Protection on the Assembly Table
Suggestions for soft surface coverings for the assembly table to protect delicate cabinet surfaces during assembly. December 9, 2013
Question (WOODWEB Member) :
Does anyone have any ideas for protecting the banding/face of cabinet during assembly? I find using a blanket to be a pain.
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor H:
I use a 3/4" sheet of melamine on my assembly table. It’s fairly easy to keep clean and easy to replace when it gets rough enough to cause damage. I also do some calculations and full size layouts on mine.
From contributor X:
I use a few rips of plywood (about 3" wide) cut down to about 4' long and wrapped them with some thin foam. I use shrink wrap to hold the foam on. If you don’t have any thin foam you could probably just use some rags or towels to wrap the strips of wood with.
From contributor K:
Be wary of shrink wrap on uncured finishes. I use exercise pads on the stroke sander, rubber floor mats on the ground and foam mats for case assembly.
From contributor X:
To contributor K: What kind of finish do you need to be wary of shrink wrap with? I use all post cat finishes (cv and 2k poly) and I use shrink wrap to ship parts after less than 24 hours from finishing them. I know of a few spray shops in my area that use all pre-cats and they spray one day and package up the next day with shrink wrap.
From contributor K:
It’s been a few years, but I've seen low voc Duravar dull print (shiny) with shrink wrap. Maybe the finisher pushed it a little too hard?
From contributor N:
Our sheet good material arrives with cardboard on top as a protective cover so our assembly table is covered with these cardboard sheets, as long as the varnish is not soft. This has been a good solution to our issues.
