[Irish]

So now the question is ... do you have woodworking equipment as a table saw, planer, pipe clamps .... ?

If you do it's time to learn how to do a laminate glue-up if you want to continue with the one piece 18" x 48" work.

Laminating a bunch of small boards into one larger boards is not that hard but it does require a huge hoard of pipe clamps or slide clamps. The smaller the width of the boards that you use the less cupping you will have. A 3" or 4" wide board will have some warpage but ususally it is minimal compared to what an 8", 10" or 12" will do.

So for an 18" wide board you might want to go with 4 or 5 boards. Ask the wood store to plane it four sides which means that all of the edges are smooth instead of rough cut. I'd probably go with 5.

As I do have a table saw I would order it 50" long so that I could cut it to the 48" after the glue up was complete. That would give me a perfect edge on both sides.

You apply glue along the connecting edges, line the pieces up and then put the clamps to it. You need to clamp the boards across the width to hold them board to board. You also need to clamp bracing boards across the face of the laminate to keep everything from buckling when you pull the width clamps down.

You will want bar clamps. A bar clamp is used in furniture making. It has a long heavy pipe as the length. The clamps are two independently moving pieces that can be slid across the bar. There is a space on mine between the holding area of the clamps and the bar. That gives me room to lay some scrap plywood on top of my glue up as braces.

Kathy - pull the bar clamps down in the same pattern that you would stretch a canvas onto stretchers. Do the center width clamp first, then add two clamps, one of each side of that, and pull them down, then two more and then two more.

Pull each clamp down to just snug. Once all the clamps are in place start again at the center and pull them down a little tighter. When you get to just the right tension the boards will want to 'pop up' or buckle and thats when you add bracing boards with slide clamps. The slide clamps goes vertical to the laminate clamping the boards to both the scrap brace wood and the work bench.

So you will have clamps going horizontal from edge to edge of the boards to hold the boards together and clamps going vertical from top to bottom to keep everything from buckling.

Now ... the really, really hard part ... walk away for several days! Wood glue will set to the touch in several hours and should be wells et in one day. But the biggest mistake we all make is to go 'peak' and loosen the clamps too soon to see how its doing.

If I glue up on Friday I remove the clamps on Monday. Maybe that's a little extreme but for me it's a good rule of thumb. Monday remove the clamps, run the ends through the table saw and give everything a good sanding to remove any left over glue. Add bracing boards to the back.

Glue is extremely strong and you will have an excellent laminate able to take any abuse from carving.

If not it's time to contact Heinecke at www.heineckewood.com and look under bark wood. There bark wood might be just what you want if you want to work in three or four units.

Keep us posted

Susan

[Mottles]

As for equipment I have a bandsaw, table saw but non of the clamps or planer you mention. These are things I need to add to my workshop if I'm going to take on a project like this on another time.

The day before I went to Phoenix to the Woodworkers Source I did emailed Heinecke. I gave them my wood type and sizes needed and ask for an estimate. Tim at Heinecke gave me an estimate for the project and said it would have to be a glue-up. I emailed back and told them I might have a change of plan and what standard width sizes did they have. I explained, I really didn't want to glue because I had no experience with the process. I'm waiting to hear back......I have been using Heinecke for most of my wood needs and they are great folks to do business with.

I'm really leaning toward doing the project in panels now. If I can get a 12 inch width I'll revise my composition to fit. I was thinking three panels with the center panel being 3 feet and two additional panels being 2 feet for a total of 7 feet across.

The day wasn't a total wash, hubby and I made a trip over to Mesa and the new Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World. Wow, what a fantastic place a real DisneyLand for adults. Went up stairs to the African Big Game Room after goggling at the various stuffed lions, leapards, rino, bushbucks etc. We ended up at this all but wall to wall glass gun case. I had the most extordinary grouping of shotguns and rifles in the thousands of dollars. One for example a shotgun $25,000.00 with even more higher priced weaponery. I found myself looking at the beautiful woodwork of the stocks. NO didn't bring one home! Hubby doesn't hunt nor do I now. Did some hunting with my Dad as a teenager, mostly pheasant, quail and dove.

Had a nice lunch there too, enjoyed watching the tropical fish in this hugh fish tank. Felt, kinda guilty eating grupper while all those fish were watching me! LOL

Well all for now, will keep everyone posted on where I go from here.
Thanks again, for all your help.

Kathy

[pallin]

I have done a number of large (over 18 inches wide) relief carvings in basswood. I have built-up (laminated) the blank from 4" strips. Then I glue two 1.5" hardwood strips across the back, about 2" from each end. I have had no trouble with warping or cupping. I would not recommend using screws because these would have to be quite short in order to not limit the depth of your relief.

