bowling alley lane section for workbench

Best check the slab for nails/screws with a metal detector before cutting on table saw.

Alley lanes are made from tongue and groove boards. They can be glued and/or nailed together. Is also common to find repaired sections with replacement boards screwed into place.

FWIW - Old alley slabs are usually a mix of maple and southern pine. Most common construction is maple in front of foul line, followed by a mix of laminated maple/pine in landing zone, then soft pine in middle (rolling part), transitioning back to mix of maple/pine near end; finally with maple for pin deck. The boards are finger jointed, hiding the species transitions. Without knowing where your slab was originally, had to know the composition.

They can be fun to reuse, once you ensure there is no metal where you want to cut/drill. I destroyed several circular saw blades, cutting down a alley slab to build a foosball table base.

YMMV

All the ones I have seen were built in place, and yes a ton of fasteners are used. As mentioned they play hell on cutting tools.

I would invest in a good metal detector. I have heard that they can have metal in them. Maybe look for some videos on how a bowling alley gets made. You may be able to get by with a cross cut but a rip cut will find anything in there.

If (a big if) I want to do this sounds like I need a contractors pack of sawzall circular saw blades at least and a lot of hoping.

yeah i have two 8 ftrs on a patio at home, plan is to build a couple patio tables, they were originally about 20 ft long, first time i'd cut them went thru a good blade and almost felt like i started smoking again due to it so dull , but got them cross cut for sure, they do make nice tops for patio tables , my pal used some angle iron for basic frame and some hair pn legs looked ''marvelous''

rj in az

If (a big if) I want to do this sounds like I need a contractors pack of sawzall circular saw blades at least and a lot of hoping. - trsnider

Click to expand...

HD sells a 7-1/4 Diablo Demon Demo blade made for cutting through screws/nails during demolition work. They can tolerate cutting quite a few nails before needing replacement.
Several over OEM offer a similar demolition blade with TCG grind and grade of carbide made for metal cutting; but I haven't tried them?
Can also buy fireman demolition carbide blades for cutting into roofing or walls, but the fireman's gas powered saws use 12 or 14" blades, that will not fit regular 10" cabinet saw.

Cheers!

I got a section of bowling lane (free); it was heavily nailed with the spiral nails. I eventually took it to the land fill, which I regret. It was 260 pounds and I had a heckuva time maneuvering it myself out of the van and into the garage, then to the dump. Would made a great workbench.

Cut on a cabinet saw? that's funny!! There's no way I would ever Be able Get it up and slide it through on the cabinet saw. It's going to have to be done with a circular saw and maybe two passes, front and back since it's so thick and heavy.

Cut on a cabinet saw? that's funny!! There's no way I would ever Be able Get it up and slide it through on the cabinet saw. It's going to have to be done with a circular saw and maybe two passes, front and back since it's so thick and heavy.

- trsnider

Click to expand...

Yeah, much easier to do on the band saw…NOT.

Even if you went through $100 in blades to get it to the dimensions you are after it's a pretty cheap thick top that you seem to love. Sounds like a deal to me. I would do it.

Had it to do over, I would have taken it apart, removed all the nails and glued it back together. Sounds like a ton of work, but it really wouldn't be that bad.

Upside: I can drill a hold fast or dog hole anywhere I want.

rwe2156 said:

Had it to do over, I would have taken it apart, removed all the nails and glued it back together. Sounds like a ton of work, but it really wouldn't be that bad.

Upside: I can drill a hold fast or dog hole anywhere I want.

Click to expand...

I was doing the electrical install while the alleys were being installed. After seeing how it is installed, there is no way you can take it apart, remove the nails and put it back together. I would buy new lumber before attempting such a task. Of course, it might make a good entry for the funny video shows.

ibewjon said:

I was doing the electrical install while the alleys were being installed. After seeing how it is installed, there is no way you can take it apart, remove the nails and put it back together. I would buy new lumber before attempting such a task. Of course, it might make a good entry for the funny video shows.

Click to expand...

The only one I used it had a small tongue and groove. It wouldn’t be be a hard task to glue it up it’s just a big panel.

Mine had steel cables running through, that would be the most aggravating. Nails came out easily.