Cleats

[catnip]

 Although the standard cleat is cut from quartersawn spruce as shown in yellow I was wondering if the red cleat cut from from the same stock might be useful is some cases?  The grain lines are shown in solid blue...  ie similar to a bass bar.

[Jeffrey Holmes]

Not sure exactly what you're asking? Is the question "do you install slab cut cleats?" If that's what you're asking, I personally have not had the occasion to do so.

Probably good to consider what a cleat actually does when applied over a crack... It doesn't exactly "hold it together". 

[Shunyata]

Yellow does a good job of holding along the grain axis and is very flexible across the grain.  Usually that is what we want, hold the seam but remain flexible.

Red is equally strong, but significantly less flexible.  Where would that be useful?

[nathan slobodkin]

53 minutes ago, Jeffrey Holmes said:

Not sure exactly what you're asking? Is the question "do you install slab cut cleats?" If that's what you're asking, I personally have not had the occasion to do so.

Probably good to consider what a cleat actually does when applied over a crack... It doesn't exactly "hold it together". 

How so?

[catnip]

Thanks Shunyata.  I inadvertently cut a bunch of red (slab cut) cleats but they just did not "look" right. I was asking because I did not want to discard them.

[Jeffrey Holmes]

20 hours ago, nathan slobodkin said:

How so?

I'm suggesting that cleats tend to limit flex of the glued crack (shaped and relieved) and help prevent the brittle but strong, well executed, glue joint from opening do to movement. They are installed quartered and cross-grain or on the bias. They don't exactly move in the same manner and direction as the top during humidity changes, and don't really "hold" the crack closed in the way many may feel that they do.

[Nick Allen]

4 hours ago, catnip said:

 Although the standard cleat is cut from quartersawn spruce as shown in yellow I was wondering if the red cleat cut from from the same stock might be useful is some cases?  The grain lines are shown in solid blue...  ie similar to a bass bar.

I would suggest that you re approach your cleat stock. 

It's more beneficial to make a tower of clear stock, so to speak. And actually split it off of the tower as needed. This way, you can split off a chunk for two or three cleats, and use this nice bigger chunk to hold while you chalk fit. But the main benefit of having tower stock is that your edges are razor clean and tidy once the clear is finished. And, they are all exactly uniform. 

I hope you know what I mean by tower. It's as if you had a board that's slab cut, and cut cross-grain off of the end of it, and tried up the long sides of this strip so that a split cross section is the dimensions of your finished cleats. You can use a plane, or a disc sander. Whatever is easiest for you. 

[Jeffrey Holmes]

Jerry Pasewicz (Triangle strings) has a very good tutorial on the website concerning their method of making cleat stock and fitting/glueing cleats...