Nothing Severed Yet: Joinery

GlueUpDate

Jacques Richer gives us this updated suggestion to an old article on getting glue off your glueup. He rightfully points out that the good old-fashioned hand scraper is a great task for the job...

Dowelmax rocks my world

The Good: The best way to join two pieces of wood together, period. The Bad: The price. The Bottom Line: One of those cases where the best really is that good. NSY rating: FIVE THUMBS UP (5/5)

Some dovetail tweaks

I've been making dovetails for the past week, which means I've screwed up a lot of dovetails. In no particular order, here are some of the lessons I've learned.

What's up with the Incra jig

There's two things to understand about the Incra system. One is that it is a router fence, not a jig. Two is the near-perfect accuracy of the positioning system.

Dowelmax vs. The Biscuit

I decided to do a head-to-head, Biscuits vs. the Dowelmax comparison. This was pretty easy. I made two cuts in a walnut board, then doweled one and biscuited the other. I grabbed the board firmly by both edges and slammed it down on a pipe in the center to distribute the force equally to both joints.

Tape up your corners

When gluing up something that will be hard to clean when complete, use masking tape to keep the squeezeout from messing up your project.

Clean out your dadoes

I had some dadoes that were cut with a dull blade, and consequently had some shreds of wood stuck to the sides. I took a cabinet scraper and ran it back and forth, shearing off a bit of the edge.

Friendly reminder: pipe clamps are made of pipe

I coupled my 2' pipes to the end of the not-quite-long-enough pipes and I was good to go.

On wiping versus chipping

One of the most annoying things about doing a glueup is cleaning up after yourself. Once those clamps have been tightened, you'll have glue squeezing out all over the place, dripping everywhere. So how do you clean up the gluey mess? There are two approaches I've used.

Biscuits and Dowels and Splines, Oh My

The challenge is basically this: what is the best way to glue up multiple hardwood boards to make a nice flat tabletop?