How do yo glue angled segments?

[jdmyers4]

I'm thinking of making a celtic knot pen, but would like to see if anyone has tips on how to glue the 45-degree segments together. I guess my initial idea is to glue the three pieces together (two blank halves plus the thin inlay strip), then put the three in a vise to hold the sides in line, then apply a C-Clamp across the horizontal axis.

Would this work, or is there an easier why? I saw in the tutorial that you can make your kerf cut (but not all the way through), then simply glue in the inlay strip and clamp til dry. I'll try this, but I'll be using my bandsaw - small kerf. But there will come a time when I want to use an inlay piece that is wider than a blade kerf.

Ugh - gluing is always a nuisance, not to mention a little tricky at times.

 

[Brandon25]

I like your vise idea. You could also use a table saw for a large kerf.

 

[jdmyers4]

Unfortunately I don't have a table saw. I have an 18-inch Laguna bandsaw, so I get pretty straight cuts with my 1 1/4" blade.

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

I place the three segments in a wooden cradle that is waxed. The cradle looks like angle iron.

I use medium ca glue and hold everything together for a few moments. The cradle keeps everything aligned until the glue sets.

 

[Fred]

Yep, ya gotta have a sturdy jig and you can't get any better that 1x1" angle metal. Keep wax paper against the metal and between the segments. Clamp everything down and not to tight else it will bow and slip when you are not looking.

 

[jdmyers4]

Hmmm, I'll give that angle-iron a try. Wax paper, then place your blank the angle-iron, then use 3 C-clamps - lightly.

My router table is held up with some angle-iron braces - maybe I'll just use that for my angle-iron support. It's handy and readily available.

Thanks.

 

[TribalRR]

I haven't made one of these so I could be wrong, but if you didn't use a inlay that is the same thickness as your kerf wouldn't that cause all but the last knot to be out of round?

 

[mikemac]

I use angle iron as well, but instead of wax paper, i put down scrap paper, peel it off when done... then just hit it on the belt sander to clean it up. Theres a few pics of it in use here

http://www.ottawawood.com/jester/index.html