Home DIY

Either way that looks way cool.

+1.

I imagine that a belt sander might be good - the bigger the better.

Oh okay.
I would sand it, only because I feel it would be safer.

Cheers!

Belt sander.

With the planer there is too great a risk of tear out. Random orbit unless it is one of the fancy geared Festool ones will take aaaaages.

Edit:. If you really don't want to buy a new tool make sure the planer has a razor sharp, brand new blade (really take your time setting the blade) and is set a the smallest possible setting. Using test pieces set it so that the fore sole is positioned so that nothing is taken a cross the width of the blade and then set it 1 click past this so that it only just cuts. Take many, many passes at this setting until you are 99% of the way there and finish with your random orbit.

A very sharp low angle jack plane would also be a good option.

Final glue up (post dinner) took a little while but it’s finished.

Really not sure I can stretch to a new belt sander. Been an expensive month.

Might make a start with the orbital and see how long my patience lasts.

To square it off, should I cut from above (herringbone side) or below (flat ply sheet), to avoid tear out?

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I did my entire kitchen floor (very hard, very old linoleum) with a random orbital sander, no problem.
Ha

It depends on what saw you are going to use.

If you have a plunge saw with tracks cut from the top but make sure you set up the cut so the splinter guard is on the side you want to keep. You'll get better visibility that way and will be less likely to mess up all your hard work.

With pretty much anything else cut from the bottom so that the leading edge of the blade is pulling into the surface. But remember to measuremeasurecut.

This belt sander is under £50 if that helps.

Yeah, using plunge saw with track.

Let’s see what the wife says on the belt sander.

What’s going to be better to get this flat with?

Hours and hours of youtube viewing tells me that a router jig is the way to go.

I've watched way too many videos of people making butcher block worktops for woodwork tables, out of big box bought 4x4 pine.

Don't get me wrong, router jigs are great but it's overkill in this instance and will still need to be finished off with a sander.

@Soul is starting off with a relatively flat surface backed with an almost completely flat base so there is no need, but if it were a rustic and wide butcher block worktop that had been poorly glued, or a live edge slab for a table, then it would definitely be an option.

Out of curiosity given your near pathological hatred of wooden worksurfaces why are you watching YouTube videos about how to make them?

Stripped off paint covering these bad boys. Screws totally rounded. What’s the best way to remove? I thought about trying to creat a flat notch with the oscillating saw to enable me to get a flat screwdriver in...
Is there a better way?

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Yeah, cutting a slot with a Dremel cutting disc, or maybe an oscillating saw, followed by a flat head bit in an impact driver would be my route. Good luck.

Sometimes it's enough to hammer a cross head in there and turn until you get enough of the screw head to put some pump pliers on. If you do cut it with the Dremel disc remember to wear safety squints.

Worst case, use a drill to remove the heads, cut the remaining screw out and dowel.

Wooden work surfaces in kitchens, specifically around underhung sinks, are my particular bête noire.

That said, self-jigging woodwork jigs for making woodwork equipment is a youtube rabbit hole that I quite enjoy, and I've ended up watching hours of planing, thicknessing, glue ups, routin and sanding

Insomnia has a lot to answer for.

Sometimes it's enough to hammer a cross head in there

Borrowing someone's chisel would surely be more effective.

Of course, who in their right mind would use their own chisel to do that!

Funny how you learn to avoid those situations over time, it's rare I end up with a screw head that gone, let alone 2.

What do you use to get screws out if the heads are snapped off?

Magnets

Very powerful magnets

Demolition screwdriver locate them in the hole and hammer them in (they're constructed like a cheap plastic handled chisel so will take the abuse).

^^ just don't put one in each nostril.

I bought an Evolution mitre saw for a decking project, cutting loads of ipe to length. Made easy work of it. You can’t trust the fence to be set up square out of the factory but at that price you really cannot complain. The only issue for me was buying one that was far too big for my realistic needs because it was so cheap. They don’t fit easily in cupboards and I don’t have a garage.

Zero tear out on squaring up.

Now to sand all the things.

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I love this. What are you going to finish it with?

I have that one too. I never trust the angle readings. Always use a combination square or a known previous square cut to set up the blade. Or for random angles (15, 30 etc), just make sure I cut all the angles cuts in one go. Cutting some angles, then going back to 90 and then trying to get that exact same angle again is nigh on impossible. But like you said, not fussed due to the cost.

It took a while to get it set up right, I have to say. The angle guide is way off, although the 45 degree lock in is, happily, pretty close.