# table top glue up



## RJweb (Feb 25, 2011)

Good afternoon,
I am making a small hall table, 32" x 14" (2 pices of oak for top). Can I just use glue or will it be necassary to use dowels or biscuts to ahere 2 pieces together, thx


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

RJweb said:


> Good afternoon,
> I am making a small hall table, 32" x 14" (2 pices of oak for top). Can I just use glue or will it be necassary to use dowels or biscuts to ahere 2 pieces together, thx


Just glue and clamps. 








 







.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

cabinetman said:


> Just glue and clamps.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


+1

Proper edge jointing/prep and glue is plenty sufficient!


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

cabinetman said:


> Just glue and clamps.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





firemedic said:


> +1
> 
> Proper edge jointing/prep and glue is plenty sufficient!


+1, x2


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you have a jointer and have made a good clean joint I would just glue and clamp it. If your glue joint is done with a saw I would use the biscuits.


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## Midlandbob (Sep 5, 2011)

+1
Glue and clamps. The only reason for biscuits or other indexing tool is long board glue ups that try to slip a bit. Usually the various tricks with cross boards clamped to hold the alignment can do the job with ease. Thirtyish inch long top should glue up easily if jointed well.


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## Tom5151 (Nov 21, 2008)

Glue, Clamps and Cauls......do it all the time and comes out fine.....


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## RJweb (Feb 25, 2011)

Thx for all the info, just one question what are cauls? Thx


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## Tom5151 (Nov 21, 2008)

You can google the definition to get more detail but what I do is cut some 2 X 2 inch strips of wood about 30 inches long. You can make various lenghts as needed. I use hardwood. 

You essentially want to sandwich your glue up between the cauls. One strip on the bottom surface of your peice and one on the top. Line them up so one is right on top of the other with just the workpeice between. I then use an f-clamp to clamp the cauls nice and tight, creating somewhat of a "workpeice sandwich". For a 30 inch long top I might use 4 sets of cauls. Start in the middle of your peice and work out to the ends. It helps keep the faces of the boards nice and flush and lined up. Once the cauls are in place then I do all of my edge clamping. 

I like to lay everything out in advance to make sure i have my clamps and cauls in the right places before I do the actual glue up. On larger glue-ups I may actually do a dry run to make sure I am comfortable with my setup. You have to work fast but with TB3 you have a little ore time.

Also I put duct tape on the face of the caul that will come in contact with the surface of the workpeice. If you don't the caul will stick to it and you will be a very unhappy woodworker.


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