Comments on: Clamping Miters?

By: thewoodwhisperer

thewoodwhisperer — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:09:36 +0000

Hey Craig. No worries about the diagram. Your description was good enough. Ultimately, there’s just no way you can do that unless you run the purplerheart’s grain direction the other way. In other woods, the same grain orientation as the panels. I think box joints would be a great idea, but of course this doesn’t really give you the look you’re after. And no, box joints don’t restrict movement at all. The wood simply expands and contracts together as one. This is how all solid casework works. As long as all the panels have the grain running the same way, its all good.

Now one alternative you might consider is using plywood for the panels. If you do that, you can run those purpleheart strips vertically and you won’t have any issues with movement. But of course you’ll either have to veneer your own mahogany panels or buy some fairly expensive plywood.

By: CraigA

CraigA — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:32:00 +0000

I clicked submit and saw that my “digital diagram” got scrambled. Basically the purple heart is 1″x2″x19″ and I was going to route a 1/4″ slot down the middle and then cut a mating notch on the mahogany. These two surfaces will end up flush. Each corner will be made up, or WERE going to be made up, of two pieces of the purple heart joined by the 45* miter.

Hope this helps you understand my screwed up thinking :-)

Thanks yet again.

By: CraigA

CraigA — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:28:29 +0000

Thanks very much for the reply and I cannot believe I hadn’t thought of what I was about to do :-( Gluing up the end grain that is. Above is a very crude representation of what I have in mind. These two parts are the purple heart with a 45* miter and are 19″ in length. You can see where the mahogany panels, which are the same thickness, are going to be joining.

My plan is to give this as a Christmas gift and I’ve maybe spent too much time laying out inlay that I’m doing on the lid, and I’m feeling a little nervous about completing the project in time. You have no idea how much I appreciate your response and stopping me from making a HUGE mistake. Do you have an idea about how I can “redesign” the corners. Should I do away with the purple heart here and just do large box joints? I just had a thought, don’t box joints also restrict lateral movement? I know there done all the time so maybe not. I don’t have enough purple heart (or the money to get more) to frame in the mahogany and use spacers so it can ‘float’ so that option will have to be out. Any ideas and help are greatly appreciated.

Craig

PS, I have spent many hours over the last week or so watching your videos and reading you site. It is very well done and very informative. I also love your sense of humor. Keep up the great work and thanks again.

By: thewoodwhisperer

thewoodwhisperer — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:14:51 +0000

Hey Craig. Not sure I understand what you’re doing. Are you just gluing one a cross-grain strip of purpleheart to the end of the panel. If so, yes I would definitely glue the strip to the panel first, and then cut the miter. Should save you some work since you are cutting both pieces at once. But there is a bigger issue that concerns me here. If you are using solid mahogany for your panel, you really shouldn’t glue on a cross grain strip. That will constrict the movement of the panel and could result in disaster when the panels expand and contract.

By: CraigA

CraigA — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:54:07 +0000

I am building a trunk (19″ wide x 36″ long x 17″ deep) and in the corners I’m using 1″ x 2″ strips of purple heart with miters so the corners are clean. What would you recommend for clamping technique on this? I was thinking of attaching the purple heart to the mahogany the then doing the miter and gluing. But would it be better to miter and glue the purple heart and then attach it to the mahogany? Or some derivation there of :-) As you can see I’m confused! Any help will be greatly appreciated.

By: JT

JT — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 07:58:40 +0000

For certain things I just nail a few blocks into the table around the workpiece, then hammer a wedge shaped block of wood sideways between the workpiece and the block, if that makes sense. I saw it on a woodworker’s website.. but I can’t remember his name right now.
You can get equal pressure on each joint by tapping the wedges. In order to hold the workpiece down, I’ve made wedges that overlay the workpiece a little, and also go under a lip on the stationary block. Not sure if I’m explaining this clearly. This could also be a common trick – I’m a total novice, but it’s worked out for me as a really cheap and effective way to clamp some things

By: Ilya Fedotov

Ilya Fedotov — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:27:45 +0000

I am in the same situation. Just bought a band clamp before reading this thread and glad Marc uses it since I wasn’t sure it will work. I also like the procedure in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P9pAeti57Y
They are making picture frame but pretty much same thing.
Doesn’t get any cheaper then rubber bands, and I saw big fat ones at Harbor Freight (sorry I am beginner so still try to go as cheap as I can :-) ) today.

P.S I like mitered joints they look … eh … classy, but they are a pain, I am yet to make tight one on all corners.

By: Assembly Jigs and Fixtures

Assembly Jigs and Fixtures — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:40:52 +0000

Hi, I think you need a good set of parallel clamps and a set of strap clamp and hopefully this can do your work.

By: Alan Lilly

Alan Lilly — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:44:05 +0000

Serendipitous… I just got an email from woodpeckers…
The gross stabil clamp is now readily available again and it’s on sale.. I highly recommend it!

http://www.woodpeck.com/multiangleclamp.html

This is the same clamp I use in my video:
http://panofish.net/how-to-build-a-picture-frame/

By: Alan Lilly

Alan Lilly — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:18:23 +0000

I use a fantastic tool for clamping picture frame miters.
You can see the video of it in use here. If you search the web or ebay … you can still find some for sale. It is the best tool for this type of clamping IMHO.

http://www.panofish.net/how-to.....ure-frame/