Panel Clamping Methods

[Kyle Kaldor]

I'm looking for a good way to glue up some panels that will be used for some doors and drawer fronts. I want to not only clamp the boards in the traditional way by putting pressure on the jointed edges, but also to clamp them flat because I don't own a planer or drum sander and want the edges to be as flush as possible so I don't have to sand too much.

I saw a couple of different clamping methods that you can buy and use 2x2's to clamp the boards flat.

http://www.veritastools.com/products/Page.aspx?p=136
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10711&uuid=83A6F64E-1372-6771-F60130FEDC09DEB9

Has anybody used any of these clamps or even built their own? I was at a cabinet shop once and saw them using some type of square tubing on either sides of the boards, but I can't remember exactly how they did it.

[Clint Olver]

You could use cauls with standard F-clamps, but I would use biscuits or dowels if I didn't have a planer. That being said, If your pieces are perfectly square and you have Bessy or Gross Stabil clamps, your panels should always glue up level.

Here's some panels I did yesterday without cauls, biscuts or dowels. They are seamless once the glue was scraped off.

[Kyle Kaldor]

Clint, I was planning on using my Bessy K-body's with biscuits, but thought it would be nice to use some cauls as well. I honestly didn't know what cauls were (the proper term, anyways) and I guess that is what I was asking for. Your panels look good. Looks like you just have two boards glued together. I will probably have three or four narrower boards.

[Clint Olver]

Only clamp 2 at a time, otherwise you are asking for headaches.

C

[Dave Lehnert]

FYI- ShopSmith also offers that type clamp. Click the link below and that will take you to the page. That page has a link to a 5 min video on using the clamps as a press.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/mvclamp_doublebar.htm

[Rick Markham]

Has anyone tried the veritas ones, I actually just noticed them last night and thought that they seemed pretty ingenious in how they work

[Paul Johnstone]

Plano glue clamps work great, but they are kind of expensive.

If you have a jointer, you can easily make great cauls out of 2 x 2 hardwood. (Some people use dimensional lumber).

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Just use 4 stiff jointed boards the edges of which you have waxed well and arranged so they form two units of juxtaposing clamps along the 90 degree angle of the glue joints across the flat faces of the boards you are gluing.

As you are clamping up the glue joints use C clamps or whatever you have to apply pressure on those two sets of boards to force the glue up into flatness.

Mostly this is necessary because the bloody clamps one uses to clamp the glue up will always exert forces that cause the boards to bow. This, even if you alternate the clamps you will get this effect however it may play out as a spiral twist instead of a bow. I find this solution of using right angle clamped boards to be a perfectly serviceable one.

[Joe Chritz]

Regular clamps (I use K bodies almost always) and cauls have been around forever because they work.

Most other systems do the same thing but much faster at a higher cost.

Joe

[Gary Muto]

I have the Rockler type although I actually bought mine at Woodcraft. I've only used them on cutting boards (16" max). They are easy to set up and use. I got really good results aligning the boards during glue up. I cleaned the glue squeeze out with a scraper and only needed a few passes at the drum sander.

[Bill Huber]

I have the Rockler type although I actually bought mine at Woodcraft. I've only used them on cutting boards (16" max). They are easy to set up and use. I got really good results aligning the boards during glue up. I cleaned the glue squeeze out with a scraper and only needed a few passes at the drum sander.

Just put some packing tape on them before you do your glue up, works great and when you get glue on them just put the tape off and put on some more.

[Lee Bidwell]

I've got an old set of 4-way equal pressure clamps like the Rockler ones you show that I inherited. They do work quite well, but have a couple of drawbacks. First, they are a little fussier to set up than parallel clamps with cauls, and second, there is a limit to the width of the panel you can glue up. That said, I used them for a kitchen full of frame and panel doors, and the results were excellent.

Another great option, as stated before, is a simple set of cauls. They are easy to set up, can be made any length, and are simple to make. For an excellent tutorial on making cauls out of dimensional lumber using a hand plane (or you can use a power jointer), see this thread (http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=126343&highlight=caul)by Mike Henderson.

Lee

[fRED mCnEILL]

Once I got my Bessey parrallel jaw clamps I got rid of all the contraptions I had used to do glue ups. As long as the edges are perfectly square the glue ups using the Besseys are always straight.

Fred.