# Can you glue up boards with table saw marks?



## Merkabert (Jun 6, 2021)

Hey so im getting started in woodworking just made a few cutting boards so far. 
So im wondering if I can glue up boards that have marks from the table saw blade on them. They're not extremely deep. Maybe 1/32". I've tried sanding them out but then the boards get slightly rounded edges and don't really fit snugly together. I know I could send them through the planner or jointer, but I already have them at the thickness I wanted them.

Thanks


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Welcome to the forum! Yes, you 'can' glue them but it won't be a tight joint. I assume you're talking about the glue joint edge and not the face of the boards but that would affect the width/length, not the thickness if you were to joint the boards.

Photos always help, btw.


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## Merkabert (Jun 6, 2021)

difalkner said:


> Welcome to the forum! Yes, you 'can' glue them but it won't be a tight joint. I assume you're talking about the glue joint edge and not the face of the boards but that would affect the width/length, not the thickness if you were to joint the boards.
> 
> Photos always help, btw.


Well im glueing 21 boards that are 1/2" X 2". And im glueing the 2" faces together


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

If you won't run them through the planer, then you are stuck with them as is. Glue them up, clamp them tightly and hope for the best.


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## JohnGi (May 9, 2019)

So, you ripped 2" thick stock into a bunch of 1/2" wide strips and now you are gluing them back together, sawn edge to sawn edge. The saw marks are ok--not ideal but ok. Burned wood from a stalled cut will weaken the joint. Gluing a sawn edge to a planed edge isn't good practice either. Uneven absorption of glue in the dis-similar edges weakens the joint. If you give the glue a half hour to set up, you can clean most of the squeeze out easily with a putty knife with the clamps still in place. The strips don't need to be perfectly straight, but you should be able to push individual pairs together to full contact with just your hands.


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## J_L (Apr 22, 2014)

Yes, you can glue it up as you've done. If that's the case, I'd recommend a glue such as plastic resin glue that has structural gap filling properties. I think plastic resin glue can fill gaps up to 1/16" while still maintaining strength. 

There are better blades for ripping that will deflect less and leave the wood smoother. They're known as glue line rip blades. Thin kerf blades tend to deflect (wobble) more and will leave more kerf marks.


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## B Coll (Nov 2, 2019)

Merkabert said:


> Hey so im getting started in woodworking just made a few cutting boards so far.
> So im wondering if I can glue up boards that have marks from the table saw blade on them. They're not extremely deep. Maybe 1/32". I've tried sanding them out but then the boards get slightly rounded edges and don't really fit snugly together. I know I could send them through the planner or jointer, but I already have them at the thickness I wanted them.
> 
> Thanks


1/32" would be pretty deep. But generally, the answer is yes. I regularly glue up boards right off the jointer. Sometimes a small amount of chatter can be seen on the edge. Ideally I know I should run a light pass or two of a jointer plane, but never have. What I do is mark and alternate the side that is against a fence (or table if using a table saw). That way if the fence, or blade, is even a fraction of a degree out of square it will be compensated out. I would say if you can barely see and feel the blade marks you should be go. If the blade marks feel course, or if you can put a straight edge on it and see daylight through the saw marks, no-go.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Well, any advice given after post number 3 will be too late for this event, since it has already been glued up and we are waiting to see photos of how it actually worked!


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## B Coll (Nov 2, 2019)

woodnthings said:


> Well, any advice give after post number 3 will be too late for this event, since it has already been glued up and we are waiting to see photos of how it actually worked!


🤪 Reading is elementary.


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## Merkabert (Jun 6, 2021)

Thanks for all the advice guys. This is going to be an end grain cutting board btw. I'll be posting some more updates pics probably tomorrow. I got the second glue up in clamps right now. 

Also there were only a few boards that were heavy on the saw marks so I sanded those. The marks were deep on those because I was ripping them with a cross cut blade. So I bought a nice Freud ripping blade and it made a huge difference. No more burning on the maple and comes out smooth. You can still see the blade marks, but can't feel them.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Merkabert said:


> Hey so im getting started in woodworking just made a few cutting boards so far.
> So im wondering if I can glue up boards that have marks from the table saw blade on them. They're not extremely deep. Maybe 1/32". I've tried sanding them out but then the boards get slightly rounded edges and don't really fit snugly together. I know I could send them through the planner or jointer, but I already have them at the thickness I wanted them.
> 
> Thanks


It can be done but the joint wouldn't be as strong as if the wood were properly jointed. The saw marks really tend to hold the wood apart making a line of glue between the boards weakening the joint. They make a glue line saw blade that does a better job of it but in the end if you want the project to last I would use a jointer to make glue ups.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Some glues are better than others when there are small gaps to fill. Woodgears did a test of many different types and brands of wood glues and the results were surprising:


