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Let me 'spline what I did

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Let me 'spline what I did

#1

Alan Young

Let me 'spline what I did

Alan Young

This is a follow-up post to my "Reinforcing an edgebanding" post last week---

I am making a veneered Walnut top with solid edge banding for a Trestle Table

Here is the Table Top "Layering"

Top to bottom 1/16 Walnut, 1/8 Birch ply, 3/8 Birch Ply 1/8 birch ply, 1/16 Walnut


I started the process by gluing the 1/16 walnut veneer sheets to the 1/8 Birch sheets in my vacuum press.

Here are stacks of 1/8" plywood and 1/16" walnut veneer.


I veneered the 1/16 walnut sheets to the 1/8 Birch sheets in my vacuum press.


My vacuum press is not big enough to glue these all at once to the middle 3/8 inch thick birch plywood so I glued these individual sheets (6 on each side) one at a time with cinder blocks.


The top was then veneered on both sides for balance and trimmed.


Cross section of the final veneered panel


The next step is to glue solid walnut around the perimeter of the veneered plywood structure.


OK no pictures of the splines and grooves-To busy gluing- but I did make splines from 1/4 baltic birch plywood- @ 4" in length. I used the 1/4 slot cutter in my router and cut matching grooves on the ply and the solid walnut--about 6 or so on the 72" length and 4 on the 42" width.

The long edges glued on first.


The short edges glued on next.


Out of the clamps and sanded-the top is all glued up.


Thanks for help- I think it turned out well...

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

#3

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

Barry Irby

What a process! I have to admit I would have never thought of that.

What glue did you use?

Looks good, but I am still wondering about the longevity.

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

#4

thank for the detailed explanation

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Getting perfect miters on this top was not a trivial task. Would you explain your fitting strategy?

I do one side at a time and one joint at a time till I get to the last pair. I don't think I would have been able to measure and align the two sides to get perfect alignment of the ends when it came time to install them. Your way is faster but I have no confidence I could do it successfully. Are there secrets to success?

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

#5

Alan Young

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

Alan Young

I used Unibond 1 for the veneering


I used Titebond II Dark Glue for the Solid wood-to

-plywood glue up...


Not sure what you mean by Longevity??

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

#6

Alan Young

Re: thank for the detailed explanation

Alan Young

My photos are slightly misleading in that I followed your protocol-One piece at a time. These photos just happened to be when I was gluing the second of each side. Now maybe you mean One at a time in clockwise/counterclockwise order-I thought of doing it that way but after getting one long side to match I glued it on- Then did the same for the other side. I used the 45 degree cut off from trimming to set each corner and clamp in place temporarily till each corner of the solid walnut matched the corresponding corner of the plywood. This took a few cuts-sneaking up bit by bit. Knowing your mark and your saw's tendencies is critical. When I cut the 45 degree I was prepared to tweak my saw's angle to match corners- I didn't have to do that-The Biggest factor is probably not the edgebanding-but getting 4 square corners on that plywood rectangle. I used a Dewalt track saw-again making a couple of cuts- sneaking up each time-measuring lengths,widths,squaring with a big drywall square and measuring corner to corner. But to sum up I'll quote my dad "I got luckier than I should have" ;)

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

#7

longevity....

Barry Irby

I hope I am wrong, but it seems to me the seams between the thin plywood panels will open over time. Do you have experience with this technique?

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

#8

Alan Young

Re: longevity....

Alan Young



I hope I am wrong, but it seems to me the seams between the thin plywood panels will open over time. Do you have experience with this technique?

Hi Barry-Not sure what conditions would cause these joints to "open" more than any other joint. Veneer has been a standard furniture element for centuries. I used relatively thick walnut veneers (.0625) over .125 Birch ply. for a total thickness of .1875 or 3/16". When laid side by side over the 3/8 Birch plywood I actually have an edge to edge glue line adding a glue dimension that would in essence be missing from using a thin veneer (.020-.040) over a thicker substrate say .75"....

I used the cinder blocks to weigh the .0625walnut/.125birch ply to the .375 birch ply. At the same time I ran a bead of glue between each thinner panel and pulled them together with clamps as one would do in a solid wood edge to edge glue up- trying of course to strike a balance between edge to edge contact while not squeezing out the glue on the line...


We'll see how it ages.

Re: Let me 'spline what I did

#9

Ditto

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I do as you do, using a cut off to set the corner registration of the piece being glued, and to check that the mitered trim is the correct angle for whatever the angle needs to be.....half of 90.3 degrees for example. I have never seen this procedure describe in detail anywhere. It is the only way I can get good miters.

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