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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Bowl presses are really worth making

I always recommend the use of a press for gluing up rings, rather than boards and clamps, and have a simple plan for one in my bowl book. I've been using it for everything, from gluing on box bottoms to laminating wood and veneer, and even have a square version for larger areas.

Well, a few days ago I got lazy, and decided to try gluing on a small box bottom the conventional way. As the pieces slipped out of alignment, I quickly regretted my decision and reached for my press. The control over the pressure, not to mention the likelihood of the parts staying where they are supposed to, convinces me that even people who don't make bowls can benefit from this handy shop-made device.

2 comments:

  1. Carole I again agree with you. The press works very good for lots of glue ups. So far I have 4 of them made and working on another. But the other day I was gluing up a 12" bowl and when I took it out I had a crack in one side about 1 1/2" down from the top. It was located at location I had glued up the board (and I did make sure there was plenty of glue), so I either cranked down to hard on the thumb screws OR the rings were not sanded smooth...I had noticed they were a bit had a bit of a warp in them. But I was able to fix the crack, but could not sell the bowl in case it broke again...another bowl my wife gets to keep.

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