General glue question but involves cutting board - don't shoot


solo1001

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I was working on Marc's version last night and on the initital glue up, several of the pieces became uneven. By that i mean that a strip might be a tad higher on one face and vice-versa.  I did not have a way to attach cauls (lesson learned about more clamps) but is that what is meant by keeping the glue-up flat or is that unevenness just the nature of a big glue-up like that.  I assume this can extend to any sort of glue-up no matter the project.  I've made a few things before but this was the first project since getting a table saw.  I assume the nervousness of using that thing will go away the more I do.

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Yeah this is definitely a hindsight situation.  It didn't make sense to me what they were actually doing.  Now I have my work cut out for me, I just hope I can flatten it okay.  I don't have a planer or the lumber to build the router sled.  Lots of sanding and hand planing in my future I suppose.  I had to order the kit because a lumber yard here (Charleston, SC) seemed quite put off that I only wanted a little bit of maple and walnut and then told me it would be a week to mill it.

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Cauls are a must in my opinion.  As the saying goes, you can never have enough clamps, and that's never more true than with cutting boards.

 

check out this page of mine, it shows the setup I use when making cutting boards.

http://www.dans-hobbies.com/2013/09/17/jointing-perfectly/

Hey Dan, great read! The clamping jig will be my project for this weekend. Thanks

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I was working on Marc's version last night and on the initital glue up, several of the pieces became uneven. By that i mean that a strip might be a tad higher on one face and vice-versa.  I did not have a way to attach cauls (lesson learned about more clamps) but is that what is meant by keeping the glue-up flat or is that unevenness just the nature of a big glue-up like that.  I assume this can extend to any sort of glue-up no matter the project.  I've made a few things before but this was the first project since getting a table saw.  I assume the nervousness of using that thing will go away the more I do.

As far as the nervousness from using a table saw, it will get more comfortable. It's kinda like I tell the new tower climbers, a little nervousness is a good thing. It's when you get over confident and cocky is when bad thing s happen. 

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Thanks for the replies everyone.  Dan I agree, your post is great and I'll try and use your technique when I chop these up again.  Now I sanded it down fairly smooth on both sides and got the glue off and everything flush.  However, as mentioned, its not flat as you can hopefully see in my non-professional photo.  Before I take it to a cabinet shop (which in all likelihood will be what I do), can I plane this flat?  I have an old Stanley jack plane.  For a project like this, would I go with the grain or across the strips?  I know that might be a silly question but I just don't understand planes.  Every article I see tells me that planes straighten but I never see a basic "this is how a plane is used to straighten" article.  Is it possible to flatten this?  Am I just constantly checking for square?  Thanks again everyone.  Just trying to learn as much as I can.

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How a plane flattens can get wordy so I went looking for videos I remember and could not find them:-( Here is an article that briefly touches. If you read and see the image, your plane bridges over low points and rides the high spots. If your plane spans a low spot, you will not be cutting there at first and you work down until the cut is made.

http://workshopheaven.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/the-no8-jointer-plane.html?m=1

This video shows a bit of winding stick use and working to a line.

http://youtu.be/Z4ch9px_ZHk

Another decent view. http://youtu.be/2Tvxy_UOGMY

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Ok, as I look at the image I have a question. The board looks flat except off the segment you are holding. If this is the case, I would rip that off, joint the edges and try again. Do my eyes lie?

Looks to me like the held section and the section next to it are just slightly off...  At the end near the sander appears to be a bit of a gap (might be the photo angle), but the held section definitely looks to have a curve.  If you could cut it off with the table saw and reglue it (sand the edges and faces flat and square first), I'd say it should recover nicely.

 

We are always our own worst critics.  This is not bad at all.  You've got fixes, and you've learned skills.  You're doing just fine.

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Thanks again everyone.  The picture made it look a little better than it was.  It was uneven in several places so I tried the hand plane and I think I made it worse.  Rather than keep trying to fix it, I might just suck it up and take it somewhere because I spent too much money on the wood to just keep damaging it.  Learned some valuable lessons though, that's for sure.

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Solo, Just for the hell-of-it, put your board between cauls, one on top and bottom on each end and snug them down and place this in the sun for a day. If you don't have cauls, place it with a weight on it, the high side up, in the sun. I took a cutting board to work one day to show someone and put it back in my truck. When I got home that evening, it looked like yours so the next morning I placed it outside w/ weights on it and it flattened back out. Worth a try.

Disclaimer.. Not responsible for it making it worse :unsure:

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Solo, Just for the hell-of-it, put your board between cauls, one on top and bottom on each end and snug them down and place this in the sun for a day. If you don't have cauls, place it with a weight on it, the high side up, in the sun. I took a cutting board to work one day to show someone and put it back in my truck. When I got home that evening, it looked like yours so the next morning I placed it outside w/ weights on it and it flattened back out. Worth a try.

Disclaimer.. Not responsible for it making it worse :unsure:

I'll try that this weekend.  I live in Charleston so if I do it while I'm at work, it will be sunny when I leave and by the time I get back it will have stormed 14 different times with no warning or forecast.  Thanks.

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Solo, do you have a power planer? 

 

if so, the best way to fix this issue IMO, is to run it through the planer. All you need to do is make a really simple planer sled out of scraps. You can have this thing fixed in less than an hour total.

I do not.  Since I'm newer to this, that hasn't made it to the must have list that is approved by my wife.  I've started the pouting routine so another six months of that and I might be allowed to get one

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I do not.  Since I'm newer to this, that hasn't made it to the must have list that is approved by my wife.  I've started the pouting routine so another six months of that and I might be allowed to get one

 

You need to start doing the little kid foot stomp. :D    power planers make life so much easier.

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Wound up taking it to a woodcrafter today.  I don't know how to describe him except to say his shop was impressive.  He sells hardwood so he had a shed full of it and all sorts of power tools.  He used some sort of industrial sander.  52" wide belt sander I think is what he calls it on his website.  He didn't charge me anything because I stayed for a few minutes and helped him smooth out six huge mahogany slabs.  So we got my itty bitty cutting board as flat as we could and now I'll continue my learning process.  Maybe some joinery next.

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