PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

2/4/07, 2:10 AM #1

Matt- Los Angeles
Guest

PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

Matt- Los Angeles

>Hey all,

Well I had a bad glue-up today. This day bed was some 79" inches long and I couldn't figure out how I was going to clamp the 2 headboards together and in the middle of trying 2 clamps overlapping and ratcheted tie-downs, I couldn't pull it tight. Glue was starting to set and my wife thought I was going to have a coronary. Which I pretty much was. I was wailing on it with my dead blow mallet and this is the result.

Can I fix this? I know I can get it planed flush and nice but I am not sure I can get any glue in there. This is an armrest in the rear of the bed. I am afraid that the crack may spread to the front of the wedged mortise and then further up the board.

Thoughts? How do you guys clamp super long pieces?

Thanks in advance.

matt

Re: PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

2/4/07, 2:52 AM #2

Jack Guzman from Maine
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Registered: 5/9/04

Re: PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Pipe clamps can be used on any length pipe.---Jack

- - -

I am a carpenter by trade.Also a handyman/Jack -of-all-trades.I work around my neighborhood mostly helping people keep up their old houses.I have a fairly large woodworking shop in my house where I work with both hand and power tools. At the moment I'm focusing on Windsor chairs building.I will build most anything if needed. I'm always learning,adapting,changing trying to broaden my woodworking skills.I work mostly with hand tools in my shop but will use power if it is a better way to get the desired result. My wife,Donna,and I live in the woods of Maine with our dogs,cats,and birds. We have 5 grown kids and six grandchildren. Woodcentral has been central to my growth as a woodworker. I pass through this place every day.

Re: PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

2/4/07, 2:55 AM #3

Jack Guzman from Maine
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Registered: 5/9/04

One other note...

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Always practice clamping before applying glue.It helps avoid such problems.Now if I can only remember to follow my own advice.---Jack

- - -

I am a carpenter by trade.Also a handyman/Jack -of-all-trades.I work around my neighborhood mostly helping people keep up their old houses.I have a fairly large woodworking shop in my house where I work with both hand and power tools. At the moment I'm focusing on Windsor chairs building.I will build most anything if needed. I'm always learning,adapting,changing trying to broaden my woodworking skills.I work mostly with hand tools in my shop but will use power if it is a better way to get the desired result. My wife,Donna,and I live in the woods of Maine with our dogs,cats,and birds. We have 5 grown kids and six grandchildren. Woodcentral has been central to my growth as a woodworker. I pass through this place every day.

Re: PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

2/4/07, 3:42 AM #4

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee
Guest

Butterfly dutchman?

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee

>I would consider putting in a butterfly dutchman on the end grain. Maybe about 1/2" deep. As for the clamping, I saw an innovative system one time that used blocks and an inexpensive screw type car jack to clamp. Just block the item to the walls and use the jack to force it together. Nice looking project, by the way.

Re: PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

2/4/07, 4:15 AM #5

Dale Lenz
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Registered: 9/17/01
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Re: BTW...

Dale Lenz

>you don't have to have 7 feet long pipe for a pipe clamp. Purchase what ever length you most commonly use, 2-3' and have the pipe threaded on both ends. Purchase several pipe couplers of the same size as the pipe.

Good luck on your split fix. Dale

Re: PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

2/4/07, 6:29 AM #6

ThomD
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Registered: 4/19/04

Re: PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

ThomD

>I put butterfly joints in natural features, on boards that are otherwise extraordinary. If I blew it open by mistake I would probably not.

I might pick out the crack, or guide a slaock fretsaw blade through it, and put in some red epoxy. In cherry black, since there you have the likelyhood people will assume it's pitch if the wood has lots of pitch pockets, but at the same time you're not really hiding it either.

The best thing would be to rebuilt it. It might only take a few hours, otherwise you have to live with it for a the rest of time. Everyone makes mistakes, but fixing them properly both takes you to a higher level of work, and takes some of the presure off since it is always fixable. You don't have the concern about mistakes in your mind if you can also fix them, not just in the technical sense but in the budget and permision sense.

Re: PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

2/4/07, 6:48 AM #7

Matt- Los Angeles
Guest

pipe clamps...duh

Matt- Los Angeles

>I'm not very bright and sometimes, I really like to advertise it.

thanks for the help. I like the coupling idea.

I'll do my best to fix this dang thing.

matt

PANIC!!! Can I save it!!

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