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by
Steven Maxwell
illustration by Paul Perreault |
EDGE-GLUING |
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Three techniques for gluing wood panels |
The
first time I glued pieces of wood together along their edges
was while building the top for a butler’s tray tabletop.
It was the first big project that I built to sell, but the instructions
on the plans I was following didn’t help much. “Glue
enough wood together for the top,” it advised, “then
sand.” That was it. One measly sentence. I spent more
time figuring out how to get through that “simple”
step than building the rest
of the table. Successful edge-gluing always begins by planing
and jointing neighbouring pieces of wood so that they’re
the same thickness and meet each other gap-free. But that’s
not all there is to edge-gluing success. A good deal more is
required that doesn’t get nearly as much attention—including
three key techniques.
The biggest edge-gluing headache is dealing with board-to-board
mismatch. Everything has to be perfectly flat when you’re
done building a door panel or a tabletop, and getting this result
with the least amount of effort and sander time is the name
of the game.
The biggest advantage you can give yourself is the technique
you use to clamp boards together while gluing. Even if your
boards are the same thickness and meet each other gap-free (and
they should), a little warping can still cause a lot of trouble.
That’s why I recommend clamping in three steps.
For Step 1, begin by lining up boards (with glue on their edges)
on a series of pipe clamps spaced 12" to 14" apart.
Tighten them up until the boards begin to come together, then
stop. Next, gently tighten some medium-size C-clamps over the
joints at both ends of the assembly. This levels up the ends
of the boards and holds them that way. For Step 2, push down
on any boards that might have been bowed upward as you tightened
the main clamps. Board-to-board joints should be quite flat
by now, with less then 1/16" of difference between them.
Finally, tighten a few more pipe clamps over the top of the
assembly, between the ones underneath. This third step directs
clamping pressure downward in a way that prevents the boards
from arcing upward.
If you own a thickness planer, there’s an edge-gluing
trick that will save you most of the trouble of evening up irregular
joints. Glue your boards together in two stages, with these
first assemblies as wide as your planer will take. When the
glue has dried, feed these subassemblies through the machine
to level everything up mechanically while it’s easy. Only
afterward do you complete the final gluing. This approach minimizes
the levelling required with handheld sanders. Just remember
to remove all hardened glue from the boards before you feed
them through the planer to avoid chipping the blades.
If, after all this, you still have some glued boards with steps
between them, use your belt sander on the cross-grain with an
80-grit belt. This removes wood quicker than sanding along the
grain and yields flatter panels. When the joints are levelled,
sand parallel with the grain to remove the scratches.
The best woodworkers are good at edge-gluing solid wood because
the results play a large role in project success. You’ve
probably noticed that success depends on understanding a few
techniques that aren’t always explained as fully as they
should be. But no matter. Now you’re the kind of woodworker
who knows the tricks. |
1. TOP LEFT
• bring edge-joined
boards together on pipe clamps
•
max. 18" clamp spacing
2. BOTTOM
LEFT
•
align board ends with C-clamps, then press wonky
boards down into alignment
•
tighten clamps gently
3. RIGHT
•
scrape half-hard glue with putty knife, after adding
top clamps to keep boards flat |
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