Beech Bench top

[phedders]

Biscuit joints along the top and bottom - then drill and rod it.

[Chrisy B]

I'd also thought about using kitchen worktop jointers Morten but never have so couldn't comment on how effective they are. Obviously work brilliantly for jointing work tops, either buy the worktop router jig or ask a kitchen fitter/joiner to do the routing on the back of the board. I'd say one at each end and one in the middle should do the job.

[jamesd]

I wouldn't drill in only part way and I wouldn't try to go from one side and make it line up with the other. A good eye and go for it with a long series lip and spur bit would be my approach.

 

You can get bigger stainless threaded rod here:

 

Stainless Steel Threaded Rod | Buy Online @ | Trade Fix Direct

 

It's where mine comes from (had to fix the windposts down to the foundations with 450mm lengths of M20 in each corner of a plate - that was some serious drilling!)

 

Alec

 

I presume you would only drill one board at a time though? Not try and get a long enough drill bit to go through both of them? I don't think theres a drill bit that long anyway...

[jamesd]

What size bar should i go for? bigger than m12? or would m12 be enough?

[Woodworks]

If the wood is not very dry I would not try to glue them as this is likely to fail as the boards dry. A loose tenon is a good idea wether you glue or not as it will keep them from stepping on the join. I would go with the threaded bar but can't see it stopping the boards from warping if they choose to go. Took this approach for my chainsaw workbench and it's fine but needed a fair bit of tightening after the first summer. You could in future when the board have dried plane it all up square and then glue. The tenons and threaded bar would not be wasted.

[Woodworks]

What size bar should i go for? bigger than m12? or would m12 be enough?

 

I would use 10mm or 12mm. Drill one side with the other board butted up against it and hopefully you have along enough bit to get through one and mark the other then drill the second board from the reference marks from you first set of holes. Worth having a second person to help you to eye up whether you are drilling square. With smaller sized bar it will have enough flex in it to hammer through if the angle of the two holes are not quite the same.

 

Hope that makes sense

[jamesd]

I would use 10mm or 12mm. Drill one side with the other board butted up against it and hopefully you have along enough bit to get through one and mark the other then drill the second board from the reference marks from you first set of holes. Worth having a second person to help you to eye up whether you are drilling square. With smaller sized bar it will have enough flex in it to hammer through if the angle of the two holes are not quite the same.

 

Hope that makes sense

 

Yeah that makes perfect sense i got some 12mm bar from here:

Stainless Steel Threaded Bar M10 x 1m - Toolstation

 

I presume A2 Stainless is good enough for what i'm doing?

 

Would you recommend gluing the two boards together as well or not bother if i'm using threaded bar all the way through?

I just thought it might prevent the join from opening up too much?

 

The wood is still quite green tbh

[agg221]

I would use 10mm or 12mm. Drill one side with the other board butted up against it and hopefully you have along enough bit to get through one and mark the other then drill the second board from the reference marks from you first set of holes. Worth having a second person to help you to eye up whether you are drilling square. With smaller sized bar it will have enough flex in it to hammer through if the angle of the two holes are not quite the same.

 

Hope that makes sense

 

I agree entirely with this. The only thing to say on the flip side is that if you use thicker rod then it will be stiffer and may hold the boards down true. It will also take a higher torque without stripping the thread if you want to pull the boards in tight. That said, beech is short grained and hence more likely to take the shape you want it to, rather than to do its own thing (unlike, say, oak or ash). If you are going for M12 then I would definitely want a lip and spur bit but if bigger then an auger bit would work fine.

 

A2 (otherwise known as 304) will be fine for this - better actually than A4 (316) as it is stronger.

 

I do like the look of the worktop connectors though....

 

Whichever you go for, I would anticipate nipping it up fairly frequently in the first year. Little and often rather than letting gaps open up and trying to close them again.

 

Alec

 

p.s. I advise against doing what I did when I needed to drill in the tie rods between the joists which meant getting about 1.5m deep (a series of 75mm holes drilled in turn through each joist). The only way I could figure to do it was to take a 2m length of threaded bar, grind the top end into a drill bit shape and use it to drill the hole. It worked, but it was not fun.

[jamesd]

I agree entirely with this. The only thing to say on the flip side is that if you use thicker rod then it will be stiffer and may hold the boards down true. It will also take a higher torque without stripping the thread if you want to pull the boards in tight. That said, beech is short grained and hence more likely to take the shape you want it to, rather than to do its own thing (unlike, say, oak or ash). If you are going for M12 then I would definitely want a lip and spur bit but if bigger then an auger bit would work fine.

 

A2 (otherwise known as 304) will be fine for this - better actually than A4 (316) as it is stronger.

 

I do like the look of the worktop connectors though....

 

Whichever you go for, I would anticipate nipping it up fairly frequently in the first year. Little and often rather than letting gaps open up and trying to close them again.

 

Alec

 

p.s. I advise against doing what I did when I needed to drill in the tie rods between the joists which meant getting about 1.5m deep (a series of 75mm holes drilled in turn through each joist). The only way I could figure to do it was to take a 2m length of threaded bar, grind the top end into a drill bit shape and use it to drill the hole. It worked, but it was not fun.

 

Cheers for the advice,

I can't find a lip and spur bit to buy locally that will be long enough, but i have got a few shorter ones and a flat head long 12mm wood drill (about 10") would the flat head be a option to use?

I was thinking start the hole on a pillar drill to get it accurate and then finish the rest off with a long auger bit which i have one that would be long enough to go straight through one board and make a mark on the next one for a reference point.

Hopefully the long auger bit would have a good enough guide to follow down the shorter holes to keep it from flexing/deviating too much.

 

I think i may be overthinking this a bit too much....

[jamesd]

I've gone with the option of 12mm A2 Stainless rod, M10 seemed a bit too flexible and i think the m12 was the better option in the end.