plano press assistance

[frank shic]

i finally had a chance to try out the plano glue press this weekend to glue up some panels for cabinet doors when i discovered that i had a hard time getting the edges to align flush. after joint/planing/edge jointing and gluing/stacking 5 1x6 pieces of poplar in the press, i would press up against each clamp with my leg as i tightened down the clamping knob but i would still get some areas where there was approximately 1/16" mismatch. anyone have any tips? i thought about using dominos to improve alignment but it seems to me like that would negate some of the time savings i had hoped to achieve with this clamp rack and with my luck the dominos would end up on the edges of the raised panel!

[Tom Cowie]

Hi Frank

I've had mine for about a year now. The end of the panel is where I start . I align the edges first and clamp as I go. If your press is parallel top to bottom and across the width of the press I don't know unless the press is not rigid enough where you have it located. I still have to sand the panels that come out of mine but they are 100 times better than what I was getting with out the press.

Tom

[Rye Crane]

Hi Frank,

I have had the same problem with the Plano Press. I seem to get the best results when I make sure to align the press vertically. Then each arm seems to pull equally. No matter what I do I still have to spend time with a dead blow hammer beating the panel into alignment. Not too happy with this tool.

Rye Crane
Pittsburg, CA.

[frank shic]

thanks for the reassurance, boys! i thought that i was going out of my mind after purchasing this expensive alternative to conventional bessey clamps and still getting mediocre results. rye, i actually got out the dead blow mallet and started whacking away until i considered that it might damage the press itself and prevent me from reselling it at some point in the future!

i wound up pulling the entire panel out of the press, breaking the joints apart and regluing them with... bessey clamps!!! i started off gluing two boards together while carefully aligning the edges and then increasing clamping pressure, waiting about a minute, backing off the clamp pressure and then gluing in the next three boards in similar fashion. i'll try gluing the panels up in reverse fashion next time starting from the top of the stack and working my way downwards one board at a time. john rutter has also recommended using a shorter clamp to align the edges.

although i am not having a great deal of success gluing up panels with the plano clamp, i'm hoping that it'll help with gluing up the raised panel doors later next week. another thing i've learned is that if anyone is looking for a fast setting glue, the titebond trim glue works pretty well although i'm going to try using 2p10 next time.

[J.R. Rutter]

I've been using Plano clamps almost daily for years. I start in the middle and use a hip/leg to press it flat while the clamp gets tightened. Then move out towards each end. Clamps usually about 12" to 16" apart. For the ends, I use an old 12" bar type clamp adjusted a bit wider than the stock getting glued. Slip it over the joint and use the bar as a lever to move the ends flush. Going past flush, then back will help sometimes. We run everything through a sander to remove glue and get everything pretty. I like the fact that the clamps are along a wall, out of the way. I have 12 or 13 along a section of wall, and have done 10 ft glue ups with them.

[frank shic]

thanks for the advice JR! i used the press again tonight and it didn't work too badly. i'll try starting in the middle and working out towards the ends. the fact that you are using that many of them in a production environment gives me some hope.

BTW if anyone is looking for a faster glue, the titebond trim glue works extremely well. i left the glued up panel in the clamps for about ten minutes before setting it aside for another half hour and then started trimming it on the table saw, running the panels through a planer followed by a drum sander.

[John Karas]

I've been using Plano clamps almost daily for years. I start in the middle and use a hip/leg to press it flat while the clamp gets tightened. Then move out towards each end. Clamps usually about 12" to 16" apart. For the ends, I use an old 12" bar type clamp adjusted a bit wider than the stock getting glued. Slip it over the joint and use the bar as a lever to move the ends flush. Going past flush, then back will help sometimes. We run everything through a sander to remove glue and get everything pretty. I like the fact that the clamps are along a wall, out of the way. I have 12 or 13 along a section of wall, and have done 10 ft glue ups with them.


Have you used this system works best for me without any hussles seems to be worlds best this clamping system it does all for you.
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