Well, I just finished what may have been the biggest, most intimidating glue-up I’ve done to date. I laminated six plies around a 11-5/16″ diameter form with 2002GF (yellow) glue and secured the plies with clamps. I used about half a liter of glue, much of which squeezed out because I was rushing to apply the glue and get everything together before the glue started to set. So I erred on the side of too much glue. A little forethought of laying down a sheet of corrugated cardboard saved my workbench from drowning in squeeze out. So how did the glue up go? I think that it went pretty well. I had an extra set of hands to help, thankfully. I felt the pressure, but didn’t break a sweat. My fingers will be crossed when I remove the clamps.
So, how do you protect your workbench top from glue and finish?
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
(soon to be www.flairwoodworks.com)
– Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer
Replies
I don't. I take a scraper to it fairly often, that's all. It doesn't bother me that a work bench looks like it's been at work.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
I am another that doesn't get excited about glue dribbles on the work bench. But as soon as the glued and cramped up assembly is removed from the bench top I either wipe off the glue with a damp cloth if it's still wet, or pop off dried glue with end of a bit of stick, a chisel, scraper etc. The linseed oiled top prevents the glue getting a good grip if the glue dries.
I clean up the top a bit and add a wipe over or three of boiled linseed oil and perhaps a bit of thinned out varnish on a regular basis, usually about every two to five years. Slainte.
Richard Jones Furniture
Flairwoodsworks,
I have a coat of shellac on the workbench so glue is no problem. However, I often use freezer paper (recycle) because I'm never doing one glue up and I don't want to get glue all over the other work pieces.
waxed paper. It's easy to peel off or scrape off if it sticks to anything.
I have a roll of Kraft paper, brown paper bag material, 36 inches wide and use that to protect from glue and finishes. When it gets too bad, I toss it and tear off another chunk.
Simple, cheap, you can write notes on it - whats not to like?
Mike
Chris - I don't do glue-ups on my primary planing bench, for exactly the reason you cite, and putting anything on it, from linseed oil to wax, to shellac, to polyurethane leads to slipping/sliding work, and that's not good. I suppose I could lay down some polyurethane and sprinkle it with sand, but grit around tools is a no-no.
On my assembly bench, I use beeswax. It's cheap when bought in quantity, and it's easy to melt in a double-boiler to add odorless mineral spirits to make it workable. Obviously, don't do this on a gas-flame stove, and don't do it inside at all if you have one of those "new-fangled" stove vent fans that just exhaust back into the room (I've never understood those, by the way).
Shellac and wax. The glue just flakes off.For epoxy I use clear food wrap on a separate glue up bench as the cure time is long and I need my bench space.
The assembly table is for glueups in my shop. My problem is I allow boy scouts over to build their projects to win their Eagle Scout Award. How do I undo the hole that was drilled in the middle of my just finished solid maple workbench top. I would have hoped an Eagle Scout would have been mature enough to at least acknowledge the fact.
"How do I undo the hole that was drilled in the middle of my just finished solid maple workbench top."
That's easy - just cut a dutchman and patch it. Can't help with the maturity of today's young people...
Not so easy, I went out and cut a Dutchman but boy was he mad! Ha! Seriously, what exactly is a dutchman? Is it like an inlay?
I was probably too hard on the boy scouts. It is possible that he (whoever) didn't even realize he had done it. When it is used, it will get all kinds of nicks over time. It is like the first dented fender
" Seriously, what exactly is a dutchman? Is it like an inlay?"
I'd search for "dutchman" on the FWW site, I think I remember reading an article about it not too long ago. In general, you cut a recess in the table or benchtop (in whatever shape you desire - traditional is a double-dovetail), then cut a piece of the same wood as the top and glue it in. After the glue dries, you simply plane it flush. One advantage to this is that the resulting patch is face-grain; a plug made from a dowel will be end-grain, which potentially will cause problems when it comes time to plane the whole top again.
You could, of course, make a "dutchman" in a circular shape with a commercial plug-cutter (they sell them at Home Despot). That would have the advantage of perhaps matching the drilled hole's diameter, so additional cutting of the benchtop would not be necessary, and assuming that the board you plunge the plug-cutter into is oriented correctly, the patch would be face-grain.
You are correct - it was in the last issue of FWw (203), an article by Richard Humphreville, page 42, with dutchmen on page 45.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I don't mind gunk on my benchtop. HOWEVER, you DO want to be careful with squeeze out after it dries. If you have a little bump of dried glue on your flat surface, and then drag your next project across it, you will put a nice big scratch in the side of your case. I know it's true, cuz' I done it! Happy gluing!
I do not protect it at all, no finish either, I just scrape it down when necessary. I use it, hence the name “workbench”, not sideboard.
Congrats on a successful complicated glue up, doing one well is the mark of a fine craftsman.
Well, today the clamps come off. We'll see just how successful it really was. Fingers crossed!Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Woodworking Magazine (Autumn 2005 issue) tested bench finishes along with their article on building the Roubo bench. Top performer in resisting glue spills and stains was a mixture of 2 ounces beeswax in a pint of turpentine and a pint of boiled linseed oil. I used this mixture on my Holtzapel bench and it worked great. Danish oil and paste wax was second best. The third best was a mixture of mineral oil and paraffin.
To make the best mixture, I shaved a beeswax candle on a kitchen grater to get two ounces. Then I added the shaved beeswax to the turpentine and allowed it to dissolve overnight. I then added the BLO allowing the container to sit in a bath of hot water to warm the mixture and finish dissolving the beeswax. Applying while it is still warm is best as it is like a gel at room temperature. I applied three coats. It does have a smell to it so opening some windows was needed to dissipate the smell while it was drying.
Tom,Thanks for the great info. My family is pretty sensitive to fumes, so if I go this route, I'll have to do this while they are out for the day. What type of wood did you use for your top?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I used 12/4 hard maple for the top. Finished top is 3" thick - 24" x 96". The top alone weighs about 200 pounds so it is as solid as can be. It was a real adventure gluing it up, running edges over the jointer and running the top pieces through the 12" planer. After gluing the two 12" wide pieces together, I had minimal hand planing to do as I was careful with aligning the edges during glue up. The Holtzapel desgn in Woodworking Magazine is wonderful. After working on a Tage Frid design bench for 25 years. I am much more satisfied with the Holtzapel design. Chris Schwarz, Woodworking Magazine editor, is a work bench expert and has posted numerous articles on work benches on the Woodworking Magazine blog. I spent hours reading his postings, well worth the time, many tips on vises, hold downs, etc.
Tom,Thanks for the great info. My family is pretty sensitive to fumes, so if I go this route, I'll have to do this while they are out for the day. What type of wood did you use for your top?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
So, how do you protect your workbench top from glue and finish?
WAX.. I would say. Wax is a wonderful thing in my world of wood...
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