This process is new to me, does glue for the laminations need heat to cure?Glue Curing Box
Here is what I did yesterday: made a long box to keep the wood and glue warm while curing.
![Wood Floor Flooring Automotive design Gas]()
Everything I needed was laying close at hand - literally! I had four old closet doors that I used as shelves a long time ago that were standing in the corner. I had used a couple of them as a flat work place to start gluing up the boards for my slab. I found 8 little metal angle braces with screws that I had bought a while back and never used. It is 78" long (my 72" boards fit just right) and 12" X 15" otherwise.
![Wood Table Gas Hardwood Wood stain]()
I will cover the ends with some old blankets.
![Sleeve Wood Comfort Flooring Linens]()
And I had a single bulb and bare fixture hanging right beside my shop light. It was 40°F in the shop when I put the thermometer inside and closed the ends up with blankets.
![Automotive lighting Hood Automotive design Automotive exterior Automotive tail & brake light]()
Everything hooked up and ready to go.
![Wood Automotive design Flooring Hardwood Linens]()
I found that with an extra blanket on the top, it will stay 60°F inside all night. Even with outside temps as low as 7°F like last night.
![Plant Fruit Gauge Motor vehicle Gas]()
Southern Yellow Pine Work Surface (workbench)
My first "benchtop"
![Wood Automotive tire Floor Flooring Composite material]()
Beginning to make a Japanese style planing beam/board. 6 boards from Lowe's - 2 X 10 X 12's cut in half and staked up on my old sawhorses.
![Wood Road surface Asphalt Composite material Flooring]()
I used a 1 X 2 "select" pine as a straight edge - screwed to the 2X with drywall screws as a guide for my circular saw. Set the depth to leave a wafer thin "bridge" on the very bottom so I didn't cut into the board below. Worked very well. (Bit of a "mis-start" on the first board. I am ripping each one down the center and the cut edge will be the top side. Garage is absolutely full of boxes of my junk. I need to go through them and sort stuff out (plus find my hand plane and any other tools that may be lurking in there).
![Brown Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood]()
This one has a LOT of gummy sawdust. Smells good though.
![Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain Hardwood]()
Thin wafer on the bottom of one side. I took an old chisel and sliced it off even with the cut face.
![Wood Triangle Flooring Hardwood Plywood]()
Here is the first one all split and ready to go.
![Wood Wood stain Hardwood Flooring Gas]()
All ripped and stacked up. Fairly even and almost the same width - 4 5/8". The top ones are very heavy and knotty with a lot of sap. The slab will be 18" wide and 70 or 71 inches long after laminating. I don't have but a couple of small clamps, so I got five 3/8" all-threads X 24" and some fender washers and nuts to cinch it all down good. I am going to have to be precise in drilling my holes so the threaded rod will fit - I will drill larger holes (say 7/16" or 1/2") with a Forstner bit (I have a small drill press). I bought some Elmer's wood glue to do the lamination, but later I bought a tube of Liquid Nails heavy duty adhesive instead. I'm going to use a plastic putty knife to spread the adhesive out on each board. I also bought five 4-1/2" bolts to glue two boards at a time, then join those together later.
Beginning to make a Japanese style planing beam/board. 6 boards from Lowe's - 2 X 10 X 12's cut in half and staked up on my old sawhorses.
I used a 1 X 2 "select" pine as a straight edge - screwed to the 2X with drywall screws as a guide for my circular saw. Set the depth to leave a wafer thin "bridge" on the very bottom so I didn't cut into the board below. Worked very well. (Bit of a "mis-start" on the first board. I am ripping each one down the center and the cut edge will be the top side. Garage is absolutely full of boxes of my junk. I need to go through them and sort stuff out (plus find my hand plane and any other tools that may be lurking in there).
This one has a LOT of gummy sawdust. Smells good though.
Thin wafer on the bottom of one side. I took an old chisel and sliced it off even with the cut face.
Here is the first one all split and ready to go.
