Reply by Nicholas Hall

@ crank: I here what your saying; it is possible that you are right. I’m no engineer, and I’ve misunderstood more than a few things in my life:). If you want I can email you the article. PM me if you’re interested.

The method for calculating the total force for the glue-up comes straight from the article though. The article’s author also references “Understanding Wood” by Hoadley, and Hoadley comes to similar conclusions regarding the calculation methods for determining total force required for a glue up.

Is there an engineer out there who might shed some light on this?

-- “Congratulations. You’ve just figured out the most complicated way to hold a board 30 inches off the floor." Tage Frid