I'm preparing to build a wall mounted plane till, and I'm going to glue up a fairly wide panel for the back of the till. I'm leery just jointing and gluing the boards together, so I'm thinking about tongue and groove joinery. Problem is, I don't own a T&G plane set…is there another way to do it? All I have are hand tools, so the router bit solution isn't for me…
easiest way i have found is with a plough plane and two supplementary fences. no sup fence clears the back, the thinner one clears the middle, the thicker one clears the front so if you were using a 1/4 in blade you would need a 1/4 and 1/2 thick fence. Always work with the plane on the front of the board when doing this or they wont line up, but that is the same with match planes
Newage - I hadn't thought of that…probably because I don't have a plough plane yet! If I could get away with cutting T&G with it like you describe then I wouldn't need to seek out a match set…
cabmaker - thats what my dad told me, but the only table saw I have is an old Disston D8 that I set on the dining room table once, so it was a table saw for a few minutes…
Just glue it brother … or you could use a shiplap joint but the glue will certainly hold. If you're really nervous about the glue up you can use battens on the back (a board screwed all the way across the glue joints).
Hey Jason, here's a second vote for chrisstefs shiplap joinery suggestion. Not quite as easy to glue up as T&G, but a heck of alot easier to get done - you can even do it before you cut your boards to length if you have a long enough guide bar (ie straight 2×4) lying around.
Just need a straightedge to clamp down and whatever plane you have around that cuts its full with - Stanley 10, rabbet/shoulder plane, etc. Add some Titebond III, the wall will come apart before the Till does.
I'm in the "just jointing and glue" group. If the board are seated properly when you glue, the joint will be plenty strong enough. If it breaks, it will not be on the glue line, which means it would break even if its T&G.
+3 for joint it square and and glue it. I've made about 40 tables over the last 10 years and that's the way I join the boards for them. They're all still together.
Great responses from everyone, thanks for the input!
Loren - I like the cutting gauge idea…I may keep that in my back pocket.
Looks like the best option is shiplap or joint and glue…I'm hearing that joint and glue will hold up, and I'm lazy and in desperate need of a plane till, so I think I'll go that route!
I like Christef's shiplap idea. You could cut the rebates with a rebate plane or whatever you have with a nicker. I'm planning the same treatment of a case I'm working on right now. I'm firing up the router, though
I've never had much luck gluing ship lap joints. I find it hard to keep everything even. I find I need to make sure everything is precise, much more than a normal glue joint. Ship lap is a joint meant to allow movement without leaving an opening. I have glued T&G, but only if the material was already T&G'ed (as in using hardwood flooring for a back panel)
And not to knock any else work, but I've had one panel crack bad after gluing it that I know of, and that was one I put a board screwed all the way across the glue joints. Its on a cabinet I built many years ago in my bathroom. It annoys me every time i'm in there. I knew I knew better when I did it.
I slotted a screw for my hickory French Bottom in my cherry nightstand. The screw pulled right through, 1st season. I try to never underestimate wood movement but I always seem to. I'd be real leery about gluing anything on a solid rear panel.
Now I'm getting concerned….how should I attach the back to the sides of the till? I was going to cut a dado 1/2 inch or so in from the back, and then use a 1/2 in horizontal board on the very back to screw through to the wall…I'm thinking that I don't know what I'm doing all of a sudden…
I suggest you rabbet the back edges of the top, bottom and sides. Make the rabbet the same depth as the thickness of the panel for the back. If you have a rabbet plane, this should be very quick and very easy. Drill some slightly oversize holes in the back panel and nail to the top, bottom and sides. You want the holes slightly oversized to allow for movement.
Jason, I have always done it like Dave describes except I have never had to drill over sized holes, although doing so is probably a pretty good idea. Nails tent to give to allow for movement.
If your hanging the till by screwing threw the back, and you're worried about weight (probably not an issue for a saw till)run a cleat across to spread the load. Don't glue it or fasten it in any way other than the screws to hold it to the wall.
Doing a dado as you described would essentially be the same thing, except the board on the back wouldn't be as strong, but it also wouldn't be visible, so it has its benefits. I'm a little confused where that board would be in relationship to the back panel, so if its behind it, just make sure you don't glue it to the back panel and it should be good. I think you were on the right track (assuming I truly understand what you were going to do).
A frame and panel back allows you to glue up the panels.
That's one way to do it but of course without power tools
or grooving planes you're doing a lot of chiseling.
You can shiplap boards as suggested. Making a little rabbet
plane to do the job is not too hard to do and a fun exercise.
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