Finally!
An update that actually is an update!
Good news - I routed the bench top today!
Bad news - it took forever and I still have a lot of work ahead of me.
Nonetheless, I'm pumped! I started the preliminary sanding and it is looking awesome! Here is how I did it.
As you may recall, this was my cobbled up router sled:
I originally tried to use slatboard rails -
...but it sucked. They were wavy and not up to snuff.
Enter...
You guessed it!
Furring strips!!!
Gosh, I love these things. They are just so useful. I like useful stuff. And yes, I am still going to use them to build an auxiliary bench.
So here is the bench, ready to rock:
Here are the rail supports, screwed in from underneath (NOT ideal, since the bottom of the table was as uneven as the top):
Here are the rails for the sled attached:
(that last one looks like it is tweaked up, but it is just camera distortion)
These were hand-fitted and shimmed. I would have used aluminum channel if I wanted accuracy, but I had to use what was on hand and just had to eyeball it. I came real close.
Here is a top view of the rails:
So the sled and router ride on these rails:
Just to show you how bad the table was, well...just look for yourself
:
Let's just say
lots of lessons learned on how to (and really, how
not to) build a workbench table and leave it at that, m'kay?
So here was the first pass:
That was just about the worst of it, but still...
Here is a mid-process shot:
Definitely using eye, ear, and lung protection on this bad boy
More done:
A close up:
Unfortunately, it was taking about 1/8" to 3/16" at most in some places. The reason why it had to go so deep was where I first started out there were some of the board ends that dipped really badly and I had to start off with a cut that deep. The rest of the entire surface was having about 1/8" removed (3/16" in the center of the bench), which told me apart from that one extreme low spot, things were, despite all evidence contrary to it, actually somewhat fairly consistent.
Then I finished it! Which is good because my non-carbide tipped router bit just about died there at the end. I decided to take the belt sander to one end and just see what I ended up with. The results are looking very, very good so far:
I'm super happy with the outcome and I am feeling that 'motivated excited-ness' well up in me - I'll soon be putting a finish on the top!
Now, I showed you all the good stuff. What I'm leaving out is all the ugly stuff. So I'm about to tell you
So, I noticed that the router started taking a bigger and bigger cut, as I expected (the entire surface of the workbench was ever so slightly 'bowed' upwards, with the middle being the high point), so the middle was going to have the most material removed. Well, I was a little nervous about how much material was going to be removed, so I decided to (after doing about 1/4th of the top) clamp my sled down dead center of the table and just see how much would be removed. This was silly for the simple fact that even if worst case scenario, it would be removed too much material, I would have found that out by doing just that. Helloooo!
But, a worse problem crept up on me. Once I made my way from the 1/4 of the way in to that channel routed at the middle point, the depths didn't line up - the middle route was deeper than the rest! Don't ask me how its even possible, but I had the spend the next hour re-routing the entire thing back to match that middle channel. Dumb dumb dumb! There is still a hint of that deeper route at the middle, but I'm confident the belt sander will take care of it.
So - here is what I learned:
Using warped wood to try and make something straight = bad
Router as a bench top planer = cool and good
Making straight router sled rails = hard (without spending anything)
Routing out the middle or routing in a non-sequential pattern = dumb and bad
Belt-sander = VERY good
This bench top is going to look killer, but I'm paying for it. It has taken forever, and I've had to cover over a lot of mistakes I've made along the way. To anyone else looking to do the same thing, do some things that I didn't: buy the straightest wood you can (I broke this rule by choosing appearance over straightness. I'm not sorry I did, but I definitely created more work for myself), and dimension the wood in a planer or sander to get it all squared up. That I didn't do and it made a lot more work for me.
Oh, and one more thing. I decided to move my bench out of the way so I could pull the car in and the only way it would fit was against the back wall. Once I put it back there, I really liked the look of it! So, I wanted to ask you what you thought:
It might even be a better location that where I had previously envisioned it (on the wall directly to the left of it). Another reason I like it there is I could possibly use it as an outfeed table for the RAS once I get it set up and just strategically level out the radial saw to the bench top. However, as you can see, this location leaves no room for a head board on the bench and I already have the bench top cut out for the support pillars.
I may have to think on this one a little bit - I still really want to do the header, which was going to be the highlight of the bench project, but I like this location. What to do?
That's all for now! Next pictures up will be of the bench sportin' some paint/finish! Stay tuned!
