Creative Woodworks & crafts 2004-04, страница 21

The other problem that can manifest when cutting a thick stack is the tendency to bum the wood's edges. With a burned edge like the one shown in the photo, the piece that has been cut cannot be called "finished." It is going to require additional work to sand the burned edge off. On the other hand, if we had cut just a single layer we would have had a finished piece once the sawing was done.

Nailing

To hold the stack together I like using a No. 3 finishing nail. On the thinner wood, simply driving the nail into the wood will split it because the sharp point on the nail spreads the wood grain apart as it. goes through the wood. By placing the point of the nail on a steel plate, then tapping the head lightly, you will dull the point of the nail. The dull point on the nail crushes its way through the wood, most likely not causing the wood to split. Place the wood stack on a steel plate and hammer the nail until it bends a little. The bending indicates that the nail has hit the steel plate. The nail tip has been peened by hitting the steel plate, and now it will not scratch my tabletop. Also, the bottom layer of wood is more secure as a result. This is really noticeable on 1/16" wood, where without peening, the bottom piece falls off when you pick up the stack. I use the tops of the nails as handles or steering wheels to hold onto the wood and turn the piece as I cut. I have heard of people placing nails in all of their projects for the same reasons.

Taping

There are many other ways to hold a stack together. Some like to tape the stack. When taping, all of the pieces need to be the same size. The stack can then be wrapped with masking tape or clear packing tape. The tape can be run around the slack on just the edges, or you can tape around the stack's girth from both directions. Both types of tape and both taping methods work equally well. Another option is carpel tape. There are two types of double-face tape that are also called carpet tape (they are shown on the bottom of the photograph). The cheaper kind is a thin plastic tape that holds fairly well (on the left side). Then there is the cloth kind—be careful how much you use on delicate work because it almost holds too well. Mineral spirits will dissolve the tape glue and allow you to separate the pieces, but it makes things a little messy. It is better to use less of this kind of tape, and then just pry the pieces apart. One disadvantage of the cloth tape (as with hot glue) is that it leaves void areas in which there is no tape.

Gluing

You can also hot glue a stack together. One method is to hot glue the faces of the pieces together. The problem with this is that, the glue dries so last that it. tends to leave a void between the pieces, as shown in the photo above. This can cause tear out on the bottom of every layer as we cut. An alternative is to start with all of the pieces being approximately the same size, and then ran a bead of hot glue down the edge of the stack. Run a few beads of glue on each side and the stack is ready to cut.

16 • Creative Woodworks 8. Crafts April 2004