Attaching Hardwood Trim to Plywood Workbench Top

[madra]

Hello,

I made a workbench top from three 3/4" plywood sheets and a sheet of hardboard on top. I want to add a trim around the edge, and I have a 35mm thick Oak trim ready to go. I just want some advice on how to attach.

First of all, is it better to glue or screw? I don't have clamps for gluing and I do like the idea of being able to remove the trim in the future if I ever make a better top and using it on the new table. This is not essential though. I am not sure if screwing into the edge of plywood is a good idea. Plus, would it look ugly?

Also, when attaching the trim, should I use mitred corners or just put them on with the end showing? If doing mitres, what is the best way to go about this, i.e. do I cut two and attach them and fit the others on one by one?

Once the trim is on, it will rise above the top of the bench by a few millimetres. Do I need a router to fix this? Should I fit the trim so the extra millimetres are extending past the bottom of the plywood and just leave it alone? Or can it be sanded/planed by hand?

I realise there is a lot in there, sorry (hammer)

 

[Shultzy]

"First of all, is it better to glue or screw?" - either, but screw if you want to take it off. Screwing into plywood is ok, it's not as if it's going to endure a lot of stress.

"Plus, would it look ugly?" - depends on how neat you are with countersinking. Counterbore and plug is the neatest, but it is a workbench not something you have in the living room.

"should I use mitred corners or just put them on with the end showing" - either, it depends on how much work you want to to put into them.

"do I cut two and attach them and fit the others on one by one" - Yes it the easiest way to make them fit and if the last cuts are at the back it won't show.

"Should I fit the trim so the extra millimetres are extending past the bottom of the plywood and just leave it alone" - Yes, it won't show.

 

[madra]

Thanks!

 

[madra]

"Should I fit the trim so the extra millimetres are extending past the bottom of the plywood and just leave it alone" - Yes, it won't show.

Damn it, I forgot that I can't do this, thanks to an earlier mess up.The top I trimmed with the circular saw was wonky at one edge so I had to trim off some of the width and now the top is not as wide as the frame so when the front edge of the top is flush with the frame, the back is a good bit in from the edge of the back of the frame. Maybe I could do it on the front if I slide the top forward a few millimetres, but on the back I will have to have the trim jutting past the top of the workbench top as the frame is in the way.

Wonder would an orbital sander help to even it out

 

[Shultzy]

Or trim it with a router, or glue a piece on the back to level it up with the frame.

 

[custard]

"Should I fit the trim so the extra millimetres are extending past the bottom of the plywood and just leave it alone" - Yes, it won't show.

Damn it, I forgot that I can't do this, thanks to an earlier mess up.The top I trimmed with the circular saw was wonky at one edge so I had to trim off some of the width and now the top is not as wide as the frame so when the front edge of the top is flush with the frame, the back is a good bit in from the edge of the back of the frame. Maybe I could do it on the front if I slide the top forward a few millimetres, but on the back I will have to have the trim jutting past the top of the workbench top as the frame is in the way.

Wonder would an orbital sander help to even it out

Before you do anything more you should check the accuracy of your work on the top.

Check with a straight edge that the edges are truly straight, check with a square that the edges are at 90 degrees to the top face, and check that the corners are at 90 degrees. Sheet goods woodworking depends on accuracy and precision at each stage, moving on to the next stage when components aren't square and straight is just inviting problems. If you messed up sawing the edges correctly then there's every chance there are other inaccuracies which will make applying edging difficult.

So check, and if you find inaccuracies then either correct them before applying trim (an orbital sander will absolutely not deliver square, straight edges by the way, you need a hand held circular saw running in a track or against an accurate fence, or you need a hand plane and a bit of skill), or forget about trim and just live with the exposed ply edges. Better exposed ply edges than gappy, horrible edging that will set entirely the wrong tone for your future woodworking.

Good luck

 

[madra]

Thanks,

I tried correcting with a circular saw using a factory edge as a saw guide but it still seems to be slightly off and I don't have much to work with and can't take off another tiny slice of one edge. Can this be done with a belt sander? Is there a way to attach the trim and then fill gaps from uneven edge? I realise this is not a good way to go but anything that would let me get it done and have a working bench so I can put away the circular saws and sanders and concentrate on developing skill with hand planes and chisels.

 

[custard]

Thanks,

I tried correcting with a circular saw using a factory edge as a saw guide but it still seems to be slightly off and I don't have much to work with and can't take off another tiny slice of one edge. Can this be done with a belt sander? Is there a way to attach the trim and then fill gaps from uneven edge? I realise this is not a good way to go but anything that would let me get it done and have a working bench so I can put away the circular saws and sanders and concentrate on developing skill with hand planes and chisels.

You could attach the trim and fill the gaps with epoxy resin. You'll either have to secure the gap at the bottom with masking tape to prevent the epoxy running straight through, or mix in some of the thickening gloop that manufacturers like West sell to make the epoxy sufficiently viscous to stay in the gap. Personally I still can't understand why you'd do that, it'll look rubbish, the materials are expensive, and it won't add anything to the integrity of the bench.

