Blind Dado Question

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Damon Nabors
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Blind Dado Question

Post by Damon Nabors »

Curious about something. Now that I have a router and starting to build with blind dado's. What meathods of assymbly are you guys using? Glue in the dado only, glue and toenail through the dado to hold it in place, glue and clamps????

Just trying to fine tune things to make the most out of productivity. I have been accused of overbuilding a cabinet before and just want to get my system down to a science so we can milk the most out of each job without tying up too much time in the assymbly process.

Damon
Gene Davis

Post by Gene Davis »

Talk to your wholesale supplier about glues, and sample some at the highest viscosity available.

With a high-viscosity glue in the mortises and not on the tenons, you will get a quality fit-up without getting glue drips on panels, or glue smears.

Ideally, the amount of glue injected along a mortise bottom, will be right to bond the tenon, by getting a little squeeze-up into the sides, without coming out to the surface.

I snipped these pics from the True32 site, and they show an ideal assembly table. Just the right height, all the gear right there, and the parts rack adjacent.

In a production setting, I would try to use staples to do a quick fit-up, just enough fired to hold things, then use Hafele's #6 x 2\" Zip-R screws for the final squeeze.

A deadblow rubber mallet and the Zip-Rs are all you need for assembly work. No clamping necessary.

Bob Buckley over at True32 says 8 minutes are what you need for each wall cab ass'y, with basecabs averaging 12 minutes assembly time.
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Michael Rice
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Post by Michael Rice »

That assembly table looks like a hospital bed... :) mine has gobs of glue hanging off it, putty smeared everywhere, staples and nails sticking out of the legs...crap all over it....

Mike
It's what you do, with what you got !
Damon Nabors
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Post by Damon Nabors »

Mike, I can understand what your saying. When the glue ooozes out and you wipe it off with your finger, you don't want to get it on your pants and listen to you wife. Wipe off on the side of the table. :? :D :) :(
DanEpps
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Post by DanEpps »

Yeah, that thing looks like something from a TV woodworking show where everything is spotless.
Gene Davis

Post by Gene Davis »

You are saying it's a \"studio\" shop, Dan? Not a real one?

The reason a True32 shop like Buckley's (the table shown is in his) is clean, is because no glue is used in carcase assembly, and because they want it clean when working with finished ends.

What's wrong with a spotless shop?

From WoodWeb's shop gallery pages, here is Chad Reitan's shop, near Santa Cruz, CA. He builds very impressive stuff. See the veneer press near the door?

May we have some photos from your shop?
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Glenn Van Reason
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Post by Glenn Van Reason »

That's just plain wrong lol ..... creativity comes from chaos, or at least that's how I work.....
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Michael Rice
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Post by Michael Rice »

Hey Gene
there's nothing wrong with a spotless shop....all of these pictures are very impressive. I'm sure most of us who aren't so organized, wish we were. With the volume of work I put out, as a one man shop, I just never have figured it out... :)

Mike
It's what you do, with what you got !
DanEpps
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Post by DanEpps »

I agree...nothing at all wrong with a clean shop--I just wish I could be so organized. :cry:
Bill Rutherford
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Post by Bill Rutherford »

Well lets see....

The first thing I notice is the complete lack of safety lines anywhere in the shop.

Secondly I see some extension cords hanging from the ceiling on the back wall, this is a huge OSHA no no.

Then I notice the column with the fire extinguisher on it, where is the federally required sign showing the location of the extinguiher?

If you zoom in very thight to the right of the chop saw I can see a light switch without a cover.

Just in front of that is a 4\" sqaure outlet box hanging from a piece of what appears to be J cord, another no, no. On top of that there is at least one knock out missing from the outlet box without a shield, talk about a dust trap.

Toward the back of second picture I notice another fire extinguisher without a sign, and an electircal panel without the required 3' of clearance.

Nowhere do I see any signs about shop safety, the use of protective gear, etc.

Before you ask, pictures of my shop have been published in a few different magazines, you are welcome to search back issues and find them! My shop is far from perfect, but then I am not trying to hold it up as an example of a perfect shop.

Lastly, as for Damon's original question, regular yellow wood glue for plywood and melamine glue for melamine. Apply the glue to all glue surfaces that have exposed raw material. The problem with a thicker glue is that it sometimes will not move enough to allow the blind dado to seat. If there is too much glue in the joint or the glue is too thick you will never get the joint closed. We use a combination of staples and 2\" screws for faces that are not seen and clamps for those that will be visible.
Bill Rutherford
North Woods Manufacturing
Full service CNC Machining
and Edge Banding
http://www.northwoodsmanufacturing.com
Damon Nabors
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Post by Damon Nabors »

Thanks for the responses.

As for the perfect shop, I think it is great if you can have the man power to keep it clean. I too with a small shop have to sacrifice some of the orginization and cleanliness for production. And when I say cleanliness, I am refering to scraps, cut offs, and saw dust on the floor. Most of the time we'll go out on Sundays or late Saturday after things have slowed down to blow every thing off and straiten up. But hey, I would love to walk into a shop like that every day. Sometimes with all the stress I get sooooooooooooo Confusssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddddd!!!!
Kerry Fullington
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Post by Kerry Fullington »

One advantage that Bob has to keep his shop clean is the fact that he cuts basically one material (white melamine) using an off brand router and with dust collection on the router not much dust escapes. There isn't much dust at the router because he only cuts and drills the pieces for butt joint construction (with no glue). Doors are outsourced pre finished so there is no dust there and an edge bander doesn't create much dirt.

Shops that use shapers, molders, planers and jointers to machine solid wood are going to create much more of a dust and dirt problem.

And then some of us are just pigs. :lol:

Bill,
OSHA would be afraid to come in my shop.


Kerry
FredHirsch
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Post by FredHirsch »

Damon,
We use the titebond on the raw edges of the tenon. Damp cloth to wipe squeeze out off. We did some timing a while ago and a base cab is taking about 7 minutes with this method. If I have a joint that doesn't want to go together I have regular pipe clamps at the ready, otherwise, (believe it or not) with a good pallet strapper, we us pallet strap as a clamp for the boxes. (disposable clamp).
Fred
Fred Hirsch
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