Making Book Matched Panels-Glueing Up

Now I begin to glue the panels up. At this point I have dry clamped the pieces and have a set up for gluing ready. Not having all the clamps I want, I can only glue two panels at a time.

For these panels I am Using Titebond II since I want the glue to set quickly and there won't be a problem with the joint setting too soon. I spread glue evenly on both surfaces to be joined. Use enough to wet both surfaces. I am using a trimmed down acid brush here to spread the glue. You don't need a lot of squeeze out.

Make sure the correct faces are up and you are joining the correct edges. Match the grain as you want and then start clamping. I line the joint up with my fingers and begin applying clamp pressure. I try to apply pressure evenly by tightening each clamp a bit at a time. This helps keep the pieces from sliding around. It can be difficult to keep the pieces in the same plane when clamping. Sometimes you need to use a block and mallet to even things up. I fuss with the clamps until I am happy. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get everything right. After I have the clamps tightened I set the assembly aside and start another. This is when you want more clamps, always more clamps.

After the minimum set time for the glue has passed you can take the clamps off and scrape any excess glue off. Next I'll be sizing and raising the panels and getting them ready for finish.

Making Book Matched Panels-Edge Joining

After being re-sawn and thickness planed, most of the panel material stayed flat but I did have a few pieces that bowed or twisted. I re jointed the miscreants and ran everything through the planer again to bring it all to the same thickness. Now it is ready to be jointed and glued up.

To prepare the edges for joining I gang each pair of boards up with the show sides facing each other and clamp them in a vise. That way, if the edges are not planed perfectly square they should conform to each others bevel in the book match configuration. I usually am able to make the edges very square with the face though. I use a small square to make the edges even and to see if the edges are out of square with the face.

I use 2 planes for this.A #4 1/2 Veritas smoothing plane and  an H.M.T. Gordon wooden smoothing plane. 

I start with the #4 1/2,

Check progress along the way,

And then a few passes with the Gordon plane to finish.

The Gordon plane is set for a very fine shaving and I use it for final smoothing after I have the edge nicely square. When I think I am done I check the fit by hand and then, if that looks good, with some clamp pressure. I don't want to force anything together. A small hollow in the middle of the joint is considered desirable, the theory being that the ends will shrink a bit more than the middle of a board due to the exposed end grain. This is probably more important with longer material but, if I have a slight gap (1/32" or less) in the center of an edge joint I don't worry about it as long as I can close it with hand pressure. On the other hand, if the joint is fat in the middle or if I have to apply a lot of pressure to close the joint then I need to make it fit better. 

Finally, I check across the joint for flatness while the boards are under a bit of clamp pressure. I want this perfectly flat. 

There are ten panels in this project so I repeat this 9 more times. It really goes pretty quick with material that has been properly machined. Next it's glue up.

Milling Lumber

Milling lumber from rough stock is an enjoyable endeavor to me. As each board is jointed I get a good look at the grain pattern and color. At this point I can make some critical judgements about the placement and use for each piece. I work hard to try to make the grain of the boards I use "work" harmoniously together, at least to my eye.

I begin milling by breaking the large pieces down into smaller sizes where possible. This makes the material easier to handle and also reduces the amount of stock removal for bowed and cupped pieces. I use a chop saw or skil saw to cut stock to length and the band saw to rip cut.

Now I flatten one face at the jointer. The jointer and planer I own (Powermatic 8" jointer PJ-882HH and 15" planer 15HH) both have Byrd helical cutterheads. These heads really work well in figured wood. I experienced almost no tearout in this maple and I know from running this type of stuff through a jointer and planer with straight knives that that is remarkable. The helical design also makes the machine quieter but I always wear hearing protection when running almost any tool.

Next I joint an edge square to the just flattened face, then the stock is ready to be thickness planed and ripped to width.

I started milling with the maple since I had a good idea of what I needed from each piece and I was eager to see the figure in the pieces I had bought. Here I have jointed one face flat.

And here I have jointed an edge at 90 degrees to the face and have planed the opposite face. The material is stickered and resting for a few days before final sizing and resawing. I'm pleased with the material and think it will make some gorgeous panels.

The walnut took a while to figure out what to cut where.  I am still mulling things over for this project and fear I may be short a bit on material. I had chosen some material to resaw for legs which was riff sawn, and I thought I had all the other parts figured out but I'm still making decisions.  Here is the rough stock waiting to be made into something.

Here is most of the stock milled into rough sizes.

 Here is an action shot of me resawing at the bandsaw...

and the produce of my effort.

The boards on the left must have had some inner tension because they both bowed to the outside in the middle when resawn. I was planning to use those for the top rails of the frame front and back but will have to see if they will still work. They may lose too much material when flattened. If so I will have to rethink my layout. At this point I have stickered everything and will let it set for a few days before I start final sizing and joinery. Well, that does it for now. I'll be back in a couple of days with more.

A Trip To Goby Walnut In Portland Oregon

I went to Goby Walnut Products today to pick out material for the blanket chest. I had looked on their website and thought they would have what I needed. They log street trees and have a nice selection of walnut and big leaf maple as well as other species like locust and sycamore.Here is their showroom/warehouse where you will find a lot of nice figured lumber.

Here is the figured lumber shorts section.

I spent about an hour or so looking around and picking out material for panels. Most of their stock in front is milled 2 inches or so thick. Great for resawing into parts. Cyndi, the inside sales manager, helped me with pricing, location of stock etc. and was very friendly and helpful. Next I went looking for walnut stock for the frame parts. The dimension stock is located in the warehouse section.

After a while I had what I thought I needed so loaded up a cart and went to check out. Cyndi tallied everything up and I settled the bill.

I found Goby Walnut Products to be a good source for some nice lumber and enjoyed shopping there. They have a pretty large selection available and I am sure that I will be returning when I am looking for figured walnut or maple. Now I will begin the milling process and start to make a blanket chest from the lumber I just purchased. Check back and see how it's going.