Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-4, страница 30

Slide the press bars into place on the carriage bolts and secure them with washers and star knobs. The press bars should slide easily on the bolts — make adjustments if they don't.

make lugs for the curved indentations on Pony clamp heads using l/2"-thick pieces of l"-diameter dowel. When locating the lugs, make sure the clamp head is pushed all the way to the back of the U-shaped cut-out, and provide a little clearance so the clamp head lifts easily out of the bracket. Install rubber clamp pads (pieces 22) on your clamp hardware, if you prefer.

Using the Press

Here's how to put your new panel press to work: pull the press bars far enough out on the bolts so boards will slide in easily. Open the pipe clamps about 1" wider than the width of the overall glue-up. Spread glue along one edge of the first board and slide it into place between the platens and press bars. Rest it on the clamp tail stops. Load the remaining edge-glued boards.

Before tightening the pipe clamps, push the press bars and panel boards against the platens. Tighten the star knobs just enough to hold the boards in place. Try to tighten the star knobs evenly to

This press will give you a convenient means of carrying out all stages of big panel glue-ups without interrupting other workflow at the bench.

Woodworker's Journal August 2009 30

equalize the clamping pressure. If your boards aren't warped and have been properly surfaced for edge gluing, it shouldn't require much force to hold them flat against the platens. If you tighten the press bars excessively, you can overstress the components and even dent the boards, so go easy on those knobs.

With the panel held flat against the platens, tighten the clamp screws until glue begins to squeeze out. If your panel is longer than the press is wide, add a few more clamps to secure the glue joints at the ends of the panel. We all have an opinion

TIP: Rubber clamp pads, commercially available for many brands of pipe clamps, prevent marring on panel edges.

about the best way to handle glue squeeze-out. I like to wait until the glue is rubbery, and then scrape away the squeeze-out while the boards are still in the press. Unless your forearms are built like Popeye's, you should be able to reach glue squeeze-out on the backside of the panel with a handled paint scraper or a damp cloth on the end of a stick.

Once you get the hang of using your press, those big panel glue-ups will be more efficient and enjoyable. You'll never trip over or work around panels leaning precariously against a wall. Best of all, you can free up your bench from messy glue-ups and use_ it for more productive work.

Jon Shackelford is a patent attorney living in Chelsea, Michigan.