# Newbie question re: gluing blanks



## putnamm (Jan 24, 2016)

Hi, guys. This may be a dumb or repetitive question. But how to you adhere different types of wood together when making your own blanks? Is it glue? CA? Does that glue show up in the final product? Thanks.

Mark


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## chartle (Jan 24, 2016)

If you mean segmenting I would use either epoxy or yellow wood glue. i don't like Ca since for me it doesn't work well for larger surfaces.

But you don't see the glue if you have nice tight joints.


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## lwalden (Jan 24, 2016)

Wood to wood, titebond II (yellow wood glue). Mixed materials such as wood to aluminum, or polyresin, would use 5 minute epoxy. If you have clean joints and clamp well, there should not be a visible glue line.


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## MTViper (Jan 25, 2016)

I built a clamping jig for glue-ups like this.  It's a horizontal piece of melamine with "L" shaped vertical melamine pieces on one end.  I use mini-bar clamps.  When I get my pieces made, I line the jig with wax paper (so the epoxy won't stick to it) then line up my pieces in the order I want them to occur.  I put glue on both sides of each piece to be attached then loosely fit them in the jig.  I use a waste block of 3/4" MDF on the outside of the blank as a clamping guide.  I loosely clamp across the blank first to get the blank squared up.  Then I clamp the long way and tighten that clamp then the ones across the blank.

I have used CA, Titebond, Gorilla glue, and epoxy.  Epoxy works the best, especially when it  comes time to drill the blank.  I saw someone who put tongue depressors on all sides of the glued blank then taped it in order to provide more support when drilled.  I haven't tried that yet, but my next segment I'm going to.


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## Bikerdad (Jan 25, 2016)

lwalden said:


> If you have clean joints and clamp well, there should not be a visible glue line.



This is not necessarily true.  When working with very light woods, dark glues, Titebond III being an example, will often leave a fine visible glue line.  The line IS very fine though.  On the upside, you can use the glue line as a design characteristic if you want.  This is especially useful when using epoxies, as they can be tinted.  One thing to keep in mind when "clamping well" is do NOT overclamp.  Squeezing all the glue out of the joint is a recipe for future problems.


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