The Cor plete . YO WOTKOKS Conparnron | 6 BASIC WOOD PREPARATION ly Barner Holme es sis remove your hands from possible danger. Keep your eyes on the cutterhead throughout the cut end you will be lees ical to run your fingers into it The convex face of a cupped or bowed board will ack on the tables, so fiatten the concave face first whenever possible. Far twisted beards, flatten the 3 ‘ace that rocks least. Check the grein on ‘the edge of the board, and plane with a fising giain to avoid tear out. If grain direction changes several times: along the length, take light cuts (ein or so) first to see which direction of feed pro- duces least tear out, Though your jointer may accommodate heavier cuts, you should seldom take off more than about | “Yein to minimize tearout and maximize : ‘contral, Harder woods or highly figured ‘ones require thinner cuts. ‘Start the cut with your left hand pressing the board firmly onto the infeed table and against the fence, your 12 Boginthe cutby pressing theboard proceeds, transfer downward pressurete right hand pushing the board into the downon theinfecd table and againstthe the outfeed table as coon aspossible. _cutterhead. As the board passes the fence with yourlefthand, moving tint -Pushthe boards end over the cuttorhead —cutterhead, downward pressure shifts thecutterhead with your Hight. Asthe cut witha push etickto protect yourfingers. 10 the outfeed table for the rest of the cout. Firm contact with the outfeed table ensures that the remaining wood will FLATTENING ON THE JOINTER, be pulled over the cutterhead in the ‘ MAKING THE SMOOTHEST CUT infeed table up or dawn sets the dopth same pizne as the newly flattened sur : ‘of cut. Except for some types of spe- face. When enough board has passed | Jointer annual rings, cially plening, the outfead table is the cuttethead, you can often move ‘edge of board always set evon with the highest point both hands over the outfeed table. If A in the arc of the cutterhead. Ifthe tzbla you need more horizontal force. push is higher, the board will taper end to the board through with a push stick in tend; lower, end the tailing end of the your right hand, making sure most boerd willbe gouged as it drops off the downward pressure continues to be infeed tebie onto the cutterhead. If you applied by your left hand over the out keep jointer knives sharp and the feed table. machine acourately adjusted, work ont Use only enough downward pres ‘willbe much eesier and safer (Consult sure to maintain firm contact with the at the owner's menual for information on tables. Too much pressure can deflect 2 | ‘making adjustments to the machine) the board ~ after planing, it will spring ‘Set the machine's fence to fit the back t0 its original shape. If board is ‘width of the face you ate Fiattening. (You badly bowed slong its Iength, you can 4 cen position narrow boards over the lower it onto the machine so it strach sharpest pert of the cutterhead| Boards dles the cutterheed, Plane off the slide easily on tables polished with a thin trailing ond, reverse the board and cost of paste wax — the less force repeat until the boards straight enough required 10 push the board across the to make an end-to-end pass. couttethead, the better Flattening twisted bosrds without ‘When fattening boards on the ointer, wasting a lot of wood is tricky. To ses keep your fingers on or above the top the problem, balance the board on two ' Joint and thickness plane with rising face of the board at all times, don't let diagonally opposed high corners, 0 ‘rain as indicated by the annual rings on them hang down over edges or ends. that the other comers are an. equal the boards edges. Use @ push stick or push pad to further height above the tabletop, Then push Feed directionUSING APUSH PAD AND PUSH STICK ‘Acornmercially made push pad (eft hand} and a homemade push stick right hand) make planing narrow boseds on ‘the jointor safer. fone floating corner down on the table, ‘and note how the gap between the remaining fieating corner and the table- top increases. The amount the gap widens equals the extra thickness you'd need to remove if you flattened ‘that face with three comers contacting the jointer tables. ‘The ‘trick, then, is to balance a ‘twisted faoe on the two high corners as ‘you push it over the cutterhoad. One or two balanced passes should create ‘enough of a fat surface on the two cor= ners to support the face for the remeinder of the procedure. Donat rock. the board during the intial passes or you wil just create @ now twist. The same balancing act is necessary if you must, figtten the convex face of 2 board, Balance the face 50 all four floating cor- refs are about equidistant above the infeed table, push the piece carefully over the cutterhead to establish a single fiat plane, then extend it with subse- quent passes. Because planer knives dull quickly if leftin contact with stationery wood, itis PLATTENING AND THICKNESSING 57 important to keep the board moving, Hard or heavily figured wood should bbe fed more slowiy to minimize tear ‘out. Long boards