Glue-up Mishap

[glenn bradley]

I thought you could all use a laugh at my expense so here you go:

TNNW (20).jpg

Two flat boards about 8" x 38" laminated together; how hard can this be? I go through the requisite dry run that assures success in all-things-glue-up so all my clamps are in the right place, my glue and spreader is at hand, I'm ready to go.

I want a nice even layer of glue spread out across the surface. Given the size this is no small amount of glue. It is a little warm in the desert basin this morning so I have to move quickly. I am about 90% done spreading the glue when I realize I am spreading it on the wrong side . . .

--- queue the Keystone Cops music maestro! ---

I speak a few blue words of self encouragement and dash to the sink. I soak a few paper towels and return to wipe off the glue.

Need more paper towels, back to the sink, back to the bench.

Need more paper towels, decide to grab the whole roll. In grabbing the roll off the hanger I bump the router template storage that is over the sink.

The router templates come down like Fibber McGee's closet while I dash back to the nearly cleaned off material on the bench.

I get the glue all cleaned up and set the board off to dry while I restore order to the router template storage.

The way this is going I am now afraid the cleaned up side of the board may not be clean enough so, I lay down some silicone sheet to prevent myself from gluing the whole assembly to my current bench.

I successfully apply too much glue but, that's OK, I will just scoop up the excess with the spreader and toss it in the box I keep nearby for just such emergencies.

I successfully scoop the glue off onto the silicone sheet where it promptly slips under the show face of the assembly and makes a mess.

I clean this up as well as possible while applying clamps before my open-time runs out.

None of this shows in the picture except maybe a bit of waxed paper I put between the show face and a clamp that got caught. All in all a success but, you have to wonder. I have glued up dresser carcasses with web frames with less fuss. Murphy, thou art a cruel one today.

[Jerry Miner]

Some days are like that. I feel your pain. thanks for sharing

[Mike Henderson]

I've done that. If I can get the boards apart, I take them to the yard and use a hose on them with a brush. Usually gets the glue off pretty good.

Nice set of clamps you have there.

Mike

[Jay Jolliffe]

Sometimes for me the simplest things can aggravate me to no end from stupid mistakes. To much on my mind & thinking to far ahead.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I just hate it when Murphy drops by, uninvited for a cup of coffee!

Glad you recovered Glenn!

[Larry Edgerton]

Murphy moves fast! He was at my house today!

Put in a new set of Tersa carbides in the planer to plane a load of Makore. Looked over every board but the last one for staples. Was so happy to get to the last board that I forgot......

You know the rest of the story.

I have had gluing mishaps, and it does seem once you get into panic mode nothing goes right.

[Frederick Skelly]

Bummer man. Glad you saved it.
Had days like that myself - they suck.

[Bruce Page]

Mama Said..

[Bradley Hedges]

Just the other day I ripped a stopped dado in the front of a 5 x 8 inch oak leg for the Roubo workbench I'm building. Said dado to hold the Benchcrafted Criss-Cross I'm installing to keep the leg vise chop parallel to the leg and not have to bend down to move a pin, etc. You know the drill.

I put the dado in the WRONG LEG.
Stuff happens.

Glad your glue up ended up okay in the end!

[Peter Quinn]

LOL, been there too many times to cry. I'm a careful dry fitter, clamp arrranger, and occasionally a wrong side of the board glue spreader. I've taken to writing myself subtle notes like "GLUE THIS SIDE STUPID" on the two glue faces because I love reading those notes as I start clamping up and realize I'm looking at the wrong face anyway. Sounds like you managed it well Glenn. I've often though it would be helpful to have the keystone cops music on my phone queued up for occasions where its appropriate.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Murphy sited in Palm Bay, FL
The last runs of wire I ran tonight were for the 3 sets of ceiling outlets for the LED Shop Lights.
Ran them over to the sub-panel and made sure there was enough extra to work it properly inside the panel.
Duh, I needed to run them to the switch boxes first, which are another 24" + beyond the sub-panel.
Pulled the wires and ran them again to the correct length.
Gave Murphy a one-way plane ticket.

One-Way Jet.jpg

[Don Morris]

Sounded like one of my routine glue-ups. At least yours turned out OK. Mine usually have a problem of one sort or another. This week I needed to install a trailer hitch on my SUV. Dealerships want up to $900.00 to install them, I figured I could do it for $400.00: $250.00 for the hitch + $150.00 to buy my own 3 ton floor jack (old 2 ton jack not sufficient), jack stands (old 2 ton jack stands not sufficient), and wheel chocks (just to be safe) to lift the SUV. Tested the new equipment on my sedan, made some identifying marks on them to prevent loss (lend too many tools that don't come back). Had everything ready and did a preliminary crawl under the SUV to see how/where I would place the jack and jack stands. Once under the SUV I realized it was high enough off the ground to install the hitch without lifting it. Can't return the floor jack, jack stands and wheel chocks as they now have identification marks on them. OTSSTL Old Too Soon, Smart Too Late.

[glenn bradley]

I've taken to writing myself subtle notes like "GLUE THIS SIDE STUPID" on the two glue faces because I love reading those notes as I start clamping up and realize I'm looking at the wrong face anyway.

Great tip Peter. I have purple and lime green post-it notes in the shop for just such purposes. I find them especially helpful when I have to take a break at an odd time. A bright green note that reminds me where I left off or what I was about to do next is a real trouble saver when I walk back into the shop the next morning..

[Al Launier]

Holy Moly Glenn!

Since that happened to you, I know now that it can happen to anyone. In a small, kindly, comforting way that makes me feel better: "if it can happen to Glenn don't feel so bad if it happens to me".

Altough my woodworking is on small, rather easy projects (compared to what you do) I find the scariest part of a project to be the glue-up. Despite all the preparation with placement & presetting clamps, reviewing the gluing sequence, having a damp cloth on hand, cutting wax paper to size, placing my watch so I can monitor open time, and having a mental dry run, I still get very nervous when gluing/clamping multiple pieces together, especially when I get an unexpected call or visit from someone during glue-up. Distractions & glue-ups do not mix well!

Glad you were able to get through the "timely" ordeal.

[David C. Roseman]

Thanks for the laughs. This stuff never happens to me, of course. But every once in awhile I'm still grateful that wood really does grow on trees.