planing epoxy joins

General Discussion
1

Hey fellaz,

just wondering if any of you had any experience planing timber joined with epoxy, instead of wood glue.

any takers?

I have a bunch of extra epoxy laying around and lots of wood, and want to make a board out of it. I want to use the epoxy with microbaloons to join the wood to try it out, and then shape the blank.

are my planer blades screwed if I do this?

Thanks.

2

If you joint the boards nicely (plane the surfaces true before gluing together) you will only need a very thin epoxy glue line.

Then it won’t be an issue.

I just cut through it anyway… no planer blades gunna stop me from making that board! :slight_smile:

When sanding over glue lines, use a rigid sanding block, otherwise the glue line will stay proud and the balsa beside the join will wear away. (i’m assuming balsa? if ya using ebony I wouldn’t worry, ha ha)

A light touch helps to stop this even when using the block.

Hope that helps

Kit

3

thanks KK,

im not doubting it will work but just wondering if, using epoxy, a planer is the best tool for the job, especially if my blank will be cut to thickness on the bandsaw, and foiled to thickness. I was thinking of using a belt sander instead, as i’ve finished wood boards before, rail shaping included, with that tool. i just want to use the right tool for the job.

thanks for the tips!

4

Save your epoxy. Just use regular cheap PVA glue (e.g. Titebond). Plus… how are you going to break the boards apart later to do the chambering if you use epoxy? I recommend you use a jointer, and a thickness planer to get your boards smooth and flush. The key, as mentioned above, is to make your glue lines as thin as possible. The only reason to use epoxy is if you don’t have the tools to make tight joints, and you have to fill the gaps. In that case you are definitely taking a risk with your planer blades.

5

One other thing. I’m actually going through the same issue as your right now. I am building a HWS style wood board with bead and cove rails. I used epoxy to glue the chine strips down to the bottom skin. The rest of the strips were done with Gorilla Glue. I’m thinking about using a belt sander to shape the part of the rail where I used epoxy.

6

i just finished a board that i glued up with marine epoxy.

i used a planer to get the wood levelled and had no issues.

planer cut through it fine and still works fine afterwards.

if you are glassing the board, then like swied said, a pva woodglue would do the trick and would be easier on your tools.

mine is not being glassed so i needed to use epoxy.