Panel Glue Up System

[Harold Burrell]

Does this look like a good investment? It seems a tad pricey to me...but it sure does look handy...

http://www.ptreeusa.com/panel_glue_up.htm#2952

:o

[ed vitanovec]

The Plano clamp has been around for a long time, I have heard good comments about them in the past. They are a little pricey and the quality is excellant, plus I think they are made in the USA.

[Jim Leslie]

I guess it is a good investment if you do a lot of panels. By coincidence, I glued up 2 oak panels over the past 2 days; 16.5 x 22" using a couple of 24" Bessy clamps and some hardwood 2 x 2's clamped horizontally across them to keep them flat. It worked fine. I could have done both in the same day I guess, but there was no rush. But if I had to do many panels, it looks like the way I'd prefer to go. BTW I can stand the Bessy clamps vertically too.
Having said all that, I am a self-confessed tool junkie and would love to have them!

[fRED mCnEILL]

I built a glue up system similAr to that and then I discovered Bessey parallel jaw clamps.Way easier and just as good. If your boards are jointed to 90 deg. they glue up easy with bowing.Parallel pressure is the key as far as I`m concerned.

[frank shic]

if anyone lives in the bay area, PM me if you're interested in buying it at a discount. i don't use it nearly as much as i thought i would.

[abram godshall]

they are excellent ... my son and i made his kitchen last winter and used them exclusively for panels and doors. i got mine at a woodworking show when they were on sale so wait if you can. highly recommend them.

[Rob Wright]

I have one and love it! I have the Plano version that I bought from a fellow Creeker. What I like about it is that it is mounted on a wall behind my rolling toolbox. When I need to use it I just spin the toolbox 90 degrees, insert the boards and then spin the tool box back to the original position. It doesn't get used every time I am in the shop, but it sure helps not having my bessey's all over the floor gluing up panels!

The one tip I will give is that you just can't put a stack of boards in it and tighten the clamp and expect all of the boards to be perfectly aligned. I start on the left side - apply a little bit of pressure and align all of the board edges and then fully tighten the clamp, then I move down to the next clamp and repeat....

[Paul Johnstone]

I have the Plano system and I love it.
The only disadvantage is that it does take up wall space.
However, it saves a lot of floor space in glueups.. you don't have all those Bessey's standing up all over the floor.
I think it's a good value, when you consider you can do multiple glueups at once. (You can stack them, if you are careful).
It replaces a lot of K bodies.

Another thing to note.. You have to join the edges of the boards. You want the pieces to fit tightly. The plano clamps aren't like pipe clamps that you can really crank down to close the gaps :) Of course, you should be joining the edges anyhow.. but it's really critical on the Plano.