Commander 147

[Commander 147]

Ebb

You are correct that the strips that were glued up are in fact only 1/16" thick to make the radius.

As far as saw blades, I have come to like Freud blades the best. I've used all of the top brands (a high quality blade is a joy to use compared to a cheap blade) including Forrest blades. But Freud manufactures differant grades of carbide for their differant saw blades. And the prices for what you get are really reasonable. And while a thinner blade will in theory cost you less material it will also vibrate more durning the cutting process. This will result in a rougher surface which is what I was trying to avoid for the glue up. This is the blade I used for cutting the strips.

http://www.freudtools.com/p-29-gener...sebr-nbsp.aspx

The glue I prefer is Weldwood plastic resin glue. As you mentioned it is a powder that is mixed with water I actually use a small mixmaster I bought at a yard sale to mix it completely. And it depends on the job I'm doing as to how I apply it. In the case of this trim it was so narrow that I just used a brush. I flipped over the top piece and coated that surface and the surface that was exposed on the top of the remaining stack. Then I flipped over the the second piece on top of the first one I had just applied the glue to and did the same thing again. I continue in this manner until the whole stack is ready for the form. When I am doing wider strips I like to use a roller to spread the glue. It goes much faster and gives you a more even application of the glue.

Before I put the stack in the form I turn them up on edge and push everything in alignment. Then I will take a couple of pieces of painters tape and wrap around the stack on each end to help hold them in alignment as the clamp up is begun.

The form is the most important part of the glue up. And it depends on the piece I'm doing if I will bend into a form or around a form. In the case of these pieces I bend around the form. I had a long straight part of the glue up and then a sharp curve. I was able to clamp the straight part to stablize the material before bending around the curve.

I like to use MDF for my forms because the material is consistant throughout, it is stable and it is dead flat. I start out by doing a full scale drawing of the finished part on a piece of 3/4" thick MDF. This gives me the inside curvature and the outside curvature (they are differant due to the material's thickness) of my form pieces. You can see a portion of my form's layout in the first picture below. The double line near the inside of the piece in the drawing showed where my dado would be cut later and that is actually the shape of the edge of the bulk head it is going over.

When I lay out the shape of the piece on the MDF I also lay out where the clamps will go around the form. And on this form you can see where I drew lines to cut the outside of the form into smaller blocks to make glue up easier.

Next I cut the picture of the final piece out of the center. I use a longboard to hand sand the edges of the form that will go up against the piece. When they are perfectly smooth, I glue and screw another piece of MDF to the one that I just finished making. Then I use a flush trimming router bit to cut the second piece (that I need for the added thickness of the form) to the exact shape of the first piece.

I fear this may be getting to be to long of a response to Ebb's questions and don't want to bore you. So let me say one more thing and provide one more picture of the form all clamped up and if you still have questions please ask and I will answer.

The last thing I want to mention is the edges of the form and anyplace where glue might get where it is not wanted I protect with packing tape. It keeps the part from sticking to the form. And as far as squeeze out goes, I try to protect things under the form that I am concerned about and just let it happen. As you can see in the last picture.