Ⓕ Best Way For Gluing Wood Together To Get Thick Pieces (ep86)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ธ.ค. 2024
- More information in the website article - nickferry.com/...
including links to the wood clamps
Sometimes you need to glue boards together to make up thicker stock for table legs, furniture making & turning projects. This is the best way for gluing wood together to get thicker boards. Super simple but effective way to keep all the wood aligned while clamping just by using a parallel clamp and some f style clamps. I find this method a lot easier than using cauls, salt or nails.
Rich's Channel - goo.gl/FYYs7
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a lot more woodworking articles, info and plans here - nickferry.com/ - and the article for this video with tool list here - nickferry.com/2018/03/best-way-for-gluing-wood-together-to-get-thick-pieces-ep86/
Amk gabbe Nike
Router gig to flatten plank of wood with twist
Nick Ferry just fyi chemically silica sand, like sand blasting sand, would be better than salt because its inert and salt is a polar molecule that reacts with water.
texasfossilguy water itself is polar and pva glue is water soluble - I personally wouldn't want to use silica sand as to not have a physical separation between the wood pieces to be joined
Dominick612
Well done Nick! It’s the little things that craftsmen know among themselves but aren’t always shared or spoken about. Thanks again Sam
thanks - I'm glad Rich pointed it out because I wouldn't have thought to even show it
How many clamps does a woodworker need? Answer: one more than he's got
Exactly!
Amen to that!!
You can never have enough clamps!
Ron Tocknell haha yep, you should see how many clamps are needed when doing a stringer for a geometric staircase... ALOT!
Ron Tocknell I have exactly 220 pieces. Still not enough. Guess you’re right. I need one more.
Man, this is probably one of the biggest things I love about woodworking....I never stop learning. Nice tip Nick. Keep up the great vids.
I agree 100% - finding new ways is one of the best parts!
Yeah: spreading glue with foam rubber rollers ! WHATEVER will they think of next ?
Why do we glue wood together?
Why do we breathe oxygen? 🧐
Another method is to use a flat table covered with wax paper on the bottom of the edges. Place wax paper on top of the edges then place flat steel or angle iron on top of wax paper and clamp down in several places to table. Then you can use clamps from each side to squeeze the portions together. This has the advantage of using a flat table to keep the project straight during glue up as opposed to a temporary clamp. An even better way is to use angle iron on 3 sides and the flat table on the bottom. Place wax paper so that project never comes in to contact with angle iron or table. The project is held square on all 4 linear sides. I know the cost of angle iron scares some people but it is reusable and cost less than a good clamp if you get it from a steel supplier.
I am 75 years young. Have been doing wood working for, at least, 60 years. Part of the joy of working with God’s created products is applying the abilities He has given me in learning some new aspect of this fun hobby. Your video has thought me a very simple gluing trick. Thanks. Glen in Lufkin, Texas.
thanks Glen - every day something can be learned
After 40 years of experience, 25 pro you learn to not use sooooooo much glue. Squeeze out is excess glue, do your best to minimize it. Squeeze out is an indicator of plenty of glue but it should simply bubble, slightly, out at the joint line, dripping is way too much and too much trouble to remove. Excess glue is wasteful and further causes slippage when clamping.
Do not use excess glue to fill a gap, add more clamping pressure. Clamping pressure will not starve a joint, contrary to what many think. A thin glue line is a strong glue line/joint.
Try to never glue up stock that is cut to finished width or length.
Lay your clamps on your work surface so that the bars are parallel to the work surface. Lay the pieces to be glued on top of the clamp bars. Let gravity help to keep pieces aligned. You can tweak a little after clamping if there is any slippage. With there proper amount of glue there will be minimal if any slippage.
I appreciate the feedback - I’ve used varying amounts of glue over the years and always came back to preferring to use too much over too little (at least where laminations are concerned) - basically I’d rather have a bit to clean up than risk a void or dry spot
as for the work surface clamping option - I’ve used this clamping method on pieces as long as 22 feet - hard to find a table that long to work from - also, in theater builds I often have to glue up curved handrails and this method is ideal for that as well
Typically I do make my glue ups thicker, wider and longer than finished dimension, as I did in this case - this method merely keeps tolerances tighter cutting down on waste, planing/milling time - in the case of exotics and figured woods, this can be extremely beneficial
I also agree wholeheartedly that glue is not to used to fill gaps - aside from sprung joints, clamping pressure on a panel glueup should be minimal - if it doesn’t come together properly dry, glue and clamps is not the solution and the joint should be reworked
In summation, yes there’s always more than one way to do things - I tend to lean to this method because it’s quick and suitable for a wide array of applications and for me and my experiences the pros outweigh the cons ten fold
Nick Ferry bam! Nicely said, Nick. Lol, also, I could see the huge benefit here to be when doing glue ups over say, 10 feet. Where you are much less likely to mill the width after glue up as running a dozen or more linear feet through a table or band saw is cumbersome to say the least. Great tip and I will be using this method for large future projects. By the way, I’ve never noticed a comment by a person with 40 years experience in woodworking leave a positive comment on a how-to video on TH-cam. I often wonder why they watch how to videos instead of just make them.... Anyway, keep up the great videos man! -Art
@@artiet5982 I’m glad that people are willing to share their experience, and I don’t think Leon’s comment is negative. Yours is.