require the same sort of positioning and hand shuttling described earlier for the tablessw. Use a roller “assistant” it necessary to support long boards coming ff the out- feed table Narrow boards (less than about 3in vide) can be worked much more safely Using a combination of a push pad and push stick. Push pads are rubber- bottomed plastic handles that grip the board by friction, Very short (less then Bin) ancfor narrow pieces (less thar Zin) are best worked by hand of laid out fend-tornd or side-by-side; flatten snd thickness the longer board, then cut the pieces to length or with Thicknessing on the planer Planers consist of @ cutterhead sus- pended (vary solidly) above and parallel to, flat tle, called the bed. A powered infeed roler above the bed pushes the board onto the bed and feeds it into the cuttethead. An outfeed roller, often bout not always powered, keeps the board pressed on the bed as t emerges from the cutter. Some machines also have rollers that protrude slightly ebove the surlace of the bed to ease the wood's passage. In some machines, depth of cut is adjusted by moving the bed: in others the cutterhead moves. The planet, ike any machine, works best when it is sharp and properly adjusted. Miselignment of the bed rollers is one of thé most common prob lems. High rollers can produce @ ‘snipe” or gouge on the first and last ew inches of the cut ‘The planer is perhaps the only home= ‘workshop woodworking machine that requires almost no skil to use success- fully, Orient the boards so the machine cuts with rising grain, lay the already flattened working face down on the bed, side itn to engage the feed roller, and the machine does the rest. Of course, you will need to support ionger boards into and out of the machine. “The depth of cut depends on your machine's capebilitios and the wood's qualities. Unless your planor has a big ‘motor, you will be lucky to manage Vein THICKNESSING ON A PLANER Running a planeris simple. Place the previously flattoned face down on the bed, and engage the board with the infeed roller. cuts on any but narrow boards or soft woods. Herder woods and those with high figured grain (which is prone to tear out) require finer cuts and, if your planer has them, slower feed speeds. You can save yoursell time and eggrevation by thicknessing all the boards for a project at the seme time, ‘This also ensures that parts meant to be the same thickness will be $0. Organize the boards from thickest to thinnest fig ‘ure out the best direction of feed for ‘each, and stack them with the lead end ‘toward the planer. Stack them with the ‘same orientation as they exit, 30 they'll bbe ready for the next pass without re- sorting. Change the depth of cut only ‘when you reach boards in the stack that are too thin for the current setting. Thin boards often get chewed up in fa planer. The thickness at which this happens varies according to the wood ‘and the planet) Feeding a thin piece through on top of a piace of Yin cabi- net-grade plywood of the same length ‘and an inch or so wider cuts down on ‘chatter and damage.aye vralyly DUAKRUD Depleted stands of old-growth timber ‘and modem industrial sawmiling prac tices have made wide boards hard to come by. Today, if you want a solid oak tabletop 3 ft wide, you will almost cortanly have to make it of seversl nar- rower boards glued edge to edoe. ‘There is nothing second-rate about ¢ glued-up tabletop or carcass side, Several boards can often be combined to produce pattems of grain or color "more interesting than those of a single, wide plank. By picking and choosing from a dealers pile you cen usually piece togethor handsome penel. Even better, if you can buy boards cut from the seme tree, or resaw thick planks, you can make symmetrical or repeating pattems, as you would with veneers, LAYING OUT A WIDE PANEL Select end arrange the boards before doing anything to the edges. As you arrange the boards, keep an eye on grain direction es well as appearance, If you can lay out the boards so that al ris ing grain rises in the same direction, the planing end scraping you do after you alue-up will be much easier. But if the surface pattern you lke best requires altemating arain direction, it is not diffe cult to change planing direction on the ‘lved-up panel Likewise. pay attention to the orien- tation of the growth rings on the ends of the boards in a panel, I aboard cups, it will cup away from the heart side — the side closest to the center of the tree. Alternating the orientation of the ‘ings wil produce a panel that will stay flatter, For tabletops and cabinet sides fixed firmly across their width and for panels confined in frames, you can let the grain patterns on the boards’ faces otermine the arrangement MATING THE EDGES When you have selected the boards, cut them roughly to length and, if nec ‘essary, rip them to produce roughly parallel edges. Flatten a face on each board end plane them to thickness Then lay out the milled boards, refine Opposite: Solidwvood tabletops and case work involve gluing up wide parts. the arrangement