Oh no, not yet another plate joining jig!
Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:17 pm
We have so far only two plate joining jigs in the ANZLF's jig collection:
So I thought I would add mine too, which I am using since about 2 or 3 years.
It is a fairly simple animal, quite fast to use, and it takes parallel edged, wedge-shaped and even to some degree irregular-shaped plates.
Clamping pressure is provided by a long wedge, and to prevent the joint from popping open three pre-bent "springs" (actually thin plywood strips glued to a curve) hold the plates down at the joint. The outer edges of the plates get hold down by a slight bevel (undercut) on the long wedge and on the fixed ledge as the wedge gets "driven in" (by hand, no hammer needed).
Time between applying glue and stashing the board away could be about 10 seconds, but as I like to clean up everything nicely I first shoot some steam on top of the joint and wipe off the squeeze-out (hot hide glue) which can take almost an additional minute. As a nice side-effect the heat of the clean-up procedure re-activates the glue in the joint, so that in case I had been a bit slow when applying the glue on a cold and dry winter day the joint would still turn out perfect.
The long wedge rides on a two-buckled plywood slab that is pivoting on a dowel which first has to be adjusted along one of three slots in the board to the plates width:
The jig takes plates of guitar-size down to a plate width of about 40 mm or even less. Here I was gluing up the boomatched headplate (plum wood, 50 mm wide) of my sopranino ukulele (at that time I used a hold-down device that did not allow to stash the jig away vertically for glue-drying):
Here I am adding a narrow "wing" (about 15 mm wide) to the lower bout of a by two hairs too narrow guitar soundboard:
I really like the generous access this jig provides to the joint for clean-up. Regarding quickness between applying glue and the plates being ready to stash away I rate it second-best after the tape method (shown for example here by Chris Paulick). But hey, just using tape can't be it, as this would be way too simple, easy and effective! 
So I thought I would add mine too, which I am using since about 2 or 3 years.
It is a fairly simple animal, quite fast to use, and it takes parallel edged, wedge-shaped and even to some degree irregular-shaped plates.
Clamping pressure is provided by a long wedge, and to prevent the joint from popping open three pre-bent "springs" (actually thin plywood strips glued to a curve) hold the plates down at the joint. The outer edges of the plates get hold down by a slight bevel (undercut) on the long wedge and on the fixed ledge as the wedge gets "driven in" (by hand, no hammer needed).
Time between applying glue and stashing the board away could be about 10 seconds, but as I like to clean up everything nicely I first shoot some steam on top of the joint and wipe off the squeeze-out (hot hide glue) which can take almost an additional minute. As a nice side-effect the heat of the clean-up procedure re-activates the glue in the joint, so that in case I had been a bit slow when applying the glue on a cold and dry winter day the joint would still turn out perfect.
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