# How to glue panels flat



## would (May 26, 2009)

I hope this is the right section for this question. I am attempting to build some very simple book shelves and want to use bamboo flooring panels for the shelves. The idea seemed simple, but I ran into a problem when I tried gluing two panels together to make a wider shelf. Since I am using flooring panels, shortcut is my middle name, the panels fit together very nicely however I didn't realize that the bottom joint edge is slightly less wide than the top and when I clamped the boards together they want to buckle upwards. What is the best way to avoid this? Use a joiner to flatten the grooved edge joint? Weigh down the panels with something to hold it flat while being clamped? Or build some sort of jig since this will be a repetitive task if it comes out OK? 

I have worked with wood for many years but am not a fine cabinet maker, more of a rough construction person. However I do have a joiner and table saw (no fence but that is another problem/question). If you can reference me to an existing thread that covers my initial question that would be great, I was hoping to find a premanent glue-up type listing, Joinery was as close as I could spot. Thanks for any help. 

Oh, I am trying to use the bamboo panels simply because they are prefinished, seem much stronger than normal wood of the same thickness and don't cost too much. I cut off the tongue on some boards and I like the finish as is, just fine for my purposes. I will use a Luan sheet for a backer or maybe a 3/8" cabinet plywood if the Luan seems too weak. I plan on using the same bamboo panels for the sides, alternating the joints for some strength.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

*WELCOME TO THE FORUM*

You said you have a table saw, but no fence. What do you use to rip boards? You didn't state how thick the flooring is. I'm guessing there is a T&G edging. Clamping that together to make a panel would not be as good as ripping the edging off, so you haved nice clean flat edges. How you do that can be on a TS or with a jointer.

If the series of boards are dimensioned and machined properly, they can be just edge glued and clamped. You could get good rips from the table saw, or from a jointer for the mating edges. I use a block sander and give the mating edges a quick swipe before glue up just to get a smooth clean edge.

I don't use biscuits as IMO, they don't insure alignment. There is enough spacing to allow the biscuit to slide in, and there is room for glue. That minimal gap can allow for movement while gluing and clamping. If anything I may use a spline.

What will insure alignment is the use of cauls. They are strips of wood or other material, with a straight edge that get clamped on edge across the series of boards, top and bottom, that are being glued up. What the process will look like is cauls across the boards, and clamps on the cauls. This keeps everything flat and tight. I don't suggest using tapered cauls, which are supposed to account for the caul bending. I use cauls that are massive enough in their thickness and width that don't bend. Some are wood, some are metal. For the glue up, waxed paper can be used between the cauls and the boards as a glue barrier.

Boards may slip or "cup" while being clamped, due to clamping pressure. What helps in getting even cross clamping is to alternate which side the clamps are on. IOW, you don't want all the cross clamps on top of the boards.


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## Wood4Fun (Aug 29, 2008)

you could joint the edges so you have a nice flat surface to mate the two together, but in the end you will still have to be concerned about the buckle... the planks will tend to buckle when you clamp them together, even if the edges are flat.



> Weigh down the panels with something to hold it flat while being clamped


Yeah, pretty much. I clamp down rather than "weigh" down, but the concept is the same. You can also use a "caul" to clamp across the surface (a flat ridged stick, clamped on both ends to apply pressure). The challenge I always face is glue squeeze out. If you are going to put something across the top, you need to get the squeeze out cleaned up first or your caul will become an unwanted "feature" of the piece


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

"The challenge I always face is glue squeeze out. If you are going to put something across the top, you need to get the squeeze out cleaned up first or your caul will become an unwanted "feature" of the piece "

I use pieces of metal for the cauls to prevent this problem.

G


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## would (May 26, 2009)

Thanks for the fast replies. I do have to be able to clean off the glue from the top surface which is prefinished so the application of a caul would have to be after I squeezed the two panels together pretty tightly. It dawned on me while I was reading your answers, it took me awhile to answer because I had to reset my password:blink:, that the ends of these boards also have T&G so maybe I can also force alignment with another board across each end and leave the cauls off but have full access to the glued seam for cleaning. 

To answer the question about the table saw and no fence, I clamped a 2x4 with a long bar clamp to make the few rip cuts I have made. Not a satisfactory solution, but it worked for the moment. I bought the saw, Delta stationary, at Lowes on a clearance sale and found out later it didn't include the fence. Since the fence costs nearly as much as I paid for the saw I am looking for a way around that and hope to find some example of how someone has made their own table saw fence. Thanks again for the great advice.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

would said:


> Since the fence costs nearly as much as I paid for the saw I am looking for a way around that and hope to find some example of how someone has made their own table saw fence.



These days you could probably get a good deal on a used "T" square type fence on Craigs List, or Ebay. If not and you feel energetic, make one from off the shelf items:
.


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## would (May 26, 2009)

That is a thing of beauty to my eye, simple and functional. I am guessing that the alignment of the guide is about the trickiest part and am also thinking that I might be able to make a second "fence" to act as a featherboard using the same U channel for locking it into place. Thanks - man this is a great forum. :thumbsup:


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

would said:


> That is a thing of beauty to my eye, simple and functional. I am guessing that the alignment of the guide is about the trickiest part...



