How do you clamp your mitres??

[fobos8]

Hello all

Was at work today and had to cut and fit a load of Walnut architraves. All the joints were biscuited and they all were as tight as.

I found it a bit of a b*ll ache clamping the mitres though!!

Does anyone use mitre clamps or does anyone have some tips to share on closing the joints up without them sliding around everywhere.

Cheers, Andrew

 

[George_N]

How about Mitre fix adhesive. It is an almost instant superglue that comes with an activator...you put the adhesive on one side of the joint and spray the activator on the other. I haven't used it with a biscuited joint though.

 

[TEO]

Yup, mitre bond/fix/adhesive/whatever. I've not used it with a biscuit either but can't see why it wouldn't work.
Maybe just a couple of small spots of glue either side of the biscuit.
Good luck,
T

 

[TEO]

ps. the cheapest I've found is toolstation, if you have one close they're worth a look.
T

 

[SNight]

I always glue the mitre, no biscuits, then put a pin in through the top of the mitre to hold in place.

 

[fobos8]

I understand what you're saying guys and when I've done softwood miters for architrave I've used mitre fix and a couple of pins.

Normally with these kind of mitres they are painted so if they open up you stick some caulk in and your done.

With a hardwood architrave surely they have to biscuited (or similar) to prevent them from opening up? For this I don't think mitre fix will work cos you need a 20 sec or so to get the mating pieces slotted into the biscuit and get then lined up. PVA or similar allows you to do this. Mitre fix set immediately on contact so I can't see it working.

 

[SNight]

I have used the glue and pin technique with oak arc's and sapele arc's. These where not painted and i have not had any problems with them opening up. If the mitre is accurate then the glue will stick them together and the pins will prevent the mitre from moving / coming apart. I will say that it is easier to use a pin gun though rather than a hammer.

 

[mickthetree]

I found it a bit of a b*ll ache clamping the mitres though!!

Maybe you should try clamps instead of gripping them between your thighs?

 

[fobos8]

SNight - what glue are you using?

 

[matt]

Could you not make sure the biscuits are quite free moving in their slots, apply a thin(ish) coat of PVA to the biscuit (enough to lube and glue but not so much to ooze out over the mitre faces. Then apply mitre fix to the faces. Carefully slide the mitres together, taking advantage of the easy movement of the biscuits in their slots to get them lined up, then bring the faces together. The mitre fix should act as an instant clamp. Meanwhile, the PVA will cause the biscuit to swell and, over time, glue up the joint too.

 

[SNight]

SNight - what glue are you using?

Using standard PVA Wood glue. Just to check, are you talking about Arc's as in, around a door frame?

 

[jasonB]

Use pva or titebond to glue the biscuit and rear of the joint and then a coupel of blobs of mitrefix on the front mating faces and put it tigether, the mitrefix will hold it while the glue sets. The moisture from teh glue is usually enough to set the mitrefast off so you don't really need to spray it.

Jason

 

[fobos8]

really like the idea of combining pva and mite fix - many thanks

 

[SNight]

Seems like a lot of hassle, when you could just pin them and achieve the same results. Everyone has thier own way though.