I am just getting into edge gluing to make wide boards, say around 18
inches. Each time that I try the finished board seems to warp across the
board. I am positive that the board was flat in the clamp and stayed there
for a few days.

Should I use several narrow boards or a couple of wider boards? Is the end
grain at the end of the boards important?

Thanks for your help.


--
Garry Collins
Remove the spamno from my eamill address.

Garry Collins wrote:
I am just getting into edge gluing to make wide boards, say around 18
inches.

Should I use several narrow boards or a couple of wider boards? Is the end
grain at the end of the boards important?

You can find lots of information on this by looking for things like
"edge gluing" in a search engine.

There are lots of others out there with more experience than me, but one
way to minimize this is to use narrow boards and arrange them so that
the curve of the end grain alternates up and down. If the boards warp,
you'll get a slightly wavy top rather than a totally cupped one.

Chris

"Chris Friesen" wrote

Garry Collins wrote:
I am just getting into edge gluing to make wide boards, say around 18
inches.

Should I use several narrow boards or a couple of wider boards? Is the
end grain at the end of the boards important?

You can find lots of information on this by looking for things like "edge
gluing" in a search engine.

There are lots of others out there with more experience than me, but one
way to minimize this is to use narrow boards and arrange them so that the
curve of the end grain alternates up and down. If the boards warp, you'll
get a slightly wavy top rather than a totally cupped one.

Sadly, you'll also get a board composed of strips whose grain runs in
alternate directions.

Can't win can you?

Jeff G

--
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
email : Username is amgron
ISP is clara.co.uk
www.amgron.clara.net

You may not be having the edges/board "flat"in the clamps you are using.
You may try this,While boards are clamped run a framing square or anything
else that you know is straight+true accross the boards to check if infact
they are flat.
Thats one possibility.
use clamps on both sides and alternate them
Let us know how it works out.
"Garry Collins" wrote in message
...
I am just getting into edge gluing to make wide boards, say around 18
inches. Each time that I try the finished board seems to warp across the
board. I am positive that the board was flat in the clamp and stayed
there
for a few days.

Should I use several narrow boards or a couple of wider boards? Is the end
grain at the end of the boards important?

Thanks for your help.


--
Garry Collins
Remove the spamno from my eamill address.

Start with properly dry materials. Got a jointer? Planer? (or their
cordless equivalent?) Rough your stock out to just over it's final
dimensions, and allow your stock to acclimate to it's final environment
for a couple of weeks. Make sure that air can flow around all sides
while you're waiting for this to happen. Then do a final dimensioning,
removing material as evenly as possible from all sides. After glue-up,
again allow the panel to rest where the air can freely get to all
sides, not lying flat on a benchtop, for example. Sealing/finishing all
sides and edges will help your efforts, too. Tom

"Garry Collins" wrote in message
I am just getting into edge gluing to make wide boards, say around 18
inches. Each time that I try the finished board seems to warp across the
board. I am positive that the board was flat in the clamp and stayed
there
for a few days.

Should I use several narrow boards or a couple of wider boards? Is the end
grain at the end of the boards important?

What is important is the proper selection of your material, all the way from
the type, to how it was originally cut from the log, to the moisture content
when you use it.

And there is probably no better way to get a handle on that than:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...91237?v=glance

You will do no better in your search for understanding the reasons for your
problem(s) with wood, guaranteed.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 11/06/05

Also consider that your jointer is never at a perfect 90 degrees. The
way to correct for this is to alternate the cuts. Rather than edge join
all of the boards with the down side against the fence, alternate; down
side against, down side away. Also if you use a lot of pressure on your
clamps, they will bow a bit. This is why you alternate clamps, one up,
one down.
robo hippy

robo hippy wrote:

Also consider that your jointer is never at a perfect 90 degrees. The
way to correct for this is to ...

set the fence properly.

robo hippy wrote:
Also consider that your jointer is never at a perfect 90 degrees. The
way to correct for this is to alternate the cuts.

Why not just fix the tool? G

My DJ-20 rarely finds 90 degrees all by itself. Three seconds with the
6" combo square in my pocket and a twist on one lever makes it all
perfect. It's so easy that I no longer bother to fine tune the 90
degree stop.

The same can be said for all blades and miter gauges. 10 seconds of
checking can save a bunch of rework and wasted material.

Barry

"B a r r y" wrote in message
robo hippy wrote:
Also consider that your jointer is never at a perfect 90 degrees. The
way to correct for this is to alternate the cuts.

Why not just fix the tool? G

My DJ-20 rarely finds 90 degrees all by itself. Three seconds with the
6" combo square in my pocket and a twist on one lever makes it all
perfect. It's so easy that I no longer bother to fine tune the 90
degree stop.

