Timber Framers Guild

Curved Laminated Timber

Posted By: Dave Petrina

Curved Laminated Timber - 05/15/06 03:25 PM

I'm sure someone out there can help me out on this one. I need a 28ft. curved 4x6 timber for a curved deck. Curve is gradual - 30 inches on the 28ft. chord. My plan is to resaw a 4x6 into 1 inch pieces and glue it up in place. Should I plane the pieces before gluing them? What type of glue should I use and where do I get it? Thanks.
Posted By: John L

Re: Curved Laminated Timber - 05/18/06 12:41 AM

The joints of the perimeter band on a 16-foot diameter redwood deck I built 17 years ago still looks tight. I used resorcinol glue, which is a mild pain to mix but long pot life, has been used for planking boats for many years. Your wood doesn't need to be kilned dried either. Green works. West epoxy works real well as long as your wood is dry, though. I did use Gorilla glue on an outdoor curved deck rail and the seasonal swelling and drying openned up the joints. That's my experience with ripping and gluing curved beams. P>S> If you can thickness plane the individual laminations, the joints almost disappear!
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