On Aug 7, 6:33 pm, "Swingman" wrote:

SNIP of the second Manhattan project

Now tell me, with a straight face and clear conscience, that steps 2 and 3
added NOTHING in strength whatsoever to the final "joint strength" in 4!



Hell, I'm tuned in. Chris, you're surrounded!!

;^)

All in good fun sir, but with a lot of good info attached.


Granted, you may not need it, but it won't hurt and it just may be there
when you do (and easy/cheap insurance for those who prefer a belt and
suspenders approach for posterities sake).

Well, that would be me. I am not as bad as I used to be, but I think
somewhere in my old German bloodline there must have been some
woodworker that was convinced it was only worthwhile to build things
for the ages.

After I started paying for all the extra fasteners, glue, materials
and time on the project to get it "right", I decided to trust some of
the old ways. Not completely, though.

IME, there is a noticeable decrease, over time, in the effects of this
phenomena when using biscuits in panel glue-ups.

I can't quantify how much, but it seems that way to me as well. I
have built display cases (hey... who could afford a 1X24 piece of
black walnut?) that were constructed in different styles. One guy
that still has his where I can see him when I go to his office only
has one tiny line that raises about a thousandth or so when they keep
the building closed up for a holiday with the AC turned to 82.

When it is in the AC at 73 (the normal temp) it moves back into
place.

Earlier efforts that are in the hands of family don't necessarily fare
as well. I made a coffee table from edge glued 1X6s from soft pine
and it held up well for a few years. Yet continued use caused the
joints to fail. Not completely, but they did open up.

Subsequent efforts to make country style coffee/tea cabinets to pay
for gas when I was struggling as a carpenter worked better than no
other support. I would cut down a piece of wood to 3/4" X 1" (saw
this on a piece of furniture at an antique show) and lay them
perpendicular to the edge glued wood and glue them on, nailing with a
million 4ds.

My sister has one of those cabinets left, and it doesn't move at all.

But it was a lot of work for longer layups. I HATED doweling edges as
even with my cute little gizmo I couldn't get every single dowel to
line up perfectly.

I tried the biscuit joiner after a friend of mine that built furniture
got a Lamello and loved it. Next project I needed to do a big glue up
on, I used it and have found a lot of uses for it since.

Robert