So, back to creating our custom medallion (you can click these links to see Part 3).
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So, back to creating our custom medallion (you can click these links to see Part 3).
It was time to remove the padauk pieces so that I could bend the strips of walnut around the maple. Even though the grain on the medallion pieces was chosen carefully to be consistent, I took a minute to number the padauk pieces so they went back in the same manner they were cut.
There were two walnut strips bent around the inner and outer circumference of the padauk. Each bent walnut was made of two strips. Keep in mind that the tighter the diameter, the thinner the strips need to be. Some woods are easier to bend than others, and it really helps if you try to bend straight-grain pieces like quartersawn. I chose walnut and holly. Very bad idea if you're just getting familiar with bending wood. If fact, when I think about it now, it was a little suicidal to bend holly in such long segments. Hey, where's the fun if we just played safe, right?
So, to glue the first strip, I had the walnut ready, the glue, cams, screws, drill and X-Acto knife. This was a fairly simple glue-up so if you don't have much experience in gluing fast, you'd still be okay. The fundamentals are the same for all glue-ups. They are equally important for basic and more complicated glue-ups and are:
- Dry-fit all your cut pieces before you glue them.
- Have a plan for how you are going to glue and clamp.
- Have the right clamps (in this case, cams) and a lot of them.
- Understand the consequences of a mistake and how to deal with it in the middle of the glue-up.
- Don't make mistakes.
It was time to glue the walnut strips. I dry-fit it and cut it a little long. Yes, I could calculate the length I needed and just glue the piece without having to trim it. I preferred not to. Two reasons:
- If a piece broke (shit happens) for whatever reason, I would have lost length. I wanted to be able to trim the broken edge and keep gluing.
- The butt joint in the bent piece is not a right angle. I could eyeball the angle and trim the walnut with my knife.
How to work the bending: Spread the glue around the bottom and the side of the medallion, in this case the maple scallops. Remember we had four knockouts? Hold that thought. Secure the cams to the walnut as you go along. You are compressing the inside of the walnut cells, and you want to make sure it is a tight fit all around. When I got to the end, I just eyeballed the butt joint and cut it with a knife. Use a slicing motion so you get a clean cut. As I was gluing, I fit the maple knockouts in their position. I was careful NOT to push them all the way down, just enough so that the walnut would follow the curve perfectly. After the glue dried (I like waiting overnight) it was time to remove the cams, clean any glue squeeze-outs and glue the padauk.
Gluing the padauk required me to wipe the wood with denatured alcohol first. Why? To remove the oil, which would interfere with the glue drying and curing. Every time I glue exotic woods I wipe them with solvent and immediately glue them up. With this particular piece, it was a challenge. This padauk (which I bought at the hardwood lumber yard) was oily as oily can be. Talk about finishing challenges.
I glued the padauk, making sure the butt joints lined up with the scallops. After the glue dried (overnight!) I then added the outer walnut and holly strips in the same manner discussed earlier:
A little note about glue-ups and custom work: You need to plan for the best but expect the worst. Meaning, when you do something like this think about what could go wrong and how you can minimize the chances it would happen. Then, if it did happen - how would you correct it? I mean after you finished wiping the tears. Learning how to work under pressure and how to deal with mistakes makes you a better woodworker. We will discuss the tears comment in depth when we get to the installation of the medallion in the floor.
I will continue this topic in four weeks. Time for a little summer break. You know, family, friends, rock 'n' roll. It is good for the soul.