more cracks and depressions thatn I thought there was. The dried putty in the depressions looks very different from the Douglas Fir, and the depressions that filled up are highlighted by the creme colored putty. 

I could probably sand the stuff off with 100 grit, but It's cold outside and I'm inside and don't want to make a mess that will require a couple of days to clean up, so ...... I'll wait. More later! Suggestions??

CHEERS!

Phil

Making a Workbench: Patching the Cracks

HI!

I completed the work to flatten the top and bottom of the bench by hand planing and now need to address the cracks that run from one surface to the other. They may not create any problems, but I don't want to have any in the future, so I'll do the correction now.

There are quite a few cracks in the bottom near the one that goes all the way through, so I'll use a piece of Poplar large enough to cover them with one patch. Here the patch has been cut and laid over the area to be covered, and I mark around the patch with a marking knife to get a good edge definition. I'll remove all the material inside the outline of the patch, put the patch down into the hole I've created, glue it in, let it set and then plane off the part sticking up.

 Here's the hole for the patch with much of the inside material removed. You can see the mark of the knife where I still have to remove more material. I'll be very careful along the edges, using a chisel to remove the material along the outline of the patch.

And then I apply glue to the removal area, place the patch, pound it into place, and clamp it for 24 hours before planing off the excess and making the patch flush with the top.

Eeeeezy Peeeezy, huh? In concept, yes .........

Here's the final patch all planed off. The patch grain runs cross-grain to the grain of the bench top to keep the top from splitting more than it already has. I'm confident it's strong, but I don't think the patch is "pretty." I'll do one that's a little different (and more attractive) next time.

This is the bottom of the bench top and it won't be seen, so it's OK to do a lot of experimentation with techniques on this surface prior to trying it on the part that will be seen!

The dark part below the patch is a half-circle cut out of the top from top to bottom. I suspect it was a hole drilled in the original glulam beam, for what reason, I can't tell.

Deb remembers seeing the people who installed our hickory flooring use a neutral putty mixed with water to fill the cracks in the flooring; she suggests that I try that on the bench top, so I'll be looking for the putty and some water in the next few days.


CHEERS!

Phil

Making a Workbench: The Other Side Gets Cleaned Up

HI!

Same process as just described gets done to the other side; another 3 hours of hacking on the underneath side with planes. Here's the "finished" result of the rough planing:

This side has a few more problems than the other.
First, the left edge has a crack that runs the full depth of the glu-lam. In order to make the bench stable, I'll have to stop the crack, probably with a butterfly.

Second, the wood seems to have dried out more on this side than the other; the grain is raised and there are splits in almost all of the lengthwise boards. I'll want to fill those to stabilize the wood and to keep more cracks from forming through to the top. I might be able to close up the splits by adding moisture in the form of tung oil; I'll have to try that, experimenting on the underneath side.

The left edge has a bunch of missing pieces; the whole edge has several dings, gouges, and missing wood, so maybe I'll want to fill those in, creating a new edge.

I'm satisfied that I can make this both structurally sound and "pretty." Anything I can do on this side to perfect my techniques will transfer to the other side - the side everyone will see.
CHEERS!

Phil

Making a Workbench: Planing the Surfaces

HI!

First step is, I think, cleaning up the surfaces so I can figure out what I've got. I'll choose the "best" surface for the top, and the other side will be the underneath of the workbench surface. I won't have to do as much work on the underneath as I will on the top, but still, I'll have to clean it and flatten it so that I can attach the workholding devices to a solid surface.

This is the planed "top" of the workbench. I don't know yet that it will be the top because I haven't had a chance to check the other surface yet, but it looks pretty good once cleaned up. There's one gouge out of the surface that will have to be fixed, and a couple of stains that I might take out, but overall pretty solid with only one full-thickness crack in it.

Planing by hand isn't complicated; using the largest plane I have (18"), and working from one side of the surface, I plane across the grain from one end to the other and back. Each stroke is full-width and overlaps the prior pass by about 1/2. The size of the sole plate of the plane ensures that I knock the high spots off pretty evenly across the surface. The cross-grain planing is repeated from the other side of the surface.

Then, using the same large sole plate plane, I plane from one side end-to-end in a herringbone pattern. This takes out some of the cross-grain roughness. The patina is beginning to come off. I repeat the herringbone from the other side.

Then, using a smaller plane, I plane along the long direction to start smoothing. All in all, about three hours of hacking on the top gets me to a place where it's flat and reasonably clean!

CHEERS!

Phil

Making a Workbench: Found the Top for the Bench

HI!

The basic plan for our workbench calls for a laminate top made out of 2 x 4 boards laid on edge and glued face-to-face. If the total width of the top is around 24" (in two separate sections), then that requires 2 sections of six boards laminated together.

In order to laminate boards face-to-face, I'd need to plane the surfaces, glue them up, clamp them at least overnight, the plane them again to a final flat surface. And, I probably can't glue all six boards together at one time; maybe I could glue up 3 of them at one time, then repeat the glue-up with another 3 board section to get one six board section. Complicated.

I have a relationship CS Woods, a hardwoods supplier in the Denver area, and so I thought I'd search their inventory for un-sanded boards that I could plane flat and to final size. I spent about an hour poking around, looking at the several species of hardwoods they have in stock. None are sanded any side, and they are random thicknesses and lengths - all would require a lot of preparation before they could be used to fabricate the top.

At the back corner of the warehouse, I spotted what looked like a piece of a glu-lam beam. This beam was a roof support beam in a warehouse in Denver and had been in service for a number of years.

It's 5" thick, 22-1/2" wide and ~60" long - perfect size for the top of my workbench. It's actually half of a beam - CS Woods cut the one they have in half for me.

It's old, been dinged a few times, has a patina of dirt, and is dried out on one side, so it'll take a bit of work to put it in usable shape. Also, it's not hardwood like most custom workbenches use; it's made of Douglas Fir. I checked through the lierature, and most professional woodworkers, ones who teach classes, don't care what materials are used for the bench, so probably Douglas Fir is OK. Using this as a top for the workbench fills the need for something heavy (165 pounds), but I'll end up designing the rest of the workbench around the top.

Best thing about it - I like recycled building materials, especially those with a known history!

More later! CHEERS!

Phil

Making a Workbench: The Basic Design

HI!

I ended up needing to make a new workbench for myself. I think it's an ambitious project and incorporates joinery that I haven't used before. Oh, bye the way, I'm trying to become a woodworker - a task that involves learning many, many brand new skills. In the past I've been kinda ham-handed as a woodworker - mostly a demolition type guy. Now I'm trying to step up my game. And, I'm trying to use a higher quality wood (better grades and species that the Orange Box store "whitewood"), and to use primarily hand tools. I've always been a believer that if you can do it by hand, then you UNDERSTAND what you are doing so I'm going to use as many hand tools as I can - minimizing the use of power tools.

The purpose of this blog is to entertain you and to document the process I'm going through. Please feel  free to offer any comments and suggestions about how to increase my skills.

The basic design .......

The basic idea is to create a top, create a frame for the top to sit on, add work holding devices (mostly dogs or vises) and finish all of it. Sounds really simple.

First step is to make a top. Usually, home built tops are either plywood or laminations of 2 x 4 on edge. This design calls for two sections of 2 x 4 laminates, each 6 boards, for a total width of each top section of 12" or so.

The two sections are separated on the frame by a row of boxes where the craftsman (maybe ME eventually, LOL), can put shavings, sawdust, tools, etc. without them getting in the way of work. I have a lot of thinking to do about the top, so I'll be back later with the explanation of the frame for the top.

Until then ....... CHEERS!!

Phil