[Mottles]

Thank you pallin for your recommendations, I would love to see one of your reliefs you have built up. Would that be possible? Or if you have one on this site if you could direct me to it's locations.
I'm making a little trip down to my local Home Depot to look at backing wood. I have revised my sizes one panel at 1 1/2 x 10 x 30 inches and two panels at 1 1/2 x 10 x 12 inches. If this one turns out then will start thinking about going larger with limination.
Thank you again, for your input and letting me know what works for you.
Kathy

[Mottles]

Hi All, waiting for my basswood to be delivered from Heinecke. I really down-sized my project after learning more about working large. LOL

So here is what I come up with one board 2" x 10" x 30" and two boards at 2" x 10" x 13". Should be very managable and still give me a piece for behind the intertainment center. As others have recommended I'll let the boards lay flat for a few weeks. This will give me time to get my sketches and final composition worked out.

When I get everything worked out and transfered to the boards I'll post a WIP.
Kathy

[pallin]

Hi Mottles,
Sorry not to get back to you promptly. There are photos of my work in the Carvers Galleries of this site. If you look for pallin and then click on User Gallery, you should get everything. The ones I'm referring to are: Sky & Water I, Reptiles, or Carving Hands. I have used the build-up technique on several others there, including a redwood piece that is 4.5 ft x 7 ft. I can upload a photo of the back of one of these if it would help.
Phil

[Mottles]

Originally Posted by pallin

Hi Mottles,
Sorry not to get back to you promptly. There are photos of my work in the Carvers Galleries of this site. If you look for pallin and then click on User Gallery, you should get everything. The ones I'm referring to are: Sky & Water I, Reptiles, or Carving Hands. I have used the build-up technique on several others there, including a redwood piece that is 4.5 ft x 7 ft. I can upload a photo of the back of one of these if it would help.
Phil

Hi Phil, just came from your album in the Gallery, wonderful body of work.
YES, if it wouldn't be to much trouble I'd really like to see a photo of the back of this pieace or one of your choosing. Thank you, for the help.
Kathy
PS, I love the Reptiles especially...did you use wood stain for each color change? Very effective technique.

[pallin]

Kathy,
Thanks for your compliments. "Reptiles" has two colors of stain plus the natural wood (basswood). There is another piece based on Escher's "Reptiles" that I did as a collaboration with a man in Italy in which the colors are different pieces of wood. Below is a photo of the backside of "Reptiles" to show that the piece was built up of five 4" boards with two 1/4" x 7/8" oak strips recessed into the back at right angle to the basswood grain. The holes near the upper end of each strip are for hanging it on the wall.

[Mottles]

Originally Posted by pallin

Kathy,
Thanks for your compliments. "Reptiles" has two colors of stain plus the natural wood (basswood). There is another piece based on Escher's "Reptiles" that I did as a collaboration with a man in Italy in which the colors are different pieces of wood. Below is a photo of the backside of "Reptiles" to show that the piece was built up of five 4" boards with two 1/4" x 7/8" oak strips recessed into the back at right angle to the basswood grain. The holes near the upper end of each strip are for hanging it on the wall.

Attachment 19236

Hello, and thank you so much for taking the time to upload an image of the back side of the work.

Do you have a special glue you like to use and what type of clamps do you use to hold the boards together? I really need to learn this laminating especially if I'm going to work larger. Great to see how you hang this piece also.

I had thoughts of using picture hanging hardware and strong wire. I have speical hardware for hanging watermedia paintings underglass. So I was thinking this type of framing would work for wood also. As that is what I do with smaller wood reliefs.
Thanks Again,
Kathy

[mark yundt]

Wow...you sure went all over the place to get this one answered. If you have a table saw,,and at least a hand plane,,,this isn't really a problem to put it together. And at this size ,,,movement shouldn't really be a problem,,,and there are ways to solve it besides all that was suggested ( sorry all) . I have a panel in the gallery of roses ,,,it's over 4 ft long,,almost 3 ft wide made out of 2 pieces,,,besides my trees ,,over 10 ft wide,,and the two solid doors I made up out of basswood 3 ft X 6 ft. 2 inches thick,,A round ,,carved table top 6 ft diameter,,,Nothing. Yeah,,wood moves,,,but it's easy to control. I really wouldn't be too concerned with a fairly narrow piece like this. Watch what you select,,,make good joints,,,alternate the rings if you like. But with dimensions like this,,,it probably won't do too much.
Yes...some has moved ,,but are you hitting it with a laser? and what happened after the heat was removed and the wood was allowed to settle,,,yeah,,it went flat. And if you're carving one side ( of course) do something to the back to maintain equilibrium. You said you have a table saw,,,there is your answer plain and simple. Put a few saw cuts along the back every inch or so,,,stopping it before it before the edge ( so you don't see it) and just deep enough that you don't cut through the surface. That's all you need to do,,works every time,,,no problem, end of story.The board will stay flat pretty much forever.

You can if you like go through all the other methods,,but it's alot of work,,,they have many,,, many drawbacks,,and in some cases will cause other failures and headaches you don't want to consider.