Dowel Helps with Great Glue-Ups

Buckling Panel If you use pipe clamps when gluing up a solid-wood panel, it’s important that the clamping pressure is centered on the thickness of the panel. Otherwise, the panel will buckle, as shown in the Pipe Clamps Illustration at right.

Dowel between clamp and panel One way to center the pressure is to fit a dowel that’s the same diameter as the thickness of the panel between the clamp jaws and the panel (see Photo at left). The dowel redistributes the clamping pressure, so it’s centered on the workpiece. The result is a perfectly flat glued-up panel.

Good woodworking,

Wyatt Myers
Online Editor, Workbench

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