Q: 4/4 + 4/4 = 6/4...

[patrick conroy]

Needed some 1 1/4" stock and the store was out'a 6/4. So I picked up some

4/4 and will be laminating it together.

I think the answer to this is "no" - but, is there any reason to surface, place, or joint the stock *before* gluing it together? The stock is S3S and the faces are in fine shape. Shop must'a had decent blades that day.

I can see a reason to plane/joint it if it was cupped, warped, etc.

This stock isn't - just wondering is there's a Tiplet (R) out there saying "face joint and plane your S3S stock once more before gluing two 4/4 boards together to make 8/4 stock!"?

thanks

[Rumpty]

Machine it so your finished product looks good. A thick section and a thin section doesn't look as good as two equal sections.

[Jay Pique]

If it's an oily wood like teak, you may be best off surfacing it first. Otherwise, if the faces to be glued are flat, you should be fine, IMO.

JP

[Larry Blanchard]

I was always taught that glue takes better on fresh surfaces. You might want to run a sanding block or scraper over the glue faces at least.

[GerryG]

You didn't mention either the wood, or the size. As that S3S is probably 3/4", consider that a small piece may need face planing more than a large one, as there'll be less room for the board to flex enough to join together. There is also the question of how you may be cutting it. If these were, say, 8" wide by

5' long, and you cut it into 4" strips, you may see some gaps.

Finally, most important is how you clamp it together. For anything but small pieces, I would suggest cauls.

Taking into account all the above, in most cases all you need to do is clean the surfaces. Make sure there's no resin or oil, and use a raking light to see if their planing left a slight glaze on the surface. If any, clean, sand and/or scrape lightly first.

Remember that the "first rule of woodworking" is that "no rule always applies", and you need to carefully examine what you need.

GerryG

[patrick conroy]

Sorry - it was S3S 4/4 Honduran Mahogany from Paxton's. Their 4/4 stock is usually 13/16's or so.

They ended up being about 3 1/2" wide by 35" long. I threw almost every clamp in the shop at them

The seam ended up being *almost* invisible. Almost is the operative work.

There's an occasional sliver of gap that will be enough to annoy the hell out'a me. So now, I'm resawing some stock to cover that side.

[GerryG]

Okay, 13/16's and only 3-1/2" wide, and mahogany...yeah, that's tough to prevent some seam from showing. With that length, I'd tend to thickness plane it, clamp with edges aligned and lightly sanded, then wet if needed to check for seams before glue added. Assuming, of course, this is very near your final width. Unless it looks good at that point, the clamps won't help. One alternative is to first check across the face for flatness, then lightly scallop the middle (widely) (.002-3) before clamping.

My reason to switch from face planing (jointer) to thickness planing is that your critical flatness is across the face. With 35" long and that narrow, the length will be easier to handle. The above could, of course, be done on a jointer by applying pressure properly, but easier on a thickness planer.

The only other thing that comes to mind, is that I typically allow at least

1/8 extra width, then trim after the glueup. That tends to reduce some of the seam lines, especially as it's easy to slightly depress part of an edge and not notice it until later.

GerryG

[patrick conroy]

Make sense!

Thanks for the approach. My finished width is 1 1/4", so I'll try a little trimming and see if the seams vanish a bit further in.