update on assembly table

[quaint yoke]

Havent done a lot of work on it since the last post but so have the frames built now im wondering whats the best way to attach the frame to the plywood top? I would like to leave the top as flat as possible for when i put a sheet of ( formica ) on top and not have divits be visible

[gilded dagger]

There's lots of ways you can go...

• You could glue and brad nail (nails acting as clamps)
• You could glue and screw and fill the screw holes with Bondo
• You could just glue and clamp using cauls or weights to get pressure in the middle
• You could drill counter sunk pilot holes and screw from the bottom (with glue)

The last option is not a good choice if you are using MDF under your formica.

[tall badge]

Mine is MDF covered in laminate, pocket holed into a poplar frame. It's held up well so far for a few years. There are certainly flatter outfeed/assemblies out there, especially if I move it and don't readjust the leveling feet, but thats more a product of my very uneven garage space.

[quaint yoke]

Trouble is its pre finished would glue still bond?

[gilded dagger]

Wood glue, no... Contact cement maybe. Epoxy probably. You can always sand off a finish where you are going to glue it if you need to.

[lost adder]

@quaint yoke I used these little brackets

pocket screws would work too, and I may have gone that way if I hadn't assembled too much of the frame for the jig to fit before I finalized the choice

if I used these types of brackets again, I would get ones with slots instead of just holes for the screws, to make vertical alignment easier

pocket screws have the benefit of clamping down the top to the frame structure without needing to worry about vertical alignment

[quaint yoke]

Do you think the pocket holes would cause the frame to crack since its across the grain?