bondo or wax?

[strmanglr scott]

Got a three piece table and I'm going to refelt in the next year and I want to do some work on the levelers. I'm probably going to break the table completely down.

I had a friend tell me after I had it set up I should have used bondo for the seams instead of wax. He said using the wax will eventually result in wear lines where the seams of the slate are. I had another friend set up the table and he's been doing it for 20yrs.

 

[Mcdermottmike]

I have never had track lines from using wax. If you take the time to prep the slate seams level and as tight together you should not have that issue using bees wax. If the table is in a unclimate area like a garage depending if you live in a hot weather area, the bees wax will sometimes rise up causing a ridge. But like i said the tighter you get the slate seams less wax is needed. Hope that helps!

 

[Dartman]

... But like i said the tighter you get the slate seams less wax is needed. Hope that helps!

Or less bondo. :wink:

 

[Randy from Indy]

I've been using wax for 35 years and never had a problem, our installers have used it on thousands of tables without fail. The main problem is modern tables with no slate dowels and the joint moves. Liquid dowels will end that problem.
As far as bondo goes, I've seen dozens of sets of slate ruined by sanding bondo. Here's the problem, slate is a very soft stone and sands very easily, bondo is rather tough to sand. So when the bondo is sanded so is the slate. Besides, why would anyone ever touch a flat playing surface with sandpaper?