After allowing 2″x10″(s) to dry on stickers for 6 weeks, I ripped them in half and I am currently in the process of glueing the boards to create a 4″ plus thick bench top. Obviously the construction lumber is not perfectly straight.
During the glue up my clamps are pulling the bow out of some of the boards. How long should I keep the clamps on the glue up to prevent the internal stresses of the bowed boards from pulling the glue joint apart?
Thanks for the advice.
Replies
Add a day to the longest time on the bottle and hope for the best. It could blow apart anyway, or you could get lucky. Adding screws as you assemble a wonky glueup is something to consider.
Best is to flatten everything before assembly, much easier than flattening a whole top.
Thanks MJ - I like the advice - I will add screws
Construction grade lumber after 6 weeks is still greenwood. I'd use polyurethane glue like Gorilla glue, it loves wet wood!
I agree with panta.... However, if you're like me, you don't want to wait. Glue it up, get it as flat as you can, and plan on flattening again in a year or two. There are thousands of 100 year old benches out there that started out as green wood.
If you mark the screw locations on the underside you'll have a minefield map for later when you want to drill for dogs & holdfasts.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled