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?

On Feb 13, 9:21 am, wrote:
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?

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
http://glassartists.org/chaniarts

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


wrote in message
oups.com...
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?

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

On Feb 13, 5:04 pm, "DKat" wrote:
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

wrote in message

oups.com...

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?

On Feb 18, 8:08 am, wrote:
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

On Feb 13, 5:04 pm, "DKat" wrote:



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

wrote in message

roups.com...

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?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

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.