Popular Post derekcohen Posted April 23, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 I have Bessey parallel clamps, however I prefer to rely on blue tape when glueing up panels. It is clear to me that one does not need clamps applying great pressure to create flat panels with tight joints. I am in the process of building an apothecary chest. This one is a little different in that it will have a curved front with curved drawer fronts. There are 24 drawers in all, and these are arranged in 4 vertical rows (by 6 horizontal rows). The chest requires three vertical dividers. The carcase and drawer fronts are Black Walnut. The dividers are made predominantly from Merbau, a hardwood, and faced with Black Walnut. The Merbau is secondary wood and will not be seen with the drawers inserted. The boards were thicknessed and jointed with machines. They are slightly oversize and will be taken to final dimension with hand planes. This is a panel-to-be ... Stretch blue tape across one side to pull the boards tightly together ... Run blue tape along the joins ... we do not want glue escaping ... Flip the panel over and insert glue into an open join ... Do this with all the joins, and then pull the lot together with tape. Wipe the excess glue off with a wet rag ... Add a caul .. ... and leave to dry ... The result is very flat panels, ready for planing before being cut down and inserted into dados ... Regards from Perth Derek 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 I have used this technique before but on panels that were smaller then yours appear to be. Well jointed edges is the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 Interesting i just did this for the first time yesterday. I am making a bird feeder and the panels were thin and small. It worked so well I'll try it on larger panels going forward. I also like the blue tape method to do miters for picture frames. I usually supplement with clamps but the blue tape keeps things in place until i can get the band clamp secured and tightened. Dare i say though that blue tap costs can add up over time and eventually might cost more than clamps we're talking like 50 year investment here . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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