All ripped and stacked up. Fairly even and almost the same width - 4 5/8". The top ones are very heavy and knotty with a lot of sap. The slab will be 18" wide and 70 or 71 inches long after laminating. I don't have but a couple of small clamps, so I got five 3/8" all-threads X 24" and some fender washers and nuts to cinch it all down good. I am going to have to be precise in drilling my holes so the threaded rod will fit - I will drill larger holes (say 7/16" or 1/2") with a Forstner bit (I have a small drill press). I bought some Elmer's wood glue to do the lamination, but later I bought a tube of Liquid Nails heavy duty adhesive instead. I'm going to use a plastic putty knife to spread the adhesive out on each board. I also bought five 4-1/2" bolts to glue two boards at a time, then join those together later.
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Builds coming along nicely, looking forward the final result. Are you planning on using Japanese planes with this bench?Oak Dowels in Screw Holes
From my "bunk bed" screws holding the rails on while the glue dries overnight, to 5/16" oak dowels glued in enlarged holes.
![Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain]()
Here are four more pins for the next rail.
![Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood Rectangle]()
Gluing up the top rail now using new HF 1/2" pipe clamps. At first I didn't think they were going to work. The back clamp wanted to slide badly. But after I took some Coleman stove fuel to the pipes to remove much of that gummy, waxy finish they worked brilliantly. They are a little bit heavy, but they seem to work fine so far. I have pre-drilled (drill press so they will be perpendicular) some 3/16" pilot holes through the top and sides so that after the glue dries, I can enlarge the holes for dowel pins to match the bracing rails/stretchers.
![Hand tool Tool Wood Bumper Gas]()
This joint closed up nicely. Looks OK.
![Wood Gas Hardwood Wood stain Household cleaning supply]()
More dowels prepped for installation.
![Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Font]()
I put the remaining dowels in the first assembly. I skipped a step (finish drilling pilot holes in the top rail and uprights) and that was a mistake. I thought I could drill the 5/16" hole straight the rest of the way (I had gone so far as to drill 3/16" pilot holes in the top part of the joint on my drill press before gluing the pieces together.) Almost all of the 6 remaining dowel holes were crooked. One barely blew out the side of the upright (bleep!) It's not noticeable, but I know it's there, and I know its a mistake that I shouldn't have made. Why do I get in such a hurry? I've been really taking my time sawing and chipping out the dados by hand with my sharp chisel. Then I get careless and do this. Lesson learned? I wonder sometimes.
![Wood Wood stain Floor Flooring Hardwood]()
Here is the second upright assembly (that goes with the first one to make the first saw bench/saw horse). I glued the stretcher rails up last night and used the bunk bed screws to hold it together while the glue dried. I used a little bit more glue on this one than the first one and was worried about glue getting on the screws and them being difficult to remove, but they came out very easily. These screws seem to have a plastic waxy coating on them that shows no signs of glue being able to stick to it in any way. I bought them at Lowes and they came 50 to a box for about $19. At the time I bought them I didn't know if I was going to leave them in as a fastener or not so I bought enough to cover all the places I would put them. They were worth the money for sure - excellent screws.
![Wheel Wood Automotive tire Automotive exterior Tire]()
And the shop as I was leaving to let glue dry until I come back. The pieces for the second saw bench/saw horse are in the background.
![Wood Table Automotive design Floor Flooring]()
My new flush saw. It's a HF buy, but it works for what I need it to. I would not use it on anything "fine" though - it's so sharp and jagged that it wants to cut into the surrounding wood as well as the dowels. But the handle is pretty fancy looking wood! It as the best looking one on the rack and had that speckled look, so I chose this one.
![Office ruler Wood Floor Hardwood Rectangle]()
Here are the screws:
![Wood Carton Publication Hardwood Wood stain]()
Cut off oak dowels.
![Wood Wood stain Material property Hardwood Plank]()
This is a clearer image of the dark oak dowels in contrast to the lighter yellow pine. Looks good I think.
![Wood Rectangle Material property Ruler Hardwood]()
The pattern of the grain in the oak dowels is almost checkered or speckled.
![Wood Floor Beige Flooring Rectangle]()
One of the finished rails.
