Bulletproof

And that's important in Blackpool.

@tv101 

Yes

“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious" 🤣

a top that is made up of lots of 3x2s all glued together so the top is really thick and planed dead flat, checked with straight edges and levelled with spirit levels.

I’ve been through all of this when designing my flat bed vacuum presses. To cut a long story short, no movable bench can be guaranteed to be any flatter than the floor it stands on. The best way to do it is to fix your bench to the floor (assuming the floor isn’t really wobbly and bounces up and down!) as without the legs being in a fixed position any attempt to flatten or level the bench top will be in vane. Just four (or eight if you really want to go to town!) 50mm right angle brackets securing your bench to the floor will make a massive difference and the bench legs can be packed out with thin ply or veneer (or paper even) to get the top level before tightening the screws. It will make a massive difference, you’ll be amazed at how much smoother planing can be, or how much more controllable chiselling feels, when done on a bench that doesn’t move. To my mind, fixing it to the floor and levelling it is far more important than it necessarily weighing 1/4 of a tonne.

Darren

It will make a massive difference, you’ll be amazed at how much smoother planing can be, or how much more controllable chiselling feels, when done on a bench that doesn’t move.

(this is question, not a statement!)

I've always assumed that the important aspect is that the bench itself doesn't move, and that the workpiece doesn't move on the bench.

As long as the object you're working on is fully stable, then does it really matter so much if the bench/table top is flat and level?  The idea of planing a worktop so that it's flat and level seems a step (or two) too far to me.  I've got a couple of benches that are topped with disposable ply or OSB, but I'd very much doubt that they're flat.

To bring this back to topic and most have answered but my approach is to draw accurately with a ruler and then clamp (or use double sided tape) a straight edge with enough thickness to route. Cut close and then route to the straight edge...

now on the cars my favourite was an Escort Mexico that I nearly killed myself a few times back in the 80’s...mmmmm 4 into one exhaust manifold and twin choke Webber carbs.

To bring this back to topic and most have answered but my approach is to draw accurately with a ruler and then clamp (or use double sided tape) a straight edge with enough thickness to route. Cut close and then route to the straight edge...

Cheers @deej. Sounds like another very useful technique. 📏🪚 

🎸🎶🙂🙏

now on the cars my favourite was an Escort Mexico that I nearly killed myself a few times back in the 80’s

mk2 @deej??

Yeah - can’t remember the actual colour name it was a orangish red..if that makes sense . My friend had a white with blue stripes Mk 1 

We should have kept em - worth a fortune these days.

Oh and at the time they worked great with the girls 😉