Woodworking question...

This is a bit strange to ask, but I have seen some incredible stuff done with wood on this board in the past, so I figured the wisdom was out there!

In the past I have created some tap handles with an old draw knife. These were just cut from single chunks of hardwwood out of the woodpile. I have since put together a few scraps that I would like to somehow combine. I have some ash, oak, walnut and tiger maple. How exactly can I glue these together and then carve out a handle from this larger combination chunk? These pieces are currently wedge shaped, and rough chainsaw cuts. Any ideas?

moxie said:

This is a bit strange to ask, but I have seen some incredible stuff done with wood on this board in the past

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heh...

Its called laminating, if you are looking for a search term. The simplified version: saw to size, joint, glue, clamp, then carve or turn.

You want the three pieces of wood stacked on top each other like a sandwich? Or joined end to end?

If you want the sandwich you would just glue them together (Ole_E's suggestion of laminating is spot on). Just apply glue and clamp them together. As long as you glue things together long grain to long grain it will be super strong.

If you wanted them joined on the ends you will need to brace the "butt joint" with a fastener like a dowel or a biscuit since end grain gluing is very weak.

brrman said:

You want the three pieces of wood stacked on top each other like a sandwich? Or joined end to end?

If you want the sandwich you would just glue them together (Ole_E's suggestion of laminating is spot on). Just apply glue and clamp them together. As long as you glue things together long grain to long grain it will be super strong.

If you wanted them joined on the ends you will need to brace the "butt joint" with a fastener like a dowel or a biscuit since end grain gluing is very weak.

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That's true. I didn't even consider that. You could do some kind of lap joint end to end... maybe.

If the surface to be glued was cut with a chainsaw you may want to smooth it off a bit.

You will need smooth, tight fitting surfaces to get a strong glue joint. Use a good quality wood glue. Clamp tightly but not so tightly as to squeeze all of the glue out.

Any idea if a sanding block will suffice to smooth out the surfaces? Thanks for the replies.

You need to plane the surfaces with a jointer or by hand, then glue/clamp, then shape.

moxie said:

Any idea if a sanding block will suffice to smooth out the surfaces? Thanks for the replies.

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Probably not, but if the pieces are small you could tape some sandpaper to a flat surface (glass table, granite slab, etc.) and then use even pressure to sand them flat. The surfaces will end up ever so slightly convex, but it should be close enough to get a good glue joint on smaller pieces, and it's often faster than hand jointing. That's how these were done-

You could always take a sixer of (home)brew to a nearby cabinet shop and see if they will run it through their planer for you. If you have one close by.

Bring me down a case of Alexander Keiths or Sleeman Cream Ale and I'll do it for ya...