Glue-up tops question

[Rick Moyer]

I have little experience so far so all help is appreciated. I am making two small tables to hold lamps. They will be round tops made from 1" thick cherry. I had a piece of 2 1/2" thick, re-sawed it, jointed, planed, etc. I now have two pcs for each top that will be edge glued and cut in a circle. The pcs are now 6X12 ea., will be edge glued to make 12X12, and then cut to make a 10" dia. circle top.
My question is: should I use biscuits or just edge glue without biscuits? Also, I assume it would be better to glue up before cutting the circle.
Any other tips on gluing up tops accepted!

[Byron Trantham]

Rick, if I were going to glue a 1" thick piece of wood with biscuits, I would use two at each location, "one on the top" and "one on the bottom". Also, BEFORE you try to biscuit them, lay the two boards next to each other, then lay out the finished table top [draw the circle] then put the biscuit inside the circle away from the edge so that a biscuit joint doesn't show through when you cut the circle. At one inch thick, if you joint the mating surfaces very well, I don't think biscuits are called for. BTW, remember to reverse the growth rings, one facing up and the facing down. This really helps in stopping warping.

[Joe Chritz]

If the piece are edge jointed and they fit together with no gaps before clamping then glue alone will be all you need.

Nothing like two correct answers to confuse the question.

The biscuits certainly won't hurt and do help with alignment. If you can plane the piece after glue up the alignment issue is moot. If you do use biscuits make sure you don't put them where they will be cut into. Either by the circle or a raised panel cutter if it was a door. Guess how I learned that one. :o

Joe

[Dave Novak]

The time it takes to cut the biscuits will, at least for me, be more than offset by the time saved during the glue up. Without biscuits, I don't have the skill to glue up more than a few of the boards at a time while keeping the top/bottom surfaces flat. With biscuits assisting in the allignment, I can glue a lot more together in the same clamping.

[Matt Day]

I agree with Dave; biscuits will help a lot in the alignment. They don't offer much more strength if any at all, but a couple nice snug biscuits will keep the boards from creeping when you have it clamped up.

[Fred Voorhees]

....... If you can plane the piece after glue up the alignment issue is moot.

Joe


I almost always plan for this situation. I leave my glue up a little thick to plane away any small difference after the glue up is complete. Works beautifully.

[Rick Moyer]

Thanks everyone. I'll probably go with the double biscuit idea, even though I willl be able to plane the finished product as it will be a 10" circle.
I did know about keeping them in the circle as I screwed up a previous nightstand glue up by having a biscuit too near the edge.

[Jules Dominguez]

I have to disagree with Byron regarding reversing the growth rings. I know some of the old books recommend that, but if the wood is seasoned, warping shouldn't be a problem.
I give priority to matching the grain for best appearance, and to having the grain direction be the same in all boards in a panel, to facilitate final planing of the glued up panel.

[Bob Michaels]

I agree with Jules regarding not needing to alternate the growth rings. Marc Adams calls it an "old myth" in his excellent DVD's.

[John Lucas]

Rick,
you said you resawed the wood so I assume you are bookmatching the grain. Do the right job on jointing the edges and just glue the pieces together. When totally dry (overnight), then use belt sander to make top and bottom flat. Then cut the circles.
As to biscuits, OK for alignment, but the sqaures are so small, you should be able to align by feel and then add small clamps on the top and bottom surface to hold plane while clamping. I think double biscuits is not only not needed but may create its own problem. Single or none is my vote. Good luck and give us some pictures as you progress.

[Rick Moyer]

Thanks John. I probably won't have pics for a while as it is getting nice out and this project may take a while. Golf and motorcycle take up my time in the summer when not working, but I wil be spending some time on this project,too.

[Doug Murray]

If you do use biscuits to align the two pieces (I usually do as well), remember to allow plenty of time for the glue to dry and the moisture to stabilize in the wood before finish planing or sanding the top. If you do it too soon, you can end up with dimples where the biscuits are. When wet, they swell and tend to push up the wood. They shrink back down as the moisture in the biscuits balances out. Don't ask how I know this!!!

[Steve Schoene]

Doing a glue up of two boards that are quite short shouldn't take bisquits for any reason. Unless you have a top biscuit joiner (Lamello) you have to use excellent technique or the biscuits will lock in small misalignments, not ensure alignment. As long as the edges have been well jointed maintaining alignment while clamping shouldn't be much of a problem. Heck, you could even use hide glue, rub the joint, and avoid clamps altogether.