Thread: Glue or Soak and Clamp? Fixing small warps

I'm not sure this is a great idea. While it might be cheap-ish, I think you'll have many problems getting it straight and square. And the timber will still be wet, so it will continue to move. So even if you get it square, it won't stay that way.

19mm is pretty thick too unless you're making a blanket box or similar.

I think you'd be better off using dried timber - at least to start. Bunnings sell tas oak that would be ok - a specialist timber supplier will have many more timbers.

Trying to save too much on timber is a false economy. If you think about how much time and effort you put into something, saving $20 on buying green timber doesn't make sense to me.

Trav

Cheers.

I went for the thicker wood as I am going to use it to store several kilos and I figured the more surface area the more glue I could lay down.

I was not sure how green the wood would be, it has been sitting around in the shop for a while but no idea how long it was being processed before it hit the shops.

I did look at the Tasmanian Oak at Bunnings and made a few designs based on the available dimensions and I might go back for them at a later date. The benifit of going to Bunnings is there are a lot of different profiles vailable so you can mix and match and make more decorative boxes. I was going to make a larger treasure chest from the Tasmanian Oak which was why the longer lengths would be ideal.

I just happen to have a Crazy Clarks next door to me and when they were in the packs they were tightly wrapped and of course they all looked very straight.

Since opening them I found out they were a bit wobbly but in for a penny...

I have already cut most of the stakes to size so they are too small to go in the garden now so I might as well keep going, I was thinking about sticking some dowels to peg some of the stakes into place.

What glue do you use when making your boxes, I was just going to use PVA wood glue because the last time I tried something difference it turned out to be a foaming polyurathane glue and it went everywhere.

Thanks again

PVA is fine, usually. Selleys Tradesmans Choice is fine unless it's going to get wet. If so, go for something like Titebond II.
I'm not sure how your idea will work, but as you say, in for a penny...

Good luck, looking forward to seeing the results.

Most of my projects involve some sort of covering, brick walls get rendered etc. So I am used to remedial work. Initialy I was going to cover the box in waxed leather which would cover a multitude of sins but I think a good sanding will even out most of the problem, they are not massively warped.

I was going to take some photos as I went along but the camera died, batteries should be charged by now and I have the base currently being clamped, on the offchance that a night outside in a clamp will do it more good than harm.

Cheers

I agree with Alex. Pva will be fine. The glue join will be stronger than the timber.

Good luck!

Trav

I will give it a try and let you know how it goes. Just been googling for some images and there appears to be some clamps which straighten and clamp, will have a go at making one and while I am at Bunnings buying the parts I will have another look at the Tasmanian Oak.

Cheers

clamp.jpg This sort of thing

It's probably easier to use your sash clamps and cauls - cauls are bits of timber clamped across the timber on both side to hold all the pieces in line. Much simpler for a beginner than trying to recreate those clamps.

Trav

Thanks for that, I bought a few more sash clamps and made some cauls.

The jig for assembling the stakes (So I can hit 90 degrees more often than not) is gluing at the moment.

DSCF5796.jpg
All the pieces are cut to size and ready to begin assembly. I had a few stakes left over so I have replaced some of the really curvy wood and anything with too many knots.

I will start the gluing tomorrow, I am going to do six stakes at a time and then glue them alltogether at the end, I should have a bit more control over the bending that way and a more even pressure from the cauls.

Looks good. Hope the glue up goes well. Doing it in small sections is a good idea.

Trav

Well that was one weekend project that took a little longer than I anticipated.

It goes pink when you sand it back! I have been to Bunnings and got some Mahogany colouring but it came out purple so I will give that a miss. I bought some darkening wax and tried a test piece, not too bad. Might get some sanding sealer and see if that makes any difference.

I ended up having to do a lot of sanding because of the warping, I couldn't contain it all with the clamps and I ended up killing my old sanding machine. I bought a more powerful belt sander so now I have to go back and level the walls out as they are all bowed in the middle, it sure does cut through the wood.

Just got to decide on a finish and look for some hardware, I was after some clavos but Bunnings didn't have any so I am off to the blacksmith's tomorrow to see if I can make some and get it iron-bound. Should probably make some strap hinges as well if I have time.

Any tips on finishing the box? I am going to sand it all true, then sand it to 120 as that is the only sand paper I have. It feels pretty smooth with 80 grit so is it worth going smoother than 120?

I will then leave it pretty much as it is, I am going to be keeping coins in the box so the less chemicals to damage them the better. I will probably line the bottom of the box with paper of some type.

The lift out display tray will have another layer of stakes on top running perpendicular, I will cut holes in that layer and flush mount the coins into the tray. Looking to finish the top of the tray with some red goat leather so the coins stand out. Under the display tray will be all the boxes the coins came in with the certificates of authenticity and all the other rubbish that comes with collectables but you can't throw them out because they are worth money.

End of box.jpgMahogany box with display tray inserted.jpgMahogany box with display tray removed.jpgMahogany box with lid.jpgCorner of box.jpg

Well done. It's looking good.

I'd definitely sand finer than 80. I wouldn't stop at less than 400 personally - while now you don't think you will be able to tell the difference, try sanding a bit finer. You will be amazed. For a table top or box, I sand to 2000 grit. 80 grit is only to disguise my mistakes and correct my bad joinery! Given all the time and money you've put into it now, it would be a shame not to finish it properly.

It wouldn't be worth sanding much further with the belt sander. Maybe get a 180 grit belt. Then hand sand with the grain if you don't have a random orbit sander.

You could use an oil to finish it - something like a tung oil from bunnings would be fine. It's not really tung oil, but a mixup true of tung oil and polyurethane. But it's easy to apply with a brush.

Trav

2000!

Ok, I can probably go a bit further than 80 then!

I will get some sandpaper at Bunnings and get a bottle of tung oil to try at the same time.

It should be a bit lighter by the time I finish sanding at least.

Cheers!
Mark

I'm impressed at how far you have coaxed those stakes along into something useful.

It's rustic, but with some chunky hinges from a blacksmith it will look the part.

Trav is right with the sanding. Higher is better. If you have a machine sander like a random orbit sander, go as high as the paper at the shop allows. I don't shop at bunnings except under pain of death, but I'm sure they will sell up to 600 at least.

Finishing, sanding, stains and sealing can become an obsession. Don't worry about if something is more pink than another bit...it's wood and variances are what makes it appealing....though trust Trav on the sanding. It's ALWAYS where people tend to rush, and that last 15 minutes work turns ho-hum into wow. Don't skimp on time there.