Woodworking hinges on the quality of the tools that you have at your disposal. Perhaps the most important tool that you can have is a bench. But, does that woodworking bench need to be flat?
Yes. A woodworking bench needs to be flat. If the woodworking bench isn’t flat, then you will notice that the boards on the table will start to wiggle about. This can make it difficult to work with.
Let’s go into a bit more depth on this, shall we? This way, you will have more of an idea about the importance of the flatness of a woodworking bench.
Why Is a Flat Woodworking Bench Important?
First things first, your bench probably doesn’t need to be 100% flat. It can have a bit of a curve on it, although the curve shouldn’t be so intense that the boards move about when you place them on top.
If you have a woodworking bench with too much of a ‘banana’ (which many woodworkers use to describe a bow that a woodworking bench may have), then there is a good chance that the boards that you place on top will start to bounce around a little bit.
This can make things a lot more difficult to work with. You may be able to clamp things down, to a certain extent. However, there is only so much that you are going to be able to do on that front, sadly.
A flat woodworking bench is less important if you are working with power tools. You may not want to be using an electric saw if the board is wiggling about too much.
However, you should be fine using an electric planer.
How Do You Determine if Your Woodworking Bench Is Flat?
In most cases, you can eye it up. You should be able to see a bit of bowing in a woodworking bench if you look down one side of the woodworking table and notice it isn’t flat.
Some people will even place a board on top and wiggle it about. If there is too much rocking in the piece of flat wood, then you know that your woodworking bench isn’t completely flat.
Alternatively, you can grab yourself a spirit level (that goes across the entire woodworking bench) and this should tell you whether things are completely flat or not.
What Are the Consequences of Using a Non-flat Woodworking Bench?
If the woodworking bench is mostly flat, but not quite, then there shouldn’t be that many issues. You should be able to use it without any serious consequences.
If the issues are a bit more severe, however, then you may run into a couple of problems.
For example, you may find that it is incredibly difficult to hold a board in place when you are cutting or working with it. You may find it incredibly difficult to cut your joints, for instance.
In some cases, if there is a lot of movement in the wood that you are working with, then you may find it difficult to push the joints of two pieces of wood together. This means that you are going to end up with a bit of uneven joinery.
Basically, if you have a non-flat woodworking bench, then you are going to be making your life a whole lot harder.
Not only is everything on that bench going to be a lot tougher to work with, but chances are that the projects that you do complete are going to look nowhere near as good as they should be looking.
It’s a shame, really! This means that you are going to want to fix the problem quickly.
How Do You Fix a Non-flat Woodworking Bench?
In some cases, there isn’t much that you can do. If you have an awful bent bench, then you are best off throwing it away.
There is only so much correction that you can do to a non-flat bench. Next time, you may want to consider spending a bit more cash on a more expensive bench. They tend to work a lot better and maintain their flatness.
If your bench isn’t completely flat but is close to it, then you may find that you can remove the higher parts using a plane or a router (there are various router jig guides online that you can follow for this).
However, make sure that you are careful to target only the areas where there is a bit of a ‘rise’ in the table. You don’t want to remove too much wood, otherwise your table is going to end up being effectively useless.
For this reason, we suggest using a hand plane wherever possible. Electric planers will take away too much wood.
To check the current price and availability of Wood Working Benches, click here to view the selection on Amazon.
What Are the Best Practices for Maintaining a Flat Woodworking Bench?
Ideally, you would start by buying a quality woodworking bench. The better the bench, the easier it is to maintain. You will want to ensure that your woodworking shop is in a decent location. Not too humid, but also not too dry.
Try to avoid cutting or drilling directly into that table. Even the smallest of marks can grow into something bigger which can make the table non-flat.
If you are noticing that the table is starting to become non-flat, then you can do a bit of a correction with a plane or a router. If you catch the problem early, then there shouldn’t be too much wood that needs removing.
Final Thoughts
A woodworking bench doesn’t need to be completely flat, but the flatter it is, the better.
If your woodworking bench isn’t completely flat, then you may find it incredibly difficult to complete your woodworking projects. This is because it becomes almost impossible to hold the board flat. Basically, you will end up with something less great.
It is less important that your woodworking bench is flat if you are working with power tools. However, you still want it to be reasonably flat. You don’t want the wood jumping up and down when a dangerous piece of equipment is in your hands.