Picture this situation...

A curved irregular shape hand rail 33 feet long, comprised of 14 pieces of
odd shaped material. Now add to that the fact that not only does the rail
have to curve, but it also has to twist to keep it aligned with the
staircase.

You wanna talk about SWEAT!!!!

In actuality it came off like a breeze. All it takes is six people and a
lot of hustle. One guy at the top end with a six foot pipe clamp providing
both pull and twist. Three people placing clamps and blocks starting from
the bottom and working feverishly towards the top. Two people following
washing the excess glue and inspecting the seams to insure a tight glue
joint in all 13 seams.

At the time we were using Tightbond II as it provided a longer working time
than regular Tightbond. I now use Tightbond Extend for all my curved or
difficult glueups.

While we had to work fast we also worked smart! Do it right the first time
and you won't have to fix it later. It looked like the proverbial Monkey
and the football, but we did know what we were doing.

I do a lot of bent glue ups and as all the others have said, DRY FIT, DRY
FIT, DRY FIT!!!!! That allows you to identify the problem areas and address
them without fighting the glue setting on you.

As for the number of clamps, you can never have enough. my web site shows
several examples of extreme clamping. I NEVER use a brad I can't cut off or
hide. I built a kitchen this year that has no visible fasteners at all with
the exception of the top crown which is fastened with a micro pinner.

For curved glueups I use stainless steel bands torqued to about 150lbs. This
applies even pressure along the entire blank and eliminates the point
pressure irregularities caused by individual clamps.

Well good luck to all.

Keep the joints tight, and the fasteners few.

Tom in Oregon

www.resourcecreations.biz


"stoutman" .@. wrote in message
m...
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?