Gluing Up Large Panel From Two Boards

[ejstefl]

Hello,

I'm working on building the American Trestle Table from the Autumn '06 Woodworking issue. I purchased two large pieces of 5/4" Walnut, about 19"x85". I'm trying to sort out my strategy to make the top.

I'd like the top to finish out at about 32" wide, by as long and thick as possible.

I have a 6" jointer and a 15" planer, so that won't help me.

I have an 18x36 drum sander. I may be able to run the single pieces through the sander, but I doubt I'll be able to run the full top through.

I also have hand planes, although I've never flattened a board entirely by hand.

I can think of three ways to do this:

1) Use a fore plane with an 8" radius iron to knock down the high spots on one side of each board until they sit flat. Run them through the drum sander, flat side down, until one side is flat. Flip and run through until the other side is flat and they are consistent thickness. Joint one edge on each, glue them up, and finish them with planes/sanders.

2) Surface both both entirely with handplanes. If I understand the process, I would use the fore plan across the grain to get it flat on one side, then use the jointer at first diagonal then across the grain, then finish with a smooth plane. My question here is on order of operations - how close should I get each board before gluing up? Is it easier to just get both boards flat, then glue, then use the jointer to level them? Or is it easier to get each board flat and to uniform thickness, then glue up?

3) Glue up boards, and take to the lumber yard and have them run it through their wide belt sander.

One last question - the boards have a bit of checking on the ends. Not sure yet if I'll be able to cut it off or not. What's the best way to address this?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

[BloomingtonMike]

4) cut the boards into strips, mill them, glue them back up

Cut the checks off when you process the stock

[ejstefl]

Thanks for the response - definitely not going to do that, though

I sought out two sequentially cut wide boards specifically for the look I'd achieve with them. I understand that by cutting them into strips it would still look pretty good, but I am going for perfect. I probably should have mentioned that in my initial post.

[BloomingtonMike]

ejstefl said:

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Thanks for the response - definitely not going to do that, though

I sought out two sequentially cut wide boards specifically for the look I'd achieve with them. I understand that by cutting them into strips it would still look pretty good, but I am going for perfect. I probably should have mentioned that in my initial post.

---

5) take it to a shop that can do it perfect and pay the man

[JGrout]

I would do the first one flatten one side sand then glue together. I have done table tops up to 48" wide using a 24" drum sander and it works fine.

The checking? you cut it out or you fill the checks in with dutchman patches.

Considering you are not willing to downsize the slabs to work them this is not likely going to be a choice for you

I cut them off BTW I do not need the top cracking more down the road

If the top needs to be a certain length I just add breadboard ends after cutting the checks out

[rwe2156]

There are some very good videos on milling by hand, which is what you're looking at, I think.

Rob Cosman & Paul Sellers come to mind.

Uniform thickness is achieved by scribing a line and planing to it.

Oh, if you don't already have them, you'll need some winding sticks.

Good luck and happy calorie burning!

[Doug_H]

ej

This is a lot more difficult to answer than it may seem. If I take you question as seriously as it deserves, there are many unanswered questions.

The very first question is the dryness of the lumber. The thickness and the checking at the end suggest to me that this is lumber from a local sawmill. So, make sure that it is dry enough to work -- 10-12% moisture would be the max. Otherwise it will continue to dry while you are working it and even after the table is built (a disaster).

Second, you must start with four-square lumber. You are probably better off taking this somewhere to have it planed. What is the grain like and how much do you like to hand plane (or how skilled are you with a hand plane)? Walnut is often easy to work compared to other hardwoods but beautiful rising and falling grain is difficult, and will require a steep cutting angle, i.e., a lot of difficult work.

Even after that you may need to joint it flat, which suggests ripping it into widths that will fit your jointer. It can be dangerous to rip a board that is not flat. Consider clamping it to a plywood sled, etc. By all means use a riving knife when you try it. Have a look at these notes on
preparing four-square lumber

Once you have four-square stock you can edge-glue the boards. Here is a link to some Notes on Making Glued-Up Panels

Despite my best efforts I have never achieved a perfect alignment, so this may be the point at which you take the panel to a commercial drum sanding service.

I hope this helps.

Doug

[David G]

The hand plane approach is easier than it first appears if the wood can be planed without tearout. It is a workout, but is easier than handling a big heavy piece of wood. My other choice would be a trip to a woodshop with a belt sander.

[jteneyck]

I would use a router sled to flatten the slabs and bring both sides parallel. It's stupid simple to do and you will end up with two slabs that are flat, the same thickness, and with no tear out. I would joint the edges with a router and a long straight bit with the router riding against a straight edge. There's no way you can man handle those big slabs over the jointer. If you glue it up carefully so that there there's no mismatch at the seam you'll be able to sand it from there with a ROS. Or take it to someone with a widebelt sander.

John

[ejstefl]

Thanks for the advice so far.

The boards are pretty straight grained, no knots at all, no sapwood on the edges. They are dry, having been cut over 3 years ago.

I've worked plenty with walnut before, and am familiar with how easily it can plane, and how easily it can tear out! I've done a fair amount of hand planing, but never to S4S a rough board. Prior to this, I've only had boards of a width that would fit through my planer, so I used the planer sled method (or the joint as much as possible and ridge method).

My tentative plan is to flatten (enough) with a plane, send each board through the drum sander, glue up, then finish with a jointer and smoother plane. We will see how well this work, I suppose. Worst case is I take it to the wide belt sander, but I'd prefer not to.

This should be interesting!