My first attempt at making boards out of planks - howto?

[SunnyUK]

I'm going to build a cupboard in the alcove next to the chimney breast. Having previously done similar things in MDF, I decided it was time to try my hand at something wood-only.

I couldn't find any boards made of softwood wide enough to use as the uprights of the cupboard, so I bought 7cm wide planed planks at B&Q. Also bought a dowelling jig, so over the weekend I'll try my hand at putting 5 boards together side-by-side, held in place with dowels and glued, to get a single wider board. I know it won't be perfect and that I'll probably have to plane any unevennesses (particularly since the planks aren't 100% flat, although they're sorta straight).

I have never had to glue wood before (only worked with MDF and those white plastic corner brackets that so often are used in flatpacked kitchens). But I understand that I'll need to drill dowel holes, put PVA on the sides of the planks and then press it all together.

Practical questions:

When I press the planks together, there will presumably be some glue squeezed out. On the top of the "board" I can wipe that off, but how do I get to wipe the backside of the board without moving it around before the glue has set?

Will the glue that gets squeezed out make the board stick to the floor? (or rather, to the tarp that I'll be putting down on the floor while I'm gluing)

It says on my tin of PVA that it sets in a couple of hours and is solid within 24 hours. Does that mean I need to keep it clamped for 24 hours, or can I remove the clamps after a few hours? (I only have one set of clamps and would like to make two boards the same day rather than having to spend the whole weekend just making boards)

I've had a browse around the site. Looks like a great place. I look forward to spend some more time here

 

[big-all]

you mention clamps good as long as you realise you need a pair of battons the width of the glued planks front and back every 16-20" along the join with a bar clamp near the battons on alternating sides with clamping blocks to protect the work

you also alternate the growth rings on the planks so any cup goes up then down then up ect

this will allow you to lift up and wipe the underside
you only need a bead of glue about the size of a bic pen refill or about 3mm


some alternative to the proper clamps are workmate jaws
ratchet clamps screwing the 2 battons together just off the work

you cannot tighten a sash clamp accross the work without battons nearby as the work will "pop out" as you tighten

if the battons accidently get glued onto the work don't pull the battons off rotate them around the glue line [stand the work upright ad hit lightly with a hammer ]

normal glue will set ok in 5 hrs at 20deg at around 10deg it will take about 12 to 15hrs you then leave for half as long again before rough handeling

 

[SunnyUK]

Thanks big-all,

let me see if I've got this right. My planks are 166 cm long (sorry, I'm not good at thinking in inches). I presume I can put the first pair of battons 16-20" from the bottom? Or should I start and end with a pair close tho each end? That would then mean I can probably (?) get by with two sets of battons each being 50cm from the ends of the workpiece and with 66cm between them. Yes, I realise 66cm is stretching the 16-20" a bit...

I've got a pair of "trigger clamps" (the kind that looks like a pistol grip where you just "pull the trigger" to tighten) which I intended to use across the width of the planks. They claim they can provide 300 kg force - is that going to be enough to hold the planks together?

Thinking about it, I should probably have 3 sets of battons and three clamps to stay within the 16-20" you mention. So another trip to B&Q for an extra clamp, but it will probably come handy again at some other time.

I don't have additional clamps to hold the battons together, but presumably it's just as good if I drill a hole in each end of the battons and then put a bolt through and tighten a nut. Am I right in thinking that the battons don't need to be ultra tight together, as long as they prevent the work from "jumping up"?

Thank you for the tip about rotating the battons if they get glued on. Otherwise I would probably have stepped on the work and tried to rip the batton off. So that tip might well save me from ruining my first attempt...

Thanks also for the tip about the growth rings.

 

[r896neo]

Hey good to hear your heading away from the dark side! (Chipboard MDF etc) Have you tried Veneered mdf etc it can be great for large ares on sides of wardobes etc and with a proper wood veneer on it, it is as real as it looks. also can be finished really well.

I realize youve got your timber etc but if your doing this again check out your local timer merchant the timber you get will be straighter and cheaper than B&Q. It is a bit daunting cause you may not know what they have or exactly what you want but if you plan on doing more stuff like this or you enjoy it check them out.

Anyway back to the point. Heres a few tips from my experience.

If you use old melamine faced chipboard as battons it doesn't stick with the excess glue.

Try to get the joining edges straight but if anything a tiny dip in the middle is good as it is taken out by the clamping and stops the ends of a long join splitting over time. Rub the joints against each other after applying glue.

Forget the dowels, there will be no bending load on a cupboard's side, assuming your timber is at least 2cm thick wood glue is plenty strong. Also dowelling may drive you insane.

Enjoy it and do check out the wonders of your local timber yard.

 

[big-all]

ok idealy around 100mm to 150mm at the ends

if your wood is well paired and doesnt need much sqeezing you can get away with 3 cross battons and 2 clamps inbetween

in fact you can get away with glue and no clamping if the joins are exactly parralel if your using dowels or buiscuts but you would need slightly more glue as our not squeezing the surfaces together
you just glue protect the top edge and tap[hammer ]firmly together

but this is not an ideal solution if the wood is other than parrallel you will nead to clamp

ratchet straps cost about £10 for four and can pull boards together if buying sash clamps are not an option

 

[SunnyUK]

Thank you so much for your help and advice. Since it's the first time I'm trying this, it's a bit daunting, and I'm grateful for the assistance.

r896neo,
good point about the timber merchant. Guess I'm a typical DIY'er who hasn't been around many other places than B&Q or Wickes. But as I do intend to do more if this comes out successfully, I'll certainly try to check them out.

