How to join
1x6 Boards
Need Wide Boards? How to make panels by edge joining lumber | STEP IT UP Woodworking
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yes it's time for the 2016 Olympics by
far my favorite event is synchronized
microjig maker of the gripper work safer
work smarter in a recent woodworking
basics video I discussed using solid
lumber versus plywood in your projects
there are all kinds of reasons why you
might choose one or the other and each
project is different one reason you
might want to use solid wood is if you
plan on creating an edge profile say a
round over or some other decorative
shape if you cut these in plywood its
layers will be exposed and that might
not be the look you're going for it's
certainly easy enough to use solid wood
for small projects but what if you
wanted to build something big like a
solid wood tabletop you can't buy a
single board that would be wide enough
most trees just don't grow that big the
solution is to make your own wide boards
making wide panels is really pretty
simple you just glue together boards
along their edges you will need a table
saw and a jointer but if you don't have
a jointer you can make a simple edge
jointing jig to use on your table saw
more about this in a minute you'll need
clamps wood glue and a little patience
start by finding the straightest board
you can from the lumberyard or Home
Center it doesn't need to be
particularly wide I usually use one by
fours or one by sixes boards that are
wider than that are often warped and
would require additional preparation
beyond the scope of this video to
flatten them out figure out what the
finished length of your tabletop or
panel needs to be and cross cut the
boards a little bit longer cut enough
boards so that when they're all glued
together they'll be wider than you need
your finished panel to be basically just
be sure to make your panel slightly
oversize so that you can cut it down to
its actual size later even if you have
pretty straight boards it might look
like you could just glue them together
now but resist the temptation
most likely the edges aren't mating
together perfectly if you could fit a
sheet of paper between them the glue
probably won't bond as well and the seam
will show
the edges of the board need to be
jointed but don't get confused by that
term jointing a board just means cutting
the edges straight and square to the
face of the board and making the two
edges parallel with each other that's
different than a woodworking joint that
joins two pieces to wood together like a
box joint or a dovetail joint a jointer
doesn't make joints but jointed edges
will meet together perfectly to create a
strong connection you can use a
specialized tool called a jointer but if
you're like me and don't have one you
can also edge joint using your router
table or making a special jig like this
one to use on your table saw I have
links in the description on how to make
both of these the workpiece gets clamped
down and the edge of the sled rides
along my rip fence making the cut edge
parallel with my rip fence no matter how
crooked the board is
I like to mark the edge of the board I
just jointed so I won't forget
the key thing to understand about any
jointing operation is that you only
joint one edge of a board using your
jointer not both so you'll never joint
one edge then flip the board over and
joint the opposite edge they won't be
parallel instead after you see your
jointer or jointing jig on one edge
you'll run that edge along your RIP
fence to make a parallel cut on the
opposite edge it's very satisfying to
see how perfectly boards fit together
once they're jointed it's really worth
taking the time to play with the
positioning of the boards until you get
the grain pattern to look the way you
want it I really like the way these two
come together and create an invisible
seam this one has these wavy patterns
that might look better this way and I
kind of think it does if you look on the
ends of the board you'll see which way
the grain curves and a lot of people
like to reverse one of the directions so
that these two curved this way this one
curves that way I don't think it makes
any difference which way the boards go
pipe clamps are definitely the most
affordable solution for clamping
together your panels they're available
at any hardware store or Home Center you
buy these Orange jaws separately as a
pair then you buy these black pipes to
whatever length you want this part just
screws on to one of the threaded ends
then this part has this little spring
mechanism that holds it in place
I like to keep several different links
of pipe clamps on hand because they're
so inexpensive I've even got this five
foot long one the important thing is to
have everything ready to go so that once
you get the glue on you can just move
right through the process I want to talk
for a moment about biscuits no not the
flaky buttery kind but these wooden ones
there's a bit of controversy about how
effective they are about 20 years ago
biscuit joiners that's Joyner without a
tea we're very popular for gluing up
panels all the tool does is cut slots
along the edge of a board then you glue
these wooden biscuits into the slots the
idea here is that the glue will cause
the biscuits to swell inside of the
board strengthening the joint you can
still buy biscuit joiners and a lot of
people still use them however most
testing now seems to indicate that they
don't really add any strength to a joint
they can be useful for helping you keep
the edges of really long boards aligned
but I don't think that justifies the
cost of buying a biscuit joiner I no
longer use one for gluing together
panels they're perfectly strong without
the biscuit joints remember the glue
itself is stronger than the wood I'll
apply the glue to just these two boards
important thing here is to make sure
that you spread it evenly
it doesn't take a lot of clamping
pressure to hold these together
I'll just slightly tighten them down for
now if you don't see any of the glue
squeezing out it probably means you
didn't use enough to make sure the faces
of the board just are flush you can use
calls like these these are just boards
that I put a piece of packing tape on
them so that glue doesn't stick and I'll
clamp those together
I'm just loosely clamping these for now
now I can start to apply more pressure
to the sides again not a whole lot and
it's important to put a couple of clamps
on the topside tube to prevent it from
bowing usually I just site along the
edge to make sure that it's flat but if
you're real particular you could use a
straight edge if you want you can scrape
off the excess glue when it's slightly
dry I usually like to plan my panel
glue-ups at the end of the day so I can
just let it dry overnight this is always
the fun part to see how it all turned
out
I'll sand off the rest of the glue and
smooth it out you could also run this
through a planer if you have one
once you've got your panel all smoothed
out you can cut it down to its final
size I used that panel to create the
bottom of last week's serving tray
project everybody thanks for watching
this week's step it up video I hope this
gave you the confidence to make your own
panels and take your woodworking to the
next level please click on the box on
the left to see all the videos in my
woodworking basics series covering
topics every woodworker should know and
click the box on the right to see the
latest video from Tom over on my second
channel Home & Garden for mere mortals
we post two new videos every week on H
GMM covering all sorts of home lifestyle
projects I hope you'll check it out and
subscribe don't forget to look in the
description for links to all the stuff I
mentioned in this video thanks again for
watching everybody I'll see you next
week
