Gluing green (wet) redwood outdoor project

[Todd Solomon]

Hello,

Recently returning to woodworking after a 3-year hiatus. My 6 year old son and I are making good progress on building this redwood swing, that will hang from an arbor.

197573

I'm using green redwood, and need to glue some mortise and tenon joints. I've never attempted to glue green wood before, and this stuff is pretty damp. I'd rather not wait for it to air dry.

Any recommendations? A couple of ideas I have:
Titebond III- not sure how well this will cure
Gorilla Glue - I know it's weaker than most glues, but it cures in the presence of moisture.
Construction adhesive??? Kind of thick for a mortise and tenon joint.

Thanks! Good to be back.

Todd

[Paul Symchych]

If your wood is really wet you may find that the tenons will shrink as the wood dries and loosen up. Whatever glue you use may not hold a shrinking tenon securely. Consider pegging the M&T joints with a hardwood dowel for added security.
Why the rush?

[Todd Solomon]

You're asking the right questions, the same ones that I have been asking myself. I've been using Dominos for the less critical joints (for the vertical back slats, for example, I'm using dominos with no glue). The plans suggest dowelling the seat slats with no glue, which is my plan. I've been thinking that, for the main load-bearing joints, I could make traditional M&T joints and dowel them. This would really reduce the importance of the glue integrity, and make the design tolerant to contraction / expansion.

The reason for the rush? Satisfy a 6 year old boy's birthday wish of a hanging swing that we can use this summer :-)

[Ryan Fee]

I'd be inclined to try LePage PL 400. It's their deck and sub-floor adhesive, and is formulated for outdoor use and adhering to wet or frozen lumber.

[Chris Fournier]

A six year old boy may get to swing this summer if you glue up green but a seven year old boy will likely be rebuilding his swing! Why not change your design to use mechanical fasteners that can be tightened to take up the slop created as the wood dries? I'm taking about bolts and nuts/cross dowels etc? I've gone this route with many outdoor projects and always been happy with the results. With some careful thought and you can hide many of these fasteners too. The bonus is that you can dissassemble and take the swing with you should you want to relocate.

[Joe Angrisani]

Patience is a virtue at any age. Always let your materials dry or you will have disappointment. Especially with something fine like a mortised and tenoned outdoor swing.

[Howard Acheson]

According to Titebond, the wood should about as dry as you would want it for any woodworking project. In other words, don't use a PVA adhesive unless the wood in about 12% EMC or lower.

[Todd Solomon]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm dowelling the load-bearing mortise and tenon joints with 1/2" mahogany, so I think they will be okay. Many of the joints require no glue (vertical slats, for example). I'm deep into the project with my son, we've got the seat back done and things are looking good.

I'll look into the LePage PL 400, good tip.

As for bolts- if the joints fail in the future, I can always add bolts. But I think the dowels will do the trick.