Clamping & gluing up tabletops

Reply to
Bob Bowles
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I just finished using bar clamps to glue up a small Oak table top that I am (slowly) making. It is about 16" x 15" after the three boards were put together.

My problem was holding the boards, the clamps, the pieces of wood under the clamp ends all at once. Many times, the clamps or the mar-protector wood pieces slipped to the floor. That is when I resorted to some "Non-Sunday School" Language.

I got it together at last - before the glue set. Is there some secret method that has escaped my studies, other than being reborn as an Octopus?

Thanks,

Godzilla

Reply to
Godzilla

I just glued up a 45 piece butcher block 25x25 and next time I think I will wax up a piece of old formica counter top, lay it out and clamp it there. I used some sailor language trying to get everything flat myself. I probably should have used biscuits but it would have taken about 100. I did end up with nothing more than 1/16th out and my belt sander got it all pretty smooth but it was a struggle.

Reply to
Gfretwell

First, dry clamp to get what you are going to do down pat before you put on the glue.

Next, bar clamps have their place but you would be better off with at least two pipe clamps (one at either end) to put under the stock (put tape over the bars where the glue joints will be to prevent ending up with black marks). Then use the bar clamps.

Clamp from right to left or left to right and,if possible, alternate the clamps under and over the stock. The pipe clamps should leave you plenty of room to slip the bar clamps underneath.

Good luck.

Reply to
Mike G

There's several things you can do. I just did something similar for the first time. I used small C-clamps to clamp the ends of my pipe clamps to a small piece of metal to keep them straight. I used some masking tape to hold the scrap wood pads to the clamps.

You can make some cradles to hold the clamps in one place.

I use dowels to align my boards, but many now use biscuits -- using dowels is cheaper since most people already have a drill.

You can use a small brad with the head cut off to help align the boards. Hammer it into one board edge, then clip the head off and it will help keep the boards from moving around when you clamp them. I don't like this, because you have to keep track of the nails if you drill or whatever the top later.

I only had 2 pipe clamps at the time, so I used a large C-clamp to clamp down the boards against the pipe clamp pipes to keep it from buckling. I put a piece of plywood on top to the boards being glued and a board under the pipes for something for the clamp to clamp onto.

I use some sheets of polyethlene plastic between the wood and the whatever to keep the glue from sitcking to anything it wasn't supposed to.

I'm sure there are more technically correct ways the experts know to do th>I just finished using bar clamps to glue up a small Oak table top that I

Reply to
Jim K

Jim Tolpin in his book "Building Traditional Kitchen Cabinets" described a wonderfully simple device which helped me deal with this problem. Basically the idea is this: Make a pair of supports to lift the assembly clear of the bench so that you can get the clamps on without moving the boards. Build each lift by glueing two pieces of plywood --- each about 6 inches wide and somewhat longer than the width of the panel you are glueing --- together at a right angle in a "T". Place the "T" upside down on the bench. Cover the top edge with laminate to prevent glue from sticking. (I've used mylar tape.) Now you can shim the lifts if necessary so that boards placed on top of them lie in a plane. When glueing, alternate clamps top and bottom. Dowels or biscuits can also be used to improve alignment.

John Briggs no spam diversion jbriggs at xmission dot com

Reply to
John Briggs

Haven't tried it, but I just thought about using one of those shower curtain rod covers. Cheap. Cut it into assorted sizes... Could work. I might try that.

Reply to
Silvan

Yep, golf club tubes would be sturdy also.

Reply to
Ramsey

Reply to
Leon

Before I got Bessey K-bodies, I used bar and pipe clamps. I took a 2x4 and cut slots or 1/2 circles on the edge and used that to support the clamps. I space the clamps so I could put half the clamps on the bottom of the panel and 1/2 on the top. Drape wax paper over the clamps or put tape on the clamps to keep glue off the clamps and to keep the clamps from discoloring the stock. For the wood pieces to prevent marring, use a little hot-melt glue to hold them.

Also, I always do a dry run (even with easy glue ups) before adding the glue to the mix. You would be surprised how many times I had to change something to make a good glue up. It is a lot harder to do if the glue is already spread on the boards. I have a friend who sneers at my doing the dry runs, but you should see how poorly his glue ups go. He spreads the glue and starts clamping. Immediately, he sees he needs more clamps, or the panel is bowing, or it isn't squared up. What should be a simple glue up turns into

10 minutes of a high blood pressure frenzy. Even then, the final glue up, although acceptable to him, doesn't pass muster.

Preston

Reply to
Preston Andreas

If you mean the pieces that go between the clamp face and the panel, I attach them to the clamp face with hot-melt glue. You could just as easily attach it to the panel. The hot melt glue scrapes off easy enough with a chisel.

Is scraping off the glue good enough to not interfere with the

If it is polyurethane glue, I let it cure, then scrape and sand it off. If you try before it cures, it is messy and will smear all over. For yellow glues, I let the panel sit in the clamps for about an hour until the glue hardens to a rubber-like state and then I scrape it off. If you use a wet rag to wipe of the squeeze out, you will rub it into the pores which will affect the finish. If you let the glue harden, small chunks of wood will come up if you scrape it off. If you sand it, the heat softens the glue and it clogs up the sanding belt.

That is why, when using yellow glue, I don't let it sit in the clamps overnight.

Preston

Reply to
Preston Andreas

Thanks. It was the hotmelt glue I was interested in. A brother of mine loves the stuff for non-woodworking projects and I've wondered how versatile it might be w/ woodworking.

Reply to
Igor

It's important to remember that it won't make a strong enough bond to actually hold anything together permanently. You may already know this, but others reading may not. It can be used pretty much wherever you'd use double-sided tape - to temporarily affix two pieces of wood while you're doing something, but that you expect to either unstick later or make more permanent using some other method.

-BAT

Reply to
Brett A. Thomas

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