Workbench Top

[Bill]

Following Lew's outline for making a workbench top, I plan to rip some

8-foot, 2 by 8s, with my BS (since I already own one and not a TS yet) and glue them face-to-face, with the factory milled edge down. First I'll glue in pairs, then create quads, etc.

Since I started thinking about this I learned about cauls--and using them makes sense to me to help minimize the amount of planing that I need to do. By the time I glue 16 or so of these boards together, the accumulated "error" could possibly add up in an ugly way--if I don't get those factory milled edges close to one another!

Hand-jointing the boards in pairs would make cauls work better when gluing the boards in pairs, but not after than (unless the boards had

*exactly* the same width, an event which has probability 0).

Any thoughts that may help with my glue-up?

Thank you, Bill

[Chris Friesen]

Run the individual boards on edge through the planer before glue-up. This will ensure even thickness so the cauls work properly.

Glue up multiple boards into subassemblies narrow enough to fit on the jointer. Up to boards is no problem even with yellow glue. Then run the subassemblies through again before gluing them together.

Alternately, you could glue one board at a time--this would take longer but would let you be really careful about keeping it aligned.

Chris

[SonomaProducts.com]

[russellseaton1]

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------- Wrong.

Follow the glue up schedule.

Worst case error is one joint.

Lew

[Bill]

Thank you for all of your feedback on my question! I feel ready (to start practicing my planing on a "test table")! Bring on spring!

Bill