Vol.11 / Issue 4             Tennessee Valley Woodworkers             Editor, Richard Gulley                 April 1996

Spring is in the air. We’ve tuned up all our mowers and tillers and weed-whackers. We hid the eggs and turned up the clocks and went to church on Easter Sunday (my nephew says you should go to church at least twice a year whether you need to or not and Easter is one of those days). I just have one question -- WHY IS IT STILL COLD!

I am confident that all will work out, for given enough time all things - good or bad - will change. If you don’t like the present situation, just wait - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -. That’s enough waiting on with the news.

Have you ever had the re-occurring dream where you had a physician (a specialist even) cornered and he had to answer all your questions and he promised not to send you a bill? Well, if you were at the March meeting your dream surely came true. Dr. Lavelle was in rare form (don’t you love doctors that dress casual) and he was telling all -- all that your average woodworker needs to know about noise and dust pollution. Take the good doctor’s advice -- be good to your most valuable tool -- YOU!

This month’s adventure in woodworking will be at the Stanley plant in Shelbyville. We will meet at their plant Tuesday, April 16th between 4:45 & 5:00 pm. I trust these directions are simple (and accurate) enough to get you there:

Traveling on 41A toward Shelbyville from Tullahoma pass the Wartrace turnoff. A short distance is a Church of Christ on the right. Turn right on STANLEY Blvd. and go about one mile and Stanley is on the right. Everyone plan to attend - maybe call a fellow woodchucker and work up a car pool.

May- The wooden toys of Crocia Robertson.

June- The 10th anniversary banquet - picnic - potluck supper woodworkers meeting. No one should miss that!

What were you doing ten years ago? Well back in April of ‘86 (sounds like the beginning of a tall tale) the TVWW’s were watching a video on woodturning. The close-up was on Tom Cowan. He was the same then as now - dependable, knowledgeable and ready to help wherever and whoever he can. Jack Townsend made the news again with the story of his first craft show. He might want to relate that story again.

One last thing - There was a tip about making a glue applicator out of old credit cards cut with pinking shears. I thought that was a good idea but I think it would probably work better if you used your good credit cards.

Jack Townsend has an item for sale:

One Miller Paint Sprayer - Has 1/8 hp compressor with 20-25 psi. Includes paint canisters, two air brush canisters, 12 ft of hose & extra nozzles. Used twice. Paid $170 asking $100. You can contact Jack at 649-5165

If Da Vinci were painting the Mona Lisa today this is what he would probably use. How’s that for a recommendation Jack!

If anyone else has any items you would like to advertise here make me a note and I will get it in the next Splinters.

Gluing up a frame and panel door so it ends up perfectly square can be difficult. The pieces always seem to slip out of square during glue_up. To get around this, I built a simple jig that provides an accurate reference when gluing up panels, (see photo).

 The jig consists of a plywood base and two cleats. To provide an accurate reference, it's important that the cleats are screwed to the base so they're precisely 90 degrees to each other. To use the jig, start by placing each clamp directly over (and parallel to) the rails of the frame. Then adjust the pressure and position of the clamps until the frame sits square in the jig.

Note: To prevent any glue squeeze_out from sticking to the jig, I brushed several coats of polyurethane finish on the base and cleats.

Lonnie R. Baxter - Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Sandy Glue Joints

Q. I've recently encountered some failed glue joints, and the glue in the failed areas appears sandy. We apply enough glue so there is "squeeze_out" and the moisture content of the wood averages 9%....what's causing the problem?

The Wood Doctor Answers:

A grainy or sandy appearance of the glue in a failed glue joint is the result of either a bad batch of glue (too old or frozen perhaps) or the result of very dry wood soaking the water out

of the glue before the chemical reactions can occur. Your question includes the MC of 9% (a little too high for many products, but okay for gluing) and the fact that you have squeeze out (a good thing, normally). My guess is that the culprit is old glue. (Note: I assume that you are not using an excessive amount of glue, in which case there is so much glue that the pressure cannot squeeze it out thoroughly and fast enough before it begins to set up. In this case, you would have a very thick glue line.)

A Bumpy Road

Q. Several days to a week after I glue up two pieces of wood with PVA adhesive, it appears that the glue line has oozed out__ that is, there is a bump at the glue line, even though I sanded it smooth shortly after the glue had set. Am I using the wrong adhesive?

The Wood Doctor Answers:

The glue itself becomes quite rigid after 24 hours in most cases. In fact, that is the cause of the problem. The wood pieces that you glued together must be a little too wet, either at the time of gluing or after you have sanded them. The wood then subsequently shrinks down a little bit__as a rule of thumb, 1% shrinkage for 2% MC change for oak (a very high shrinking wood) to 1% shrinkage for a 4% MC change for pine and other lower shrinking woods.

However, the glued area resists shrinking because the glue adds rigidity. The glue joint area stays the same size, even though the wood around it is shrinking. Hence, the bump that you see.

The cure is to wait a little longer before sanding and make sure that the wood MC is correct. Refer to the simple chart of RH vs.

MC (below). Most houses and offices are at 30% RH in the fall, winter, and spring throughout most of the country.

RH 0% 30% 50% 65% 80%

MC 0% 6% 9% 12% 16%

Professor Gene Wengert a Specialist in Wood Processing at the Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin_Madison

I came across a problem recently when I needed to glue edging to the ends of a long table. The problem was that the table was longer than my pipe clamps. So I came up with this simple technique that uses C_clamps and wedges to hold the edging in place while the glue dries, see Drawing.

To do this, first attach the C_clamps to the edge of the table top. (To ensure a good glue joint, space the clamps about 6" apart.) And to get the proper clamping pressure on the joint line, tap a small wedge between the edging and each clamp until the edging is tight. Note: This also works for attaching counter top edging.

Spike Lacombe Pahrump, Nevada

Like many woodworkers, I have an occasional need for a sawhorse. But the problem is, my shop doesn't have a lot of extra storage space for one __ let alone two sawhorses. To get around this, I made a pair of sawhorses that knock down for storage and take up very little space.

Each sawhorse consists of four identical legs and a stretcher, see drawing. I started by cutting the angled legs. The legs overlap at the top to form an inverted ‘V’. A tenon is cut at each end of the stretcher, see detail a. And the tenons pass through mortises cut in each leg, see detail b.

I used a keyed mortise and tenon joint (no glue or fasteners required) to hold the stretcher and the legs together. This joint also allows me to knock down and reassemble the sawhorse quickly.

The "key" that's used to pin the joint is made from a 3/4"_dia. hardwood dowel, see detail c. I tapered the key slightly so the joint would draw in tight when it's wedged in place with a hammer.

Milo C. Dvorak Garland, Texas

Scraps and Sweepings - I have been notified by the ‘family’ of ‘Jack in a Box’ (the unclaimed carving two meetings back). They wish to have him returned. Please leave at the Duck River Building and I will return it to the grieving family. See you soon and - Watch out for those SPLINTERS!