Replies

1. 
   Buster2000 | Feb 09, 2007 09:56am | #1

   20 degrees?   Fahrenheit or Celsius?  Makes a huge difference.

   If it's fahrenheit then your freezing, and I would't suggest doing anything.  The glue and finish will freeze long before curing.  As well regardless of what type of finish you get on the wood will move (expand or contract) when you get it into a diffeent environment (inside).

   If you in celsius... it doesn't matter.

2. 
   user-196729 | Feb 09, 2007 10:24am | #2

   If it is possible, bring the wood in the house to warm up in the basement for about two weeks.  This will climatize it to its usual environment when it is finished.  When you finally decide to cut it to proportion for the bar, cut it a little bit longer than finished and a little bit wider.  this will give you a rough start on the pieces.  When you do decide to cut them, by all means put a space heater in the garage to get a little more comfortable environment to work in.  Your tools will work smoother and you will be more comfortable.  The best advise I can give you is to wait for warmer weather to do this project.  Cherry can be difficult to work with when the temperatures are extremely different in the two locations the wood will be in when finished.  This is a warm weather project when you are using a hard wood like Cherry.

1. 
   skarloy | Feb 11, 2007 08:07am | #5

   Thank you for you contribution. This is good advise. I'm not sure I can wait for warmer weather, however, I will try to follow the good logic laid out here.

1. 
   user-196729 | Feb 11, 2007 08:54am | #6

   Your welcome.  I work with cherry, black walnut, and mahogany with most of my projects.  Just like you, I have an unheated garage for most of my work.  The guidelines I gave you will keep the project more manageable, and your tools will work better if you bring the temp up a little in the garage.  Something I do when it comes to gluing and finishing is bring it inside and vent the basement with a fan to the outside for at least 6 hrs.  Do your top first and then when the glue has cured finish the size to your requirements with table saw or hand tools.  Do not use biscuits for joining the edge.  Biscuits are for inferior work and your top will not be as strong along the glue joint.  When clamping them, just apply enough pressure to have enough even sqeeze-out of the glue and turn them just a hair more.  Too much clamping pressure sometimes starves the joint.  Clean up the glue joint with a hand scraper.  Doing the surface with a scraper will not cause the surface to be uneven like when you sand it.  Keep me posted if you have any questions.

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Feb 11, 2007 02:17pm | #7

   If you believe Titebond, it's almost impossible to starve a joint by over clamping.  Why?  It's because the recommended clamping pressure for hardwoods is 175 - 250 psi though for softwoods the recommended pressure is less at 100- 150 psi.  The approximate maximum pressure you can achieve with Bessey clamps is about 1000 lb.  This means that glueing a panel of 3/4" lumber calls and using a Bessey clamp every 9" cramped down as hard as you can turn the handle by hand, you will still not have exceeded the maximum of the recommended range for softwoods and won't have quite reached the 175 psi range recommended for hardwoods.  Bar clamps with crank handles such as the heavy duty Jorgensen clamps can achieve about double the clamping pressure per clamp at a maximum. 

   But trying to glue panels at temps even close to 20° just doesn't make sense.  Titebond calls for the temperature to be above 050° for most of its glues, will require only 47° for Titebond III, but specifies temperatures above 55° for Titebond II. 

   Fiberglass batt insulation is pretty cheap so insulating and heating the workspace makes a lot of sense to me.  

1. 
   user-196729 | Feb 11, 2007 11:07pm | #8

   The information you gave is correct about clamping pressure.  I just used a general guideline to keep things simple.  The temperature of the wood is critical if you want it to cure properly, that is why I recommended taking it inside.  Yes insulation is cheap and can be done in a weekend, but right now I need the garage for auto,s as well as storage until I can build a seperate building to do the work.  All takes time, but it is time well spent.

2. 
   HowardAcheson | Feb 12, 2007 12:19am | #9

   >> Biscuits are for inferior work and your top will not be as strong along the glue joint.Are you saying that biscuits will weaken a joint? For edge to edge gluing they will not add strength but they will not weaken it either.Howie.........

1. 
   jackplane | Feb 12, 2007 01:41am | #10

   Here we go again.......................Expert since 10 am.

3. 
   frenchy | Feb 09, 2007 02:55pm | #3

   skarloy,

    Hmmm 20 degrees and you're doing work in those temps?  Hope you are getting paid well..

    If this is a hobby why not wit for a more pleaseant day to work?

     I digress,

    wood isn't much affected by temps, it's affected by moisture.. cold day tends to be a dry day.. so as long as your house isn't a steam bath you should be fine..

4. 
   Glaucon | Feb 09, 2007 08:38pm | #4

   20 degrees? Have you considered gardening?

   Seriously, you could probably cut and mill wood at that temperature, but it is likely very dry, and I'm not sure I would undertake any joinery, and certianly not glue-ups or finishing... frame carpenters work at that temp, but I don't think cabinet makers do.

   Glaucon

   If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...