if you wish, and mark two sides of a large tingle across their faces. The marks will help you ~ maintain the order through all sub- sequent steps, Now, joint the mating edges. (Boards \with two mating edges should be ripped to a uniform width first) You can do this entirely by hand or machine, or combine techniques, taking advantage of the machine's speod and the superior surface produced by the hand plane, First, work the edges in pars on the fointer Joint the ‘first edge with the ‘tiangle-marked face against the tence ‘and joint the second edge with the ‘unmarked face against the fence. Alter rating the faces in this manner will produce a fat surtace, even if the fence IS not set at exactly 90° (soe p.64) If your joiner is accurately adjusted ‘and the knives aro sharp, gluing the ‘edges straight from the mechine vil produce an acceptably strong joint. If you examine a machined edge, how ever, you will notice tiny unduletions on its surfece. Pianing these off with a very sharp. fnely set hendplane will produce fan extremely stiong joint with an invisk ble alu line When you have taken a fine shaving off each edge of a mating pair, stack the boerds ina vise to check the joint, Ideally, the top board should rest firmly on the bottom, the edges should mest along their entive length, with no gaps visible ‘when viewed from either the front oF back faces. A straightedge should rest on the feces of the stacked boards in a sin- le plane, as shown on p.65. On those happy occasions when the edges mate perfectly all that remaine is to glue-up. Before doing so, “spring the joint slightly, planing a slight con cave bow into each edge so the joint fits tight at the ends and gaps slightly in the middle. (The gap might be Yin in 3 ft! Puling the gap together at assom- bly makes the ends of the joint tess likely to open up when the humialty changes. Apply very litte pressure on the plane at the beginning and end of the stroke, but a litle more in the ri: dle, You can also start the cut 2 in or so LaviNG OUT A WIDE PANEL For flatness and eave ofplening Cent ising grain ia the sarma diction, For appesrance Match stroignt orcin tosraignt grin, ‘Alternate heart side of boards to ‘eduee oversi cupping of tho entico pane. (Cupping xaggorated.) Match figured aan o gure rain64 BASIC WOOD PREPARATION OINTING MATING EDGES Jointer fence Altenating faces of acjacent bases against ‘the jointer fence wll ansure complementary -mating e0ges and fat pane, oven if tho fence isnot squace to the joiner tables. (Angles exaggerated.) from one end and stop the same dis- tance from the other end. After a stroke fon each edge, re-stack the boards and check the joint again, The edges of stacked boards don’t ‘always match up. One or both may be bowed, twisted, or out of square. To ‘check for bow and twist, push down on fone end of the top board and lock closely at the joint from the other end. If the surfaces touch only st one corner, at least one of the two edges is twisted, If the joint gaps all the way across the end, one of the edges is bowed. Finally, check with a straightedge to see if the stacked faces are in a single plane, if Rot, one or both edges is out of squat. GLUING-UP With all the edges now jointed, planed, and mated, you ere ready to glue-up, 1s shown on p.66. Clear everything off ‘your workbench or tablasaw and then ‘spread newspaper or a sheet of plastic 10 protect it from dripping glus. Clamp the panel cry (without glue) to position the clamps. Given well cut joints, you can glue panels up to 4 ft {and sometimes 5 ft long with just three bar clamps. The panel rests on two clamps, one 6 in or 0 in trom each end. The third clamp, placed in the center, rests on top of the boards. If the joint doesn't pull together satisfactory, use additional clamps. But do not rely on ‘additional clamps of excessive pres- sure to pull a poorly mated joint tight — take the time to go back to the bench ‘and get tho joint right. Longer panels require more clamps. If possible, add pairs of clamps so the total number is always odd. This allows you to slternate clamps above and below the work and stil have clamps et feach end to support the boards ‘Alternating clamps top and bottom ‘counters the tendency for the boards to ‘bow aviay from the clamp bar. Rotating the clamp so its serew aligns with the center of the edge of boards thinner than i4in can help keep therm fat, When you are satisfied that every thing is ready, stand the boards on edge land run a bead of glue dove all mating surfaces, spreading it to cover before pushing the edges together. You do not eed any fancy gear to spread glue - @ thin stip of wood, @ cheap, bristly brush, or a small paint roller all work Well. The point is to spread the glue evenly and quickly. Lay the boards down on the clamps ‘and rub the mating edges together, aligning the triangular marks on the faces. When all boards are in place, tighten the center clamp and work ous. Crank each clarnp down just enough to engege the edges, then check t0 soe that the faces are aligned before moving to the