Hello! So I just glued up my first large panel and Im not too sure if it’s going to be alright lol.
I got good squeeze out some places but I guess I didn’t joint the boards good enough because others do have hairline 1/2mm/ less then a fingernail gaps.
Also my biggest height difference between boards is 2cm. Is the best way to break that down a hand planer or is that small enough to sand?
Replies
Sounds like a lot of work! If deemed unacceptable I would do this. 1. Read Michael Fortunes two articles in FWW on glue up. Hint... cauls and a glue up in sections. 2. Rip the glue line on a table saw, re-joint, dry run glue up, and re-glue with Titebond 3 as it dries darker. 3. Be happy you do not have a massive effort to flatten.
If you flatten.... find Christian Beeksvort's article on flattening with a belt sander. Fwiw.... I ripped a bad glue line open and rejoined last night. Happens to all of us.
If you have a hand plane, leveling is much easier with that than sanding. Think 2 minutes vs 2 hours.
Ultimately, it comes down to what you can live with in terms of joints. It's possible to fill those gaps, but it might not look so good. You can definitely rip and try again - maybe doing it in sections to make sure you are happy with the results before you proceed to the next section. Or you can leave it as is.
Depending on the look you're after, I've seen some folks actually use a router to create a recessed in the gappy area and inlay something else - kind of a decorative/weird effect.
My concern with the gaps is this: are they gaps because of an isolated defect in the edge, or are they gaps because these are spots where even with a ton of clamping pressure, you couldn't get them to close up? Those gaps might suggest that the joints are going to be under a lot of tension and more prone to opening.
Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure what I'm going to do lol. It was definitely an undertaking. I guess it's a good question. I may have just not used enough glue. I started out gluing both ends to be jointed and then as I got half way through I switched to just gluing one of them. Next time I'll definitely do this in sections.
I would consider fixing the hairline gaps with inset butterflies. For the 2cm ridge, consider re-riping apart and re-gluing to flush. Doweling into the edges with a centering jig is a good way to keep boards from ridging up during the glue-up. Good luck!
You won't know until the clamps come off and you scrape the glue off. If you're happy with the outcome, be happy.
You can flatten the whole thing with 1,000 grit paper, but it will take a lifetime. A wide belt sander is fastest. A few woodworkers take big panels to a pro shop and pay a few bucks to have it done. The vast majority use a handplane or a beltsander. If the height differences are small enough, you could start right in with a random orbit sander.
It's your piece! You get to decide how it looks.
I'd love to take it to a drum sander and call it a day but Ive googled around andc don't see any places near me that I'd imagine would have one.
I was looking at getting a hand planer but it seems my local woodcraft is out of stock. Any thoughts on an electric hand planer?
As for regluing, I'd need to grab more walnut as I'm right at the width I need to be. I grabbed 46 inches raw for a 42 inch final piece after it was jointed and that's exactly where I'm at.
I wouldn't use an electric hand planer on something like this. You can cause more problems than you solve. If it needs more work than a random orbit could do, and you want a power tool, I'd go with a belt sander. It can make fast work, but won't cause more tearout you need to fix.
If the gaps between boards are tiny, they won't be noticeable in walnut. And you'll be the only one who ever notices.
2cm is a hefty 3/4" ridge. To flatten out that much, especially if you're going to do both sides is going to remove a ton of material and never really look flat unless you feather it out across the entire top. Rip that line at least. Get another board if you have to.
For the wide belt sander you are looking for a millwork or cabinet shop. One or two calls will probably find you a connection, those guys are usually pretty helpful when they hear about an interesting build.
2cm? Are you sure you didn’t mean 2mm? As others have suggested, a re-rip along the gapped glue line is in order, and the Titebond III suggestion is a good one. Although I own a 50” drum sander, for years I used a 3x24” then a 4x24” belt sander to flatten big glued up panels. Then my friends (and friendly competitors) down the road bought a 60” wide Timesaver. All my panels and face frames went through that from then on. The best approach in my shop with a hand held belt sander was using a fairly coarse grit perpendicular then parallel to the grain, followed by finer grit with the grain. It was much faster than what’s been said in another comment.
