Support WoodCentral when buying things you need
Articles Forums Gallery Marketplace Videos

WoodCentral Forums

Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge

Exotic Hardwood, Personally Sourced Worldwide. Inspected at Origin. Shop Rare Stock.

Clamping table?

Posts

Clamping table?

#1

Clamping table?

Tom Norton

So here is my idea. I am going to fabricate new garage door sections that will be 28"x108". They will be 3/8" ply,both sides, glued to a cedar frame work with polyurethane in between. To glue this up as a unit I am thinking of making a table a bit wider and longer the when the "section" is glue put it on the table with a sheet of 3/4" over the top then have cauls spanning the width to apply clamping pressure. Since I don't have enough deep clamps I was thinking of using Tee Nuts in the table and long hex bolts through the cauls. I could use a hex driver in my cordless drill to run them down.

Thoughts??

Thanks!

Re: Clamping table?

#2

Re: Clamping table?

Barry Irby

Your table top needs to be flat/in a plane and sturdy enough to resist being twisted out of plane by your panel. A torsion box or stressed skin panel should do it. Then install your bolts and tee nuts. The drill should work well enough, you may need a deep well socket to give you enough "stroke" to get the job done. Have a wrench or hand socket handy. Would be a good job for an impact driver.

And It might be a good job for a vacuum bag.

Re: Clamping table?

#3

You must be loosing sleep over this project Tom

Dick Coers

I see your posts here, and I see them on Woodweb. When I did a large conference table decades ago, I used the ceiling and the floor for the clamp up. I built an egg crate style support for the floor to establish a flat plane, 18" tall to resist deflection. Laid up the layers to build a torsion box table on the grid, laid a sheet of particle board on the stack, then ran 1x4s to the ceiling. They were just a little long, so I could bow them into place. It really applied a nice amount of pressure. Not a single clamp in the 5'x12' table.

Re: Clamping table?

#4

Re: You must be loosing sleep over this project To

Tom Norton

Dick,

No so much loosing sleep. I try to think through, more thoughly than probably necessary, all my options!

Re: Clamping table?

#5

Re: Clamping table?

Tom Norton

Barry,

The last garage door made was an 8' door and my vac bag set up worked great. Just don't want to buy a bag for this one off job.

Re: Clamping table?

#6

Re: You must be loosing sleep over this project To

E Phillip Smith

Think you are making this way too hard.

A couple years ago I made 8 garage doors 4'6" wide by 96" long with frame like you describe (1.5" X 5.5") stiles 1.5" X 5.5" top, bottom and middle rails and 1.5" X 1.5" interior cross members. Mortise and tenon construction

I put 4' X 8' sheet of plywood on work bench. Made sure work bench was level end to end and crosswise. Glued up frame and made sure it was square then placed plywood face on top and glued and screwed face to frame (finish trim screws), flip and repeat. When done you will have square and flat torsion box that panel that will not move. Doors are still square 3 years later.

👍 This page answered my questions

Your vote helps other woodworkers quickly find the answers and techniques that actually work in the shop.