Wider Boards

[Trackman]

I want to make another candle holder but bigger to hold a larger candle. I have 7 1/2" walnut boards but the bigger holder needs to be 9" wide.

What is the best way to attach two boards or is this not something that is wise to do? Thanks!

[wood-n-things]

Make sure you have two square edges and glue them up.

Look on the end grain and match them so the grain goes in the opposite direction to avoid cupping. If you look at the end grain you will see a patten of a semi circle of the growth rings, you want one board to have a cup shape and the other to have a mound shape of the growth rings. Clear as mud?

When you glue them up and clamp them use cauls to keep them flat and not too much pressure or you will squeeze out too much glue. Just use enough pressure so that you begin to see squeeze out.

A caul is..
Build & Use Clamping Cauls - NewWoodworker.com LLC

or ...
- what is a caul? - Woodworking Online

After about 30 minutes in the clamps scrape off the excess glue as best you can. That will make for easier clean up later. Leave it clamped for at least 2-3 hours or overnight if you have the time.

One other thought is if you have a biscuit joiner those can add stability to the newly formed wider piece.
I hope that helps...

[Trackman]

Thank you very much Mike! I see what you mean by the wood grain going in different directions. This is something I wouldn't have know about. What did we do before the internet? lol

Also the web site for the caul is in my favorites for future use it looks like there is a lot of info there on other topics.

One more question - I have Elmer's Wood Glue is this good or do you recommend another bland?

[wood-n-things]

Elmers is okay. I prefer titebond ll or lll (for exterior uses) but use what you have on hand. Remember glues (yellow) only have about 6 months to a year shelf life and then they become suspect.

[w.2014.h]

A really fast way to get ready for gluing is to plane your boards on end. Rip 3-5" widths and run them through the planer on edge beside each other. This gives you a perfect edge for gluing. This saves me time. Also, if possible, glue the boards when they are thicker than what you need and then plane the laminated boards to a final thickness. This completely hides the glue seems. (chisel off squeeze out to save your planer blades)

[Ramjet]

If using a planer be sure and allow enough wood for the snipe unless you have a newer planer with a lock . I loose about 2" at both ends with an old 12"Delta.

Roger

[ChuckD]

I have found the best way to avoid snipe is to build a sled for your timber to ride on. Mine sticks out at least three feet past the end of the planner, and I keep it there for every thing.

[NHokpic]

Trackman - You got some good advise here if you are working with rough lumber and you own a planer and jointer. If you bought finished lumber, you shouldn't have this problem and go back to the 1st post.

An easy way to find out if your board edges are ready for gluing is to stand your board on the edge to be glued and place a light behind it. You need to do this on a clean flat surface like your dinning room table. Now look under the board. Do you see a lot of light shinning though the table top and the board's edge? If not, glue your boards.

If you need to put a straight edge on you boards but you don't own a jointer, don't panic. Just let the group know and I'm sure we can walk you through your problem. Next step would be to use a table saw if you own one. Just keep talking to us and good luck!

[Trout]

I'm working on some candle trays too and going through to same problem..
my pattern calls for a 8 inch board for a 7 3/4 inch wide candle tray. my problem was that I only have a 7 1/2 inch wide board so what I did was reduce the pattern by 1% to fit my wood...

luckily it only took 1%, any more I would of had to go to a smaller candle and the pattern wouldn't of liked that...

Trout

[sawdust11703]

Just go out and buy a wider board. I just picked up a 12" wide piece of walnut a few days ago from my local lumber yard. Most of the online wood suppliers also carry walnut in 12" wide. Personally I hate the look of boards glued together. I don't care how good you're able to do it. You can still see the seams and difference in grain pattern.

[paul44224]

I agree with sawdust11703 on that! I deal with Ocooch Hardwoods. I order online, and it's shipped same day!

Paul

[NC Scroller]

I get my wide boards here:

We specialize in Quarter and Rift sawn Oak Lumber, including wide boards! We ship nationwide.

[sawdustus]

By taking some care in picking the pieces of wood you use, You can make an almost invisible joint which for a fretwork piece, which is mostly empty space after you have finished cutting, means that you will barely see any joint that you made. I personally prefer Titebond II to Elmers and I wipe off any excess squeeze out before it dries with clean damp pieces of old undershirts. Done carefully, it gets all the excess glue off the wood and out of the pores and does not seem to have any affect on the integrity of the joint. If there is a little left on the surface after the glue dries, ( an application of mineral spirits will highlight it), a hand sanding takes care of it.

Hope this helps.

george

[Trackman]

Thanks for all the tips! I don't have a jointer but I do have a planer and a table saw. I am working with rough cut lumber that I got at an auction that was a GOOD buy.

[BobD (Archive)]

One thing to also keep in mind is wood expansion and contraction...AKA warping.If you laminate two boards together, you're much less likely to have the wood warp. Many people sell wide board flat sawn rather than quarter sawn. Flat sawn boards tend to warp a lot more, especially in thin stock.

To tell if a board is flat sawn, look at the end grain. If you see the wood grain curving to the top or bottom, or even worse, if you see a full portion of a circle, the board is flat sawn. When you have a flat sawn board, the edges closest to the sap wood absorb the moisture in the air at a different rate than the wood closest to the center. The rate at which the wood absorbs water (which changes as the season's change) determines how much or how little the wood warps. If the wood absorbs water at the same rate, the wood will stay closer to flat. If some parts absorb water (and expand) faster than other areas (which are not expanding as much), the wood will warp.

Think about how hard it is to find a nice flat 1x12 in a big box store. Most 1x12s (if they're not laminated shelf boards) tend to be pretty warped. But the laminated shelf boards (which are made from a bunch of short, thin pieces glued together) remain pretty flat.

The more time you spend preparing the wood joints, the more indistinguishable they will be, especially on a fretwork like this. Spend extra time working the edges. The edge condition is one of the most important factor in disguising the joint.

It's also important to look at your pattern orientation. Make sure the joint is not in the center of the piece, and try to make sure the joint isn't located right at the point of a triangle or similar geometric form that guides the path of your eye.