Align wood grain before gluing

[Dengue]

I am about to glue two boards together on their flat surfaces, not by their edges.
Can anyone please advise the correct alignment of the wood grains - ie A or B as seen in the sketch below

regards,
Jill

[orraloon]

I would say B. Dont know why it just looks right.

[Harry72]

B sounds good?

[artme]

Jill, if the boards were glued as in A then any cupping of either board is likely to effect the other. If both cup you have a problem.

If glued as in B any cupping meets resistance from the opposing board. This basically keeps the whole thing in balance and flat.

[Hickory]

Back in the day when I was a young lad learning the qualities of woodworking from my favorite teacher and mentor (still dead now) Phillip Dillon, :2tsup: The B concept, as it would allow expansion and contraction without distorting the shape of the project.

[BrettC]

Agreed - B uses the tendency of the wood to cup against each other to counteract any possible problems.

[Dengue]

Thanks for this information, everyone. B it is :)

regards,
Jill

[AlexS]

There's a problem here: everyone agrees.:?

[Dengue]

AlexS, I think this comes in to the category of a right way or wrong way to do something, and everyone knew the right way :wink:

regards,
Jill

[Tex B]

Well, where angels fear to tread ....

I think it depends on what you're doing. If you are making a thick panel, B looks right.

If you're gluing long pieces together to rip legs on the diagonal, then B would not be what you want. You would want the cups facing away from each other, then each diagonal will look like quartersawn. Quite a handy way of getting lovely legs.

I recently glued two bits together to make bun feet. In that case, A was the go, as the join disappeared due to the grain continuing across. Since they will be supporting the entire piece and are overall only about 70mm diameter, no chance of cupping.

What are you making?

Cheers,

Tex

[Dengue]

What are you making?


It is a fence for a drill press table that needs to be 30mm thick to take a 22mm wide track on top, running the length of the fence. That track will be used to take horizontal bars to which are fitted hold down pieces, like the adjustable leg below. This leg will be great for holding down cupboard doors while I drill the hinge hole with a Forstner bit

regards,
Jill

[Bismar]

For something where straightness is crucial, like a fence, wouldn't you be better off using plywood or mdf?

[blackhole]

great use of a foot :2tsup:

[chowcini]

great use of a foot :2tsup:


I agree:aro-u::aro-u:

[Dengue]

The real problem with the foot is that it is going to exert a strong backward bending force on the top of the fence, hence the need for a strong fence out of timber, not MDF or ply. Or so my thinking went :rolleyes:

Also a track has to be screwed along the top of the fence for this hold down arrangement.

But I also take the point made above that the fence needs to be as straight as, so not sure if this idea will work. To compensate, the main fence will be 6mm thick 50 x 50 aluminium angle, with a sacrifical timber fence screwed to the front.

I am open to suggestions and comments on how better to do this hold down arrangement from a fence, bearing in mind it may be required to hold down a large panel like a kitchen cupboard door

regards,
Jill

[blackhole]

use the track as the fulcrum of a lever and have a foot on each end.
So the track is used for location and the foot at the back which can be fixed will transfer the force to the rear of the table.

[blackhole]

The wider the drill press table the less force required to support the panel.

So maybe an extension table for when you are drilling doors.

Of course you will need longer arms to reach the drill:)

[Dengue]

aahhhhh... nice! I like that - thanks blackhole. So the only force is a lifting force trying to lift the track off the top of the timber fence, no more bending force :)

regards,
Jill

[Dengue]

Interesting you made the comment about long arms. I thought that was going to be a problem too.

The table I have is a 32mm formica covered ply offcut from the local panel suppliers, and is approx 600 x 600, and is quite comfortable to reach. I am not standing any further back than normal.

Hope to finish it this coming weekend, once the smoke from the rear cut goes away. Had a bit of trouble cutting a 37.5mm radius bend to go around the drill press column, as you can see in one of the photos below.

regards,
Jill

[blackhole]

That is shaping into a reallllllly nice drill press table.

[les88]

I made a table that was a bit more longer than twice the height [ lenght ] of the doors. It was bolted to the drill press table and had legs at the end to support the table. A guide was screwed the the table to position the doors at the correct spot, also a guide for the side was used.This was changed for the other hole. To hold it still I used bolt down screw clamps. If the door isn't held correctly the drill will chatter and can run off center
les