Easy Technique for Gluing Thin Panels
Low-profile clamps and blue tape combine to eliminate buckling during the glue-up.
Gluing up thin panels is not easy, because thin boards tend to buckle or shift when clamping pressure is applied. So when faced with the job of gluing up 20 panels, each 1⁄4 in. thick, I found a better way. I had been using blue tape as a clamp when gluing up mitered boxes and it always worked well, so I figured it would work well for the edge joints in thin panels, too. Happily, it does.
But to get truly tight taped edge joints on thin panels, you must have pressure applied across the panel as you lay down the tape. The best way I’ve found to do this is to pinch the boards between a stop and a pair of Veritas Bench Blades, then apply the tape. Bench Blades, which are clamps that fit in your benchdog holes, have a low-profile jaw activated by a cam mechanism. They apply just…
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