View Poll Results: Which technique will flatten a workbench the fastest?

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  • Hand plane

    24 63.16%
  • Router sled

    3 7.89%
  • Wide belt sander

    11 28.95%
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Thread: Which technique will flatten a workbench the fastest

  1. #1

    Which technique will flatten a workbench the fastest

    I guess I should have said: Which technique will flatten MY workbench the fastest.

    Built a new workbench top - 60"x30" hard maple. Screwed up a glue-up and have a crown in the top that's at least 1/8" tall. So it needs some flattening. Is that a lot to take off?

    Which method of flattening will be fastest? Hand plane (I have a Veritas bevel up jack plane that I'm incompetently dangerous with), router sled, or take it to a cabinet shop for a wide-belting? I'm totally willing to put some sweat into this and handplane it flat (if only to learn how to handle the plane, better), but don't know if 1/8" off is an reasonable amount of material to try to remove.

  2. #2
    A Jack plane, a straight edge, and 2 winding sticks. You should be done in 5 minutes or less.


    Your workbench doesn't need to be machine-shop level. just "close enough for jazz."

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    SE Michigan
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    +1 on the Jack plane. I needed to do the same, and was a complete plane beginner.
    My learnings: go real light at first to get a read on whether or not all the laminated boards have the grain running in the same direction and/or a few boards with reversing grain...if you go too aggressive with either of these situations, you risk tear out. Set the iron shallow and set a narrow throat opening. Plane diagonally with the grain in both directions keeping in mind any weird grain areas and stop short of the edge or you may get tear out.

    There's a lot more experience on the board than I, and I'm sure they will be along to add to or correct my suggestions.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    So Cal
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    3,739
    I use a Foreplane to flatten my bench its hardmaple.I don't own a jack plane but it sounds like it's a popular choice.
    It really doent take much time but I enjoy the process so I take my time.
    Keep at it Dan. Endeavor to persevere

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Austin Texas
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    1,957
    Router sled? - Has to be the slowest method. Wide belt? - Have to remove the top, transport it, bring it back and re install it. Hand plane(s)? - Identify the high area(s) with straight edges and winding sticks. Mark/scribble extent of high area(s) with a pencil. Start rubbing a SHARP plane across the width (or at an angle) of the high area(s) in a systematic pattern so as to remove the pencil marking. As said above - set the plane for a very shallow cut and keep an eye or "feel" out for the grain changes. Go at it easy-like to avoid creating bigger problems, and, if a particular spot is giving problems, leave it and work around it to come back to it at a different angle. Almost anything you do with a plane will make it better, especially if you keep it sharp. Use a straight edge to gauge progress. Although high-spot removal and flattening are related, generally work towards getting rid of the high area(s) first, then start looking at flattening. Flattening a bench top takes some long winding sticks so improvise by using long levels or something similar. The top will get flatter as you work it down and it does not have to be NASA flat.
    David

  6. #6
    If you have can easily get the top to a cabinet shop (e.g., it's not yet attached, you own a truck, a shop is nearby, etc), then have them run it through the sander.

    If you'd rather not move it, use the hand plane. If you are a novice at that, like I was the first time, this thread might help. Be aware that I got WAAAY carried away - I thought it did need to be "machine shop flat", as Alan aptly put it.

    I don't mean to disagree with the really smart guys who've already replied. But IMO, if it's a new bench top, it does need to be flattened - I wouldn't just remove the hump. You'll use this bench as a reference surface for glue ups, etc. Don't get carried away on tolerances like I did, but IMO you spent real money on that top and I would want it to be as right as I could make it. Using your BU Jack will work for this - I have that tool and love it. But it's going to take a little more time/effort than if you have a longer plane. That's no biggie. Just be aware this may not be a 10 minute job if you are new at flattening like I was.

    Here's a link:
    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ght=Flattening

    Dan, like everything else, YMMV. Best of luck!
    Fred
    Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 11-23-2015 at 6:33 AM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Laingsburg, MI
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    69
    I used a router sled to flatten mine, worked great took about an hour.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Wayland, MA
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    One of the few times I've really used my #8 jointer plane. Worked like a champ.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
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    Dan, the obvious answer is that a 32" jointer would be fastest

    That said I would use a plane..........Rod.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    You left out one other technique: a CNC router. Fast, and guaranteed to be flat. They're getting to be quite common in larger cabinet shops.

    Me, I'd use a router bridge. No hassles with grain direction.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Rod Sheridan View Post
    Dan, the obvious answer is that a 32" jointer would be fastest

    That said I would use a plane..........Rod.
    Ah, well, the knives on mine are dull, so I'm going to come over and use yours, ok, Rod?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    Toronto Ontario
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    11,247
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Friedrichs View Post
    Ah, well, the knives on mine are dull, so I'm going to come over and use yours, ok, Rod?
    That would be fantastic, love to meet you.

    I'll sharpen the #3 and #7 plane for you...........Rod.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    Northwestern Connecticut
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    A widebelt works like a planer, it will not flatten your top over its length, and will not always take out twist if you have some of that too. It will improve flateness over the width, and many help over the length but it's not a guarantee. It will leave your top very smooth. and it's pretty fast once you get to a shop. Hand planning an edge grain hard maple lamination with grain running in random directions isn't my idea of joy. I did my own a bit, it's 40" wide....pretty easy to get some good hunks of tear out even with a sharp low angle plane. But it's possible. I like the CNC suggestion. It's really the best way to get a very flat top quickly, once you factor in getting it there, probably have to run one pass crown up and then flip and flatten or shim the top to the base. Is the base its sitting on dead flat? You can flatten the top all you like, if you pull it down with screws to a base that is warped.....there goes your flat reference.
    "A good miter set up is like yoga pants: it makes everyone's butts look good." Prashun Patel

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    Princeton, NJ
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    This is not a bad job to do by hand. I would suggest that you camber your iron and make the cuts crossgrain. Let your straight edge and winding sticks guide you as to where to cut.

    If you have not done this previously, then it is not a 5 minute job for you. However you will learn how to use your jack plane.

    Since this is a workbench, I do this about once a year. I do the work crossgrain and just take the highs off along the grain. No sense in perfecting the surface, a little roughness helps the bench to grip.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  15. #15
    My benches are both edge grain laminations (you don't say what yours is). It's been my experience that both tops after glue up were globally flat, but locally bumpy. So, built them in halves and ran each half through the planer. Then I glued the two halves together.

    If you're not yet a Ginsu Samurai with your hand planes, then your fastest may be to rip the top in half, flatten through yr benchtop planer (light passes, flip each time), then re-glue.

    As long as your top is not bowed, but simply cupped, I'd bet it's thick enough that a thickness planer will joint it just fine.


    On the other hand, if you are aspire to hand plane Ginsu samurai status, then this is a great project to learn on.

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