Glue up questions

[Joe Denney]

I am beginning to build a bench, based on Bob Key's bench, with some input from articles from Chris Schwartz in Pop Woodworking. Bench is going to be 16 2x4's laminated together for the top, which should give me a rough width of 24". My questions are as follows:

1. Glue type - Elmer's Construction Glue or Titebond is ok? Read an article in FWW about glue strengths, etc. and either of these look to be ok.

2. Clamping - How many clamps do I need, assuming a 7 foot board length? I will be gluing two faces at once, ie 3 boards first time, then an additional board on each side till I'm done. Am currently planning to let glue dry about 24 hours or so before next glue up. Does this sound reasonable?

Thanks,
Joe

[Raymond Stanley]

Hi Joe,

I recently built a workbench, based on Bob Key's bench, as well as Schwartz's roubo and Dean J's roubo over at woodcentral. (see http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=47971)

Are you using hand tools exlusively to build this bench? If so, you may want to consider getting bigger peices of lumber - it will exponentially reduce your time to build the bench.

For all my workbench top clamping, I used 4 rockler pipe clamps, with 2' galvanized pipe from the borg. I did 2-3 boards first and then subsequently did the remaining 12 or so all at once. Given that the peice is going to need to be flattened in the end anyways, you don't have to be too particularly about lining them up. I also alternated the clamps on the bottom and top of the workbench top. The pipe clamps are nice because they act as a "stand" for the benchtop glueup.

Hope this helps-
Ray

[Andrew Williams]

As I recall, I built my 7' long bench slabs using 8 pipe clamps. I doweled them together so I was able to clamp up slabs of 11 pieces of 13/16" stock at a time. There are no gaps in the glue line. four slabs of 11 pieces each added up to a pretty massive bench top, joined with threaded rods so I can disassemble the top.

BTW I used Titebond 2, no problems.

[Joe Denney]

Raymond and Andrew,
Thanks for the input. I'll pick up some Titebond II. I will be using hand tools only, and will be documenting the process, hoping to add some more specific directions to the excellent Key guide.
Ray - I read through your thread and am a little confused about the comment of using larger lumber. I'm planning on 4x4 posts for the legs and 2x8 's for the stringers (if thats the right term) but for the top is there another (inexpensive) option? 16 yellow pine 2x4's is only about $32, and I am really trying to do this on the cheap, since I just got back into the work force after taking a couple years off for nursing school. Glue up should take about 7 days with my current plan, then I'll put the top on some sawhorses to make the base on.

Joe

[Raymond Stanley]

Hi Joe-

I hope I'm not drawing this thread too off topic with the larger lumber comment. It was just something that I wish I had realized earlier in the process, where you are now.

Is there an inexpensive way to get bigger lumber? Not to my knowledge (I'm still all very new at this). It will cost you more. But if you have a good lumber yard nearby, you should be able to get 3" slabs in a variety of widths. Consider, for example, that you got a 6" slab. Instead of jointing 4 2x4's on the long dimension in preparation for glue up (a total of 8 sides), you would only have to joint 2 sides of the 6" wide slab.
I also prefer reducing jointing time on the first bench especially, because you are generally working with subpar planing conditions because you do not have a true bench - for me it was hunching over to beat up my window seat with lumber.
There is nothing wrong whatsoever (IMO) with using construction-grade 2x4s (but watch for knots in places that will effect your worksurface or joints). It will just take a little more time is all. I thought I'd be able to finish my workbench in a few months of shop time, and it turned into 8 months. This isn't to say the same thing will necessarily happen to you.
I hope this helps, and good luck on a very rewarding adventure that takes a fair bit of patience.

-Ray

[Eddie Darby]

Lee Valley who sell Titebond III list the minimum clamping time as 30 minutes, so the 24 hours might not be needed. I usually give it 2 hours, or I clamp at the end of the day, so it gets the clamps for 8 or more hours overnight.