stoutman wrote:

I am a 3-year rookie at furniture making and glue ups still freak me out.

Does anyone else out there freak out during glue ups?

Every time I glue up a piece of furniture I turn into a freaken lunatic and
my wife (my glue up assistant) just looks at me like im insane.

I keep my cool during the other aspects of furniture making and rather enjoy
it, but glue ups....ugg moan.....!!!

Anyone else?


Do sub -assemblies, square them up if they're suppose to be
squared up, angled to the desired angle if they're suppose to
be angled and use set up "blocks" that can be placed inside
or outside and clamped. Make them out of 3/4" MDD and
if they need special angles, cut them on the miter saw or
SCMS if they're really tricky.

Example: Holes are for one side of the clamp
to go in. Also cut off the corner so
you don't glue the block to your piece
+--+
/ ( ) |
/ |
/ |
| ( ) |
______/

Use traditional joinery - they're self aligning - AND self
supporting - if you do them right.

If you're going to use any special hardware - like
knife hinges or ball catches make sure your joinery
selections will accomodate their installation.

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...eredDoors4.htm

DRY FIT

For mortise and tenon joints, bevel the top edges of the
mortise and the end edges of the tenon - they'll give you
some slop in initial alignment and then go together nice
and snug. Bevel the end(s) fo dowels and, where it
won't show, the hole they're going into.

Work out a clmaping orientation that'll let you see
critical joints so you can verify that they close
completely.

Here's a narrative of my biggest glue up "challenge"
to hopefully make you feel less alone.

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/MT/CBbench18.html

And to make you feel better, James Krenov finds
glue up the most stressful part of his work.

charlie b