Clamping and Gluing

The clamps I’d ordered to help with construction of the baseboards arrived yesterday, which enabled me to start constructing the framework for the first board. In an attempt to keep these large baseboards as light as possible I’m only gluing the components together, no screws or pins. On my previous layout (Tredethy Wharf) I’d glued and screwed the boards together so this is new territory for me. On these boards with the amount of joints and the supposed strength of wood glue (around 3000ppsi) I’m hoping it will be strong enough without the additional weight of the screws. The only addition I might make is adding a right angle brace of some sort in each corner of the board for added rigidity.

So I’m taking it steady, clamping and gluing each section in place, checking levels and leaving to dry before moving on to the next section. The instructions claim the glue is dry within 30 minutes but the joints are fully cured in 18 to 24 hours. I’m leaving each section for about 6 to 8 hours before moving onto the next. At this pace this framework should be finished tomorrow, when I’ll start on the next board. The tops will be cut and glued in place when the frames for all three boards are built.