M M thanks for the input. I was probably in a bad mood that day.
Leon Bridges Yep I agree makes a lot of sense and well explained. Thanks
If lots know about it, it's not as important as the one who shares it. You just made many more productive and better makers.
Thank You and keep up the great work.
Nicely put - thanks much!
No problem!
Hi Nick, I have been using this method for several years now. Before I just used the table top to align the pieces, then I started to use the aligning clamp. In my 35 years of wood working, this is truly the best way. Great video. thanks for showing it.
thanks Tim!!
If you don't have a parallel clamp you can just use regular clamps with 2 flat wood pieces instead ! great tip thanks for sharing !
This. The wood pieces allow more movement when the actual clamping gets done.
Also instead of one parallel clamp that walks down the join, I just put two on. One each end.
That iswhat ihave done in the past, especially for longer or wider clamping, but realized if I do small parts and then with dowels and clamp finished product I get better results.
Calls right?
I’ve been a wood shop teacher for 36 years. Nice tip. Simple and does the trick. Thanks for sharing.
Very cool - glad you liked it - and sounds like you've seen a couple things before!
Nice technique. One thing to consider is to simply use two K clamps (the parallel clamps) on both ends and just clamp in between with smaller clamps. That way, you can speed things up just a bit, especially if the wood to be laminated are dimensionally identical. No need to continually clamp and unclamp the one parallel clamp going down the length of the wood. Also, if you are not going to be doing a lot of additional dimensional work on the laminated piece, you can drop 3 small dowels/dominos/or biscuits into each piece. This will also allow for glue-ups with near perfect alignment. I know a lot of people do this more for tabletop glue ups, but they can work well with leg glue-ups as well, but the key is to avoid much more additional dimensioning or you might have the alignment dowels/dominos/biscuits show in the final product. Although that might be cool if you intentionally wish to show the internal joinery.
I tried this method of gluing up the fence pieces for your table saw sled plans today and it works AMAZING!!! I can't believe I never thought of gluing up pieces this way. I've tried all the other tricks but this works the best of all and is so easy. Thank you for sharing this tip!
That’s awesome - it’s these little things we pick up along the way - when we understand that, we appreciate the old timers that have been doing this forever and a day
Always done this - thanks to my high school shop teacher who taught me a ton. Also - Clamps apply pressure roughly 40-60 degrees from the pressure point so it’s much more efficient to use cauls to thicken the assembly. If the thing is 2” thick like your glue-up you really need a clamp every 2-3” to have even clamping pressure. But add a 2” caul to both sides - voilà a clamp every 6-9” would do the same job. I’m hedging because it depends on the type of clamp used- but you get the idea - use cauls. F and C clamps are the worst bc the pressure point is so small.
good rule of thumb for sure but ultimately clamping pressure force angle is dependent on beam strength of whatever is next to the clamp pad - the more dispersion of force by a caul in many cases is good, it also lessens the actual clamping pressure to an overall surface when dispersed - so either cauls with high pressure clamps or omit the cauls and add more lesser pressure clamps
Genius ! Great Idea with the Parallel clamp - I've seen hundred of laminated workbench
videos and everyone just uses clamps across thickness then planes,sands or runs thru
a thickness Planer not worrying to much about being square across top & bottom of
workpiece! After 100's of videos I chose your Joinery Method ( Garden Bench build) for
my workbench & your way of Clamping Up the Workpiece ! Thanks So Much Nick !! : )
Very cool - glad you were able to put the two videos together to come up with a bench!
Final little comment on glue-ups, for larger pieces:
-it's not necessary to do all pieces at one time, so, do them in sets your clamps can handle
-for the final gluing, align your sets against a straight edge, and on a flat surface; it's best if the flat surface is finished or metal (so glue doesn't stick too much)
-lay weights over the joints to keep them under some pressure; I've used cans of paint, heavy tools, whatever is handy
-for lateral force, I use a bottle jack and a couple of 2 x 4's. Remember you're not smoking it down, just even pressure, so the butt of the jack just needs a solid place to rest.
Sorry to do all this with words, a picture would be much easier. It's really pretty simple.
-
Been a hobbyist woodworker for 20 yrs and this is the first I've seen this technique. Thanks for sharing Nick. I've used cauls for panels, this is the same principle for legs on a smaller scale.
