Replies

1. 
   mvflaim | Dec 06, 2010 06:26pm | #1

   1 1/8"

   I'd say about an 1 1/8" thick. You want some extra thickness to the top so that when you glue your boards together there is some play between the thickness of the boards. In a perfect world, your boards will be completely falt across when you edge glue them together but in my world, they never are. There is usually a small lip between boards that I have to plane down. It's not a big deal to plane a 1/16" off each side of the board.

   Mike

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 07, 2010 08:47am | #5

   If boards are being glued up with one 1/16" proud of its neighbor, its time to investigate using cauls.  A rubber mallet is helpful as well.

2. 
   DonStephan | Dec 06, 2010 08:47pm | #2

   At the risk of sounding smarmy, it depends on how flat and straight  the individual boards are and how well they are aligned during glueup.  In general, 1/8" allowance should be more than sufficient, but that's a lot of wood to remove with hand planes, and I use hand planes a lot.

1. 
   mvflaim | Dec 07, 2010 08:43am | #4

   Yeah Don's right. I'd say 1 1/16". A 1/16" is a lot to plane off on both sides. 1/32" is more reasonable.

3. 
   ted | Dec 06, 2010 09:38pm | #3

   Close to 1"

   Typically I glue immediately after coming off the planer then edge jointing (I also face joint prior to the planer).  If you let the boards sit for a while after planing there is the chance of boards bowing though not usually so bad you can't correct it during glue up.  I stay close (1/64"+/-) to the dimension I want to finish at.  If you work the board from one end to the other while clamping up you can usually get your joints pretty much spot-on.

1. 
   DonStephan | Dec 07, 2010 08:33pm | #6

   Ted:

   I'd rather let the boards move after initial planing, so I sticker and let them rest for a week.  If movement was excessive I'll repeat, otherwise glue after the 2nd planing.  Hopefully this avoids incorporating stress in glue joints  I've also found the panels tend to lie flatter than when I glued after first planing.  Just another way to skin the cat.