Watching a guy at the Portland Home Show glue up a panel with a roller changed my whole glue-up game.

I always used a brush and thought it was fine, but seeing him lay down a perfect, even coat in half the time on a 4x8 sheet of maple ply convinced me to buy a 6-inch foam roller for the shop.

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.ben1mo ago

Oh man, I know that exact feeling. I was a die-hard brush guy for years, swore by it. Watching someone else use a roller on a big tabletop was a total lightbulb moment. It just looks so much faster and more even, no more worrying about dry spots.

mark_price1mo ago

Wait, what kind of roller nap are you using on a tabletop? I tried a basic foam roller once and it left a terrible texture, almost like orange peel. Had to sand the whole thing back down.

sethhernandez24d ago

Wow, I gotta respectfully disagree with you there. I've actually had way better luck with a good brush on tabletops because you can control the direction of the strokes to match the wood grain. Rollers always seem to leave this subtle texture that catches the light wrong, at least in my experience.