Yup yup - glad that hear you liked it
Randomly landed on one of your videos and now going through more. These are really well made and easy to follow. They're great!
thanks man - glad to have you here
Nice tip - I've done hundreds of leg glue ups. This is now my new method!
Let me know if you like it after you try it - that's a lot of legs
Hey Nick, I've been using that technique for a while. The only thing I worry about is clamping the aligning clamping to tight that it restricts the other clamping. Yes it does work well. Makes me start to feel like I'm starting to have confidence when I see things I'm doing that others are not. I still have a long way to go. Thanks. P.S. still waiting on the 2nd half of the Valentine box. My wife's getting impatient.
Thanks - the "squeeze" clamp always overpowers the "alignment" clamp - didn't forget about the box - hope to be back on it soon
Dean Kramasz rosaruirosary
Dean Kramasz ii
Great tip. My late father was a carpenter/woodworker on the side and built several chopping blocks which are laminated much like what you did. He used a couple of bar clamps as the base to position the wood on and then when all glued surfaces were placed would clamp them in the already positioned bar clamp. Once dried he ran both sides through a planer to get rid of any warps or bows.
Nice - ever better that you have those ideas from your dad!
Nick Ferry - for sure. It's funny what we remember after someone is gone.
it really is - thanks for sharing!
Thanks Nick! As someone just trying to start out with woodworking, NOTHING is too obvious 🤣 Looking forward to seeing more of your channel 👍
Most of the time it is little simple things like this that help the newbie more than any formal class they could ever take. No tip or trick will work every time, as some other comments here have mentioned, however if it works only once then it made life so much simplier. Thanks for sharing this tip, and PLEASE continue to share any tips or tricks you might have, if you only help one person, well it was worth it. Great video, thanks!!!
thanks much - I am very happy this could help a couple people out - works really slick!
I dont have any parallel clamps but i do the same thing i would on bigger glue ups i use cauls just for allignment like that then right away remove em for clamping other side for even pressure and to clean up
Sweet - good way of doing it too!
Aye, You're basically using the parallel clamp as a temporary caul. Another big thing is working from one end to the other as opposed to ends first. I think it's great to share stuff like this as not everyone thinks of it.
Cauls can be custom made to fit a glue-up or assembly job. There are plenty of articles and images on the web. I also keep cauls from sticking to the assembly with plastic wrap. Just enough to fit between the caul and the wood plus an inch or two on each side.
Ferndalien or packing tape works good as well
If you don't have parallel clamps, try a straight piece of scrap and normal clamps to distribute the pressure over the whole edge.
Hi Nick, I just wanted to thank you for all of your videos I am brand new to woodworking and I mean new, my shop is being built and I am in process of gathering my tools. I am a retired nurse I own a small farm in Idaho, and I have been watching as many videos as I can. Your videos have helped me so much, thank you Chris
I appreciate you saying that - you are more than welcome and I’m lucky to be a part of your journey
thanks for the awesome tip..."Oh honey I need to run to Lowes and buy a parallel clamp...lol!"
Tell her you're going out for eggs and bread
BRAVO, You are the first person I've seen on You Tube that has advocated the gluing of a peace on both sides other than me. I have a video on my Roubo Bench build and in it I mention the necessity of gluing both surfaces for the best results in wide areas to be glued up. During my apprenticeship I worked with a lot of German cabinet shops here in Los Angles and they all thought me that method of gluing bar none. The only thing I would say I differ with your comment is that I was thought to put one side a very good cover of glue but not to excess and the on the other side a light cover so that both sides have a complete cover of glue but not to waist glue on the run out of glue. A little run out was professionally accepted but a huge run out was looked upon as very amateurish meaning the one hadn't yet learn how to properly glue up a peace of wood. I never knew exactly way it was the best other then that was the way to do a good job take a look at my bench build Dan West Roubo Bench build
Cool to hear - I do really like breaking that surface tension between pieces - I normally put a hair less glue on - being I had one take to get this right and it all was in one take, I probably went a bit heavier then normal
4:20 - years later, it was actually determined to be the biggest glue-up in the history of woodworking #historymade
Hahaha - I want a trophy then! 🏆
check it with CC before making comments about what someone said.
He said, "This isn't necessarily the biggest glue up in the history of woodworking."
Very good idea, I used it for the first time last night and it really works well. I can see why it blew his mind, i had never thought of it in that scenario.
That’s great - I know a few have seen this before but comments like this make me glad I did the video
Nick: This technique (seems to me) only works if every board is the exact same width. If the boards are slightly off, then I cannot see it working well. The parallel clamp would only touch the widest board.
In that case you wouldn't need to be so exact in the first place - if they slid a little it'd be no big deal
Correct. I end up just aligning one common edge. Glue them up and then hand plane the uneven edge down to dimension. Seems to work. Can't say enough about parallel clamps. Glue ups became a pleasure after I got a set.
