Laminating (2)

The formwork must be made of solid material as it needs to be able to withstand a lot of pressure. M.D.F. is a useful material for making formworks because it is tough and easy to cut, especially into curves. The better you make your formwork the better your lamination should turn out. Badly fitting formworks will mean that the laminates will glue evenly or possibly at all! The surfaces of the formwork should be square and sanded down smooth.

 

Before putting the laminates in the formwork it is a good idea to line it with paper so that excess glue, which will be squeezed out of the laminates when the formwork is cramped, will not stick to the formwork itself. This would destroy the formwork and your workpiece. Make sure that all the laminates are aligned, with none 'sticking up'. The laminates are now ready to be 'cramped up' in the formwork. The excess glue which is squeezed out should be wiped off with a damp cloth. This will save a lot of time later at the 'clean up' stage. The laminates will normally be left in the formwork overnight, depending on the glue you use. P.V.A. is very suitable for laminating wood. When the glue has set and the lamination has been carefully removed from the formwork, the workpiece will need to be cleaned up. This involves planing off the remaing excess glue and generally cleaning and sanding up the workpiece ready for whatever finish you have decided to apply.   There are a number of advantages to laminating: Curves that are difficult to achieve with a saw can be easy using laminates A lamination can be used instead of a joint. For instance the lamination in the illustration above could be used as a shelf bracket or as a stool leg. You can make many copies of the same item (if you take care of the formwork!) A well made lamination is very strong.

 

Forming Wood

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