Gluing cocobolo

[Sean D Evans]

I am about finished with a table i'm making that has cocobolo legs with western maple stretchers. I'm worried about the glue holding long term because the oil in the cocobolo so I'll rinse the mortises with alcohol and use titebond 3 but i'm thinking i should go a little further because someone will eventually mistake it for a chair. Normally I would draw bore the tenons but it won't work on this table. I also don't want to mess with gorilla glue or epoxy. Has anyone heard of driving a couple cut nails through the tenon? I'm thinking of doing it after the glue has cured and drilling pilot holes. Nail would go closer to the shoulder side. Waste of time? Any potential long term problems?Picture of part of the table below.226416

[Brian Kent]

Welcome Sean. Check the lower pictures. They are upside down duplicates of the first photo.

I would never use a nail there. I think that with the wipe down in alcohol and the Titebond 3, your mortise should hold. I also think epoxy would be fine, but never gorilla glue with its horrendous cleanup problems.

If you want to add some mechanical strength, I would go for a dowel. Not a nail.

I just LOVE cocobolo and maple together.

Brian

[Jim Neeley]

If you want to add some mechanical strength, I would go for a dowel. Not a nail.

..or perhaps a brass rod (or a piece of ebony) as a dowel?

What I'm thinking here is to make it an artistic accent rather than trying to hide it.

[John Coloccia]

Have you tried doing a test glueup with Cocobolo? I use it all the time and have never had a problem. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a fresh surface, old surface, wiped down or not. Just take two scrap pieces, glue them up and see if you can knock them apart. It will make you feel better, or you'll at least figure out the technique that works best for you.

edit: BTW, if you want my opinion on it, I think a wiped joint is far inferior to a freshly planed, scraped or even sanded joint. Wiping not only seems to bring more oil to the surface, but it also spreads it all around. Pour some oil on a piece of maple, let it sit for a couple of hours, and then see how much you can get off by wiping. My only prep for cocobolo is a fresh surface. If I'm concerned about changing the shape, I just give a light scraping with a razor blade. But that's just my opinion.

[Montgomery Scott]

Have you considered doing a fox wedge on the tenons?

[Sean D Evans]

I know a nail isn't the right way. A blind wedged M&T is much better but I would only be able to use one wedge in the bottom of the joint because it is haunched. I'm also nervous that I wouldn't be able to pull it off properly and you only get one chance.

As far as wiping the joint with alchohol goes, just wipe a peice of cocobolo with a rag soaked in alchohol and see what color the rag comes away as. Something is being removed from the wood.
The mortises are hand cut so the side walls aren't exactly smooth so that should help a bit.

Sorry about the upside down thumbnails, I had a heck of a time getting the picture to appear properly.

[Roderick Gentry]

There are two major advantages to epoxy, it is the glue of choice for some sophisticated users, like Sam Maloof for rosewoods. If there is ever a problem it is immediately reglueable, which Titebond is not. That said, guitar builders make highly loaded structures with rosewoods every day, and their favourite glue is either Titebond 1 or hide glue. Hide glue is also rebondable. Joints should be capable of dealing with this stuff with proper design, there aren't any simple fixes. Nails are a terrible idea. Also, there are designs so light that they are not bombproof. People who want really fine furniture need to know how to take care of it, or avoid it.

[Jim Matthews]

[QUOTE=Roderick Gentry;1890505]There are two major advantages to epoxy, it is the glue of choice for some sophisticated users, like Sam Maloof for rosewoods. If there is ever a problem it is immediately reglueable,/QUOTE]

What's the second advantage? I was not under the impression that epoxy could be dissolved - is there a solvent that makes this possible?

To the OP, if you're concerned that the glue won't be sufficient (which I doubt), could you hide a simple dowel on the inside of the stretchers?
The depth of the dowel could be set so that they don't penetrate your show faces. I'm no pro, but I think a solid fit with a haunched tenon and Titebond will last a lifetime inside a modern home.

I'm with Brian - what you have so far looks sharp.

jim
wpt, ma