Glue up question - using pin fasteners instead of clamps.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have roughly 25 rail and stile panels to make.
I'm using 3/4" thick red oak, with red oak 1/4" plywood panels.

Can I assemble these with clamps, then shoot 23 ga pin nails into the tongues and remove the clamps?
Are 23 ga enough or should I use 18 ga?

[George Bokros]

I assume you are putting the ply panels in grooves in the rail and stiles. I would think if you shot two 5/8 pins into each joint it would hold until the glue dried. Just don't rack them by bumping the corners.

[Brian Tymchak]

Not offering any advice here but I wonder if putting a steel pin into oak in the presence of moisture (glue) will end up with black stains? Maybe using a stainless pin solves that?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Not offering any advice here but I wonder if putting a steel pin into oak in the presence of moisture (glue) will end up with black stains? Maybe using a stainless pin solves that?If it does it shouldn't matter since I can put them in the backside that's not going to be seen.
These are going to be ceiling panels.

George - yeah, I'm going to make these just like a regular door - rails stiles & panel in a 1/4" slot.

[Jim Becker]

I have actually done that a number of times and it works fine as long as you can set the panels aside in a way that protects them while the glue is curing. Shoot from the backside and vary the angle of the pins slightly. Once the glue is dry, check to be sure that the 23 gage pins are actually below the surface before moving on to next steps.

[John TenEyck]

Your plan is fine and that's how many production shops operate, but it only takes 20 minutes in the clamps for TB to set.

John

[Mark Bolton]

Same input as John, commercial shops assemble doors that way all the time. Just make sure your fit is good and you dont have to clamp super hard to draw the joints together because in my experience if you need a fair amount of force to pull the joint tight the joint can still open/relax slightly when you remove the clamps. The pins will hold but not a ton. When I fought with that most was on doors with solid panels and spaceballs.