On the back side of the angle iron, drill and thread allen head set screws to extend forward towards the channel. Use a threaded nut as a spacer and lock down. Do this about 1" from the ends of the angle iron. These will give the adjustment to square the fence to the miter slot.

The actual fence can be boxed out 3/4" plywood. Extend the sides past the top to use for clamping or a sliding glide. Face the sides with mica (like Formica).


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## Conner (Sep 14, 2008)

I've actually had some luck in similar situations when boards want to buckle upwards away from the clamp with taking some masking tape (I use the wider blue painters tape) and wrapping it around the glued-up panel and around the bars of the clamps after just starting to apply clamping pressure. Once the tape is secured you can tighten the clamps down a little more. Wrap the tape around tightly several times and it actually holds pretty well.


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## would (May 26, 2009)

cabinetman said:


> On the back side of the angle iron, drill and thread allen head set screws to extend forward towards the channel. Use a threaded nut as a spacer and lock down. Do this about 1" from the ends of the angle iron. These will give the adjustment to square the fence to the miter slot.
> 
> The actual fence can be boxed out 3/4" plywood. Extend the sides past the top to use for clamping or a sliding glide. Face the sides with mica (like Formica).


 
I think I understand what you are saying for the adjustment screws. I just noticed that the U-channel you drew has one edge cut down the thickness of the angle iron. I am assuming that the U-channel is best leveled to the table by being flush with the top but since cutting down one edge would be difficult would simply notching the angle iron into the fence board give me the same result? I am thinking it would but maybe there is something I am overlooking.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

would said:


> I think I understand what you are saying for the adjustment screws. I just noticed that the U-channel you drew has one edge cut down the thickness of the angle iron. I am assuming that the U-channel is best leveled to the table by being flush with the top but since cutting down one edge would be difficult would simply notching the angle iron into the fence board give me the same result? I am thinking it would but maybe there is something I am overlooking.



That would work. I had a few different drawings for this, and had it that way on this drawing (you can see a faint line). Cutting the rail may provide more clearance so the angle doesn't ride on the rail. Or recessing the angle might work too. A buddy of mine made a version from my drawing as it is and said it worked O.K. If you make one and recess the angle, do a show and tell.

Actually for operators ease a "T" handle would work better than a knob, but the knob was easier to draw.


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## would (May 26, 2009)

cabinetman said:


> That would work. I had a few different drawings for this, and had it that way on this drawing (you can see a faint line). Cutting the rail may provide more clearance so the angle doesn't ride on the rail. Or recessing the angle might work too. A buddy of mine made a version from my drawing as it is and said it worked O.K. If you make one and recess the angle, do a show and tell.
> 
> Actually for operators ease a "T" handle would work better than a knob, but the knob was easier to draw.


 
I just realized that if I flush the channel to the table surface and then the angle is riding above that it would interfere with the material sliding on the table surface. So either I need to drop the channel or somehow cut the outside edge down at least the thickness of the angle. I am guessing aluminum is too soft to use for this purpose and might cause some sort of electrolytic reaction with the steel table top. Thanks for the drawing, I will be thinking about how to implement it and trying to get myself oriented to this forum to post my questions in the right section.


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## Oriental Bamboo (Oct 8, 2009)

*Shelves from bamboo flooring*



would said:


> I hope this is the right section for this question. I am attempting to build some very simple book shelves and want to use bamboo flooring panels for the shelves. The idea seemed simple, but I ran into a problem when I tried gluing two panels together to make a wider shelf. Since I am using flooring panels, shortcut is my middle name, the panels fit together very nicely however I didn't realize that the bottom joint edge is slightly less wide than the top and when I clamped the boards together they want to buckle upwards. What is the best way to avoid this? Use a joiner to flatten the grooved edge joint? Weigh down the panels with something to hold it flat while being clamped? Or build some sort of jig since this will be a repetitive task if it comes out OK?
> 
> <snip>
> 
> Oh, I am trying to use the bamboo panels simply because they are prefinished, seem much stronger than normal wood of the same thickness and don't cost too much. I cut off the tongue on some boards and I like the finish as is, just fine for my purposes. I will use a Luan sheet for a backer or maybe a 3/8" cabinet plywood if the Luan seems too weak. I plan on using the same bamboo panels for the sides, alternating the joints for some strength.


I built a table top out of a number of left over bamboo flooring planks. I simply glued the T&G joins together as the top & bottom joint edges were the same dimensions. Possibly consider another bamboo flooring supplier that supplies planks with T&G edging specs that don't cause this issue. Otherwise, I agree with some of the other comments - cut a flat edge & glue the flat edges.

Another idea, is to use Strand Woven Bamboo decking planks. They come standard with flat edges - albeit minus the pre-finished coating.

The real mission for me was that I didn't want the pre-finish, so sanded it off - the problem was the Al2O3 hardener - is so scratch resistant, it took forever to sand off, not to mention a bunch of extra sanding paper.


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## gjhzyy (Oct 18, 2009)

May you be lucky.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Thank you*



gjhzyy said:


> May you be lucky.


REally!


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

gjhzyy said:


> May you be lucky.





woodnthings said:


> REally!



I'm thinkin' it's the guy that writes fortune cookie messages.


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