Acetone Before Glue-Up?

[Jim Eller]

Did I read somewhere(Chris Schwartz?) that wood should be wipe down with acetone before doing a glue-up?? All species?

In this case, southern pine.

Thanks,
Jim

[Doug Shepard]

A lot of folks advocate the acetone wipe before the oily exotic species like teak, ipe, rosewood, etc., but there seems to be some difference of opinion on how effective it is. I wouldn't think SYP would need it though.

[John Thompson]

Would hurt with SYP to remove any sap. I for the most part wipe all parts down with naptha before applying finish. Mineral spirits or naptha (which dries faster) will telegraph any any sanding marks or excessive glue that you could have missed with the naked eye when sanding. Better to find it before you apply finish as it's too late afterward.

Sarge..

[Howard Acheson]

Wiping with acetone or lacquer thinner is a technique some use with naturally oily woods like teak, cocobolo and many hard, oily, exotic woods.

However, just wiping with acetone will not do anything more than just move the oil around. You need to wet the surface and wipe only once with each face of your wiper. Keep changing the face.

It is not necessary to wipe if the surface was freshly or otherwise, surfaced or sanded within the past 3-5 hours. It takes a while for the oil to migrate to the surface and you can safely glue within that time frame.

[Mark Berenbrok]

I've made two benches and a fair number of pieces from 2X SYP from the box stores and never had any glue up problems. Unless you suspect something has contaminated the surface, a freshly milled surface will do you fine without a wipedown.

[John Schreiber]

I found that SYP varies a great deal from inch to inch in the amount of oil in the wood. Where there are heavy or dark areas, I always wipe it down with naphtha just before gluing. I did some experiments and found that glue does not adhere well in those places.

[Bill White]

Don't think the std. SYP would need a wipe down. Now if yer talkin' about some old heart pine that's really rich in resin......that's another issue. By the way, old heart pine is cool stuff to work with. You'll just have to watch cutters for resin build up.
Bill

[Alan Schwabacher]

There was a test a few years ago in Fine Woodworking where an acetone rinse was done on some oily woods before gluing. They found a small increase in bond strength with some glues. But the big differences were between glue types on oily wood. And freshly sanding the surface just before gluing improved the bond a lot more than did an acetone rinse. I don't think the test included SYP.

[Steve knight]

There was a test a few years ago in Fine Woodworking where an acetone rinse was done on some oily woods before gluing. They found a small increase in bond strength with some glues. But the big differences were between glue types on oily wood. And freshly sanding the surface just before gluing improved the bond a lot more than did an acetone rinse. I don't think the test included SYP.
I discovered this long before FW tested it. back then gorilla glue was king for oily woods. I think it used to work better then too my joints last year before I changed to titebond 3 never seemed as strong as they did 5 years ago. a fresh mill or sanding does the best.