So…glue-up time. I only have one assembly bench and so it’s going to be a bit of a long-drawn out process but this is how I go about something like this. It’s not pretty but it’s functional.
First you need the tools of the trade. These are the essential ones.
And, of course, clamps. A scrap of paper to put the glue brush down onto while your squeezing out the next dollop is useful.
Only it’s not a good idea to use a piece that you’ve written down your timber shopping list for the next stage.
I sand down the edges of the panel to ensure that it slides into the grooves easily at glue-up time. Last thing you want to be doing is struggling with this panel. Because it’s nasty MDF I use my trusty handheld Mirka sander with built in dust-extraction. Very cheap and brilliant to use. If you haven’t got one then stick it on your Christmas list.
I’ve prepped up bags with the requisite number and size of dominos needed for each panel or door because the key to a glue-up is preparation, preparation and preparation as I’ve found to my cost in the past.
I’ve labelled the stiles as to whether they are door lock/opening stile or hinge stile. And which pair of doors or panels they belong to. A set of rails and stiles is then ‘drawn’ from stock and we’re good to go.
They key I find is to plan the sequence and don’t let your mind drift off elsewhere.
I run a couple of lines of glue on the inside face of the groove where the bottom panel is going. That way the glue gets pushed into the groove by the panel as opposed to being scraped off and making an unholy mess if I applied the glue to the panel.
I spent ages Googling to see the preferred way of glueing up domino’s and came to the conclusion that there was no right way. If you put the glue inside the slots then you run the risk of not being able to fully close up the joint due to hydrostatic pressure in the domino slot ‘cos those dominos are a tight fit. If you apply glue to the dominos then it can get wiped off as you push the domino in.
I ended up stuffing glue all over the place. I would NOT be doing this so cavalierly if it were a piece of furniture.
You also need to decide whether you apply glue to the rails or the stiles. I finally came to the conclusion that the best way was to glue the groove in the stile, glue the area where the rails would meet, glue the domino slots. Then insert the dominos.
Then turn the stile through 90 degrees and clamp it to the assembly bench. Apply glue to the exposed dominos. Apply glue into the groove on the bottom rail and bottom middle rail and then slide, squeeze, cajole, hammer them onto the domino’s attached to the stile.
Carry on and fit the top middle rail and the top rail. The top middle rail had previously been marked up to indicate the top since there is a slight slope on it for rainwater to run off. Ditto the ends of all the rails and the stile…all labeled up so that I don’t have to think as I glue-up. It all simply flows together with no cock-ups .
Slide in the panel.
Clean up any excess glue.
Glue and domino up the other stile and fit to the ends of the rails and panel. Clamp it all up. I like these Axminster clamps a lot.
Check the diagonals and apply a bit of ‘persuasion’ the get them equal thus ensuring the door/panel is square. The nice thing about these Axminster clamps is that you can join two together.
Check for wind.
Go and have a beer as I can only do one at a time. Only another 27 to do.
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.