I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have the edges rounded.

I am considering a router. Can someone point me in the direction of a cheap and cheerful router that would do the job.

On 21/05/2020 22:14, Bazza wrote:
I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have the edges rounded.

I am considering a router. Can someone point me in the direction of a cheap and cheerful router that would do the job.

What's wrong with using a plane and a bit more elbow grease?

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 21/05/2020 22:17, Martin Brown wrote:
On 21/05/2020 22:14, Bazza wrote:
I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the
slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not
long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have
the edges rounded.

I am considering a router. Can someone point me in the direction of a
cheap and cheerful router that would do the job.

What's wrong with using a plane and a bit more elbow grease?


I would also go with planing if only a couple of planks.
If never used a router before you may not get the desired effect, it
took me few goes when I first used one.

On Thu, 21 May 2020 22:52:07 +0100, ss wrote:

I would also go with planing if only a couple of planks.

+1

Coupla things: wood often planes better in one direction, depending on the
grain. (Same goes for routing...) Planing leaves shavings, routing blows dust
and chips everywhere. A flat plane is sufficient to round off the edge of a
board, a moulding plane is not necessary.

If it's a small radius, a block of wood, coarse sandpaper and elbow grease will
do the job, for more effort -- but less time and money, once you factor in
getting the router (or plane:-), learning how to use it etc.

Routing can leave you with dark/burnt spots that take a surprising amount of
sanding to get out.


Thomas Prufer

On 22/05/2020 08:33, Thomas Prufer wrote:
On Thu, 21 May 2020 22:52:07 +0100, ss wrote:

I would also go with planing if only a couple of planks.

+1

Coupla things: wood often planes better in one direction, depending on the
grain. (Same goes for routing...) Planing leaves shavings, routing blows dust
and chips everywhere. A flat plane is sufficient to round off the edge of a
board, a moulding plane is not necessary.

If it's a small radius, a block of wood, coarse sandpaper and elbow grease will
do the job, for more effort -- but less time and money, once you factor in
getting the router (or plane:-), learning how to use it etc.

Routing can leave you with dark/burnt spots that take a surprising amount of
sanding to get out.


Thomas Prufer

+1 to all that

On 21/05/2020 22:14, Bazza wrote:

I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the
slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not
long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have
the edges rounded.

I am considering a router. Can someone point me in the direction of a
cheap and cheerful router that would do the job.

To be fair pretty much any small router will make an easy job of this
kind of task if equipped with a bearing guided roundover cutter.

An entry level 1/4" collet machine like:

https://www.lawson-his.co.uk/bosch-p...r-pof12-p99893

Or for edge detailing work, the smaller "laminate trimmer" class
machines are very nice. This is very popular with woodworkers:

https://www.lawson-his.co.uk/bosch-g...al-palm-p64800





--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:
I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have the edges rounded.

I am considering a router. Can someone point me in the direction of a cheap and cheerful router that would do the job.

any 1/4" router should do that easily. The other option is a (vintage) moulding plane. They're very cheap.


NT

On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:
I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

On 22/05/2020 15:15, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:
I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the
slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not
long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to
have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In
this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a
much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Those poly disc paint removal discs are a revelation - really very good
for stripping paint surprisingly gently - especially when its got to the
"starting to flake, and over painting is not going to be an option" stage.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Friday, 22 May 2020 21:36:22 UTC+1, John Rumm wrote:
On 22/05/2020 15:15, David wrote:

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In
this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a
much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Those poly disc paint removal discs are a revelation - really very good
for stripping paint surprisingly gently - especially when its got to the
"starting to flake, and over painting is not going to be an option" stage.

I've not heard of those - thanks for the tip! I have lots of black barge boards like that to do...

On 22 May 2020 at 21:36:21 BST, "John Rumm"
wrote:

On 22/05/2020 15:15, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:
I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the
slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not
long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to
have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In
this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a
much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Those poly disc paint removal discs are a revelation - really very good
for stripping paint surprisingly gently - especially when its got to the
"starting to flake, and over painting is not going to be an option" stage.

I've some masonry paint to remove - any disc brand recommendation?

--
Cheers, Rob

On 24/05/2020 06:37, RJH wrote:
On 22 May 2020 at 21:36:21 BST, "John Rumm"
wrote:

On 22/05/2020 15:15, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:
I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the
slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not
long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to
have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In
this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a
much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Those poly disc paint removal discs are a revelation - really very good
for stripping paint surprisingly gently - especially when its got to the
"starting to flake, and over painting is not going to be an option" stage.

I've some masonry paint to remove - any disc brand recommendation?

I think the first ones I tried were from toolstation, and they were
surprisingly good - but they don't stock those particular ones any more.

These look similar though:

https://www.toolstation.com/abracs-p...tr=poly%20disc

or

https://www.screwfix.com/p/non-woven...el-115mm/83915


Note that I have only used them on wood and steel, where they worked and
lasted well.

You may find that you get a high wear rate on masonry. A wire wheel cup
brush might be better for that. (Various reviews also caution against
use on metal with sharp edges).


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 24 May 2020 at 12:29:12 BST, "John Rumm"
wrote:

On 24/05/2020 06:37, RJH wrote:
On 22 May 2020 at 21:36:21 BST, "John Rumm"
wrote:

On 22/05/2020 15:15, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:
I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the
slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not
long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to
have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In
this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a
much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Those poly disc paint removal discs are a revelation - really very good
for stripping paint surprisingly gently - especially when its got to the
"starting to flake, and over painting is not going to be an option" stage.

I've some masonry paint to remove - any disc brand recommendation?

I think the first ones I tried were from toolstation, and they were
surprisingly good - but they don't stock those particular ones any more.

These look similar though:


https://www.toolstation.com/abracs-p...tr=poly%20disc

or

https://www.screwfix.com/p/non-woven...el-115mm/83915


Note that I have only used them on wood and steel, where they worked and
lasted well.

You may find that you get a high wear rate on masonry. A wire wheel cup
brush might be better for that. (Various reviews also caution against
use on metal with sharp edges).

Grand, thanks.

The surface is a combination of fairly well stuck masonry paint, and on top a
thin coat of what looks like emulsion (it obviously isn't though, maybe) that
scrapes off easily - almost with a fingernail. There's also about 20% of the
surface that's brick - plain weathering has taken all the paint off.

So I'm going to try a variety of tools/methods

--
Cheers, Rob

On Friday, 22 May 2020 15:15:48 UTC+1, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:

I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Very useful, but entirely the wrong tool for rounding board edges. Unless you really don't give a dry brown thing how they look.


NT

On Saturday, 23 May 2020 09:04:01 UTC+1, wrote:
On Friday, 22 May 2020 15:15:48 UTC+1, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:

I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Very useful, but entirely the wrong tool for rounding board edges. Unless you really don't give a dry brown thing how they look.


NT

I've had some very good results. But I quite understand if you don't want to try it.

On 23/05/2020 22:09, David wrote:
On Saturday, 23 May 2020 09:04:01 UTC+1, wrote:
On Friday, 22 May 2020 15:15:48 UTC+1, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:

I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Very useful, but entirely the wrong tool for rounding board edges. Unless you really don't give a dry brown thing how they look.


NT

I've had some very good results. But I quite understand if you don't want to try it.

I have used an AG with a flap disk for woodwork on a number of
occasions. They are quite good for shaping things when you need to
freehand some operations. A typical example might be on things like
chair legs, where you want a significant bevel on all the ends in
contact with the ground to prevent the wood being split away of the
chair (other other "legged" furniture gets dragged.

Can also be handy for sculpting things like chair seats. (there are some
special planing / carving disks available for the purpose, and the level
of control they give is surprisingly delicate)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Saturday, 23 May 2020 22:09:44 UTC+1, David wrote:
On Saturday, 23 May 2020 09:04:01 UTC+1, wrote:
On Friday, 22 May 2020 15:15:48 UTC+1, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:

I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need to have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder! In this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any rate.

Very useful, but entirely the wrong tool for rounding board edges. Unless you really don't give a dry brown thing how they look.


NT

I've had some very good results. But I quite understand if you don't want to try it.

I'm not the OP. Perhaps the OP could get a good result with an ag & sanding disc, but I've enough experience of disc sanding & ags to think the odds of that low.


NT

On 24/05/2020 13:31, wrote:
On Saturday, 23 May 2020 22:09:44 UTC+1, David wrote:
On Saturday, 23 May 2020 09:04:01 UTC+1, wrote:
On Friday, 22 May 2020 15:15:48 UTC+1, David wrote:
On Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:14:53 UTC+1, Bazza wrote:

I'm looking to renovate a couple of garden benches by
replacing the slats. These are wide benches so the standard
kits of slats are not long enough.

I have some hardwood planks that are suitable but would need
to have the edges rounded.

I can't believe nobody else has suggested it - Angle Grinder!
In this case with a sanding disk. I find this combination a
much-underrated woodworking tool, for outdoor woodwork at any
rate.

Very useful, but entirely the wrong tool for rounding board
edges. Unless you really don't give a dry brown thing how they
look.


NT

I've had some very good results. But I quite understand if you
don't want to try it.

I'm not the OP. Perhaps the OP could get a good result with an ag &
sanding disc, but I've enough experience of disc sanding & ags to
think the odds of that low.

As with any aggressive sander - light pressure and keep moving at a
constant speed. For bench slats I would expect to get plenty good enough
results with an AG if that was what I had to use.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/