Progress report and oak sealing question

Post #376,449 by crazy 6/15/13 8:03:32 AM Reply	Progress report and oak sealing question Windows complete, handed sanded down, then stained walnut. All exposed nail heads on floor have been pounded down with a nail set and a sledge hammer. Walls (over oak area) painted royal blue. A few large mirrors (biggest is about 5' x 8') picked up via Craig's List (freeeeee). 95% oak complete, ie: 2 walls have vertical 2" boards 3.5' high, the 2 walls with windows have horizontal boards 10 inches high. Mostly everything left requires fine cuts (edge and cap pieces). Oak boards were heat stripped, then belt sanded with both rough and fine. Then adhered to wall (counter sinked spax screws into 100 year old lathe or into backing boards on the concrete wall) , then rough (again) (board to board evening) and then fine sanded. I burned out a heat gun (Ace hardware, replaced without questions) and a bunch of belts. Oak is HARD, tough to work with, but worth it. I have a bunch of oak left over for additional projects. I created a 5' x 1.5' oak counter surface for my general work space. I need to seal this with something that will take me pounding on it. Right now it is simply raw sanded oak. I have borrowed a hand router for cap pieces and detail work. It is impossible to hold it steady enough to work without gouging the wood. So I created a 3' x 2' oak table top, and took an old corner coffee table, cut most of the top off, and can lay the oak table top on top of that. The hole is big enough for the router to pass though while attached to the oak top. I then drilled 3 counter sink holes to hang the router underneath the oak top. Perfect alignment was impossible, only 2 of holes match. I will reverse the screws and put nuts in the counter sink holes, that will give me enough play. So now I have a table router. I need to seal the table router surface with something that will dry strong and smooth so I can slide boards across it without any resistance. Any suggestions?
Post #376,452 by Another Scott 6/15/13 9:22:52 AM Reply	You've been busy! I admire your dedication. You've been doing a lot. For the router table top, you could maybe go a couple of routes. There are some waxes that give a slippery finish. That would have the advantage that you could redo it as it gets scuffed and scratched, but it's not very hard and it would be a pain to remove if you want to tray something else. Polyurethane is another obvious choice. It can be tough and has some give to it, but I've also seen poly not adhere well to oak floor (probably due to inadequate preparation and/or poor application technique) - it scraped off very easily. Water-based poly can dry almost too quickly and be tough to get a good finish without brushmarks. I haven't tried solvent-based poly (dunno if it's even available any more). An alternative might be to simply finish the top as you like then get a sheet of plexiglass or tempered glass and cut holes in the center for the router bit/collet and mounting holes, etc. If it got scratched up it would be easy to replace without needing to work the wood more. It would be smoother than you could easily get with wood. Glass would be more resistant to gouging and scratching, but harder to cut the holes and likely more expensive. Putting a paper measurement tape or scribing a ruler into the wood might make sense before you apply the finish. What to choose? Dunno. There are tradeoffs all around. HTH a little. Cheers, Scott.
Post #376,515 by crazy 6/17/13 12:00:59 PM Reply	Got bees wax for the router table I'll apply it today and see what happens.
Post #376,454 by drook 6/15/13 10:29:05 AM Reply	You could do like Gryge did for his table Get the stuff they use to finish basketball courts. -- Drew
Post #376,463 by scoenye 6/15/13 4:52:13 PM Reply	As long as there are no snags I don't think plain vs. coated is going to make a lot of difference. We built 5' in & out feed extensions for our depth planer out of fine grain particle board and had similar concerns. In the end, we left everything uncoated as it worked fine even with bone dry (35 yo.) rough cut lumber.

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