next clamp. Sometimes you can align the faces with your fingers, but white and yellow glues “grab” ‘very ‘uickly. Sharp blows of 2 hammer on a hardwood block placed near the joint usually persuade the surfaces into align- ‘ment. (The banging can loosen clamps, ‘so keep checking them.) Check that the faces of the boards re flush with the surface of the bars or pipes ~ this helps ensure that the pnel will remain flat. The edges frequentlyHere, a three-board panels stacked edge to-edge to check the joints. I the faces ‘bow or cup against the straightedge, one ‘ormore edges are not square. creep up the jaws, s0 knock them down fonto the pipe sgain with hemmer and block, (Don't try to drive the top clamps: down on to the boards ~ looson the jaws and reposition them.) ‘As you tighten oach clamp, give the previous ones alittle turn to keep therm fngaged. Finally, when all clamps aro ‘drawn up, and the surfaces are aligned, tighten all the screws to 2 more-orless consistent pressure. Remember, it ‘shouldn't tako white-knuckle pressure to pull the joints together enough to make @ virtually invisible seam, If you plan to leave the panel on the bbonch while the glue cures, sight across the bars or pipes 4s you would ‘ross winding sticks ond insert shims if necessary to bring them into line. f the panel isn't resting fat it may retain the twist when the clamps aro Femoved. Ifyou stand a glued panel up ‘against e wall, lean it so the clamps ero inline, keeping the panel tat When the glue has cured, remove the clamps and clean off the faces with ‘a handplane, using the techniques described previously for flattening a face. Unless the joints are badly mis aligned, you shouldn't have to remove ‘80 much wood thet the board's thick ness will be significantly affected Plane or joint a working edge for the assembled panel, then cut it to final ‘width end length, AGLUE-UP CHECK LIST Of all the tasks a woodworker faces, {few are more anxiety ridden then gluing upa complex project. Weeks of careful preparation - joint cutting, surface preperation, carving ~ are all on the ine ‘8s yourace to apply glue, assemble and pulleverything together before the glue sets. For the beginner gluing up even a simple tabletop or panel can be a daunt- ing prospect It is possible, however, ta reduce the lovel of anxity, channeling it into 2 useful rush of adrenalin rather then panic or paralysis. Of primary Importance, of course, are well cut ssnug-iting joints. Whether its a three- board coffee-table top or an elaborate sideboard, gluo and clamps are not ‘magic curatives fo il-fiting joinery. That said, preparing cerefully and planning ahead can make a big diffor fence in how your projects go together. ‘You may find these few general princ ples helpful Clean-up the work aras. Gluing up in the midst of a mess is asking for dises- ‘et. Glue, lke time and taxes, vrsits for no one ~ if you have to stop halfway through @ glueup to clear something out of the way, you're Iikely to end up with half 8 project. Glueup on a flat surface. Almost ‘everything you glue-uo needs to end up flat andlor square, It is depressing, 10 say the least, to discover that the tabletop or carcass for which you care~ {uly flattened the stock and cut the joints is twisted or out of square be cause the surface on which the damps rested during gheup was. twisted The top of a tablesaw is ideal in small shops where space is at a premium. Hf MAKING WIDE BOARDS 65 ‘Mark the panet with a triangle as an aid to alignment when working en subsequent operations.66 BASIC WOOD PREPARATION GLUING UP. 1 After thorough dry-run test, ran @ bead of glue down each edge, then ‘spread itevenly over the surface. 2 Working out from the center of the ‘panel, tighten the clamps while aligning the faces. 3 A sharp hammer blow on ablock of hhatd wood (to protect the panel surface) brings mating faces into alignment you have sufficient room, a special assembly table is a welcome luxury. Commercially made clamp cradles, Used two to 2 clamp, ate expensive but handy, Organize your work before you spread any glue. More glueup fiascos are caused by lack of planning than any= thiag else. Always walk through 9 o-glue tral first, even if you're just glu ing two boards together edge-to-edge, Why? Because you need to decide where to place the clamps to ensure ‘that the joints lose, You need to make sure everything is ready = glue, glue spreader, wot rag for drips or gluey fingers, hammer and block to persuade the two surfaces to level up. And you need to work out where to put all this so it is handy, but not in the way. More complicated assemblies require more forethought. What goes together first? How do | clamp across hore if I've already got a clamp across there? The time you spend deciding ‘exactly whst you are going to do willbe ‘repaid a thousandfold. CHOOSING A GLUE For many of us, woodworking is 3 ‘welcome oasis in an increasingly com- plicated world, Many of the tools we Use and the caristructions we employ have remained virtually unchanged for hundreds, sometimes thoussnds, of years, Not