Australian Wood Review - June 2018

60 Australian Wood Review

TECHNIQUE

F

or some furniture projects, how well the final assembly

or glue-up goes according to plan could determine

their fate of success or ruin. Some glue-ups are more

challenging than others, but seasoned woodworkers always

approach each assembly with a great deal of care because

they know from experience that some glue-up blunders are

too costly to fix.

Dry-fitting, as we all know, is indispensable in each

assembly job. In a complex glue-up like the speech bubble

shelves shown in photos 1 and 2 that included dovetails

and angled joinery, I would go as far as drawing up and

testing the order of dry-fitting before the final glue-up. If

you tend to overstress with your glue-up tasks, I have some

favourite glue-up tricks to share with you.

1. Laminating boards
   To make a thicker stock, we often glue two or more pieces
   together. However, when two boards are applied with glue
   and clamped together, they tend to shift, bringing the
   pieces out of alignment. One simple solution is to place
   a few grains of coarse sand or salt on one of the mating
   surfaces and press them together in alignment before
   clamping. The sand or salt particles will bite in and prevent
   the boards from moving when clamping pressure is applied
   (photo 3).


2. Gluing up panels
   My foolproof approach to panel glue-ups is multi-pronged.
   First, ensure the surface you’re gluing your assembly on is
   flat, as a warped surface can transfer that warp onto your

6 Tips For

Better Glue-ups

Charles Mak shows how to de-stress your assembly and glue-up situations.