The parallel clamp would only touch the widest board, but it would still limit the amount that the narrower boards could slide - which is the intent of the solution.
Nick, truly seems like a great idea. Sometimes it isn’t the earth shattering discoveries that mean as much as the simple ideas that make routine tasks easier. Thanks for the ideas...
You could put wedges or shims for the less wide pieces so that they will all stay close
they have had angular clamps for at least 40 years. It literally does exact what your doing. I used them more in welding class but we had them in the wood shop as well.
Nice to know - I haven't really seen them in the welding arena
Amazing use for my sole parallel clamp. Great tip Nick! First time seeing it.
It is - but of course now you need more parallel clamps
Nick Ferry : parallel clamps are expensive; I use scrap wood as cauls and wax paper.
another great way of doing it - for me this has been quicker - and try packing tape on cauls instead of wax paper - makes positioning a breeze
@LARPin’ 4 the LORD Order them online.
@LARPin’ 4 the LORD I got a similar deal from Home Depot earlier this year on a set of four KRE REVOlution K-Body clamps: two 24" and two 50". Amazing price. You have to wait and watch for discounts to come along. I'll bet we'll see some sales once we come out of our isolation later this year. I've had some Bessey parallel clamps for over a decade, and these new ones are far better. Parallel clamps do what others can't. Nick has shown us a creative use for them!
Great advice Nick. I did the exact thing during one of my glue ups and a buddy told me my clamp was going the wrong way too. He never saw this technic before and he's been woodworking for about 15 years.
Goes to show what we do can be an eye opener to others
I'm a qualified wood machinist amougst other things. I'll start with I agree that you can't have to much glue, but you can have not enough.
The way I would do it, you don't need to worry about the timber slipping and I would do all 4 legs laminated in one hit.
Say on the lengths of timber you are using, I would lay approx 6 X 900mm sash clamps down. Put all of your glued timbers in. All 4 legs, as they will stay separate without glue between legs. Then lay your other sash clamps on top between your underneath clamps. Then start to tighten each Clamp randomly top and bottom clamps until they bite. And then go over them all again when your happy where they are sitting and do them up nice n tight. All 4 legs done, no hassles.
(And that's without talking about woodgrain directions into the laminating situation.)
I believe I'd have my 4 legs glued and straight while your still lining your timbers up with your lining up clamp and clamping your 2nd leg together. I don't mean to sound rude. It's just the way it is 😜🤔🤣
very well could - always cool hearing how others accomplish the same task differently
Nick Ferry your welcome, I hope it came across clear.
Cheers.
Melbourne, Australia
clear enough for discussion - I see you said you're from Australia, do you have any HNT Gordon tools? I got one of their planes about a year ago and it is top notch
THANKS. I am actually just getting into wood working and was looking into how to build up wooden structures... and this randomly showed up. your channel looks amazing!
thanks much - happy woodworking!
I'll admit, I was a slippery brad nailer person until now. Great tip!
Thanks - let me know how this works out for you
Slippery Nailer just so happens to be my gay porn stage name!
Nice work. I discovered this technique after struggling through several glue-ups. It takes the stress out of it and produces a great result when the clamps come off. I’m glad you shared this. Take care.
Thanks - you take care as well!
Kinda felt like I watching a cooking show
Maple and glue cake!
Yes! I was watching this and said that same thing to my wife! 😂
Yes. Where's the little bowls of glue to mix in with the wood chips though??
when I laminate,I put a little downward pressure and "slide" the piece over the other a couple times, I think it creates a vacuum of sorts and releases the glue air bubbles. creates a nice tight initial bond. Retired journeyman now,carving stumps mostly,and turning a few bowls.
Yes a slip joint - I'm a fan of the technique - done in areas of the world without access to clamps commonly when edge gluing - for larger surface laminations I feel clamps get the surfaces a bit tighter with more control - it's harder to slip join longer glue-ups
Great tip. Question: How would you do this glue-up? Two pieces of 3/4” thick hard maple 30” long if you needed them to be 1-1/2” thick and 30” long? I noticed that you didn’t care about the length of the wood and assumed you would trim that off, but I already cut all my wood to the needed size.
That’s a pretty good tip. Good to have in the back pocket of tricks.
thanks Chad - it sure is
Back pocket? This one's going in the small notebook I keep in the shirt pocket! ;) lol
I was thinking add two pieces of scrap wood clamped to either end, but the parallel clamp makes that unnecessary. Huh.
And I see what I'm thinking of is an old idea called a caul. Nothing is ever new, lol.
Well explained. I use a 3/8" thick 2 x 2 angle as a straight guide for the f-clamps. The workpiece is then dead straight. No jointing required.
nice - sure would be a time saver
Excellent tip. Will come in handy. Thanks Nick.
Glad you found it useful!
