# Laminating large pieces of wood



## kimberly99 (Feb 24, 2014)

I started a relief on a 4'x2' piece of basswood and it is warping, i'm also worried that it is a bit thin in some of the lower areas and i haven't finished carving. I would like to be able to go quite a bit deeper without the worry that'll be to thin, thus needing to laminate another piece of 4'x2' piece of bass underneath, probably 3/4" thick. wondering what type of jig or clamp system i should use to get a good lamination. the two top corners where i routed out the background are warping slightly upward, i figure with strong enough clamps they shouldn't be to much of an issue


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*proper glue bond*

In order to get a proper bond both surfaces to be mated should be as smooth and flat as possible.:yes:
4 ft. X 2 ft. seems quite large for a piece of Basswood, but I'm not familiar with the species, maybe not?

An even coating of glue, Tite bond II, on both surfaces applied with a roller for expediency and lots of weights like cement blocks or dumb bells on hand to apply immediately plus any clamps for around the edges should work. My last large panel glue up was a door 3 ft x 6 ft cover with 1/4" plywood and that's how I did it.


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## BassBlaster (Nov 21, 2010)

Thats how I laminated the transom on my boat. spread the glue on both pieces and then load em with cinder blacks. Be sure to do this on a flat surface.:thumbsup:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Gluing a piece of wood to the back side at this point won't really help. Had you done it to begin with it would have helped a little but it would still warp some. It has just warped because you weakened one side of the board by carving on it. Basswood is really soft and pliable so if you would insert it into a frame kinda like a picture frame after you are done it will flatten out.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

kimberly99 said:


> I started a relief on a 4'x2' piece of basswood and it is warping, i'm also worried that it is a bit thin in some of the lower areas and i haven't finished carving. I would like to be able to go quite a bit deeper without the worry that'll be to thin, thus needing to laminate another piece of 4'x2' piece of bass underneath, probably 3/4" thick. wondering what type of jig or clamp system i should use to get a good lamination. the two top corners where i routed out the background are warping slightly upward, i figure with strong enough clamps they shouldn't be to much of an issue


Is this actually one piece of wood? Or is it made up of two or more pieces of wood edge glued together?

How thick is it?

George


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

How badly warped is the board , has it started to crack ?

The heat generated by this


> *routed out* the background


 didn't help


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*warping not the only issue here*



kimberly99 said:


> I would like to be able to go quite a bit deeper without the worry that'll be to thin, thus needing to laminate another piece of 4'x2' piece of bass underneath, probably 3/4" thick...... the two top corners where i routed out the background are warping slightly upward,





Steve Neul said:


> Gluing a piece of wood to the back side at this point won't really help. Had you done it to begin with it would have helped a little but it would still warp some. It has just warped because you weakened one side of the board by carving on it. Basswood is really soft and pliable so if you would insert it into a frame kinda like a picture frame after you are done it will flatten out.


There is a need for additional thickness as well as a slight warping on the corners..... The only way to make it thicker is to add another piece on the backside. The issue was how to add another layer and get a good bond, unless I'm missing somethin'..... :huh:


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Adding another layer on the backside would add for thickness, and MAY help flatten out the top piece. Maybe not. Another problem you may have is if your carving gets through the first piece, you may see evidence of a glue line.








 







.


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## kimberly99 (Feb 24, 2014)

the board started as an 1.5" thick, its three boards laminated together. the board isn't warping a large amount and not cracking. i hand planed the back before carving but it might need a bit more. my plane is to hand plane it as flat as possible an to laminate another 4x2' piece together than laminate them using clamps and cement blocks
thanks I'm not to worried about the glue lines coming through, if anything i have experience dyeing wood, and if its physically noticeable i can work with that.


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## kimberly99 (Feb 24, 2014)

talked to a buddy, and he said to laminate the wood cross grain to stop warping, i'm only worried that the wood will later not expand and contract correctly. . not using cement blocks but making blocks to lift areas which are flat on the relief area than using clamps throughout the piece. little nervous to laminate grain the opposite way..:huh:


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

kimberly99 said:


> talked to a buddy, and he said to laminate the wood cross grain to stop warping, i'm only worried that the wood will later not expand and contract correctly. . not using cement blocks but making blocks to lift areas which are flat on the relief area than using clamps throughout the piece. little nervous to laminate grain the opposite way..:huh:


Plywood is laminated the opposite way ....


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## Miller Woodworks (Dec 11, 2013)

If the pieces you laminate are as thin as plywood ply's, then you'll be ok. If you laminate 1.5" thick pieces with crossed grain, you could easily get enough movement to tear the pieces apart.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

kimberly99 said:


> the board started as an 1.5" thick, its three boards laminated together. the board isn't warping a large amount and not cracking. i hand planed the back before carving but it might need a bit more. my plane is to hand plane it as flat as possible an to laminate another 4x2' piece together than laminate them using clamps and cement blocks
> thanks I'm not to worried about the glue lines coming through, if anything i have experience dyeing wood, and if its physically noticeable i can work with that.


I understand that you started with three boards, each 4' by 2' and then laminated these together to get 1.5" thickness. I assume each 4'by2' board was 1/2" think.

Correct or not???

George


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

Miller Woodworks said:


> If the pieces you laminate are as thin as plywood ply's, then you'll be ok. If you laminate 1.5" thick pieces with crossed grain, you could easily get enough movement to tear the pieces apart.


 Sounds like the original board is getting ply thin .
Maybe that's the key , make all the laminations thinner than the original


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## kimberly99 (Feb 24, 2014)

*change of plan*

I started with 48x8x1.5" boards and laminated into a 4x2x1.5" board. today I laminated another board the same way, thus i am not laminating them cross grain, i do not want the wood to expand underneath and crack my relief. My relief carving is looking to be more warped than i thought due to routing, as well as not getting enough circulation below my piece while carving. Because of this I started mounting the piece on pieces of plywood to raise the board and get the same amount of air circulation on either side. A buddy is helping me laminate the wood with a vacuum bag, i've used one once before to bend layers of wood veneer, we will do one sample before hand, and i'm sure it will work, however very nervous. i have already spent 50+ hours on the carving itself, if the lamination is not good, or atleast fixable the entire thing may as well go to waste.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*can you post photos?*

Part of our confusion comes from the term "laminated". You simply edge glued your boards. Laminated implies a stack of boards glued vertically, a lamination. I would not orient the grain on the second board 90 degrees from the first layer. Let the second layer dry and see which way it cups, if any, then oppose the 2 cupped layers. A slight cup may be unavoidable.
Cross braces that will allow the wood to move with slotted holes on the back side may be a last resort.


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