Fear of Glueing

[Burt Alcantara]

I've got 5 pieces of 1/2" bookmatched leopard wood panels that I need to join together. My glueing technique is pathetic. My concern is getting too much glue on the pieces which will block the final finish (BLO - varnish???) or not enough and the panel collapses.

Leopard wood is quite porous. I'm concerned that it may be impossible to scrape off the squeeze out.

Can you recommend a good glueing method for these pieces or a completely different way to attach these pieces?

The finished panel will be attached, probably glued to the front of a wash basin. The lower third will be a door of some sort to allow access for storage.

The finished panel size is 30" x 12". Upper 20", door 10".

Thanks,
Burt

[Frank Drew]

Burt,

If you're really concerned about glue squeeze out, you can prefinish the panels, making sure not to get any finish on the glue edges. Or even some light-tack masking tape just a bit back from the edge. I never had a terrible problem with this, nothing a bit of scraping and sanding couldn't solve, but the best plan is to use enough glue to prevent a starved joint but not so much that it squeezes out all over the place. A little beading right along the glue line is to be expected, though.

As for your installation, I wouldn't glue the panel in all the way around; that is, don't glue it across its width since it will need to expand and contract with the seasons and whatever humidity it's exposed to.

[Josiah Bartlett]

You could mask off most of the panel with tape or paper, just leaving the joints free, and then clean the joints immediately.

You probably will want to test both your masking and clean up method on a scrap piece first, to see how much it and your glue affect your finish. You might want to try another type of glue if you can't clean it effectively.

[Burt Alcantara]

The tape method sounds interesting. I'll give that a try with some scraps.

Thanks,
Burt

[John Stevens]

Burt, for what it's worth, I've recently started applying glue to edge joints with small foam brushes that are commonly sold at paint supply stores. (Probably at the big box stores, too.) Just pour some glue in a small bowl or dish, dip the foam brush in the glue a few times to saturate the tip, wipe off the excess on the side of the bowl, and then brush lightly along the edge of the wood to be joined. I find it easy to get an extremely thin, yet uniform coating across the entire edge. So thin that there's often no squeeze out, but the panels are still more than strong enough after clamping 30 min and allowing the glue to cure for 24 hours.

The brush can be cleaned easily for re-use if the foam isn't damaged.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Schmalzer]

I would recommend clamping up your panel before you glue and run masking tape along the seems of the face side. Then you can release the clamps and bend open the joints and apply glue. Re-clamp and have a damp rag handy to wipe up the excess from the one other side. This may make scraping easier.

However the easier solution would be to take similar precautions but then have the panel sanded flat in a wide belt sander after glue up. Of course this is only an option if you are not already at final thickness.

[Steve Summers]

In addition to the good ideas above, try using hot hide glue. It cleans up easily and won't affect the finish.

[Russ Filtz]

On David Marks' show, he always tapes up his glue lines with blue masking tape.

[Dennis Peacock]

All excellent advice here...the blue tape idea works well for me and I also use the "Liquid Hide Glue" with excellent results. Easy to clean up even AFTER the glue has set.

How well does it hold once set? Well, I can tell you this: I used it for a knife case I made for a $13,000 knife by a local Master Bladesmith for a knife collector in the Netherlands. I had a mistake on the inside of the small case and it was all held together with Liquid Hide Glue. The wood was curly maple. I soaked and heated the wood for over 2 hours before giving up and just worked "around" the mistake. I've made several pieces with the Liquid Hide Glue with very, very good results.

So there you have it....in a short story form.

[Don Bullock]

Burt, if it makes you feel any better, you're not alone. Glueing is my least favorite part of woodworking. I dread it even more than sanding. For me it's one area where covering up mistakes (opportunities for creative thinking) is the most difficult. Thanks for asking the question and to those who had answers, I greatly appreciate your input. The information is very helpful.

[Jason Whelehon]

I also hate glue ups. I go to my shop to relax and after a glue up I feel like I just did my taxes! I need a beer!

Anywho, one thing I've found that helps a TON is to let the panel sit on it's side so the glue will run perpendicular to the joint line. After about 30 or so minutes, scrape off the run out. It's dry enough to not spread around and it's wet enough to not have fully adhered to the wood.

Another thing that really helps is dry runs and biscuits. I don't want to start a debate about biscuits being stronger or weaker than a long grain to long grain butt joint. One thing you can't deny is their ability to align joints. This is a great technique as opposed to using cawls (sp?) to hold the piece flat.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

In the pre-finish camp. In the past I have take that route and jointed the lumber after finishing. That eliminates any issues at the glue joint.

[Burt Alcantara]

After reading the first two posts I tried the blue tape approach. It has worked very well for me and has considerably relieved fear of glueing. I've glued up the first of the panels and am getting nice clean joints.

Liquid hide glue sounds interesting. I'll keep a look out for some and try to pickup some foam brushes. I've been using Q-Tips to spread the glue. Sort of funky but it works.

Great replies. Thanks to all!
Burt

[Brian W Evans]

Dennis,

Any chance you have a picture of this knife? I have such a hard time wrapping my head around spending that kind of money on something like a knife. It's like those $15k planes you hear about in the neander forum. How much better can it be than the $600 Lie-Nielsen version? $14,400 better or, to put it another way, a small car better? I think not. However, I'm always curious to see what these things look like.

I'd love to see the box you made for it, too. How much does a guy who buys a $13k knife spend on a box for it, btw?