I am novice... beginner.... The way i glue and not have problems, is let the glue dry for at least 30- 1 minute before combining both pieces... It hardly moves.. and you can adjust with a bit of force if you need to. This method has been working for me so far...
Great idea and excellent explanation/demonstration. Extra points for the brayer glue spreader.
Thanks - they do work slick
Thanks buddy and i learned something about woodworking that i am very loved. Carpentry works is the source on how i feed my first child and support my family.
I agree this is a good tip. I usually fix this when laying up the pieces across the flat, pipe clamps. But, I arrived here looking to prevent a glue-up problem where stresses caused by drying, compressing glue force warpage (bowing) when the glue sets. I had a 3/4" countertop "arch" or crown when gluing Wilsonart laminate. I'm also having warp when laminating 1x4's into three thicknesses due to that issue. Have a tip to control that?
are you using contact cement on the counter top material? if so, how thick is your base substrate?
OK, I had to rethink this due to the long passage of time. I needed an exact 1.0" thickness to replace a countertop. The laminate was adhered using contact cement. The other side of the 3/4" particle board was ~1/8" fiberboard panel glued, and pressed with cinder blocks and cement bags. The glue force pulled or bowed toward the fiberboard side. It was enough force to slightly lift all that weight, up. And now you know...the rest of the story. Good day.
Not trying to be a jerk, but couldn’t you just do it on both ends and call it good or do you have to work your way down? Great technique though that I will begin using in the future
This way you can correct bent or warped boards too
If you got a bad enough bent/wrap, the boards may start sliding as soon as you remove the "side" clamp. It happened to me once, but to be fair it was 12 feets long 4'' by 8'', and I surely did not have enough and strong enough clamps for the job. A bit of sand did help there.
robert winton - exactly
I usually use a "glue-buck" (like a sawing horse), and I never remove the correcting clamps until a need them another place. Also, regular F-clamps combined with pieces of scrap wood with a piece of adhesive tape works just as good as parallell clamps.
For big glue-ups putting straight boards on the side while glueing can straighten up the pieces and heavily reduce the number of clamps you need.
You should have flattened and jointed your wood before gluing up. If you need clamps to bend wood to bring them into alignment while gluing up - your legs will have a lot of movement down the road due to stress. That wood will want to 'spring' back to where it was before you forced them into alignment with the clamps. Golden rule of woodworking. In our shop we always cut the wood a bit longer to allow for a pin on each end, that will be cut off before the exact sizing of the wood takes place. I believe I even heard you state that your pieces were a bit longer than needed. By the way, this is constructive advice only - not malicious criticism. Love your channel, enjoy watching your videos! mike
So help me god .. if he pulls out a domino I'm gonna smash this cup against his .... ohh .. that's cool
now that's funny!!!
I have a domino, this comment is hilarious!!!
wforl was 2
That literally made me laugh out loud 😎
LOL
Great method thanks for sharing. But how do you take care of the end grain misalignment?
I typically make it long and then just cut it after the glue up to final length
“Starvation of glue.” That’s a new way to put it. 😆
Always a new way to slice it
Laminating legs for a platform bed frame and found this tip I will be exercising - thanks Nick, just saved me some ball ache.
Well I’m glad I could you forgo that, lol
Nice video Nick! Thanks for sharing it with us .😎👍JP
As always, thanks for checking it out!
You're very welcome Nick! 😎
Very useful tip, how would I glue up something wider say eight inch? I'm thinking of using wood blocks bolted together to sandwich the glue up. Again, thanks for the tip!
Jim Hackett
Thanks - you are on the right track - cauls are great for wide boards - have some shims handy to throw some pressure towards the field of the boards to “preload” straight cauls
Must be an American thing not knowing about that "tip".
Precisely - it's a complete skill to get born somewhere else - I'm glad you had the foresight as an embryo to choose which geographical region of the planet to be birthed in
LOL. PLAY NICE KIDDIES..
Nick I'm new here Thanks for the heart, now go make some sawdust and get off the internet. :-)
PatCat no not an American thing just novices who think by watching TH-cam they can be master carpenters. I love watching these hacks point out the obvious. Notice he talked about his friend who for ten years professionally and ten years before that worked with wood but never saw this. I'm laughing so hard, I'm glad I stumbled onto this video. Then his comment about making sure the glue doesn't touch the one edge as though the thought of wiping it off with a damp rag or sponge never occurred to him. 😂😂
must be an European thing being such a bigot.
I saw similar techniques many times before but never that simple as moving a parallel clamp from one side to the other. I guess you've shown the best way to do it. Well done.
