dealing with glue squeeze-out; yes, another!

[Mike Minto]

i'm making some heart shaped boxes, and have to lay the edges of the hollowed out box body onto the flat face of the base of the box. i need to put enough glue on the edges of the wood to hold securely, obviously, but then i always end up with some glue contaminating the base. i wipe it off as best i can while it's still wet, but always end up with some difficult to remove dried glue near the contours of the heart box body, especially on the inside. anyone have an idea how i can make this clean-up easier, or avoid it altogether? perhaps some kind of sealer on the wood to keep glue from getting in the pores? i'm sure this kind of question has come up before, but...thanks, mike

[Randy Carnley]

I use blue painter's masking tape anywhere I don't want to deal with glue ooze out.

[Mike Minto]

randy, that's an interesting idea - do you mean like put the tape on the base, lay the body on it and cut the tape away from where the glue will be, and then go to the glue-up after removing the unnecessary tape? mike

[Myk Rian]

I'll use a sharp chisel to get what the paint tape didn't.

[Mats Bengtsson]

I use blue painter's masking tape anywhere I don't want to deal with glue ooze out.

How and when do you apply the tape? After mounted dry test? Or before dry test and cutting pieces away as asked by Mike?

[Doug Shepard]

How are you forming the matching heart shape on the base? I would have thought a square base was being glued on then trimmed to match the box shape probably with a pattern bit in a router for the final flushing. That would take the excess glue squeeze with it I would think. Are you gluing on an already shaped base piece?

[Tom Veatch]

...trimmed to match the box shape probably with a pattern bit in a router for the final flushing. That would take the excess glue squeeze with it I would think. ...

That would get the squeeze-out on the exterior, but I think the problem is on the inside of the box. There's where the tape would be useful. I'd lay the tape, do the fitup and while clamped in postion, cut around the inside of the box with a marking knife/Xacto blade and remove the excess tape after breaking down the dry fit. Might want to run a layer of tape around the inside of the box as well as on the bottom.

Usually with straight sided glue ups, I'll use an old Stanley 90 in chisel plane mode to remove dried squeeze out on the interior sides.

[Stephen Edwards]

In a recent thread that was addressing this, or a similar glue problem, someone suggested (I think it was David DeCristoforo) to use less glue. I've had good results following that suggestion. In fact, I've been wiping off the excess glue near the inside edges before clamping the bottom to the box, where it would otherwise squeeze out into the inside of the box . Now, I get hardly any glue squeeze out on the inside of my small boxes and it hasn't compromised the integrity of the glue joint at all.

Old habits are hard to break. I still probably use too much glue when gluing up boards for a table top. It's no big deal to wipe off that excess. But, it IS a hassle to deal with excess glue on the inside of small boxes.

My two cents...........

[Don L Johnson]

At the Houston woodshow last weekend, I was watching the Sommerfeld cabinet making presentation. The presenter paused and said: "Let me tell you about a neat trick to keep glue squeeze out from ruining your finish. Someone told me at a recent show that if you take the sawdust, like what's left from around the router, and rub it into the glue squeeze out, it will soak up the glue and you'll have no finish problems." He said he later tried it and it worked. I would be curious if if works for someone else, because it doesn't seem like it would to me. At any rate, I'm passing it along.

[glenn bradley]

randy, that's an interesting idea - do you mean like put the tape on the base, lay the body on it and cut the tape away from where the glue will be, and then go to the glue-up after removing the unnecessary tape? mike

I'll answer; use whatever method you like to get the tape where the squeeze out will layout over the tape, not you material. Another method that I use on complex or hard to get to places is to partially finish those areas before glue up. The glue won't bond well to the finish.

Also I let my glue get to the rubbery stage (30 - 60 minutes) and then slice it off with a chisel or scraper. I have never had good results wiping with a wet rag.

[Peter Quinn]

I use a glue brush cut high and tight with a sharp chisel (less than 1/4" of brissels) and plenty of fresh warm water to rinse the brush. Keep shaking out excess water and blotting on a dry towel to avoid watering down the joint. The brush should be just wet enough to clean things up, and keep the water fresh to avoid sizing the area around the joint. Not sure if you can get a brush in the area you are attempting to clean, but it works well for areas that can be reached but can't be cleaned later with a chisel.

[Mike Minto]

Doug, yes, the box and top and bottom are cut and final shaped and sanded before assembly. Still searching for the perfectly squeeze-out prevention technique, Mike

[Tony Bilello]

Doug, yes, the box and top and bottom are cut and final shaped and sanded before assembly. Still searching for the perfectly squeeze-out prevention technique, Mike

If I remember correctly, the best glue joint layer of glue is about 1/1000th of an inch or less. That is not very much. In your case you are talking about a small box that is not under a lot of stress like a table top would be.
To gain confidence, go through your throw away scraps and practice gluing pieces together at random with less and less glue. The next day, break these joints apart by any method you choose be it hammer, stepping on it or breaking it in a vise. I think you will be amazed at how little glue you will actually need. This would also be a good time to practice rub joints just to see how little glue it takes to create a giant suction.

[Stephen Edwards]

If I remember correctly, the best glue joint layer of glue is about 1/1000th of an inch or less. That is not very much. In your case you are talking about a small box that is not under a lot of stress like a table top would be.
To gain confidence, go through your throw away scraps and practice gluing pieces together at random with less and less glue. The next day, break these joints apart by any method you choose be it hammer, stepping on it or breaking it in a vise. I think you will be amazed at how little glue you will actually need. This would also be a good time to practice rub joints just to see how little glue it takes to create a giant suction.

Very good advice, IMHO.

[Mike Minto]

and I'll have to try it before I assemble my next box. Will post results. Mike :)

[Chris Friesen]

anyone have an idea how i can make this clean-up easier, or avoid it altogether?

I'm told that hide glue will accept finishes much like wood. Haven't tried it though. If this is the case, you could just wipe it up with a damp cloth, and it wouldn't matter if some of it got squeezed into the wood.

[John D Watson]

I've used this product a couple of times now and it works well.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32092&cat=1,43415,43440