Invisible Glue Lines??

Messages
8,098
Location
North West Indiana
What are your hints or suggestions to getting invisible or near invisible glue lines both with and against the grain of pieces of wood? For instance, if cut with a bandsaw, no sanding? Or sand then glue? I am at a loss with this one. Appreciate your help as I have students making bandsaw boxes and some glueups come out near impossible to see while others :eek: and I :dunno: why especially when it is from the same chunk of wood and cut in similar manners.
 
When planing is possible, clamping the two pieces together and planing simultaneously works for me. When bandsawing, I think you need a sharp blade, and adjusting the saw for the smoothest cut.

Ken
 
There are quite a number of things involved that will prevent invisible glue lines using a band saw. The most obvious thing is that you are removing wood in the kerf and for any rounded cuts you end up with a difference in the radii of the curves cut in the two pieces of at least the thickness of the blade. There is also the issue of some roughness of the cuts, regardless of the fineness of the blade. For straight cuts any corrections made to the cut to stay on a line are going to remove extra wood from between the two pieces.
 
Top