The same can be said for all blades and miter gauges. 10 seconds of
checking can save a bunch of rework and wasted material.

Agreed ... but I still alternate cuts on the jointer when preparing stock
for panel glue-ups. It is a simple, effective way to put a proven
geometrical principle to work in my favor.

.... and I generally need all the help I can get.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 11/06/05

Swingman wrote:

Agreed ... but I still alternate cuts on the jointer when preparing stock
for panel glue-ups. It is a simple, effective way to put a proven
geometrical principle to work in my favor.

I do it with hand planes (pairings), but never had the reason with
decent power tools.

Swingman wrote:

"B a r r y" wrote in message
robo hippy wrote:
Also consider that your jointer is never at a perfect 90 degrees. The
way to correct for this is to alternate the cuts.

Why not just fix the tool? G

My DJ-20 rarely finds 90 degrees all by itself. Three seconds with the
6" combo square in my pocket and a twist on one lever makes it all
perfect. It's so easy that I no longer bother to fine tune the 90
degree stop.

The same can be said for all blades and miter gauges. 10 seconds of
checking can save a bunch of rework and wasted material.

Agreed ... but I still alternate cuts on the jointer when preparing stock
for panel glue-ups. It is a simple, effective way to put a proven
geometrical principle to work in my favor.

The one thing I don't like about it is that (on average) it means
jointing half of the boards against the grain...

"Garry Collins" wrote in message
...
I am just getting into edge gluing to make wide boards, say around 18
inches. Each time that I try the finished board seems to warp across the
board. I am positive that the board was flat in the clamp and stayed
there
for a few days.

Should I use several narrow boards or a couple of wider boards? Is the end
grain at the end of the boards important?

Several responses, some good advice. Above all, have your wood acclimated.
Could be a couple of weeks, could be more, depending on the source and
storage of the wood. Construction grade with high turnover may have to shed
10% to get in line with indoor conditions, because it leaves the mill at
~20% moisture content. That's a couple months. Second, get edges at 90
degrees before you draw the clamps. Don't have to be anal about it, you can
set the jointer fence at a clean angle, or you can do the flippity flip. I
figure that fence is better at holding 90 than I am, so I take what it
gives.

Then there's the "smiles" controversy. I think its a pretense. I get the
boards arrayed to look the best and glue 'em. Years in dad's shop, my shop,
school shop seem to show that it really doesn't make much difference as long
as you don't try to join the first board away from the heart to others of
its ring curvature.

What can make a huge difference is the way you use the clamps. You want
center of the screw aligned with center of the board with pipe or bar types,
and there are few who take the time. Can screw things up real fast if you
don't draw straight through the center, but toward an edge. I use some of
my handy shims to elevate the glueup and make it so. The Besseys are a good
thing to have, but I still alternate. Lay a board across the glueup to
check for flat, even if you're not using cauls.

"Garry Collins" wrote in message
...
I am just getting into edge gluing to make wide boards, say around 18
inches. Each time that I try the finished board seems to warp across the
board.

When you say finished... do you mean assembled or
poly/shellac/varnish/lacquer?

Did you "fininsh" one side of the board? You need to finish all sides of
board. or you can expect serious cupping.

On 22 Nov 2005 15:09:04 GMT, Garry Collins
wrote:

I am just getting into edge gluing to make wide boards, say around 18
inches. Each time that I try the finished board seems to warp across the
board. I am positive that the board was flat in the clamp and stayed there
for a few days.

Should I use several narrow boards or a couple of wider boards? Is the end
grain at the end of the boards important?

Thanks for your help.

damn... nobody mentioned an over weight Shakespeare??


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

No, when I saw the thread title my first thought was Burl Ives...

On 22 Nov 2005 11:31:11 -0800, " wrote:

No, when I saw the thread title my first thought was Burl Ives...

roflmao....
that, too...

I only wish that I had some helpful hints, but I've had terrible luck with wide
stock warping.. *sigh*


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:26:47 -0800, mac davis
wrote:

On 22 Nov 2005 11:31:11 -0800, " wrote:

No, when I saw the thread title my first thought was Burl Ives...

Actually, I was thinking Shakespeare and Dali's "Persistance of Time"


roflmao....
that, too...

I only wish that I had some helpful hints, but I've had terrible luck with wide
stock warping.. *sigh*


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 14:15:55 -0700, Mark & Juanita
wrote:

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:26:47 -0800, mac davis
wrote:

On 22 Nov 2005 11:31:11 -0800, " wrote:

No, when I saw the thread title my first thought was Burl Ives...

Actually, I was thinking Shakespeare and Dali's "Persistance of Time"


Make that "Persistance of Memory"




roflmao....
that, too...

I only wish that I had some helpful hints, but I've had terrible luck with wide
stock warping.. *sigh*


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+