Check out this hot piece of ash

[ehdwuld]

Hot pink would look pretty sweet . . .

With a blue burst around the outside

 

[Chistopher]

What is wrong with you people

 

[LesStrat]

I guess it's actually not all that heavy. It's just a very big slab. Enough wood to make 2 guitars if it weren't for all the wasteful cutting

Or it could be several Steinberger shaped bodies!

 

[Chistopher]

Disaster has struck! I left this little guy unattended in my house for one week and now its split front to back.



Anyone know why my joint is splitting?

Not enough clamps (I used two)? Humidity in my house? Didn't clamp long enough (24 hours)? Not a straight enough joint? Not enough glue? Didn't sand enough?

Time to do some research

 

[jeremy]

thats the glue joint that split?

 

[Chistopher]

Yeah, I'm thinking maybe I didn't rough it up enough

 

[GuitarStv]

more glue, and longer clamping time?

 

[Chistopher]

I don't think I could have done any more glue. I'll try clamping for longer though

 

[Binnerscot]

You must work out.

 

[GuitarStv]

I don't think I could have done any more glue. I'll try clamping for longer though

If temperatures in your work area are normalish, then usually overnight is fine. My dad was always picky about leaving things for a full 24 hours though when he built furniture . . . and none of that stuff ever came unglued. Way stronger at the glue joint than the rest of the wood.

 

[Snake Aces]

What a pain in the ash. If it's just the glue joint and not the ash splitting, then I think the answer is easier to figure out.

Is it humid where you are? Here in MN, our humidity wave doesn't really kick in until about the end of May. Then it is thick like Florida for a few months here. Nearly every MN home has a moldy basement from our swampnuts humidity every summer.

When gluing in high humidity, I would just allow more time for the glue to dry. As Stv said, waiting a full 24 hours, at least, never hurt any project. If you already waited 24 hours and the split still happened, I would personally start thinking I got a bunk glue bottle. The Ramones would not be happy.

I don't think it's a clamping issue personally. Once that glue dries, that split would never happen IMO. Glue joints are strong AF when it comes to wood. As long as the glue bonds with the wood, it's set in stone once dried. Glue never has a problem bonding with ash, it's not oily AF like bocote.

 

[Chistopher]

When trying a second attempt this afternoon, I noticed that my jointer left too clean an edge, so the glue didn't have any pores to find their way into

 

[ehdwuld]

How are you preparing the two edges to mate?

The only reason they are opening is to relieve pressure of a curve

Either they weren't perfectly flat to begin with and you had to close the glue joint with the clamps

Or the moisture wasn't down to to 1%
And it's moving as it continues to dry

Framing timber from HD is normally around 3% moisture
Martin will let wood sit in a dry shed for 5-10 yrs to achieve this moisture content

 

[Chistopher]

How are you preparing the two edges to mate?

The only reason they are opening is to relieve pressure of a curve

Either they weren't perfectly flat to begin with and you had to close the glue joint with the clamps

Or the moisture wasn't down to to 1%
And it's moving as it continues to dry

Framing timber from HD is normally around 3% moisture
Martin will let wood sit in a dry shed for 5-10 yrs to achieve this moisture content

I didn't see a visible curve when I set them side by side. I don't know the percentage, but these were kiln dried by a local lumber yard

I planed both faces, then jointed, then light sanding to scuff, then glued

 

[ehdwuld]

The local yard only dries them to 3%

Usually they are run through an edge joiner to true up the mating surface

What method did you use?

Again, if both edges are flat and true
It wouldn't do that

If your bookmatched edges both had the same slight bump in the center.

It would be magnified on one end or the other


Wood working is pain
It was once living, and has all kind of inconsistencies

My cousin had a cabinet shop next door
He used to complain about it on a daily basis

 

[Chistopher]

The local yard only dries them to 3%

Usually they are run through an edge joiner to true up the mating surface

What method did you use?

Again, if both edges are flat and true
It wouldn't do that

If your bookmatched edges both had the same slight bump in the center.

It would be magnified on one end or the other


Wood working is pain
It was once living, and has all kind of inconsistencies

My cousin had a cabinet shop next door
He used to complain about it on a daily basis

I used a jointer. I did get to use the wood to test my first ever stomach bevel:



Started with belt sander, finished with orbital

 

[ehdwuld]

That may be why some manufacturer use a strip of something else in between the bookmatch