Building a full 13 foot wall of bookcases for my daughter in LA. I am in northern California. Cabinets on the bottom, shelves on top. I'm going down this weekend to install them. Only thing I need is the "cabinet top". The lower cabinet cases are of 3/4 ply, and plan was to put a single piece of poplar over the top to make a nice smooth solid wood surface with no joints. Gluing it and pinning it down to the tops of the cabinets. Then the shelves simply sit on top fastened to the wall, but not the lower cabinets. (I couldn't think of a way to fasten the upper shelves to the lower cabinets since the uprights all line up.)
Trouble is cabinets are 14.25 deep, and I wanted a nice overhang, so was looking for 15.5 wide board. Saw it a month ago when I was designing the bookcases, but now cannot and no one can order. So it looks like I will have to join two pieces. Probably a 11.5 and a 4, putting the 4 board in the back. Here is my question. I know I should clamp these after I glue them, but wanting to keep them flat, I also want to clamp them down to something as well. This got me thinking.
Can I forgo the clamps, and simply glue and pin the thinner 4 inch board toward the back of the cabinets, then apply glue and whilst applying pressure against the smaller board, pin the front board to the cabinets as well? This would rely on the pins to hold the boards together while they dry and hold them flat to the top of the cabinet as well. Or should I just invest in a pocket hole setup and screw them together, then glue and pin them down to the cabinets?
Trouble is cabinets are 14.25 deep, and I wanted a nice overhang, so was looking for 15.5 wide board. Saw it a month ago when I was designing the bookcases, but now cannot and no one can order. So it looks like I will have to join two pieces. Probably a 11.5 and a 4, putting the 4 board in the back. Here is my question. I know I should clamp these after I glue them, but wanting to keep them flat, I also want to clamp them down to something as well. This got me thinking.
Can I forgo the clamps, and simply glue and pin the thinner 4 inch board toward the back of the cabinets, then apply glue and whilst applying pressure against the smaller board, pin the front board to the cabinets as well? This would rely on the pins to hold the boards together while they dry and hold them flat to the top of the cabinet as well. Or should I just invest in a pocket hole setup and screw them together, then glue and pin them down to the cabinets?