Always a different way to do things - thanks
Hello there. Awesome trick. I have a question. Do you have an idea on how to glue up pieces in a staggered way to make up a certain length.? Maybe 45 Degree cuts.? I’m not looking to make dowel joints or lap joints. Do you have an idea of which stagger can hold better against bending.? Thank you
not sure I am understanding completely - are you looking at gluing multiple staggered pieces to have a longer and wider top? if so look into butcher black tops - if you are looking into making a single narrow board longer look into scarf joints or finger joints for molding
Nick Ferry yes I am looking to make the board look longer, stagger the pieces and at the glue up I was thinking of possible staggering methods or sequences to make the glue up joint stronger. I’ll look up your suggestion.! Thank you for the reply.
Like you, I was surprised to hear you say that a professional woodworker didn't know about this. I used that technique to make balusters for a railing. I've also been using a similar technique when I edge glue narrow boards together to make a panel. I clamp a long, square thick-walled aluminum stock across the boards to get their surfaces as close to the same plane as possible. Keeps them from forming an arc when I use bar clamps to draw the planks together.
Another good idea - makes sense on making balusters
Dan Burch I have like a 2x3 piece of aluminum that is very straight that I'll use and just clamp in with any lamination I do to make sure it comes out straight. I've used this a number of times with plywood making fences for table saw sleds and router tables. Works great!
I used to make doors so I do know this method but you absolutely corect by showing this method no one was born with knowledge and we all have to learn after over 20 years in building trade I still find things to learn in a fields that I thought that I knew
exactly - you never know where you can pick up some new skills
Awesome tip, I hate to admit it but I've been doing woodworking for a hobby for years and never saw or thought about this technique. Thanks for sharing.
no problem - learn something new everyday
Back in Rochester NY I worked at a museum where I was one of the youngest woodworkers. I had over 25 years working with wood and the older guys used to laugh at me for doing what you just did. I showed up to work on a day off and found out that three of them started doing the same thing but didn't want to look like they learned something from the "younger generation" so it was only done when I wasn't looking or when I was off. I made them a gift after I found this out. The gift was for all of them and it was a hand carved replica of my hand... giving them all the finger! LOL
Never feel bad about doing something others don't do. it just means you think for yourself!
I can see that being the case - I try to keep an open mind to new techniques myself but I'm guilty of relying on tried and true as well - it's a bit messed up from time to time - always more to learn
Hi Nick, I have started using nylon brads for this type of thing. They can be cut, sanded and, stained. You cannot see them at all when you are done. You should check them out.
thanks - have tried them out - another great alternative - I think the ones I tried are Raptor
nice video! Does this technique not introduce stress into the glue -up? When I have tried this method in the past, some of the laminations failed when tapers were cut.
Why not just glue the lamination referencing off the clamp bar, knowing the piece will be jointed and planed later?
When gluing directly of the clamp bar you still get the wood to slide around enough to wreck glue-ups - It does introduce stress and the more bowed your boards are, the more stress is built up - these legs won't get a taper and if they were going to get a taper on one side I would cut the taper into the edge of the glue-up rather than the face - I have a video coming up very soon showing leg glue-ups and and I talk about tapers and a couple cool methods regarding the edges - make sure to check that one out when it's out
In short - I wouldn't use badly bowed boards for glue-ups where I had a multi-sided taper to be added - but in this case the bow wasn't that bad for it to be a problem with tapers if I were to add them - also giving the piece a couple glue-ups like that extra time to cure helps combat delamination - hope that helps
I was waiting for some revolutionary tip. lol. however from the looks of it a lot of people never knew you could do this. Thanks for sharing. I always clamp the boards to the table with several parallel clamps across the entire workpiece and then the table acts as a level clamping surface for the bottom. Then clamp the boards together across the entire glue up.
another great way to do it - yeah it seems some have seen it as obvious and others never thought of it or tried it
I use to love woodworking in junior high school. Now that I’m 50 years old, I would like to get back into it as a hobby. First off, I need to make me a contract over not coming on here workbench, which I will be gluing a ton of pieces of wood. Do you have any videos like that? Making my own work bench?
That’s awesome - I hope your journey getting back into woodworking is a fruitful one - I’m seriously excited for you as it’s like a kid getting a bike that hasn’t rode in a while - I did a potting/workbench for my wife’s gardening stuff - I talk about converting it to a workbench in the video - Ⓕ Workbench Build / Potting Bench - with Unique Joinery (ep89)
th-cam.com/video/D03Jc5J4MK4/w-d-xo.html - The focuses more on the joinery and in the video I used screws but you can use dowels for a cleaner look - let me know if you have any more questions - Best of luck ✌🏼
I have done this without thinking and I have also used the rail of my clamps to help line up the edges.
Same here
Hey Nick those pieces of pine are warped. If you flatten them before the glue up you will be able to use glue then rub the 2 pieces together till they interlock. Once this is accomplished, you clamp. The reason they are sliding on the glue is the lack of wood to wood contact as all 3 boards have a slight warp on the tail end.