A belt sander won't give you the kind of straight, true edge that you need to attach edging in a tidy professional manner. An experienced woodworker might get away with it, but the truth is you'll be just as likely to make matters worse.

We see this exact same cycle over and over again on this forum. Newcomer starts on a project, makes mistake, searches for quick and dirty power tool based solution, makes the problem worse. If you're going to be successful as woodworker you often need to rein in your enthusiasm to move on and just hit the pause button. I'm sorry Madra, but the best way to clean up the edge before attaching trim is with a circular saw or with a hand plane working down to a line scribed parallel with the opposite edge. You say you've not been successful with a circular saw and (I think, forgive me if I'm wrong) you're not comfortable using a hand plane. In the absence of those two options then just park the idea of trim and return to it when your skills have improved. Surely you can fasten the top on and accept the small gap on a temporary basis, or have I misunderstood something?

Good luck!

 

[AJB Temple]

Re screwing the trim on. Depending on what quality of ply you have used, if you re worried you can always carefully drill into the ply and glue in a thick piece of dowel. Put a proper pilot hole in it and then screw into that.

Take heed of the advice above about getting the top square. You can quite easily triangulate this with string (not string that stretches!) if you don't have suitable straight edges and squares.

As you have made the top too short, by the sound of it, I would:

1 Fix the dodgy end by cutting it square.
2 Make some much wider end pieces for BOTH ends, so it looks as if it was deliberate
3 Lap the oak front and back rails over (don't mitre).

Unless you are pretty good with a belt sander - leave that tool switched off. Otherwise what you will end up with is a an end that is not square in any direction. Plane it if you can, to a scribed line. Thin shavings. Failing that do the circular saw again but this time make sure you are working against a firmly clamped guide.

 

[madra]

Thanks,

I tried correcting with a circular saw using a factory edge as a saw guide but it still seems to be slightly off and I don't have much to work with and can't take off another tiny slice of one edge. Can this be done with a belt sander? Is there a way to attach the trim and then fill gaps from uneven edge? I realise this is not a good way to go but anything that would let me get it done and have a working bench so I can put away the circular saws and sanders and concentrate on developing skill with hand planes and chisels.

You could attach the trim and fill the gaps with epoxy resin. You'll either have to secure the gap at the bottom with masking tape to prevent the epoxy running straight through, or mix in some of the thickening gloop that manufacturers like West sell to make the epoxy sufficiently viscous to stay in the gap. Personally I still can't understand why you'd do that, it'll look rubbish, the materials are expensive, and it won't add anything to the integrity of the bench.

A belt sander won't give you the kind of straight, true edge that you need to attach edging in a tidy professional manner. An experienced woodworker might get away with it, but the truth is you'll be just as likely to make matters worse.

We see this exact same cycle over and over again on this forum. Newcomer starts on a project, makes mistake, searches for quick and dirty power tool based solution, makes the problem worse. If you're going to be successful as woodworker you often need to rein in your enthusiasm to move on and just hit the pause button. I'm sorry Madra, but the best way to clean up the edge before attaching trim is with a circular saw or with a hand plane working down to a line scribed parallel with the opposite edge. You say you've not been successful with a circular saw and (I think, forgive me if I'm wrong) you're not comfortable using a hand plane. In the absence of those two options then just park the idea of trim and return to it when your skills have improved. Surely you can fasten the top on and accept the small gap on a temporary basis, or have I misunderstood something?

Good luck!

I'm willing to try hand planing but I only have a couple of old second hand planes and it's taking me a while to afford stones to sharpen them. It's not that I want a power tool solution, it's that I am trying to avoid solutions that require a lot of skill as I don't want to make it worse. The circular saw worked well, but the guide must have slipped that one time and I have since straightened it up as much as I can but I can't trim off any more as there is a line of screws near the edge. Thing is, if the Oak trim was screwed on tight, you wouldn't even notice any crookedness. But it's probably not a good idea to have the Oak strained like that is it?

After that, I will have the problem of a slight lip all around the table. Would a block plane deal with that?

 

[AJB Temple]

I don't undestand the "lip". Are you saying that your oak trim is deeper than the top you have made? If so, it will make no difference if you install your oak flush with the top and projecting a little below the bottom.

Let's get back to functional basics. This is a workbench. Not fine furniture. It is a functional table that has a surface that will be marked and damaged through use. Don't obsess over it: fix your oak edges on and then het on with some woodworking ;-)

 

[custard]

Would a block plane deal with that?

A Block Plane is an excellent choice for dealing with plywood edges, that would be my first choice. You'll blunt the blade fairly quickly on plywood but it's easy to resharpen. Carefully set out a fine pencil line on both sides and plane down to that line but don't cross it. If you get to that stage then you're entering the territory where an applied lipping or edging starts to be realistic.

Good luck

 

[madra]

AJB Temple

Hi, I can do that on the front and might need to glue on another piece on the back to take it past the top of the frame.

I think it will be okay, it's sturdy and seems flat and I will be able to swap out the damaged hardboard top in the future.

Whatever I do I will add some pictures so you can see the bench that I f***ed up- sorry fixed up.