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Thread: Gluing up query

  1. #1
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    Default Gluing up query

    I have decided to have a crack at Ian Norbury's Falstaff for my next project.

    I have a piece of Tasmanian Blackwood (1200 x 100 x 100) which I will need to cut into 4 pieces and glue up into a block approximately 300 x 200 x 200.

    The extended position of the right arm and leg mean these will have very short grain with increased potential for breakage, both during carving and afterwards.

    My question is this - given that I have to laminate the timber to get the size I need would it be worthwhile planning for a joint at the shoulder and hip and orientating these pieces to eliminate the short grain?

    Philip.
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  3. #2
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    I don't think that short grain is a worry in this case at all, either in the careful carving of it or any risk in the display of it. I would say that if you were to try to glue the arm at 90 degrees it would be at serious risk of coming loose as a wood glued joint at 90 degrees has only half the strength of a joint where the grain runs parallel.Even if you dowelled the joint the two surfaces would not merge seamlessly as they do when the grain runs in the same direction in both pieces - therefore not only weaker but with a join line visually sticking out like sore thumb. Then the change in the figuring of the wood at the join would further draw attention to it.I think it would bring unnecessary headaches & additional problems to attempt joining the arm at 90degrees most especially when the design doesn't require. Using sharp tools & perhaps a knife which puts very little lateral stress on a projecting part of a carving, plus supporting the part whilst with your other hand as you carve you will be just fine.I look forward to seeing the finished piece.(with 2 arms!)
    Perhaps he greatest technical difficulty I can see looking at the photo is carving the face whilst access is obstructed the raised hand ,certainly it might be worth considering keeping the hand "spade like" & not separating he fingers until nearly finished.

  4. #3
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    Unfortunately ,I find no bigger picture of the fella on the Net...still , I'm not sure AT ALL that the grain goes verticaly! It could run paralel to that hand & leg , you know
    If you don't like the idea of carving the face on the short grain , a 50/50 solution would be to glue a block , where the grain is at 45° (thats the way I made my last glue up , BTW , as there were weak spots in case of both vertical AND horizontal grain direction )
    It's a slow and painful process...the secret is, dont mind the pain.(Ian Norbury)
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    Ivan Chonov

  5. #4
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    ..However you decide to do it, hot glueing a support post between the bottom of the jug and the knee would help.
    also.. roughing out most of the shape with burrs would make the job a lot easier

    what if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about?

  6. #5
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    You could, i think... a joint along the line of the mantle. But a lack of experience in that kind of glue up would prevent me to give advice on how to achieve it properly...
    Though, as the arm doesn't overstep the base, i'm not sure Ian did a glue up either.

  7. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by copeau View Post
    Though, as the arm doesn't overstep the base, i'm not sure Ian did a glue up either.
    In fact (according to his book - Techniques of Creative Wood Carving) he had to join pieces on both the arm and the legs.

    In the end I decided gluing 4 pieces of Blackwood together would give me too many joints in the finished piece so I have gone with another piece of the Acacia Dealbata which is big enough to do the job in 1 piece. Even if I do snap a limb off I should end up with fewer glue joints. I have done the major blocking out and so far the arm and leg have not given any problems.

    I have ordered the Archer power carver from CarbaTec to give me some options in those tricky places. I have been looking at the Saburr and Typhoon burrs. Unfortunately I can't see any info regarding what application the various shapes are best suited to. Could anyone give me an idea where to start?

    Regards.
    Philip.

  8. #7
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    Hi Phil, regarding selection of burrs ,- when I used to have a flexible shaft I used to find that a coarse cutter about an inch long & 1/4" in diameter was a versatile shape for roughing whether digging in deep with the rounded end or using the side to round off a square corner.
    A must have was also a 1/8" "veiner" equivalent , which looked like a large match- sort of a shaft with a ovaloid blob on the end , I liked this one to be fairly fine in its finish although still able to cut deeply , so not superfine.
    I also used to find "flame" shaped burrs (like a ball with a cone on top) a very good shape whether for detail or roughing depending on size & finish.
    Then I would repeat the first shape 1" long & 1/4 diameter but in a very fine finish & after thatI would get a cutter which looks like a fat dremel cutting disc, in a largeish size - coarse for roughing. Looking at the carving you are contemplating I would say a 1/2" straight sided cylinder would be good to remove large areas of waste.

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