A rub or slip joint works great for edge joinery but I find in surface laminations I still get the wood wanting to slide around - even if the wood is perfectly flat - the bow in this maple was minimal and it’s nice to have a few tricks in the bag to work with what you have
I'm laying down hardwood flooring with adhesive and I always tape the flooring together to keep it from drifting. I would have left the first clamp on to ensure no slippage along with the other clamps, at least on the ends and one in the middle. Good idea?
If that works for you or you want the added insurance I’d say go for it
So I've used a clamp to keep the boards even, but it's not as easy as the way u do it, thanks for the tip. Gluing is by far my sloppiest thing I do and it needs to get better. I'll try your technique.
Cool - let me know if you like it
Ok so I clamped some pieces together that will eventually be coffee table legs and I realize I have no idea how to get them to stop sliding around. So this video kiiiiind of saved my life. Thank you!!
Very nice - good timing then
When you clamp against the bow or bend of a the wood to straighten it out, doesn’t it just end up trapping the tension? Or does the wood eventually “set” and lose tension? Asking as someone who lives in a region with humid summers and dry winters and i have to account for lots of expand / contract with my projects.
all wood has tension and compression - this amount of warping/crook, or even slightly more you'll be good - I live in a huge moisture swing region as well
Nick Ferry thanks for the clarification. Great video, too.
Thanks. I came back to watch this. I want to improve my results. Can I use pipe clamps as parallel clamps?
Sort of - use some wood blocks as cauls
@@NickFerry thanks very much for the reply. Understood.
I've never heard of a parallel clamp or seen this method. very nice! A pastry brush works great to spread glue also.
Thanks - I could see a pastry brush working great too
I've done it this way for years but generally have left the parallel clamps in place but with less force that the MAIN clamps. I never really trusted the main clamps to entirely prevent slipping. However, my gluing was not nearly as smoothly and perfectly done. Need that tool!
depending on what I all have to glue up I might leave them on too - the brayer works really well for this
Thanks Nick. Just ordered a pair of parallel clamps. Never seen it, but because of you, Rich and this community, we don’t have to fumble around anymore. Great tip. 😎
Thanks - let me know how you like it when you try it
Hey Nick
Very good tip. Keep them coming.. How had is to get the glue off the rubber brayer?
I haven't let it dry on there yet as I just clean it off with water but because of an earlier comment I may do some experiments - it's the soft version so I think dried glue would flake or peel off
Hi Nick!
I use a slightly different technique where I align the pieces with two or three traditional wooden hand screw clamps, and then use metal clamps to compress the laminations against the length of a flat bench. That way, the glue-up is both lined up and straight, and gravity works with me to keep one board clean for truing the glue-up on a table saw or with a router.
Good comment on orienting the wood to have the slight bends work against each other. I do that too and have great results.
very cool - another great way of doing it
Capt I 6’&
Nice tip! I don't have a parallel clamp but sometimes I bodge one up with two G clamps and a couple of bits of scrap timber. But mostly I just put clamps on the normal way round but do them up only medium tight at first. Then tap gently on the ends and sides with a hammer to line everything up. Clamp down tight when it's all straight.
Your method is better though. Nice one.
(More tools to buy, just when I thought I had everything.)
thanks - I like your method too - that's the cool part is figuring out multiple way to do things
Hey Nick, great video.. The simple tricks and tips are always the best.. I've tried but can't find a link to the glue roller on your website. Does the roller have a smooth or textured roller surface? Amy help greatly appreciated.
Thanks - the link is in the article for this video - nickferry.com/2018/03/best-way-for-gluing-wood-together-to-get-thick-pieces-ep86/ - it's a halfway specific rubber that I like best - you should see the link there
With that kind of glue-up (face-to-face) would you need to use screws also?
Wood glue, school glue - pva - any will be fine - no need for screws if you have a tight mating surface
Nice idea, I will have to try it. I have always used a small biscuit at each end. Can always cut through them if need to cut into glue-ups. Quick to do against the table saw fence.
My go to for years was biscuits - I still bust it out occasionally
I've done similar, but made small calls(flat stock with blue tape) to clamp parallel to the piece. That way i can leave the pressure aligning the pieces in place during the drying process
Good idea - I've used clear packing tape as well
Okay, As a new wood worker this was a great video. I will be adding this skill to my very limited arsenal. Sometimes, what one thinks are the most simple skills, are really the most important. Because they are repeated over and over they become second nature. For a new wood worker they are great to learn. Thank you
I appreciate the comment - makes me think I made the right decision to make this video
Why not just put two parallel clamps on, one on each end and then add all your other clamps, then remove the parallel clamps at the end or heck leave them on they are inconsequential at that point. This way saves from having to readjust a single parallel clamp multiple time
I need to do the same but a wider piece of wood, questions do I need a planer or a sand drummer to make better contact, or is it not necessary for your opinion
You can get lucky sometimes - the larger the pieces, the less likely a twist or cup will keep them from mating perfectly - giver-er a go, what’s the worst that could happen, they take away your birthday? ✌🏼
Great tip, thanks so much for sharing. Would dowelling each lamination for something large like a bench top be helpful?
