I am making a table top from 1/2" stock. There is a center rectangle about
11" x 13" made of baltic birch with a veneer on it. There are 4 mitered
pieces of mahogany that are 2 1/2" wide that surround the rectangle. I will
have biscuits to hold the pieces together. The problem I am trying to solve
is how to hold it all together during glue up. The band on my band clamp is
1" wide. When I try to pull the table top together with my band clamp, the
band wants to pull the sides up. One idea I had was to put a piece of 1/2"
plywood under the table top. The dimensions of this plywood would be about
1/16th" less height and width than the table top so the band would pull the
tabletop together without being obstructed by the piece underneath. That
seems kind of iffy. Do any of you have a better/different idea?

TIA

Dick Snyder

Dick Snyder wrote:
I am making a table top from 1/2" stock. There is a center rectangle about
11" x 13" made of baltic birch with a veneer on it. There are 4 mitered
pieces of mahogany that are 2 1/2" wide that surround the rectangle. I will
have biscuits to hold the pieces together. The problem I am trying to solve
is how to hold it all together during glue up. The band on my band clamp is
1" wide. When I try to pull the table top together with my band clamp, the
band wants to pull the sides up. One idea I had was to put a piece of 1/2"
plywood under the table top. The dimensions of this plywood would be about
1/16th" less height and width than the table top so the band would pull the
tabletop together without being obstructed by the piece underneath. That
seems kind of iffy. Do any of you have a better/different idea?

Toss the band clamp and use cabinet clamps instead. If needed, put wax
paper on top/bottom and use cauls to clamp in plane. But, if the edges
are square, it shouldn't want to pull out of plane anyway.

--

"dpb" wrote in message ...
Dick Snyder wrote:
I am making a table top from 1/2" stock. There is a center rectangle
about 11" x 13" made of baltic birch with a veneer on it. There are 4
mitered pieces of mahogany that are 2 1/2" wide that surround the
rectangle. I will have biscuits to hold the pieces together. The problem
I am trying to solve is how to hold it all together during glue up. The
band on my band clamp is 1" wide. When I try to pull the table top
together with my band clamp, the band wants to pull the sides up. One
idea I had was to put a piece of 1/2" plywood under the table top. The
dimensions of this plywood would be about 1/16th" less height and width
than the table top so the band would pull the tabletop together without
being obstructed by the piece underneath. That seems kind of iffy. Do any
of you have a better/different idea?

Toss the band clamp and use cabinet clamps instead. If needed, put wax
paper on top/bottom and use cauls to clamp in plane. But, if the edges
are square, it shouldn't want to pull out of plane anyway.

--

When you say "cabinet clamps" are you referring to something like my Bessey
K body clamps? The thing I like about the band clamp concept is that you get
nearly simultaneous pressure in the horizontal and vertical directions to
prevent the mitered edges from sliding. This isn't a huge tabletop as you
saw from my original posting so I won't have a lot of room for clamps
though there is room for two on the horizontal size and two on the vertical
side.

Dick Snyder wrote:
....
When you say "cabinet clamps" are you referring to something like my Bessey
K body clamps? The thing I like about the band clamp concept is that you get
nearly simultaneous pressure in the horizontal and vertical directions to
prevent the mitered edges from sliding. This isn't a huge tabletop as you
saw from my original posting so I won't have a lot of room for clamps
though there is room for two on the horizontal size and two on the vertical
side.

Yes. No larger than it is, two on each side will be all you need.

For alignment, the biscuits should put everything pretty much in place
and keep it close; if the joints are accurate the pressure from the
opposing sides will bring the four corners together as they are brought
together gradually. Until completely tight, a judicious mallet tap
should be all the persuasion required to make a last "tweak" if needed.

--

"dpb" wrote in message ...
Dick Snyder wrote:
...
When you say "cabinet clamps" are you referring to something like my
Bessey K body clamps? The thing I like about the band clamp concept is
that you get nearly simultaneous pressure in the horizontal and vertical
directions to prevent the mitered edges from sliding. This isn't a huge
tabletop as you saw from my original posting so I won't have a lot of
room for clamps though there is room for two on the horizontal size and
two on the vertical side.

Yes. No larger than it is, two on each side will be all you need.

For alignment, the biscuits should put everything pretty much in place and
keep it close; if the joints are accurate the pressure from the opposing
sides will bring the four corners together as they are brought together
gradually. Until completely tight, a judicious mallet tap should be all
the persuasion required to make a last "tweak" if needed.

--
Yep. That worked fine. Thanks.

Dick

Dick Snyder wrote:
....
Yep. That worked fine. Thanks.

Great--glad to hear it.

--