Face to Face Glue-ups without slipping

[glenn bradley]

There is sometimes discussion about flat face to flat face glue ups and the slip-n-slide that can bother us. Probably more than one of us has used or at least heard of this method.

I'm building up a small pedestal base like the unfinished and unglued one stacked up in the background. I pre-sand the surfaces that will be tough to get to before I start.

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I drive in very small nails and snip them off with a pair of side-cutters leaving just a nib poking up to grab the next piece. Whether you use 2 or 3 or 5 will depend on the size of your surface.

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I clamp a piece of scrap in the vise to use as a reference surface to align the backs in this case, spread the glue with my customized Rockler gift card glue spreader and stack them up.

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The little spikes on the top of each layer (except the final top surface of course) keeps things from slipping around while I tighten down a couple of cauls.

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Gently now, don't crush the little fella.

[gary Zimmel]

Great little tip Glenn.

[David DeCristoforo]

A couple of grains of sand...

[Dave Lehnert]

I apply the glue then take two pieces of sand paper and rub them together above the glue-up. The grit that falls off into the glue keeps the wood from sliding around. Works very well.

[Rick Thom]

What Dave and David said does the job. A few grains of sharp sand keeps the board from skating as the clamps tighten.

[glenn bradley]

If you know anyone who sandblasts, coarse crystal silica works well. Other sands and salt weren't reliable for me but I'm gonna give that sandpaper idea a shot. I forgot all about that ;-)

[David Perata]

This might sound silly but what grit sandpaper?

[Mike Heidrick]

Just read about Glenn's trick working to help align face frames. That seems pretty cool. I think that was pnuematic brads they used.

Thanks for sharing these ideas everyone.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...what grit sandpaper?"

I'm laughing here, not because this is a funny question but because I used to have a couple of Russian guys working for me and every time I asked one of them to sand something for me they would ask "What gidt sandpaappa?" But for this purpose, you just need plain old sand. I bought a pound of washed aquarium sand about twenty years ago (I think it cost me a dollar). All you need is a few grains dropped into the glue. If it's too course or you use too much it can be counterproductive as it can keep the pieces from drawing up tight. But it's not rocket science....

[Byron Trantham]

Variation on a theme - I use a pinner! BTW, I side the boards around until they stop moving easily then I shoot them

[Jim Crockett]

I use Glen's solution but I dry clamp the pieces together to make a tiny hole. Then, when gluing the pieces together, all I have to do is slide them until the pins stick in the hole.

Jim

[Paul Atkins]

Just don't ask me to turn them with grit and pin nails in them!

[Dave Lehnert]

Originally Posted by David Perata

This might sound silly but what grit sandpaper?

I just use whatever is on my bench at the time but nothing too fine.

[Howard Acheson]

Originally Posted by Dave Lehnert

I apply the glue then take two pieces of sand paper and rub them together above the glue-up. The grit that falls off into the glue keeps the wood from sliding around. Works very well.

Couple of grains of sand work just fine. But I much prefer the snipped off brads.

[Dave Lehnert]

Originally Posted by David Perata

This might sound silly but what grit sandpaper?

Here is a short video from Shopsmith on the subject.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/Tips...p_Glue_Tip.htm