Straight wide board,how?

dubtom

Hi all,I've just started making a wardrobe, picked up some planed 51/2 x3/4 for the sides and top/bottom. I biscuit jointed four boards together and have come up with the same problem that I usually do.I can never seem to get boards together perfectly, they always seem to bow, as if an imperfection in the board is multiplyed as soon as I join it to another.I would have expected that a planed board would be at least straight but I never seem to get them. How, when your joining wood together to make a wide board, do you insure that it's straight and stays straight. A friend suggested I screw a piece across the four untill the glue sets and then remove it, is this the normal way.

JoeB-

Hi

Hmmm, it can be very difficult to joint planks into wider panels. Your problem may have been caused by only putting clampls on one side of the panel, I'm presuming you used sash clamps and your biscuits to join the planks.
Maybe the edges of the individual planks weren't perfectly perpendicular to the wide faces which would cause cupping, checking each edge and flipping the boards may help. Constantly checking your work with a straight edge helps. Most people expect to have to do quite a bit of sanding using a drum sander or a pad sander to get good results.

I don't think screwing a board across the width is the solution, it's one I've never heard of and will mark the panel. However you could clamp two boards together across the width, one above and one below, thin edge against the glued panel, both boards clamped off each side of the glued panel, you could even use slightly bent boards so that when you apply clamping pressure they will tend to straighten... this should help.

There are clamps available that will apply pressure to four sides of the board, these may help (Axminster four way clamping system, about €30). I.E as you clamp across the width they will also apply pressure to the top and bottom of the glued panel.

There are also panel presses available for professionals for this very purpose but I don't think a hobbyist could justify the cost, maybe €150 to €200. Check York Panel Press from Axminster.co.uk
And then there's ten sided planers and hydraulic panel presses for the serious workshops, costing in the tens of thousands. I only wonder what the largest manufacturers of say, laminated pine panels, use but I know they don't take finished panels off the press, they sand them to thickness on a large drum sander.

I often think that properly jointing planks is one of the most difficult aspects of working with solid timber so you're not alone:) ...

Cheers
Joe

dubtom

I often think that properly jointing planks is one of the most difficult aspects of working with solid timber so you're not alone ...

Well thats a relief Joe.Yes I had the board clamped top and bottom,end grain running opisit, it actually didn't turn out so bad when the glue dried, but 'a little' sanding will be needed.( I thought that only applied to me)The sides are done, now for the top and bottom, I may try clamping as you suggested, thanks for the responce, a great relief actually.:D

JoeB-

You may find that scraping with a cabinet scraper to start with may be better than sanding. A scraper is just a thin piece of steel with a very hard edge, very cheap but quite useful for scraping along a glue line.

Incidentally I don't glue many panels so I don't have much experience, I would never attempt to glue a panel as large as a wardrobe gable, I would consider that impossible with the equipment I have. A worktop would be different as it is thicker which makes it easier but I just buy worktops in as they are as cheap if not cheaper to buy in as they are to produce... (considering the cubic footage, waste in processing and the labour, headaches etc)

Good luck with the wardrobe, I'm sure you'll be very satisfied with the result as there's great satisfaction in creating your own furniture.

Joe

dubtom

Thanks Joe, I didn't realise that wide pine boards could be bought, would have been handyer, and most probably better looking:rolleyes: than my effort, but I enjoy the process/frustration/agony anyway.:D

JoeB-

Hi

Yeah, pine can be bought in glued up panels of various sizes, it's a little late for you this time but sure what the hey...

Also solid hardwoods can also be purchased in glued up panels, much more difficult to source, Noyeks have Oak panels for about €110 + VAT, these are 8' x 4' x 18mm thick. The individual 'staves' or planks are only about 40mm wide so the appearance is very different to what you'd produce yourself because you'd probably use the widest planks available, up to 250mm wide. Also the lengths glued together don't run the full length of the 8' panel, they are joined end to end and side to side if you know what I mean. I think they are joined end to end using a scarf joint, I'm not sure about that scarf joint or the spelling but it's essentially like a zigzag pattern. Veneer tapes to be ironed onto MDF are joined into 50meter lengths using scarf joints.

I do know at least two UK companies who produce hardwood panels in many species, difficult to get in small quantities but I'm looking into buying a bale lot, i.e 50 or so panels, watch this space as I will sell them on if people are interested. I also know one Irish supplier who sells 35mm Birch 8' x 4' panels for about €115 + VAT which is excellent as Birch is very good relative to pine. (very dense, machines well, no knots or defects). I'm also looking into buying bale lots of 18mm birch panels.

Ireland is just too small a market for there to be a large range of panel products for sale which is annoying.

Cheers
Joe

dubtom

So my effort is nearing completion,just to finish a drawer, sand and hang the doors. The wardrobe that I 'copied' from, I use the word copied in the broad sense,has a nice cherry colour on it.I tried unsucessfully to get this colour before for a locker I made but couldn't find it. I mixed a number of those paints/dys that come in a range of colours, old english pine etc but none came near. I have never seen a cherry coloured paint/dye/varnish in any hardware.I'm wondering if places that manufactor furniture make their own colours up and if so, is it viable to have a go.

JoeB-

Hi
I don't have the information to hand right now but you can get varnishes in custom made colours. I buy woodstains and lacquers from Morrells Woodfinishes in JFK Ind. Est. and they can tint the varnishes to basically any colour.... they are mainly a trade supplier and I buy in 25 liter tins but you can also get 5 liter tins, don't know about smaller quantities. I don't know if they will sell direct to the public.

I actually have an 'American Cherry' woodstain but it's quite dark, probably darker than you had in mind, a furniture piece done in the stain and lacquered over is on the following link, the colour isn't exactly right but it's close.
Cherry finish
You can also add a few drops of the woodstain to a clear varnish and it should provide a much paler tint... you'd only need a very small amount. I'd probably give it to you as you'd only need such a small amount to tint the varnish for a single wardrobe, maybe an eggcup full or so, two or three eggcup fulls would be loads even if brush applied. I think you'd need a cellulose based lacquer but I'm not sure, I've never added the woodstain direct to the lacquer as the colour wouldn't be reproducible.

Check out Axminster.co.uk who sell raw shellac flakes, parrifin bases, tints, dyes and many other 'exotic' finishing supplies for home made finishes. They have some good information as well but you'd probably need more advice...

Cheers
Joe

Scratchface

Hi Lad's, I read in an American woodworking manual once, that the best way to join planks together was to lay the planks out, so that the end grain of each one was in the opposite direction of the one beside it. i.e, one concave and the next convex etc. I tried it in the past and it works very well but there is always a bit of cleaning up to do after.

I used to make a range of pine furniture some time ago, using 5x1 T&G floorboards glued together. We used to glue 5 18ft boards together to get one long panel but they always cupped in the clamps everytime, and it would take two people to press them flat to make a wardrobe or blanket box.

Brooks thomas then started to import 'Lamwood' which was panels of glued up strips of pine in various sizes and thicknesses. this was a lot more practical, so the floor boards went the way of the Indian and the Do Do !