Making boards wider?

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Has anyone tried making a 1x10 board 9 5/8 wide by adding a strip to it with nails and glue? If so how has it worked out? I have seen some cheap 1x10 boards and was contemplating trying this to make a few deeps. :scratch: Adrian.

[alpha6]

Depends on how much you value your time. It would of course work, but seems like a lot of effort.

[fish_stix]

Works for me. If I can't get inexpensive 1x12 I'm not above ripping a 3/8" strip and stapling it on to make a 9 5/8" board. The bees have never once complained, but some of the perfectionists who see them tend to get their panties all bunched up over it. :D

[honeyman46408]

Sounds good to me I am makeing some 9 5/8" deeps out of 1x6"s now go for it don`t throw anything away :lpf:

[KQ6AR]

There was a guy on here looking for a board stretcher a few weeks ago for the same reason.
I think he decided to rip them & make honey suppers.

[shadetreebeeman]

The bees dont care as long as the inside spaces are to spects. You can add to or cut down. Bee space is all you need to worry about. But remember standard eqp will not match .

[waynesgarden]

Sounds good to me I am making some 9 5/8" deeps out of 1x6"s
I'm doing the same thing. Since I bought a cheap biscuit joiner, I'm making all kinds of wide boards out of narrower scrap. It's fast and easy and my cost for lumber is only the price of the glue and a handful of biscuits.

Since the scrap is Windsor One wood trim, it comes primed with three coats of acrylic paint. Nothing is too good for my girls.

Wayne

[swamprat]

works for me

[fafrd]

WaynesGarden,

I'm gonna admit that before seeing your post, I didn't eve know what a biscuit joiner is. Now after poking around on the internet for a day, I think I know what I want Santa to bring me this Christmas...

Can you tell me what brand of biscuit joiner you have?

Also, while it's clear how a biscuit joiner can make it asy to extend a board, it also seems like it is an easy way to make a box. Have you ever used your biscuit joiner to make biscuit butt joints or biscuit mitre joints? It seems like it would be alot easire that making a box joint - have you ever tried it and do you think it is a good idea?

thanks

-fafrd

[waynesgarden]

I bought a cheap, discontinued McCullagh model on Amazon for about $40. (I think all McCullagh power tools except chainsaws, etc. are discontinued.)

I've had this for a couple of months now and haven't really done much with it except to make wider boards from narrow ones. I did use it when I need to make a 24"X30"x3" high base for a project. I simply cut the slots and butted and glued the ends. Worked good for that. Hadn't planned on making butt joints for hive bodies though. (I like making the box joints and have the time over the winter to set up a box joint jig for the tablesaw and cut joints till Spring.)

Wayne

[fafrd]

Thanks, Wayne. I'd like to make box joints too, but don't have the rig and have never done it before. Do you think it would be a good idea for a novice like me to try to use a biscuit cutter to make a custom box (I want to make a double wide box - 32.5 inches wide - to hold 21 - 23 frames)? Any opinion of whether a biscuit butt joint would hold well (I don't plan to move the box much once it is in place)? My brother has a table saw that I could probably use to make 45 degree cuts for a mitre joint - ever put a biscuit into a mitre joint? Would you think that wuld be a better way to go than a butt joint? I'm reasonably handy with tools - just don't have a dado and have never messed around with a jig before. For just one box, it seems like a biscut cutter may be an easier way to go and will allow me to extend standard 6" or 8" boards as a bonus...

-fafrd

[waynesgarden]

fafrd

There have been a discussion or two here about using butt joints (and various other types) on boxes. Some have said they have good results using butt joints, particularly when using screws. The biscuits would only help to make the joint stronger. You will be gluing the entire joint and might also use nails or screws, if only to hold the pieces securely while the glue dries. Be sure to clamp the boxes to make a tight fit and keep them square.

Miter joints should be stronger than butt joints because of the added gluing surface area. I've never cut a biscuit slot into a mitered edge. The trick would be to not get too close to the outer corner or you will be cutting completely through the wood.

Others here have good luck using rabbet joints. These are easy to cut with a standard tablesaw blade (or a dado set) and also increase the gluing area.

Another interesting joint (that I've never tried) is the locking miter which required a router and cutter to form an interlocking mitered corner and would be a lot stronger than a standard miter.

Lots of way to make soup!

Wayne

[Mark in Kansas]

Generally, in the woodworking community,it's held that biscuits are great for aligning two pieces being glued together but not much for structural strength. That's why we see the box joint so often in hive woodware. Biscuits don't have a lot of strength, so you're basically still left with a butt joint (end grain to side grain).

[fafrd]

Thanks Wayne. I can manage a dado with the table saw I have access to, and I am pretty sure I am going to end up with a biscuit cutter for Christmas which will allow me to extend boards and experiment with biscuit joints for the box if I want.

Yes, if I were going to put a biscuit into a miter joint, it would be well back from the corner so that the biscuit would not cut through the board. I’m going to be using 2” (1.5”) lumber for this box, so I should have plenty of wood at the miter joint to locate the biscuits.

I would love to have the equipment for a locking miter joint, but that is out of reach for me (at least through another Christmas or two :D), so I guess my additional questions for you are:

-if you were making a 20”x32.5” box out of 2x12 lumber, would you think it would be easier to make a rabbet joint or the miter biscuit joint?

-for the same box, any opinion on whether the miter+biscuit joint would be stronger than the rabbet joint? If weaker, enough to make a difference? (box will not be moved much?

-for the same box, would the lack of endgrain on the miter+biscuit joint make it a better joint as far as weathering and lifetime? Is exposed endgrain something to worry about with the rabbet joint or is it a non-issue?

Thanks again for your help and advice,

-fafrd

[fafrd]

Thanks, Mark. It's a custom box (20"x32.5") and a box joint appears to be out of reach for me. Since I will not be movng the box often, I am hoping that either a rabbet joint or a mitre+biscuit joint will be good enough.

If you have experience with any of these joints, I would appreciate your thoughts on the three questions I asked Wayne above.

-fafrd

[bigbearomaha]

just because I'm bored...

technically, a box joint is the point of contact where two boards connect, forming an angle. or the joint of a box.

The "finger-joint" is the joint type which is often simply referred to as a "box-joint", or alternating projections cut into the ends of a board, forming interconnecting points.

Also usable is the butt joint and the rabbeted joint, among others.

I can't help it, it's a pet peeve of mine.

On the topic of combining boards for greater widths, biscuits and glue or dowels and glue will work to hold two boards together edge-wise.

May the force be with you...
and also with you...

Big Bear

[paul.h]

I have a Kreg Jig and it works well for joining boards together. A little pricy but it can be used for other things as well. I have a biscuit joiner and I do not think it would work well for edge glueing boards.

[Ross]

On the topic of combining boards for greater widths, biscuits and glue or dowels and glue will work to hold two boards together edge-wise.Actually, tests show that a well prepared glue joint does not need biscuits or dowels. The wood along the joint will fail before the glue joint itself.

[bigbearomaha]

When I went to school we learned if it ain't glued, it ain't right. LOL

there's about as many ways as there are people. it's all good.

Big Bear