Thread: Joining top and back plates

This is the high tech way I join my tops. One thing I do is rub a bit of candle wax on the wedges where theyll be in contact with the joint..this stops the glue sticking to the wedges and tearing out wood when you try and pull the wedges off the joint.

Yep, apologies if this is old news but when I did it i got very excited by how easy and colol it was and wanted to pass it along. Martin, the wax is a very good idea. I had to tap my sticks to get them to release from the glue. The guy in the vid wacks his wedges with a hammer to get them tight but I just pushed mine in until I felt it was tight enough. The wedge gives a lot of control.
Most of the books I have seen have a different method and this is how I started but seriously, this wedge method is it.
Dom

Some other notes on my top jointing jig. In the jig youve made up you have battens on the bottom and wedges on the top. I use a set of 6 battens on top as well as on the bottom. Once these are in place I lash them up with macrame rope and then insert the wedges under the rope on the upper battens and push same in to exert pressure on the battens. The pic shows 5 battens and wedges..I usually use 5 or 6 when gluing up my tops to give a a more level join.

Very clever indeed - I've been mulling over a few jig designs because at the moment I'm fiddling with too many clamps etc. I'll definitely give this one a shot in the next few days.

Now, if only I could work half as fast as him.

my jig is really simple....
i bandsaw and roughly joint the plates outer edges so that they are an angled wedge shape ..
my jig is just 2 straight edges screwed onto a flat piece of mdf at the same angle as my plates outer edge
apply glue and just slide the plates into the wedge shape ...give it a bit of a tap to apply some clamping pressure and weigh it down with something like a handplane to stop them springing up.

Originally Posted by kiwigeo

One thing I do is rub a bit of candle wax

Soap works well too. I think its possibly better because its easier to remove than wax.

mt

Originally Posted by gratay

my jig is really simple....
i bandsaw and roughly joint the plates outer edges so that they are an angled wedge shape ..
my jig is just 2 straight edges screwed onto a flat piece of mdf at the same angle as my plates outer edge
apply glue and just slide the plates into the wedge shape ...give it a bit of a tap to apply some clamping pressure and weigh it down with something like a handplane to stop them springing up.

Gratay, I am not trying to change you mind here, but. I used your method at first because that is what most books show. But as soon as I saw the vid I was so impressed. And doing it is very cool. You can clean up most of the glue. You slack it out the way and it does not take up bench space. And I think it is easier to control the force and the flat batterns keep the sides lined up. Does a bunch of things in one cleaver jig.
Dom

Looks good, I'll try it next time I glue up a top or back.

Would using wax or soap to stop the "clamps" sticking cause any problems of contaminating the joint or later the finish? or is it not a problem.

Any wax or soap that gets on the wood around the joint is going to get planed/scraped off when you work the top down to final thickness.

Originally Posted by zenobia

Gratay, I am not trying to change you mind here, but. I used your method at first because that is what most books show. But as soon as I saw the vid I was so impressed. And doing it is very cool. You can clean up most of the glue. You slack it out the way and it does not take up bench space. And I think it is easier to control the force and the flat batterns keep the sides lined up. Does a bunch of things in one cleaver jig.
Dom

Thanks for posting the video...I have never seen this method being done and it certainly is a very simple and impressive way to do it.....
I know your not trying to change my mind.......I am only adding another method to the thread for future reference for anyone interested in the topic....
although the method i use is pretty much the norm and explained in any book you pick up.

The rope and wedge method is an old fashioned method but one that works. Ditto for the go-bar deck and cabinet scrapers.