Walnut Glue-ups. Any Tips?

[Irvin Cooper]

Good afternoon.

I am in the process of glueing up 1"x4"x8' walnut to make posts for a bed.
Since the posts will be tapered, I am very concerned about the reveal of the glued edges.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how best to minimize the glue lines? Any tips on the appropriate glue? (I usually use regular yellow glue).

Thanks.

Irv

[glenn bradley]

I think Charles Niel (http://www.antiquesbuiltdaily.com/)did a video on building the glue up with the tapers in mind. That is; the pieces of the glue up were tapered prior to glueing to avoid cross-joint cuts during the tapering of the post-blank.

[Chris Padilla]

Titebond III dries to a medium brown and would probably be fine.

Good prep of the stock to assure flatness and good gluing techniques all help to keep the glue line to a minimum.

There is a glue I've been using for my veneer work that is a very dark brown and just perfect for walnut: Better Bonds available at veneersupplies.com (http://www.veneersupplies.com/product_info.php?cPath=86_40&products_id=1319). It is a dark chocolate brown. Just because it is forumlated for veneering doesn't mean you couldn't use it for your application if you're very concerned about concealing the glue line. You might shoot Joe (joe@joewoodworker.com) an email and ask his opinion.

There is also a Dark Titebond II (http://www.titebond.com/IntroPageTB.ASP?UserType=1&ProdSel=ProductCategoryTB.asp?prodcat=1) available but I've no direct experience with it. Certianly, I've used my fair share of Titebond II but since III is out, that is my main glue...when not pressing veneers.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm gluing up a walnut project now too, so good timing. This is the first I've tried Titebond III, and as Chris said, its good stuff for walnut. It blends well. Titebond II seems to suck back into a glueline more than III does as well. The key to any glueup is good joinery, a dryfit or two, and plenty of clamps. IMHO, walnut is the nicest wood to work with, making it easy to tune joinery.

[Peter Quinn]

titebond also makes a 'dark wood' formulation that is brown and matches walnut quite well when dry. They key is to have well jointed boards and plenty of clamping pressure to minimize the glue line. Type III also dries fairly dark.

[Paul Atkins]

Miter them together -only glue joints will be on the corners and almost invisible. If you need extra thickness, glue on something on the inside surface so you won't have a hole in the middle. They could be tapered first too. Glue two sides together, then the other two and joint each to fit perfectly. Been there done that.

[Peter Gregory]

The glue up shouldn't worry you much, getting the grain to match is the hard thing. I know some people have claimed to be able to match the grain and make it look good, but I have never done it.

I would use dark glue instead of white and something water resistant, so the line doesn't raise a bump later.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[Irvin Cooper]

Miter them together -only glue joints will be on the corners and almost invisible. If you need extra thickness, glue on something on the inside surface so you won't have a hole in the middle. They could be tapered first too. Glue two sides together, then the other two and joint each to fit perfectly. Been there done that.

What did you glue on the inside?

[Paul Atkins]

I had rips from the boards I was using for one set and another set I used some alder I had. Another time I just shoved a square down the center only about 4" on each end. I turn columns for a furniture maker that are coopered in 6 or 8 pieces up to 7" in diameter and most of the time these are made the same way although most have a hole in the center, but the ends are 'solid' for the lathe centers.