Gluing and Clamping: Techniques for Better Woodworking

One of the properties that makes wood such a useful material is that it can be quickly and easily bonded. In other words, you can glue wood to itself and to other materials. However, to create strong, permanent glue joints, you must understand the nature of adhesives, how they work, and how they’re applied.
Furthermore, you should know how to use clamps properly to assemble wooden parts.
In Gluing and Clamping, author/craftsman Nick Engler discusses the types of glues and clamps that are commonly available and how to Choose the best tools and materials for the job. He reveals dozens of secrets for trouble-free assembly, starting with simple gluing tasks and working up to complex pieces of furniture. Discover how to glue up wide panels, thick stock, and long beams, matching grain patterns and other important features so the joined boards look and behave as a single piece of wood.
Learn useful construction procedures for chests, tables, chairs, and cabinets, as well as how to keep these assemblies perfectly square and true, See how to cover surfaces with elegant veneers and durable plastic laminates. Over 200 illustrations and photographs clearly show these gluing techniques and the tools required. There are also plenty of expert tips, such as how to take the twist out of a door frame and how to keep boards from shifting as you Clamp them together.

Gluing and Clamping also includes detailed plans with step-by-step instructions for 11 clamping tools that you can make yourself, including:

• Traditional hand screws that can be built at a fraction of the cost of store-bought clamps

• A frame clamp that applies equal pressure to all four corners of a frame with the turn of a single knob

• Ingenious expanders that help you take projects apart as well as glue them together

• A panel clamp that takes just minutes to build and weighs next to nothing, yet can generate enormous clamping pressure

• A clamping press that applies both vertical and horizontal pressure to broad surfaces and large assemblies