flat workbench

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How do you go about clamping the middle cross-pieces ? In the example given they will be 2 feet in from the edge and none of my clamps will go anywhere near that.

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Could you post them here ? I'm sure lots of people would be interested to know how to do this as building boards are a perennial topic on these ngs.

A piece of sheet-rock, dry-wall works pretty good for a top layer.

You can stick T-p>I dont recommend the interior door idea. Next time at the hardware store

I told a local glass shop what I wanted to do. They took a thick piece of glass, squared it and polished the edges. I glued a piece of cold roll sheet metal to it and use the Lind magnets. I use a big T-square to lay out perfect lines. I also have a piece of glass that I have a cork sheet glued to it. This works, but I prefer the magnetic board. Bill

Note glass is fairly flexible, you need to build a flat frame to put the glass on.

The best way is for your frame to hold 2 straight rails which the glass sits on, you can check for flatness with string and put shims between the rails and the glass to straighten. Ideally the glass should not be support by a large surface area.

If one wants to pay full retail price, one goes to a glass vendor.

Several years ago we replaced the rain-damaged dining room door; it had a large (28" x 67") thermopane window in it.

After sitting in the back yard a while, I salvaged the thermopane window and used both sheets of glass to make a flat table-topper for the now-defunct hollow core door building table. Kept the glass, though - great for making fiberglass skins.

Photos at

in the photo album section. Cheers, Fred McClellan the dash plumber at mindspring dot com

Hello, Norman,

The problem with wood is that it is hygroscopic - it will either take on, or, give off moisture, according to the surrounding humidity, and I, personally, would not trust any finish to eliminate this phenomenon. Therefore, anyone who would build a flat surface out of wood, and expect it to stay flat, permanently, would be expecting the impossible.

On the other hand, sheet metal is relatively inexpensive, and can be readily supported with T - section framing members. Such a construction will not warp, and, of course, will also facilitate a magnetic building system.

Michael

I have been using a pattern maker's plank for 20 years that is still flat and true. They come in different thicknesses and woods. The ones I have are

2" thick pine. This is the only source I know of for them. They are sold under the branded name of "Perfect Plank" Years ago, I bought one that was 1" think and it did bow. I would recommend at least 2" thickness.

Unless of course the wood product is sealed with a couple of coats of epoxy. Cheers, Fred McClellan the dash plumber at mindspring dot com