My First Glue-up. (Micro-project)

**pmcgee** · 28th May 2012, 06:28 PM

Yes - seriously.
Other than a couple of plane handles, which worked out (surprisingly) well if I do say so myself, my first time ever with glue and clamps.

BTW - this is completely basic. Embarassingly so. I'd stop reading if I was you.

I build this 'shelf unit' when we moved in to this house 13 or so years ago ... It involved dressed jarrah from the hardware store, my dad's plastic handle mitre saw, some screws, and Cabots Gel Clear - I still have the 1L tin - feels about half full. I had never seen a hand-plane in my life, and didn't own a chisel ... but there was sandpaper involved.

And there was a pamphlet from the hardware store that described butt- and dowelled-joints. I still have that too. I remember wanting something 'fancier' than that - and came up with the kinda rebated whatever that I came up with.

I also bought the same amount of jarrah over again to make another one. That wood is still in the garage.

As an aside - I remember that our hardware then had at least one long row of jarrah - from 300x19x3600 down to 38x19x900 - all stood vertically. Now the same store has about a 3m section of it.

Anyhoos ... my mother's (hollow-core) garage door is cactus, and on visiting relatives NOR (North of the River) found that not only did they have a roadside pickup on, someone had put out a solid-core front door.
So I scabbed a door from a roadside collection 40km from home - made up for the whole visiting relatives thing.

(I'm starting to realise there is going to be a lot more talking here than woodworking)

The door was 81.5cm wide and I needed 87cm, so I decided to extend it with some jarrah ... ex-roofing timber from an old peoples' home. As it happened, my likely addition was just over-length and just over-thickness (perfect) with a tiny bit of bow.

I planed the edge of the door to take it down to the bottom of the hinge mortices, and planed the jarrah to level its edge - although there were some large divots out from the whole machinery-knocking-down-house approach to redevelopment.

Out with the long clamps I had collected in the last year or so, and out with my first ever 1L bottle of PVA glue. I applied glue, jarrah extension and clamps in that order - and left it overnight ... which was about when I thought about taking some photos.

The end.

(Mostly).

To answer your first question - yes. I got the glue *everywhere*.

I planed off the front of the extension which was a bit of a mess as it had been the side facing into the building. That part was no problem. Then the painted section, which was proud of the plane of the door along 80% of its length.

I have #4 and #4-1/2 Falcon Pope planes which, because they are more solid and heavy than Stanleys, I determined for 'rough' work. I haven't done anything with them other than sharpen the blades. The #4 has a 'Turner' blade and the other a Falcon-Pope blade.

I thought the quickest way to deal with the paint would be to rip through it with the #4, as I didn't have any paint-stripper. Hah! The paint was like an armour-coating. Off to the hardware store. After that the paint came off with a few coats and a scraper and we were back in business ... sorta.

Bringing the jarrah down level to the door, the #4 just wasn't making too much of an impression, and I was refreshing the edge every few minutes. I was heading inside to get one of my more precious planes, and saw the 4-1/2 there and grabbed that to try. It was like light and day. The F-P blade had last been sharpened who-knows-when but it did half the job in 15-20 minutes, and on refreshing the edge finished the rest.

I have yet to sit down with the two planes and have a close look to see why the marked difference. Maybe the sole isn't flat on the #4? Could it be that the F-P blade is much better than the Turner?

The door is now 93cm wide and even heavier than before (obviously). I will trim it with my $10 ripsaw at mum's for the sheer (and shear) pleasure

and make the hinge mortices. Job done.

I'm quite pleased with it. Pathetic.

Cheers,
Paul.

**Christos** · 28th May 2012, 06:45 PM

Very interesting to read. Great work so far.

**pmcgee** · 29th May 2012, 02:51 AM

Thanks Christos, although I think there are any number of members here for whom 'adding some wood to a door' wouldn't even involve the conscious mind

But ... I forgot to say ... how satisfying and how much damn fun it was when the plane was working beautifully to plow off that wood and bring it down to level.

Cheers,
Paul

**Christos** · 29th May 2012, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Thanks Christos, although I think there are any number of members here for whom 'adding some wood to a door' wouldn't even involve the conscious mind

But ... I forgot to say ... how satisfying and how much damn fun it was when the plane was working beautifully to plow off that wood and bring it down to level.

Cheers,
Paul

This might be true some might not even think twice to adding a piece of wood to a door. It was the way you wrote it and the feeling that came out when I was reading it.

It is hard to convey this feeling to people that do not know anything about wood.

**pmcgee** · 12th June 2012, 06:04 PM

The end result.

Earth-shattering.

**dakotax3** · 14th June 2012, 09:38 AM

Far from pathetic. An interesting opening post and I caught myself smiling as I read it. Courage, determination, inginuity, success, willingness to share, and a comedic taint. Well done sire.

Now go and find scraps of wood and plastic from all over the place and glue them up; smooth surfaces, rough surfaces, clamped, unclamped. Experiment, test, note the results and discard. Glue more.

