1. Home
  2. Pottery Crafts
  3. composite decking and canvas for wedging table?

composite decking and canvas for wedging table?

Hi, I am fairly new to pottery and wanted to start some handbuilding at home to compliment a wheel class I am taking once a week. I wanted to build a table for wedging, slab building etc. I have a bunch of 2' x 6" pieces of composite decking left from resurfacing our deck and was looking for opinions on this as a material under a canvas covering for that purpose. I plan on ripping the rounded edges off each side and then butting them together and attaching them to a piece of OSB or similar material. My intention is to have the decking material just below the canvas. Any opinions on why this would be or not be a good material to use? Thank you.

Jim

ps. Is unbleached "duck cloth" what I need for the canvas?

Reply to
jbridge337
Loading thread data ...

how thick and heavy is it? all the tables i've seen are pretty heavy as you don't want it moving much when you slam a 25lb brick of clay down. i just salvaged a used bathroom vanity without a top from the curb, nailed plywood down as a top, then screwed more plywood pieces on the top for a form, and poured in bagged concrete about 4" thick. it was pretty cheap to make.

regards, charlie

formatting link

Reply to
charlie

Where are you at (U.S., U.K...)? Basically you could certainly do this (both would work) if you are just doing some light playing. If this doesn't stand up over time what might serve you better is if you go to Home Depot/ Lowes/ and purchase half a piece of cement board (what they put behind tile) and use this for your top surface. The table I built has a frame both on the bottom and the top (a 2X6 box on the top and on the bottom with L shaped legs in each corner - the L made from 2 2X4s - you could use 2X4s on the box). Then put 5/8's plywood on top of the top frame with the cement board nailed or screwed onto this. This is very sturdy and you will have a table that can stand up to some heavy wedging. If you can fasten your table into a wall, then it is not going to have to be as sturdy as it will be if it is a stand alone piece. If you are just going to be doing small things (1-2lbs) then this would probably be overkill. You won't need canvas on this but you can add it. The heavier the canvas the better. Lightweight duck cloth is going to get stretched and become real annoying if you are doing big pieces of clay. If you have an existing work bench that is the right height and that can be nailed into, you can just tack down the cement board to it.

Donna

Reply to
DKat

Thank you for your response. I am in the US. Have you had any problem with the cement board cracking? The cement board I have seen has a some what rough side and a smooth side--smooth side up I assume. Is there any need to cover this surface with canvas? I don't have an easy means to attach this table to the wall (poured concrete) so I am actually thinking I might be better off using concrete for extra mass/stability for the top surface. Thanks for your thoughts.

Jim

Reply to
jbridge337

I don't cover mine (cement board) and I do use the smooth side up. I have it on table tops and the floor. It has not cracked at all. I did duck tape the edges just to keep it from degrading. The only reason I use my plaster board rather than the cement board is for when I want to dry my clay out quickly. So when I'm throwing I will toss my scraps on the plaster board and wedge it up after I'm done or if I have clay that is too wet, I will wedge it up on the plaster board to dry it out.

We would be interested to hear how your table comes out if you go ahead and use the scraps. I and others here, love recycling.

Donna

P.S. Forgot I was on the faulty computer that is reposting messages. Sorry about the double post above.

Reply to
dkat

InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.