Gorilla glue sucks (at filling gaps)


This tests shear strength:





Another wood glue test, a bit better because it also tests end grain to end grain strength, not the best application.
It also tests samples soaked in water for 24 hours, possibly used for cutting board applications:


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

for future glue-up projects... it is standard practice to allow for stock removal on the jointer and planer. we use glue-line rip blades, which provide very nice rip cuts. but we still clean them up before glueing them together. a 1/32" variation, could accumulate to 1/16" of a gap between 2 boards, and although it may still be strong if adequlately glued, will not be very attractive.

on a cutting board, small pieces of glue will be glue will be released from the cutting actions...


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## Dave McCann (Jun 21, 2020)

woodnthings said:


> Well, any advice given after post number 3 will be too late for this event, since it has already been glued up and we are waiting to see photos of how it actually worked!


I took post number 3 as an example from a previous glue up. He mentioned previous work, in post number 1.


Merkabert said:


> just made a few cutting boards so far.


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## rogerh (Sep 13, 2020)

woodnthings said:


> Well, any advice given after post number 3 will be too late for this event, since it has already been glued up and we are waiting to see photos of how it actually worked!


What ever the OP was looking for, I don’t believe it was advice. It looked like he cut 21 pieces with the saw marks before post #1 and glued them up before post #3. Even did a little sanding between #1 and #3. 
If the guy has those kind of saw marks, wouldn’t you stop cutting after the first few, if you really cared what the result would be.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Merkabert said:


> *Thanks for all the advice guys*. This is going to be an end grain cutting board btw. I'll be posting some more updates pics probably tomorrow. I got the second glue up in clamps right now.
> 
> Also there were only a few boards that were heavy on the saw marks so I sanded those. The marks were deep on those because I was ripping them with a cross cut blade. So I bought a nice Freud ripping blade and it made a huge difference. No more burning on the maple and comes out smooth. You can still see the blade marks, but can't feel them.





rogerh said:


> What ever the OP was looking for, * I don’t believe it was advice*I. It looked like he cut 21 pieces with the saw marks before post #1 and glued them up before post #3. Even did a little sanding between #1 and #3.
> If the guy has those kind of saw marks, wouldn’t you stop cutting after the first few, if you really cared what the result would be.


I donno, he called it "advice". I believe it was a question of whether the glue would bond well with the saw blade marks. It was asked after the glue up, unless I missed something? There are obviously different opinions as to the strength of the bond and solutions how to eliminate the marks. I posted that there are different types of glue that will work better than others. That was my advice for future projects as would be all the other replies after post no.3. We'll have to wait and see how it turns out, maybe it will be just fine?

The thread starter:


Merkabert said:


> Hey so im getting started in woodworking just made a few cutting boards so far.
> * So im wondering if I can glue up boards that have marks from the table saw blade *on them. They're not extremely deep. Maybe 1/32". I've tried sanding them out but then the boards get slightly rounded edges and don't really fit snugly together. I know I could send them through the planner or jointer, but I already have them at the thickness I wanted them.
> Thanks


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## Merkabert (Jun 6, 2021)

Ok guys I took some better pictures of the blade marks.

The picture below was one of the worst cuts that I did. A rip cut with a crosscut blade. I measured it with a engineer's ruler and Is a tad under 1/64".









This picture is how the cuts were coming out using the Freud heavy duty rip cut saw blade. The marks are barely visible. 









And finally below is the cutting board as of now. Got lots of sanding ahead of me. Do you recommend a particular grit for leveling the end grain? I was using 80 but was considering 60 to make things go quicker. Let me know what you guys think. It's maple and bloodwood btw.


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## J_L (Apr 22, 2014)

Use the lowest grit necessary to get it flush relatively quickly. Then work your way up through the grits to make it smooth. If 80 grit is taking too long, try 60. If 60 is taking too long, try 40.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

you may consider making a router sled set up to shave the top of the cutting boards. that appears to be almost beyond sanding capabilities, unless you have a belt sander.


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## Scurvy (Apr 12, 2013)

The strength of a glue joint lies in the glue, not the wood, as break tests demonstrate that a properly glued joint fractures throughout the wood surrounding the joint. That means that as long as the saw marks don’t add up to a gap wider than what the glue can fill, then the joint will be a good, strong joint. Those gaps might not be pretty though. Also, I suspect that there will be some fiber swelling due to the water content of the glue, therefore some of the gapped areas should be mitigated.


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