Your old planes were made for planing; good on you for using them for what they were made for.

**pmcgee** · 14th June 2012, 09:44 PM

Thanks for both your comments. The job was its own reward.

The sawing off of the extra jarrah - 210cm - took 11:20min with a non-freshly sharpened (90 year old) saw. I have to try it again with a sharp one

Paul

**dakotax3** · 14th June 2012, 10:20 PM

Chittay... You timed yourself at 11:20min in a saw cut?

Little tip: lay the old saw flat on a bench and rub a large whetstone along the side of the teeth; same with the other side. The purists will hate me for telling you this but it will rejuvenate a 90 year bluntness. Then find yourself a $5 sawset at the markets or garage sale. Don't tell anyone I told you.

Saw set - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**TobyC** · 15th June 2012, 05:18 AM

Boy! That's one pathetic looking saw set! If that's all I had I'd just go back in the house.
Square nut and machine screw...really!

Paul,
It's time for you to start sharpening. Pick one saw and start a thread, if you get into trouble there is plenty of help here. Start with that broken handle D-8 ripper, big teeth are easy to see and learn on.

**TobyC** · 15th June 2012, 05:37 AM

Look >>>>>>>here.<<<<<<<

This is the kind I use.

Toby

**pmcgee** · 15th June 2012, 07:03 AM

Originally Posted by TobyC

Boy! That's one pathetic looking saw set! If that's all I had I'd just go back in the house.
Square nut and machine screw...really!

Paul,
It's time for you to start sharpening. Pick one saw and start a thread, if you get into trouble there is plenty of help here. Start with that broken handle D-8 ripper, big teeth are easy to see and learn on.

Yes. I have 'sharpened' ... maybe attacked is more accurate ... a pruning saw and a 3tpi S&J with green paint down one side.

I want first to examine and show online the teeth on my 10 buck saw (7-6ppi), the sharp 5-1/2 I have and the Simonds 371.

Then sharpen the 10buck, record the mess I make of it

and then time the big cut using it and the sharp ripsaw.

Also build tilting saw vice and a saw repository.

Paul.

**TobyC** · 15th June 2012, 07:10 AM

Great, show us your stuff. (saw stuff that is)

Toby

**pmcgee** · 26th June 2012, 08:31 PM

I wasn't sure where I could put this that makes sense ... so I thought I'd throw it in here and see what our moderators think.

I posted before about scoring at auction the pieces to make some racking ... and having gotten them out of the trailer, they need to go up and get filled.

With no concrete plan in mind (it'd never fit in there anyway) and a sloping driveway to counter-act, the first one is an evolving item. The other two that will stand in line should (hopefully) proceed quickly once I know what I'm making

This is it so far. I've been debating whether to use vertical supports in front, restricting access to the bottom levels but keeping the floor level clear ... or using right-angle footing. I've decided on the footing. Also wondering whether to put a lip at the edge for secure holding, or if it will be in the way.

There is one more level to add middle-top, and the top 100cm arms to cut back at least to 90cm.

Cheers,
Paul.

**pmcgee** · 28th June 2012, 08:25 PM

And to help relate back to hand-tools ... the clean-up on the thick metal post(s) for my feet.

I only found out about phosphoric acid in the last year or so on this forum ... but I have had some here for some time ... a 2 or 3 litre bottle that came with little bottles of 'icecream machine sanitiser'

thrown in with one of my lots at an auction long ago because no-one wanted it ... and a 5 litre that we got as a 'gentle' cleaner for the Chloromatic salt-water pool element (we initially used hydrochloric when we moved in 14 years ago).

I've tried it tentatively on a couple of tools - nothing valueable, but never known how long to leave it on or what it might do, despite looking around on the internet.

So ... I have these heavy metal posts that used to be half in the ground and having used a flap disc and some hand sanding to clean one off it occurred to me that this was an opportunity to experiment.

Those significant pits had red rust in them that the sanding wasn't reaching, and I tried the phosphoric before I thought of the wire wheel.

I just painted it on heavily (it's like water) and left it to dry. Again I didn't know how long to leave it, or if I should wash it off with water or a base, but it was looking ok after an hour or so - so I have just left it and it seems to have made a good surface/finish. It has been two days now and it has been raining a fair bit - no sign of new rust. The surface looks kinda like the dark metal top of my old cast-iron machines.

I will paint over it ... not sure if the paint will sit happily on it or if it needs a primer coat. The photo is of a post in the same condition as the original, and the end result.

Cheers,
Paul.

**pmcgee** · 8th July 2012, 06:38 PM

Tiny update. Finally happy with the first section - especially the welding.
Now the 2nd section is in process of matching the level of section 1.
Paul.

Thread: My First Glue-up. (Micro-project)

Thread Tools

Search Thread

My First Glue-up. (Micro-project)

Similar Threads

gas micro torch

Bolger Micro as art

Micro Mesh

Glue 'N' Screw (Scrap Project)

Micro$oft

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions