Can this "butcherblock" top be fixed

[estcstm3]

Hi guys,

There is a nice steel and wood workbench on ebay i found. Can this top be re-leveled. The top is screwed to the metal by a total 8 screws two at each corner.

 

[930dreamer]

It can be, looks like a lot of work.

 

[Tejaas]

Is that an old Lyon table?

~Tejaas~

 

[67carl]

It looks like someone took a bunch of 2x4s, laid them side by side then screwed them to the bracket from below. Seems like they've racked as they dried. Can't imagine how you'd repair them unless you had a planer, then they would be thinner and weaker. If they are just 2x4s it would be cheap enough to replace them.

 

[Gizmosity]

Might be worth the time....might not.
Looks like solid maple. I'd unscrew it from the base and take it "apart" if I could, wherever the glue joint failed. Sometimes that requires cutting the glue line on the tablesaw. So you could lose AT LEAST 1/8" of overall width with each bad joint. Overcome that by adding a couple new ones.

If you can repair it, when you mount a top like this to a base, make certain that the holes in the base you are screwing through are slotted to allow the top to expand and contract with changes in humidity. That's likely the cause of failure..but it's hard to tell from the photos.

 

[zcar751]

I would say just about anything can be fixed. It is just a mater of how much effort you want to put into it. That top will take a lot of effort. You would have to separate all the boards and re-glue them into a panel then plane it level.

 

[estcstm3]

Hi All, thanks for the replies... I did some detective work and its either the grainger(edsal) table, or the Tennsco.

http://www.tennsco.com/Product/flared-leg-workbench-wb-1-3060w

http://www.drillspot.com/products/47088/Edsal_M5331_Heavy_Duty_Industrial_Workbench

http://www.hayneedle.com/product/te...cfm?source=HOUZZ&redirect=false&hz_source=ppc

http://www.grainger.com/product/Flared-Leg-Workbench-7D196?functionCode=P2IDP2PCP

 

[estcstm3]

thanks guys. I knew I could sand out the staining and make it look good, but the wavyness would bother me. I dont have a planer....looked like a good deal at $50 bucks. I guess I could always put a different top on and then I have a steel frame workbench. I am about to build/buy a new work bench, redo my pegboard (so want depth no > than 30") and build some storage for all my wifes 66qt bins....

Decisions decisions.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Why not look for a used portable planer on Craigslist? Or possibly a new Harbor Freight one, though I have no idea how their blades would hold up to hardwood.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Legs have knockouts for elect receptacles in them. I think you put a handybox on the inside of the leg with the receptacle and screws thru from the front.

Charles

 

[turbowoodworker]

Portable planer, hand planes or unbolt it and take the top to a cabinet shop with a wide sander. Some of these sanders will handle 48" pieces and could get that flat in a few passes.

 

[Thorold]

Once the loose joints have been re-glued a simple jig and a router can be used. I did a quick search and came up with this video - i'm sure there are more.

Now i guess it's time to get that maple desktop out from behind the shop and try it myself, i guess ....

 

[NUTTSGT]

I had some tops like that at one time. As I was refurbing the garage, they got caught in the rain. They split and as I tossed them off the trailer, they broke apart. I ended up getting rid of them as I didn't want to try to repair them. Best of luck to your in your repair efforts.

 

[Professur]

unbolt it and take the top to a cabinet shop with a wide sander.

This. If you fart about with a 3.5" portable, you'll just make things worse. While you're there, talk to them about sealing it.

 

[little d]

I remolded a building into a restaurant and the owner brought in a top like that asking if it could be saved and reused. It was in pretty rough shape but, I ended up saving enough for the serve through window.

The owner was pretty pleased with it but asked if it was worth what we put into it. The cabinet maker was there so I asked him to come over and asked him. His reply was, "I'd have more time and materials in that then all of the other counter tops in here".

Is yours worth saving? It could be but, that's gotta be your call. Oh and by the way as far as the wavy top, flip it over, plug the holes, cut the plugs off, sand and seal.

 

[Kevin54]

If some woodworkers around you have the wide sanders, they can run it through there a few times to get it sanded and flat. Not sure what it would cost, ot if it would be worth it. I know the ones we had at work were hard maple (rock maple possibly). I think the tops their self through like Grainger is a few hundred bucks. They are not cheap. You could try wetting it down and laying it on a flat concrete floor and add some heavy weights to it to try and draw it back to flat. If you have any lumber companies that have their own mill shop, or if you have any Amish around that does woodworking check with them.

BTW....Welcome to Garage Journal, and hope you hang around. If you would, could you put the state where you live into your profile as it helps to answer some questions that may pop up? Like if you live in New Mexico, I doubt you will see too many Amish.

