Bakers Table in need of sealing, gaps to fill.


gigster

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Greetings from a newbie!

 

I bought a bakers table to use making artisanal breads for a local cafe. It is 1 3/4" X 72" X 36". It is old, neglected and has gaps between some of the boards from shrinkage due to neglect and outdoor storage. 

 

My initial thoughts are to plane it down to a new surface, then create a mixture of fine wood dust and Titebond lll inject into the (cleaned out) gaps and cracks and sand it off. 

 

If that all works I would start oiling with food grade mineral oil.

 

I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions on how to get this old beast back in service. 

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Christopher

 

 

 

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Not knowing how this was initially prepped and glued, I would flood with a semi flexible epoxy rather than TB and saw dust. The slight flexibility should handle some movement and the epoxy should bond better to a wider variety of original glues. There is a lot posted already on how to do this but don't feels a question is unwelcome. There are some truly great (some gray) heads to scratch here, welcome aboard!

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Thanks so much for the fast reply! A major concern is any material must be food safe NSF approved. Not sure about epoxy. (In artisanal bread making the surface is constantly being scraped with a bench knife.)

 

I'll start searching around here. A couple of days searching on the net turn up very little aside from identifying a few nontoxic products.  

 

Comment and tips GREATLY appreciated.

 

Thanks again

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That was my thinking at first as well. I imagine we could add material to make up any loss. 

 

That would mean the end caps come off first. I don't have sense of how difficult to or possible it is to undo all those glue joints.

 

Could we just rejoint the ones that have completely separated and fill the others?

 

OR, rather than rip it apart at all (or just fill with a glue mixture) what about cutting the fully seperated gaps to a known size and tapping in a thin length of wood before planing it?

 

Your suggestion would probably have the best chance of satisfying the health inspector, unless we can finesse the other methods. They have conniption fits over any gaps in wood food prep surfaces.

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Lots of good advice above! 

 

If it were mine, I'd start by getting it into some clamps to see how much you can fix with clamping pressure before putting any glue in the gaps.  If you know it will close up with clamping pressure then, you don't need to rip those.  From there, I would rip the ones that will not close up and then glue everything up and clamp.

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Lots of good advice above!

If it were mine, I'd start by getting it into some clamps to see how much you can fix with clamping pressure before putting any glue in the gaps. If you know it will close up with clamping pressure then, you don't need to rip those. From there, I would rip the ones that will not close up and then glue everything up and clamp.

This sounds solid.
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What a great forum, Thanks! Assuming some of the gaps don't close, what's the best way to break the glue joints on the end pieces so that I can take them off to rip the joints? ?They are screwed, glued and the screw holes are plugged with dowels.)

Also, what is best to clean out the old glue from the gaps? Some are big enough to get sandpaper in, others, not so much.

Thanks everyone.

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Can you drill out the dowel covers To get to the screws under?

As far as cleaning out the joints, give a thin putty knife a try.

 

I think so. One of the dowel plugs fell out and that screw is accessible. I assume the others could be drilled, removed and replaced later. 

 

The glue joints I am concerned about getting apart are the ones that are still closed on the end pieces, which will need to be removed to rip and make new joints on the main part of the table. I can get the screws out, but then what?

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Go to the lumber yard, buy a bunch of maple & build a new table. It'll be way less labor than trying to resurrect that wreck. The 2 big issues are that it's for food & there are unknown quantities of metal fasteners in it.

Hmm, okay. There are no metal fasteners between the three slats that separated completely. Do you think they would put them between some, but not all of the slats? It was made by the michigan maple block company. I am going to call them Monday to see what I can find out about glue, fasteners, etc. 

 

Thanks.

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I don't know much about making bread (read that as nothing) so I may be missing something...but I assume it's quite a messy activity...is it possible who cares if some flour falls through the cracks?  Just wondering if it really matters.  If it were mine I might just sand and clean the surface thoroughly and start pounding an kneading.  You'll be sweeping at the end of the day anyway.

 

Otherwise, I'd be inclined to just buy some fresh maple and start from scratch (pun) on the top.  What you'll lose in cash you'll gain in saved labor and time.

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I don't know much about making bread (read that as nothing) so I may be missing something...but I assume it's quite a messy activity...is it possible who cares if some flour falls through the cracks? Just wondering if it really matters. If it were mine I might just sand and clean the surface thoroughly and start pounding an kneading. You'll be sweeping at the end of the day anyway.

Otherwise, I'd be inclined to just buy some fresh maple and start from scratch (pun) on the top. What you'll lose in cash you'll gain in saved labor and time.

Totally agree. Use the old top for decoration. Build a new one as a work surface.

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+1, Have you given any thought to getting some cabinet grade maple ply and fastening it to the old top? They make prefinished plywood that would be quicker and easier.

I'd have to look into whether it would be approved for food prep. Any toxic compounds in it would disqualify it. 

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The more I think about it, the more I think it's proabably going to be in your best interest of time as well as $ to just make another prep surface on the existing base. It looks to be about 6' x 3' x 2" thick. Your booking at about 36 bf of material (factoring in no waste). Even at $5/ board foot, your under $200 for a new top that in the end, you have complete confidence in and will pass inspection.

You don't know how long that wood had been sitting in its current state and what could be hiding in those cracks

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The more I think about it, the more I think it's proabably going to be in your best interest of time as well as $ to just make another prep surface on the existing base. It looks to be about 6' x 3' x 2" thick. Your booking at about 36 bf of material (factoring in no waste). Even at $5/ board foot, your under $200 for a new top that in the end, you have complete confidence in and will pass inspection.

You don't know how long that wood had been sitting in its current state and what could be hiding in those cracks

It's 36" X 72" X 1 3/4"

 

You're probably right about keeping the base and starting over. I do need to get this done on a shoestring budget. But even at 250-300 in wood, I'd still be at a third of the price of a new table like this. I bought it as is for $200. New ones exactly like this are $1500+. 

 

Is there any chance placing the table in a high humidity environment for awhile would reduce the gaps by rehydrating the wood? Or am I really grabbing at straws now, lol?

 

Even if we rebuild it, I think I'd like to get this top usable for at home. 

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So my measurements were about spot on.

It really comes down to this, you can jerry rig it back together on the cheap. You could drill a pilot through 3 or 4 locations, insert threaded rods and force it back together with glue. That may last a day, may last a year. You still don't know what creepy crawlies have made their way into the wood and you will be preparing FOOD on there.

Your going to loose enough width in ripping it down and jointing that your going to have to add some wood to keep it the same depth.

As for rehumidifying it enough to bring it back together, I don't think there's an icecubess chance in hell it would swell back together enough. Plus, adding humidity is just going to accelerate most bacteria and mold growth in those cracks. .

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