How can I get glue out of the inside corners of my box?

[Jim Underwood]

I've been making a mitered box out of some curly maple I scrounged from some "stretchers" on a shipment of faceframe stock.

I've been taking it a step at a time, doing a little every night, and I've gotten the box glued up, key slots cut, and top removed from the bottom... (I'm actually kinda proud of myself, having gotten my Ridgid table saw and miter gauge to perform halfway decently with some good sharp blades and a little tuning. Yeah, the joints aren't as tight as I'd like, but then I only had the one band clamp, and should have used three.)

But now I see some of the squeeze-out has gotten on the inside of the box, which was previously finished sanded before assembly. And I have no good ideas on how to get it out...

Suggestions?

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[David Hostetler]

VERY careful use of a very well sharpened chisel does it for me every time... If you have the dexterity for it, a razor knife blade works great too...

[Prashun Patel]

Been there, done that (I mean I've had the same problem, not that my box was as nice...)

I used both a square cornered scraper and a chisel. Both worked fine.

[Mike Henderson]

This is probably not help, but I'll talk about how I avoid that problem.

One way is to put blue tape on the sides next to the joint before doing the glue up. The second way is that I finish the inside of the box before I do the glue up. I generally shoot the finish and it's hard to shoot inside the box after assembly.

You're probably gluing up the box and then cutting it to make the top so this won't help, but if I have access to the inside during glue up, I'll take a damp rag with a pointed object (maybe a sharp stick) and run the rag along the joint line.

After the fact, I've had some success with taking a knife and cutting the glue off along the sides of the box. That is, run your knife along the side of the box along the joint. This usually leaves a mark but it's not very obvious. Sanding is a problem because you'll be sanding cross grain and it'll leave sanding marks.

Mike

[Stephen Cherry]

flat sharp plane blade, minus the plane?

[Neil Brooks]

I do better with a decent putty knife, than a chisel, in tight quarters. YMMV.

[Van Huskey]

I would carefully attack it with a sharp skew chisel.

[Jim Underwood]

OH.. the tape on the edges before gluing up... I shoulda thought of that. Putting finish on woulda helped too.

Guess I'll get the chisel out, sharpen it, and hope for the best... And boy, wouldn't a detail sander be nice right about now?

[Kent A Bathurst]

OH.. the tape on the edges before gluing up... I shoulda thought of that. Putting finish on woulda helped too.

Guess I'll get the chisel out, sharpen it, and hope for the best... And boy, wouldn't a detail sander be nice right about now?

Nah - detail sander wouldn't help you, IMO.

The chisel is the trick. Also - remember - this is inside the box.......not like anyone will be peering closely at that corner.

[Van Huskey]

Nah - detail sander wouldn't help you, IMO.

The chisel is the trick. Also - remember - this is inside the box.......not like anyone will be peering closely at that corner.

Agreed, anything other than human powered has a distinct possibility of making matters worse, potentially far worse.

[ed vitanovec]

Sharp chisel or corner scraper should to the trick. When I do glue ups I try to wipe off excess glue after clamping and before the glue skins over, using a damp cloth. The box looks really nice, I like the grain pattern.

[Jim Becker]

What David said...a very sharp blade. To avoid this in the future, put some painter's tape down the joint on the inside of each piece before you glue and clamp. Any squeeze-out will then stay off the interior of the wood. Also be careful about the amount and placement of the glue on the workpieces before assembly...the bead more toward the outside will also result in less squeeze-out.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Sharp chisel or corner scraper should to the trick. When I do glue ups I try to wipe off excess glue after clamping and before the glue skins over, using a damp cloth. The box looks really nice, I like the grain pattern.

That's a good approach, except with open-pored wood, like oak. What you end up doing is diluting the glue, and smearing it into the pores, which blocks any dye, stain, etc from getting to the wood. If you have already finished, or partially finished, the wood then the wet cloth approach won't hurt.

A different method is to wait for a while - I usually wait 45 minutes or so - until the glue has turned rubbery. At that point, you can peel it off with a chisel, or something else. I keep an old card scraper dedicated to this purpose - and it gets into corners just fine.

[Troy Turner]

Take a scrap of wood somewhat narrower than a razor blade's length...cut a kerf in the edge of it wide enough for the blade it sit in...wrap a few pieces of tape around the blade to snug it up.

Yes, I got this out of a mag ;)

[Dave Zellers]

Well, by the time you read this it will be too late, but the best time to remove that glue was when you took the picture by the looks of things: dry but still rubbery.

I certainly like the tape ideas but given that the glue is already there, a decent pair of right and left skew chisels (as mentioned before) is the best way to get right into the very corner.

For a budget solution try Troy's above, perhaps even simplifying by clamping the razor blade in a vice-grips. But if the glue is hard, I think you're going to need a sharp chisel.

[Rick Fisher]

Sharper the chisel, the better it will work.. If the chisel is really sharp, you wont have to push much at all and there is much less risk to scarring the project.

[Larry Edgerton]

I heat a chisel up for epoxy, hot enough to soften the glue, but not so hot that the chisel loses its temper or burns the wood. I have not tried it on wood glue but you might experiment and see if it works.

Larry

[Don Morris]

I do some of the prelim stuff said but even then end up with glue on some occasions. I have a LN Chisel plane, plus use my chisels when the plane won't fit which happens in some corners.

[Jim Matthews]

I like the small Sandvik triple (http://www.tools-plus.com/sandvik-bahco-625.html?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=froogle&utm_term=SND625) edge scraper.
It comes with a triangular blade that can be rotated for a fresh edge.
With a scraper, you can draw the edge up from the bottom toward the top.

I don't recommend paring downward in the box with a chisel, you're at risk for digging in and making other problems.
DAMHIKT


The box is excellent. It's the sort of work I would be proud to call my own.

[Jim Underwood]

Thanks guys...

Just by chance, I ran into tool truck guy I know, just a couple of days ago, and as a Merry Christmas present he gave me a little plastic razor holder, and that's what I used to cut the glue away. I cut it pushing the razor toward the corners, and it seemd to work fine. I then used it as a scraper for the other spots that showed up after finish was put on.

I managed to get the box hinged and finished last night, and it's sitting in the laundry room waiting for "opening time". We'll get to the presents after church today, and have our youngest son over for cinnamon rolls and games...

I was impressed after I got the finish on, even though I've been grabbed by that curly grain right from the start. That curly grain really pops now, even though I didn't sand it well enough. Shoulda hand scraped the thing, but y'know, I ran out of time.... Still hafta make the tray and dividers, but at least the box is complete. I sure hope my wife likes it. Along the way, I had my doubts, because she's notoriously hard to please, but If my wife doesn't like it, well... what can I say, I'll keep the thing for myself! It's gorgeous!

Pix later... Gotta go before we're late to the Christmas service.

[Steve Costa]

Some what off the topic, but one of the best ways to clamp a small to medium size box is with Scotch heavy duty packaging tape. Info courtesy of Doug Stowe. He also suggests using Elmers carpenter glue.:)

[Ole Anderson]

An old, but sharp, card scraper is my go-to glue removal tool.