 

[btlegacy]

Kind of off topic, but is that workbench by chance selling from NC? I saw one exactly like it at the local scrap yard for sale section and was thinking of going back to pick it up.

 

[Gizmosity]

As someone who owned a wide-belt sander, I would like to add that I would NEVER spend any of my time working with a customer to sand their crappy weathered top flat. It contaminates the belt with "whatever" and I run the risk of tearing a belt on "whatever" could be embedded in the top. All to make, what? 20 bucks?

Maybe you folks have found companies willing to take the risk, stop production, change settings, change belts, etc, etc., but in my shop no used material ever found its way into any of my tools unless I knew the history of the material first hand. I would overlook the rules for maybe my Mother......maybe.

Before I got my sander I used a friends. Even my friend required that I use my own belts on his sander...and he charged me time on the machine.

 

[Professur]

I'm really surprised at that Giz ... recycled lumber is big money today. People are bidding for the chance to tear down old barns to get their hands on the old wood.

 

[Gizmosity]

I'm really surprised at that Giz ... recycled lumber is big money today. People are bidding for the chance to tear down old barns to get their hands on the old wood.

I know people who did this, and it's certainly one way to try to pay your bills. Their planer knives are shot after the first couple boards are pushed through. You could hear it screaming all day...dull. That's a whole different area of material prep that only those companies that deal with recycled materials have available.....because they have to. It destroys tools. AFTER the material has gone through the cleanup process and usually a metal detector, then it goes through equipment to actually make something.

A top that may be infused with motor oil, ****** fluid or whatever wouldn't even see the inside of my shop let alone be run through a $25k sander.

Nope. I'd recommend they call one of my competitors that I didn't like.

 

[lilredex]

If you are patient and have access to some straight rails, you could level it using something similar to the method in this vid. FWW also had an excellent article on this method, some thirty years back, if you want more detailed info.

 

[mtmgtz]

Not sure I see the point in trying to save that top. For one, sanding or planing it flat isn't going to change the fact that it's still bowed on the bottom side so it's not properly supported evenly. Two, it's soaked with oil and grease and will be terrible sanding or planing. Three, it just looks like a bunch of 2x4's sandwiched together. That would be pretty easy to replicate and look much nicer in the end.

Pretty sure you could just go get a few 2x4's, sandwich them together and find a new leg set and be in much better shape than toying with that junk.

 

[estcstm3]

Not sure I see the point in trying to save that top. For one, sanding or planing it flat isn't going to change the fact that it's still bowed on the bottom side so it's not properly supported evenly. Two, it's soaked with oil and grease and will be terrible sanding or planing. Three, it just looks like a bunch of 2x4's sandwiched together. That would be pretty easy to replicate and look much nicer in the end.

Pretty sure you could just go get a few 2x4's, sandwich them together and find a new leg set and be in much better shape than toying with that junk.

Part of me agrees with you, which is why i probably started the thead instead of just buying it. I guess I see a "deal" in it, and with some prep and paint the metal frame could look good. I was hoping with some sanding the top would look good. But not having a flat workbench surface would drive me crazy. I think I will pass....

BTW im down in Florida...Lots of things down here but no Amish.

 

[rieferman]

If you search butcher block on CL for a few weeks in a row, I bet you can find one just like that but in great condition. I agree that you should pass on this deal, but you're on the right track.

My work table was $75 and all I did was add a shelf underneath from scrap wood.

 

[stuffup]

IF, big IF you wanted to fix that top the approach that I would take is to cut rips into the timber along its length (but not cutting through) and then turn the timber over. Refasten and attack with a belt sander.

 

[FunkyfullWidth]

Depends on crazy you want to go... I have the exact same thing... I didn't try to flatten it, just alot of sanding and a few coats of floor poly with sanding in between coats.









And the purpose for it

 

[bradweingartner]

If you are patient and have access to some straight rails, you could level it using something similar to the method in this vid. FWW also had an excellent article on this method, some thirty years back, if you want more detailed info.

I came here to say this exact thing. But I would have installed vertical supports on the sled to prevent bowing.

Furthermore, I'd install some strongbacks underneath with shims to support it fully along depth.

Wouldn't be terribly difficult to repair and get pretty much dead flat. But, that's only if you have access to a decent size router and are interested in that sort of methodical work.

 

[Fueler]

I have maple tops in my shop. Every few years I drag them outside and go after them with the belt sander. Just keep the sander moving and they come out just fine. Since it's a working shop I don't sweat some of the " personality" divots. Coat them up and go a few more years with "new" benches.

I think mine are approaching a 30 yr birthday. Excellent investment for anyone considering bench top choices.

 

[InPrimer]

They rent a "shaker" sanding machine that is primarely used to sand parquet floors maybe that would help