Gluing up some big boards??

[Neville Stewart]

I'm gluing up some large, very old oak boards. they are for a kitchen island, size will be 94" x 54" by 2". I have never used Epoxy and wonder which type would be advised. I will probably us two rows of biscuits for alignment and glue up two boards at a time for ease. I will most likely use walnut oil as a finish as its going to be a working top. Any suggestions before I get in over my head? tx Neville

[Cecil Arnold]

I guess my question would be why are you using epoxy. You will have a more noticable glue line.

[Mark Singer]

I would not use epoxy or bisquits....tight bond 2 should be fine and long grain jointing no bisquits

[Quinn McCarthy]

Neville

I think you could get by with Titebong II or III. It amzes me how strong titebond is and II is water resistant and III is water proof. I have used II for cutting boards and have had no problems with failure. I even put a small one in the dish washer for kicks. It came out all right. I would also think you would not need any biscuits on the joint but go ahead if you want. My concerne would be the size of the top and the moisture content of the wood. Do you know the moisture content of the wood? Just because it is old doesn't mean dry it just means it has reached an equillibrium for your area. You will have to allow for a lot of movement in a top this size. If I had my choise I would make sure that the tangential grain was up rather than the face grain. Quarter sawn or tangential moves a lot less than face grain. I would also make the atachment point to the top of the cabinet float so that it doesn't hinder seasonal movement.

Hope that helps.

Quinn

[Mike Cutler]

Neville.

I've been using the System Three epoxy components. I'm sure that there are other two part epoxy products that are equally good.
Epoxy comes as a system. There is the resin component. There are also the hardeners. There are usually a variety of hardeners within a product line to allow for greater flexibility of time based on temperature. (Longer or shorter "Pot" time, and cure time.
Epoxy works by exothermic reaction. Heat cure. If you were to mix up enough epoxy to do this job all at one. The pot may cook off before you could get it all done due to the heat being generated in the mixing pot. Some people set the pot in ice to slow down the reaction. I just pour it into a larger flat pan to increase the surface area and decrease the heat. The cure time of the joint doesn't change though.
Epoxy requires substanially less clamping pressure than traditional wood glues, but it requires longer clamping times also. Epoxy reaches ~80% of it's strength in the first 24 hours, and it can take up to 7 days for a full cure. I have never had problems with a 24 hour clamp time.
Epoxy by itself is not a "gap filler" While the joint can be a little "Looser" than a traditional glue would require, it still needs to be tight fitting. If you need to fill gaps, some form of a filler needs to be used. Micro ballons, or woodflour.

I happen to like epoxy, and use it most of thie time. It took me a few months of practicing with it to get used to it, and be able to predict it.I have never had a problem with the glue lines showing, I also tend to use dark woods. Light colored woods may present a whole different problem.

I wouldn't hesitate to use epoxyfor your project, but...... and a big one here. There is a learning curve involved, and this sounds like a big project to begin with. Trying to learn a new technique in the middle of it may not give you the results that you are looking for,and could add an unnecessary complication. As the others have advised Titebond, in your application would be every bit as good as epoxy. The yield pressures for epoxy and titebond are very close. Titebond exceeds some epoxies in yield pressure actually.

Two rows of biscuits seems unnecessary. One row or none will do the job. I kinda suck at keeping boards flat in a glueup so I like to use some form of alignment. That's me though.

Is there a specific reason that you want or need to use epoxy?
Good luck. the project sounds big.

[Neville Stewart]

Thanks all, great advice ~ the reason I was going to use epoxy was that I have some small knot holes I wanted to fill aswell so I thought epoxy would be the best. Sounds like that I would be advised to used TB III for the joints and maybe epoxy to fill any checks etc. I've never heard of "Woodflour". I've been building this house & workshop for the last year and havent really been "woodworking " of late. There is a big difference between framing & WW'ing isnt there? Never realized that! Any way, I havent checked the moisture yet, but I was planning on "floating" the top. Neville

[Mike Cutler]

Ahh... I see.
I would maybe try a more traditional route for filling the knot holes. I use a wood filler that is close to the color I need, and then add liquid tints and fine sanding dust from the project I am working on. I can usually get it pretty close. I'm no expert though. You may want to post a thread asking that question alone, and include a picture of the material that you are working with. There are some finishing wizards here on the forum. I'm certain someone could point you in the correct direction.

[Neville Stewart]

Here are a few shots of the boards. I cant wield these things so planing & jointing have to be done the old fashioned way, which seems appropriate due to their age. Thanks for all your suggestions everybody. Neville

[Jim Murphy]

Thanks for posting the pics. It is nice to see those old, big boards. Looks like you will be getting some upper body workout when you hand plane them. Be sure to post pics of the finished product.

[Bob Johnson2]

You could still use epoxy to fill the holes if you want, if it's mixed with some fine saw dust (as in from the band saw) it dries pretty close to the original. Some good info on using epoxy here http://www.westsystem.com/
Epoxy is a ness to work with untill you get used to it.

Might want to test the oil finish on it first, it's completely transparent under poly or varnish, but I don't know about oil. Try the same if you use Titebond III, it's kind of brown and the glue line may show on oak if it's real white.

[Jack Dickey]

Woodflour is a mixture of glue and fine dust dumped out of your sander .. I keep all my dust from 220 grit and finer in a coffee can to mix with the glue , makes a better bond supposedly , and matches stain and finish coats better than glue alone .. It is messy , and can be frustrating to werk , especially when its COLD in the shop ..
Worth the effort ?? Sometimes I wonder ...

[Bob Smalser]

As nobody has apparently seen this, I'll comment.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=52029&d=1165533357

I'd rip that heartwood completely out, making two narrower qsawn boards out of that stock. Those tight cups in that pith wood will cause warping/splitting and you have casehardened wood immediately atop them that will deteriorate quickly. Buy a replacement board of you have to, using that one intact portends failure.

Water-based glues are required to swell biscuits, so I'd use use dowels for alignment if I was using epoxy.

However, of that stock is one of the white oaks with tyloses and high-acid content, you need to know that the reliability of marine epoxy with freshly-planed WO is poor, and poly or Titebond III would be better choices by far.