Support WoodCentral when buying things you need
Articles Forums Gallery Marketplace Videos

WoodCentral Forums

Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge

Reach the woodworkers who ACTUALLY BUY

Flattening Quandry

Posts

Flattening Quandry

#1

Flattening Quandry

Chris McLaughlin

>I'm in a quandry. I've got some large maple planks (1.75" x 8" x 7') that are a bit out of true. These are for the central portion of a workbench top. I've already removed a bit with the tailed jointer and there isn't enough meat left for me to go on screwing around that way. I need the surefire method of getting these things trued so that they can be glued up in fairly flat fashion (final flattening to follow assembly of the top).

One board has a twist and the other a bow. Too bad the boards don't mirror one another. Anyway, my thought is to flatten each board a bit, glue up the panel and then finish flattening the panel. Alternativley, I can flatten each board individually and then glue them up. As a last resort I can rip the planks and run them through the powered jointer and reglue all the pieces. (A truly awful idea involving plywood and veneer has also passed through my head.)

Finally, I could just cut these planks down into some other piece and wait for things to warm up, at which time I buy full thickness wood that I can true up without assistance (did I mention that I paid to have a local millwork shop flatten one face on their jointer?).

I've got two nice planks; help me turn them into a workbench.

Chris

Re: Flattening Quandry

#2

Re: Flattening Quandry

Frank Mutchler in Colorado Springs

>Chris, if you rip the boards into approximately 2" pieces and glue them face to face you will have a 7" laminated plank almost 2" thick. 2 of those give a 14" section of basically quarter sawn maple. More stable than just using the planks flat sawn. After the final glue-up, you can check for square and use a router/straight edge to true up front & rear edges if necessary.

Re: Flattening Quandry

#3

Agree!

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>That 1-3/4" thick maple is going to be hard-to- impossible to force into gluing position, so it would have to be planed pretty near true. Over a 7-foot length, IME you'd be lucky to come out of that exercise with 1-1/2", and I would suspect a little less given the planing after glue-up.

With Frank's proposal, you're gonna lose the kerf material, but you'll still come out with about as much wood as otherwise, and kerf losses can be minimized by using the bandsaw (dare I say handsaw?). Then there's the owner's-state-of-mind issue: If you rip the boards, you won't be in a state of total aggravation and fury as you plane away your thickness. And once the boards are ripped, you'll only need to run a plane down them to smooth them prior to glueing--not much twist would be present in a 2" wide board and bow would be irrelevant. And your thickness is guaranteed. Agree with Frank.

Wiley

Re: Flattening Quandry

#4

Jack Guzman from Maine

I agree too

Jack Guzman from Maine

>That's actually how I built my benchtop. It works fine.Laminating makes for a stable top.The way I've seen benchtops made with whole planks is with very thick slabs of 3" or more.---Jack

Re: Flattening Quandry

#5

Re: Agree!

Chris McLaughlin

>Of course you can say handsaw! That's why I posted on this side. I figured that at least half of the good ideas that I might employ would involve hand tools. Besides, I have nice ripsaw that I bought sans handle (as a project) and have since handled. Time to use it. I might try a few kerfs with it, but given the time factor, I'll probably rely on the old freud thin kerf to get things done.

Thanks.

Chris

👍 This page answered my questions

Your vote helps other woodworkers quickly find the answers and techniques that actually work in the shop.