See what you've got after the glue is dry. If the gaps are not something you can live with, rip the glue line apart & re-joint.
Tip: always, always glue up panels oversized - length, width and thickness.
Very thick table tops like this can be a challenge, particularly if there is any bowing in the boards. But on any panel or top, I rough plane every thing to about 1/8" over size and on a big top I glue it up 2 or 3 sections. It just seems to take some of the stress out for me.
I use cauls every 2 feet or so and clamp over the joints at the ends with F clamps.
I don't use them much, but biscuits aren't a bad idea, either.
Following that procedure, usually the is reasonable flat, but wood can have a mind of its own LOL. I'll use a jointer plane and/or a belt sander for the final flattening.
Personally I would advice against a hand power plane. Its too easy to damage a surface with tear out or plane tracks. That said, I've seen some people use them and get good results.
Ah yeah. My bad... 2mm not 2cm.
Also I don't actually own a belt sander and my local home Depot doesn't seem to have any either... But they sure have a lot of electric hand planers lol.
If you go the electric hand planer route, I'd glue up a misaligned scrap test panel and make that your test piece. If you've never used one before, don't try and learn on your prized panel.
Agree. Electric hand planers are fine for door edges, but in my opinion, nothing more. They can cause more damage in 2 seconds than you can fix in 2 weeks.
Plus one on the test. Or bottom of the table. Those things can cause wicked tearout. I'd still buy a decent belt sander first.
That's definitely to much of a height difference for a random orbit.
I appreciate all the responses so far. I'm waiting for the wife to weigh the options. The panel as is is 41 1/2" and that would only leave me with a 1/4" overhang for the draw faces and no overhang on the opposite side.
One option as previously discussed is to just cut out this board, replane, and then add an additional board. I'm most likely going to end up doing that but we'll see what she says.
I just noticed that you never said what you are building... do tell!
A kitchen island for the house. Just finished the framing. Definitely will need to add a board to make it wider.
I'm thinking I'll cut into 12 inch sections and then plane another board then join 4 sections.
Nice! If you make the kitchen smaller that overhang will seem bigger. ...just a thought...
I thought it might be the deck for a aircraft carrier!
You have learned two important woodworking lessons.
1. Always leave a little extra on your glue up dimensions.
2. Never tell the boss about changes in finished dimensions. Design opportunities often arise in the shop...
We're it me, I'd rip the joint and re glue.
An alternative approach is to put in a strip if contrasting inlay to hide the joint. A 1/4 inch or 6mm strip of maple and it'll look like it was always meant to be.
That's a large panel to try to glue up in one 'go' if you've never done it before.
Take your time and first glue up smaller sections. You'll learn a lot and know what to do and not to do when you glue them all together to make your large panel.
Very important that the edges of each board are absolutely flat on your work table surface before try to glue up any two mating surfaces. Do a dry glue up first, using cauls and 'C' clamps to put the necessary pressure on the edges. Once you're sure of edges flatness you can disassemble, add glue to the joints, and reclamp your cauls and 'C' clamps. Lastly, add your pipe clamps or long arm Jorgenson style clamps to join the two glued edges. You should see uniform glue squeeze out along the full length of the joint if the edges are true and flat on the table.
To avoid glue getting on my table from the underside of the panel seam I use this tip: Take a roll of waxed paper, cut it into 1 1/2" wide sections on the band saw. Unroll whatever length of waxpaper you need for your panels, then place it down on the table the full length of the glue joint before you do any clamping. Once the glue is dry remove the wax paper and scrape and/or sand the thin line of glue left on the panel.
TiteBond II Dark would be worth considering
I'm using TiteBond II right now. I've only used III for outside projects but I understand what people say by the different drying shades.
You might want to watch some Ishitani Woodworking videos on you tube to see how this guy deals with making big, flat glue ups. This one is especially relevant. https://youtu.be/JBRrLGn9d2o
Nice stuff man, good luck.
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