Most definitely - just watch for exposing the dowels when cutting to size
@@NickFerry Thanks, I thought that would work. I need to laminate a bench top for my Mike Myers Moravian Workbench build, and I was thinking that dowels would enable me to lock each lamination in place as I build up the whole top. I'm not worried about exposure of the dowels, that would only happen when drilling the bench dog holes, things like that, which won't really matter.
I do something similar when I edge join timber to form wider boards. I keep a stock of small timber offcuts in a bag with my site clamps. I cover these in self adhesive vinyl parcel tape. These clamp packers keep the laminations aligned whilst I also clamp the laminations together so I have clamps at 90 degree opposed faces so the above technique can be used even if one does not have parallel clamps, all one needs is scrap timber and sufficient clamps for the length of timber being laminated. For removing glue squeeze out without damage the best thing that I have found so far is a tungsten carbide paint scraper. The vinyl parcel tape allows removal of the packers as the wood glue does not adhere to it effectively.
I've done similar before with the packing tape, it works great as a non stick surface - thanks for the alternative method!
I've always worked the board back and forth while applying slight pressure the leasening of lubrication and the sealing of more evenly spread glue eventually make it pretty easy to line up. As long as the board fit well.
A rub joint is fine for edges, however in larger face laminations, greater pressure is needed to pull the pieces tightly together
@@NickFerry well yes clamps applied after the movement becomes difficult. It seems to reduce slipping while applying the clamps as well.
@@trentpeterson3495 I can see that
Hiw woukd you glue up Big table legs for the lathe and not have any glue joints showing on the the finished turned leg!!! Could really use some help!
Turned glue ups will always have seams - you can limit the number of seams in cylindrical turnings by doing hollow glue ups with face grain making up the circumference
Nick Ferry wish you would make a video on how you do it!
Never know - not a lathe one but a really similar video is next
Nick Ferry cant wait to see it
Thank-you. I was pondering how to glue some together. The parallel clamp use is new for me.
Again, thanks.
No problem, glad I could help - parallel clamps are definitely an investment and they’re not the most versatile but when they do come in to play they’re rather useful - for smaller stuff check out parallel jaw pliers
I did similar laminations this weekend, 2" square legs. Wish I'd known about the brayer, it looks so easy compared to what I've used. For my legs, I just joint and plane the boards. I don't cut to width until after glueup, so the overhanging edges are fine, since the boards are slightly different widths, more than 4.5 inches. I cut 2 legs from a board after the glueup. However, this looks like a great idea, especially if you have thinner pieces. I've glued legs from salvaged hardwood flooring, and this would have come in very handy there.
very cool - another great way of doing it - the brayers work out really nice
I use dowels as tree nails. Clamp up dry and bore to size, the drive in when wet. Does not matter where they are, cut mortices, dovetails through them, also adds to character and looks attractive!
excellent
How to get edges parallel? In this videos edges were not parallel. what do do if I do not have the Besseys parallel clamps, but I must glue panels?
Hi Nick, another way is to glue up just the same way as you did and put the boards together on their edges, put a couple of clamps on to hold them together then use a soft faced hammer or a piece of scrap wood and an ordinary hammer to even up all the boards as they rest on the flat bench top. You can even the ends up by tapping them against a stop clamped to the bench too. Then add more clamps and tighten them up.
Love it - so many options
Hello Nick,
How to guarantee you, in your example, that the wood is straigh and lavel?
have an bows oppose each other helps - if the boards are really messed up I cut them straight before doing this
Is that wax or parchment paper to line the table? I did a little test with one of each that I have on hand and the wax paper glued itself to the wood a little bit but the parchment paper did not.
I used wax paper - it does good most of the time
The man is a genius... nice one dear sir. Simple but effective, very nice, thank you.
thanks Steve - I'm glad my buddy convinced me to share it!
Useful tip. Nice demonstration. And goes to show that no matter how long you've been doing something, somebody can come along and figure out a better/easier/faster way of doing something. Thanks.
Yup - always a good thing to remember
This video has come up recommended, many times. I've skipped over it, but I also never got to see any other of your videos. Now that I have, glad I did. Subbed.
Great - glad to have you here!
If it is a regular task, can't we put a few low cost vises on a table like a jig? The vises may not be more expensive than the clamps. I use the single vise technique, when I join popsicle strips for small modelling work. But the cost of the glue (I don't buy in gallons) always bother.
That would be a cool setup if you did it often enough - I've done pneumatic setups similar to that
I've been doing this since I started woodworking BUT the SALT tip is what I really needed! Thanks.