Assuming I've jointed several 1 x 4s prior to gluing them up, what's the best way to proceed? Should I glue them up all at once, or one at time? I was also thinking of doing it in a binary fashion - glue 2 together, and join that piece to another set of two that were glued up, and so on.
Thanks for any advice.
I usually do as many as I can comfortably do during the open time of the glue. At face, that may sound like a silly answer, but it really can vary from project to project. Shorter parts need less attention and clamps, so I can attend to them better before the glue dries, and therefore do more joints at once.
My suggestion is to do a practice run without glue, the best number of boards will show itself to you.
The last time I did a big table top I glued the center (2-4) then glue 2 on each side at a time.
You haven't said how you want to glue them together ---- if edge to edge, I would glue as many together as would fit in my clamps or that I could spread glue on and clamp in about 5 minutes or less. If the clamps wouldn't hold them all at one time then I would divide them into several groups and glue up one group at a time, then make up a jig or other clamping method to put the already glued groups together into one big assembly.
It all depends what you have to work with and what you are making. When I build a table top or flat panel I follow the above method. When I'm making the frame/leg assembly I glue the two end assemblies together and then connect them together front and back in a second glue-up. You have to pre-plan each glue-up based on many factors, clamping ability and time are the most important. Do a dry fit of all the pieces first to be sure that everything fits together and that you have everything you will need at hand before you start with the glue.
Charley
It all depends.
It is a function of how long are the boards, or stated another way, the length of the glue lines.
How fast can you work?
Do you have a helper?
Are you limited by available work space?
As I said, it all depends.
Lew
If there is a lot, gluing them up in smaller sets might be less stressful. The secret to success is keeping the entire assembly flat so take some extra effort to make sure.
And keeping them flat means equalizing pressure by putting clamps on BOTH sides. Check surface with a straight edge, tweak clamp pressure as needed.
Sat, Mar 1, 2008, 1:43pm jc snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Buck=A0Turgidson) doth burble: Assuming I've jointed several 1 x 4s prior to gluing them up, what's the best way to proceed? Should I glue them up all at once, or one at time? I was also thinking of doing it in a binary fashion - glue 2 together, and join that piece to another set of two that were glued up, and so on. Thanks for any advice.
That'll work. You're welcome.
JOAT
10 Out Of 10 Terrorists Prefer Hillary For President - Bumper Sticker I do not have a problem with a woman president - except for Hillary.
If you glue them up in "sets" in a series of steps, just make sure, in subsequent glue-ups, that the places on the edges of the boards where the clamps bear don't get squashed/deformed from the clamping pressure. If they do, you'll want to restore a straight, flat, square edge for gluing with a plane or jointer or saw.
Good luck.
Don't forget to pay attention to the grain pattern on the ENDS of the boards. The end grain should alternate, concave up/concave down. I once glued up a 48 inch wide panel, paying close attention to how the grain looked on the surface, but ignoring the end grain. Just so happened I had nearly all the boards with the grain running the same way. When that piece went through its first winter, it looked like I had tried to build a barrel.
DonkeyHody "Of all the lessons I've learned, I remember best the ones I learned the hard way."
Untested, but you can also drill some alignment holes first. And bolt the table with long thread rod. That way when you glue it up, you minimize the jaggies. One glue-up should do it.
Dry clamp them first. Go through the entire process without glue to check your setup. Do that no matter which way you plan to proceed.
I've always glued panels one board at a time (i.e. one wet glue line at any given time). It's obviously the slowest way, but in my opinion it's the easiest and since I only build things for fun, it doesn't matter to me if it takes an extra evening or two to get everything glued. Your binary way would be faster and just as easy as my way assuming you always had two sets gluing at once which obviously requires twice as many clamps.
Charles
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