![Brown Property Building Window Wood]()
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Hi Rodney, I've taken a couple classes in Japanese woodworking and such, I'm not expert whatsoever, so take this unsolicited advice for what it's worth. I don't think you missed much on those two items. Vintage non-replaceable blade saws require almost a master to sharpen, from my understanding a descent job sharpening a Japanese saw is a lot harder than Western saws. In Japan, there are specialty saw sharpeners where that's all they do (there's fewer and fewer of them). I was always recommended to not deal with the hassle and buy replaceable blade ryoba, especially when first starting out. Gyokucho is very easy to find and respected brand.Oak Dowels in Screw Holes
From my "bunk bed" screws holding the rails on while the glue dries overnight, to 5/16" oak dowels glued in enlarged holes.
![Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain]()
Here are four more pins for the next rail.
![Wood Wood stain Flooring Hardwood Rectangle]()
Gluing up the top rail now using new HF 1/2" pipe clamps. At first I didn't think they were going to work. The back clamp wanted to slide badly. But after I took some Coleman stove fuel to the pipes to remove much of that gummy, waxy finish they worked brilliantly. They are a little bit heavy, but they seem to work fine so far. I have pre-drilled (drill press so they will be perpendicular) some 3/16" pilot holes through the top and sides so that after the glue dries, I can enlarge the holes for dowel pins to match the bracing rails/stretchers.
![Hand tool Tool Wood Bumper Gas]()
This joint closed up nicely. Looks OK.
![Wood Gas Hardwood Wood stain Household cleaning supply]()
More dowels prepped for installation.
![Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Font]()
I put the remaining dowels in the first assembly. I skipped a step (finish drilling pilot holes in the top rail and uprights) and that was a mistake. I thought I could drill the 5/16" hole straight the rest of the way (I had gone so far as to drill 3/16" pilot holes in the top part of the joint on my drill press before gluing the pieces together.) Almost all of the 6 remaining dowel holes were crooked. One barely blew out the side of the upright (bleep!) It's not noticeable, but I know it's there, and I know its a mistake that I shouldn't have made. Why do I get in such a hurry? I've been really taking my time sawing and chipping out the dados by hand with my sharp chisel. Then I get careless and do this. Lesson learned? I wonder sometimes.
![Wood Wood stain Floor Flooring Hardwood]()
Here is the second upright assembly (that goes with the first one to make the first saw bench/saw horse). I glued the stretcher rails up last night and used the bunk bed screws to hold it together while the glue dried. I used a little bit more glue on this one than the first one and was worried about glue getting on the screws and them being difficult to remove, but they came out very easily. These screws seem to have a plastic waxy coating on them that shows no signs of glue being able to stick to it in any way. I bought them at Lowes and they came 50 to a box for about $19. At the time I bought them I didn't know if I was going to leave them in as a fastener or not so I bought enough to cover all the places I would put them. They were worth the money for sure - excellent screws.
![Wheel Wood Automotive tire Automotive exterior Tire]()
And the shop as I was leaving to let glue dry until I come back. The pieces for the second saw bench/saw horse are in the background.
![Wood Table Automotive design Floor Flooring]()
My new flush saw. It's a HF buy, but it works for what I need it to. I would not use it on anything "fine" though - it's so sharp and jagged that it wants to cut into the surrounding wood as well as the dowels. But the handle is pretty fancy looking wood! It as the best looking one on the rack and had that speckled look, so I chose this one.
![Office ruler Wood Floor Hardwood Rectangle]()
Here are the screws:
![Wood Carton Publication Hardwood Wood stain]()
Cut off oak dowels.
![Wood Wood stain Material property Hardwood Plank]()
This is a clearer image of the dark oak dowels in contrast to the lighter yellow pine. Looks good I think.
![Wood Rectangle Material property Ruler Hardwood]()
The pattern of the grain in the oak dowels is almost checkered or speckled.
![Wood Floor Beige Flooring Rectangle]()
One of the finished rails.
![Brown Property Building Window Wood]()
As for planes, they're pretty finicky to setup initially but there's great online resources. I bought my first Kanna new, it's an economy model that's has performed wonderfully, all for less than $50, direct message me if you want a couple good online sources.
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