so woodworking alues. While it is possible to roly on animalhide glues that would be familiar to ancient Egyptian craftsmen, most woodworkers opt for one or more of the impressive aray of adhesives produced by modem science. In general, these tglues are superior to hide gives in strength, ease of application, and dure bility. (Technical superiority does. not necessarily make madern glues “bet te1" for woodworking ~ an awful lot of supetb furniture remains stuck soundly together by hide glues) Technological advances create mors choices, but make choice more diff- ‘cult, For most household furniture and fitings, @ white polyvinyl actetate (PVA) luo, forms @ bond stronger than the natural bond between wood fibers. At workshop temperatures (65°F or so) it sets up slowly enough to give you time to assemble and clamp most complex constructions. (This period of workabil ity is often called “open assembly time.") Ik cures sufficiently in an hour or 5010 allow you to remove the clamps - 2 real advantage for a clamp-poos work- shop. (This period is called “closed assembly time.”) Squeeze-out can be ‘cleaned up with @ damp cloth; the ‘cured glue is clear and does not dis- color the wood, A lerge number of woodworkers use modified PVA glues. Yellow in ‘color, they are often referred to as “yol- low" glues, In many ways they ‘outperform white PVAS: greater rigid. ity, improved heat resistence, better grabbing” ability, greater tolerance ‘of unfavorable conditions, and less lagging of sandpaper. Some wood- workers find these advantages are outweighed by their reduced open assembly time, which mekes gluing up too much of a race. spontea ‘As close to a universal giue as white PVA is, it has several drawbacks. Because of its low water resistance, it is not appropriate for outside use oF for indoor projects that come in reg ular contact with water (chopping boards, kitchen counters) or high humidity. And sometimes white glue sets too fast to allow you to assembio a ‘complicated project. In these situations, you can use a uree-formaldehyde powder, which is mixed with water, In adaition to good water resistance, these glues have 3 long open assemisly time, so they are eal for really complicated assemblies, They cure rock hard, so aro casy 10 sand and do not have the tendency to ‘craep” in certain circumstances like ‘the sotter PVA glues, The only reason ‘you may not want to use thern all the time is that they are less convenient you have to mix up just what you nesd ‘ach time) and tho closed assombly time is long ~ work needs to remain in clamps 12 hours of mote. Several man- tufacturors now offer promixed, wateresistent glues that provide working qualities and assembly times similar to PVA glues. ‘Only rarely are the above glues not Upto the task. If you nesd a waterproof {oint, rather than 9 water-resistant ono, use a resorcinol glue, which is effective but expensive. Oily woods such as teak ‘and rosewood can be difficult to glue. White and yellow glues and urea formaldehyde glues can be adequate if you wipe the mating surfaces prior to gluing with a solvent. Epoxies are prob- ably more dependable, but also 2 gfeater nuisance to use and they can produce @ thick glue line. Given what is at stake [expensive wood, lots of time in a project), itis prudent to phone a glue manufacturer for advice fon gluing the particular wood or con- duct your own experiments to find the best glue. tis worth reiterating that glue is only a8 good as the joint to which it is applied. Cleanly cut, snugfitting joints are likely to last. The smoother the sur faces to be joined, the better the glue will Work, This is particularly important to remember for edge joints thet, unlike dovetails or mortise-anc:tenons, have Ro interlocking mechanical strength, “Tho bast edge joint is ono whoso mat ing surfaces come straight from a razor-sharp hand plane, Roughing up the surfaces of any joint to form htle “pockets” for the glue wil ust wosken the joint. Anote on dowels and splines For years, popular magazines told woodworkers to use dowels or splines to align and strengthen edge joints. (Splines aro foose tongues that fit into ‘grooves cut in mating odges.) If you ‘work with modem glues, however, splined or dowoled joints are not MAKING WIDE BOARDS 67 Above: This tabie, by Robert Kilmington, rolios on wide planks, trick dovetails and pleasing proportions for its app: Below: Keeping the faces ofthe boar ‘lush with the clamp pipes or bars helps ‘ensure afat pane!. stionger in any meaningful way. Subjactod to enough stress, the wood ill fail before tho glue joint Likewise, if the boards you are glu ing are flat and the edges planod true, alignmont is an casy task. You may have to apply a litle persuasion hora ‘and there with a block snd mallet, but that takos loss time than you would spend doweling or splining. Aligning ‘edge joints with dowets or splines can make senso whore tolerances for slp page are very small, such as when fedge-gluing two vonoored panels to form a fit surface or when assembling 8 large surtace of « areat many pieces.