Good idea with the melamine faced chipboard as battons. I ought to have loads of bits left over from when I made the built-ins upstairs (yeah they were all made of conti boards... this was before I dared to try my hand at "real wood".

You're right that dowelling may drive me insane... I can see how it can be awfully tricky to get right. So I may have to give up on doing it, but since I've bought the jig and since I need to learn how to do dowels at some point, I'll give it a go. Good to know it's not absolutely essential here... so if it turns out to be too much trouble I can safely give up on it (my timber is only 15mm thick, but it will be screwed to the walls (outside wall and chimney breast wall).

Big-all,
my planks are not entirely parrallel, so I think the battons are essential. I'll get myself some ratchet straps; they sound like a good cheap option for this. I know that if this is to become a hobby of mine, I'll need to invest in tools over time, so the sash clamps will probably be bought at some point... just trying to keep the investments in check now that we've just been through the Christmas period.

Okay... here goes. ready for the first attempt. If I post back with swearwords and tears it's because it all got f***ed up

 

[big-all]

these are the ones i purchased for £12 10 years ago i assumed they would have come down a bit like most things but unfortunatle have gone up 50%

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/search/filter/040213206/page/1

any way take the long strap remove the hook [grinder or hacksaw throught the join then open enough to slide strap out about 2mm gap]
grind /file the bolt holding the short strap to the ratchet
take some 8mm 1 1/2" bolts secure long strap to ratchet with 8mm bolt and locking nuts or single secure nut

protect edges with wooden blocks or several layers of paper/hardboard

bit of hardboard /ply /thick card doubled under the ratchet
keep in mind the ratchet will move forward a few inches as it tightens so dont place near to the edge

 

[Bespoke]

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[SunnyUK]

That could easily stop me doing a lot of gluing, Bespoke, that's true! But so far I'm having fun. A full day spent on not achieving very much, but as it's a hobby, I guess it's okay to not see results fast.

 

[imamartian]

Sunny i agree with you, get stuck in and make your own, it's the best way to learn.... but if it drives you potty, you could try these:

http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/110159

 

[Bespoke]

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[SunnyUK]

After a long day of first trying to figure out how a dowel jig works, then drilling holes for hours, and another day drilling more holes, I now finally have the first assembled board laying on the living room floor with glue and clamps and battons. It took me a LOT longer than I had thought putting a simple board together. Having said that, there's some satisfaction in seeing it there. The joins even feels pretty smooth (I had dowels every 15 cm).

I can't quite figure out how to do the gluing "quickly". This is what I did:

1) hammer dowels into one side of each board, making sure they're all the way at the bottom of the hole
2) put glue on the edge of one board
3) carefully align it with its partner, press together so the dowels "grip" a bit. A few bangs with a hammer to make sure the dowels are at least 5mm into the 2nd board
4) glue on the free side of the 2nd board
5) carefully align it with its partner, press together, etc
... and so on for the total of 5 boards
6) lay bottom battons out on the floor
7) put the board on the battons
8) lay top battons on top of the board
9) C-clamp top and bottom battons together
10) Put clamps across the board, pulling it tightly together
11) Wipe of the excess glue that were squeezed out where the planks were joined
12) Worry about the glue that were dripping down on my underlay (an old sheet) and hoping that it won't penetrate the sheet and get to the new floor I laid just a few weeks ago

As I said, it feels pretty smooth on the side I can see. Maybe I could raise it up and wipe the other side of the board, but this whole process took so long that the glue on the up-side were difficult to wipe off anyway. So if the backside is as smooth as the front side, I'll just sand it and sand the squeezed-out glue away. If it's not as smooth, I may have to learn a plane (the last time, apart from a not very successful test yesterday, was 25 years ago).

immartian,
THANK YOU! I was looking in-store at my local Wickes as well as B&Q but couldn't find softwood-boards. Good to know they do exist. Although it's been fun, I think I will go and ask the local Wickes to get some of those boards in the next time... w

Bespoke,
it probably did cost me more than buying some of those softwood boards imamartian linked to. If I start to include the cost of the clamps, the dowel-jig, etc, it's got to be the most expensive pine-boards on this side of the Alps! *lol* I take your point about not necessarily having to do EVERYTHING. And while it's been fun, and while there is satisfaction in knowing that I can make a board if need be, I do think I'll take the easier option next time *s*

A question, if I may (and if anyone has read through all my ramble above):

Yesterday when I tried to plane my test sample, I ended up marking the planks where they weren't joined, and I didn't manage to get rid of the "edges" between the joined planks. I adjusted my plane so it only takes off very little, and then I just pushed it along on top of the joins. I can't figure out why I didn't get a good result (apart from lack of practise and having 5 thumbs). Any special technique I should know about, or is it just a matter of perservering until the results get good?

 

[Bespoke]

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[SunnyUK]

I'm using a hand plane. For this project I bought a smoothing plane and a block plane (http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-Boxed-Set-of-Two-Planes-554049.htm) - I just forgot that I didn't know how to operate these tools!

Sounds like my problems are because I don't plane square.

I should mention that during my tests, I did NOT start at one one of my plank and run the plane all along the length (a bit awkward as I don't have arms long enough to reach along 166cm planks). Instead I put the plane down a little before the unevenness I wanted to remove and pushed it until I was well past the end of the unevenness. But I can't swear that I held it exactly square to the "highest" edge... I probably didn't. Would that be the problem?

 

[Bespoke]

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