Making a nice BIG assembly table! | #shorts

Who is Marc Spagnuolo? Watch Behind the Scenes with a YouTube veteran and find out!

[chrisemens]

Can you elaborate on the secret source for sheet goods that are “flat and cheap”?

[Purdue_Pharma]

I’ve been using a 3/4” sheet of melamine as the top layer of my assembly table. Wood glue won’t stick to it and it’s easy to scrape up once it’s dried.

[barrychristian]

Top tip for franks top tip fir the plastic, fold one end back on itself, you can then pull the plastic back as you go rubbing down the laminate rather than lifting the laminate up works a treat and i learnt it from a bloke called Pete 👍

[alanreynolds]

I have been doing laminate for YEARS - I've NEVER seen this technique before! BRILLIANT!

[GrantOakes]

I use a long (50') extension cord, cleaned and placed on the top of the surface in a back and forth S pattern. I then start at on end and press the laminate down, roll it firmly, and then begin the pull the cord out, 1 S at a time.

[HBSuccess]

I used to work in a high volume laminate cabinet shop. The *very best* way to hold contact cemented pieces apart while positioning is a clean round extension cord. You lay it back and forth over the substrate maybe 6” apart…the set the laminate on top of the cord. When ready to join start pulling the cord out as you press down. Big sheets use 2 cords and work from the middle out. This works 10x better than sticks, or slip sheets, or anything else I have ever used. I told Izzy Swan about it yrs ago - he has a video showing it or at least used to.

[PintuMahakul]

👍 An excellent bigger table made. Thank you very much for sharing.

[leigheverett]

I advise filling the screw holes before laminating or over time you will see their presence on the surface if not straight away.

[mooser]

That plastic bit is genius. I'll def be adding that to my book of tricks.

[chrisanthony]

Just a tip...use white Plam. Doubles as an "erase board" I have measurements and notes written all over my white assembly/out-feed table. Erases with DA or lacquer thinner

[jessseymour]

I used the plastic trick whenever I was bringing two sheets of laminate together on a single plane because it is much easier to align. The first time I did it I transitioned to just using that method for laminating. That is until I noticed I was getting bubbles more often as air was prone to getting trapped. Not a difficult fix but was annoying enough I switched back to using dowls for the majority of my lamination. I only use the plastic where alignment is a higher priority. Definitely a handy trick to have in my holster though.

[rayleblanc]

I've laid miles of laminate in my time. I pull a long extension cord through a rag and loop it in waves. Lay the laminate on top of the cord to get your alignment and start at one end pulling the cord out as you press it down. Guaranty bubble free. Use particle core not plywood as a substrate. Plywood is susceptible to delamination and will telegraph the grain. When using waterborne contact take your fingernail and scratch the surface (outside the area being glued) If it skins up like pealing a sunburn, it's not ready yet. Get down at eye level and look across each glued surface and look for any particles that may have been picked up. Nothing worse then getting a bubble from a tiny wood particle.

[gofgwoodworking]

Just a foot note, when you are trimming the edge of the Formica, keep an eye on the bearing on the router bit. It tends to collect the contact adhesive and will keep it from spinning freely. Also use a good file to flush the edge after you run the router.

[stevequincey]

Awesome technique. I did the same thing, and it came out amazing! Love the look of flat black formika set against the dense plywood. Added some dog holes and👌🏽

[Xandara]

That looks so good! The plastic trick seems like it worked like [chef's kiss]!

[garyblack]

"must be flat and cheap" uses $1000 worth of plywood

[ambrosevonerkel]

I’ll take the plastic sheet and trial it myself. However the choice of top, “cheapest material” not so much, it’s warped. You can see it in the trimming procedure

[hexahelix]

Very nice! I love shop update projects.

[seanrodgers]

Just used Formica on my miter station and have an extra sheet for an assembly table. Excited to see the video

[tird]

Come on Marc, your killin me. I go to all the trouble of building’ your “torsion box” assembly table and now your shortcut in me.