Your choice for go to glue spreader

[Pat Barry]

Gluing up some panels today and wiping the excess on my old blue jeans (I always wear my oldest blue jeans in the shop) got me wondering how many of you might be like me and just using the old index finger for glue spreading (not polyurethane, just good old wood glue). I have no idea what you would use for hide glue, by the way, but feel free to let us know if you use something other than listed.

[Andrew Fleck]

I always use my finger on panels. It's much faster and easier than anything else I have tried. I use acid brushes on some joinery and an ink roller for really large glue areas.

Besides, sometimes it's fun just to peel the old glue off of your fingers.

[John Coloccia]

Pinky. Leaves all my other fingers free not to make a mess.

[David Weaver]

I choose finger, because that's what I use for edges. I like the fake credit cards and the laminate samples for wider surfaces, though.

[Robert Delhommer Sr]

Used to use my finger and just recently bought some acid brushes from HF and like that better. Cheap enough, a pkg. of about 20 or so for a couple of bucks and I use a brush over and over. :)

[Tony Joyce]

I use one of these. Good even distribution of glue and uniform coverage. Less wasted glue. Clean up with a drag across a piece of cardboard or water.

283119

Tony

[Tony Zaffuto]

Like a fool, I toyed with what has worked for me for years/decades, namely trying something other than an acid brush. I bought a silicone spreader and they ain't worth a chit. Maybe some like them, maybe it's because I'm so used to acid brushes that I subconsciously did not want to take sufficient time to get used to the silicone brush, but they ain't for me!

[Michael Mahan]

anything that's nearby & handy for really small areas , or last resort my finger
BUT I really just on most surfaces a 1", 2" , 3" chip brushes (larger surface ,larger chip brush) , clean/store it in plastic 'Red' cup with water , i clean it with every different glue surface that way I don't introduce sawdust into the glue
I then wash in soap , hot water & dry the chip brush @ the end of the day , I've had chip brushes last over a year this way the only time they are eventually toast is 'IF' I forget to clean @ end of day .

[Pat Barry]

Pinky. Leaves all my other fingers free not to make a mess.
I always think of that too late. LOL

[Christopher Clark]

How timely, I just spent all weekend doing glue-ups. I use old grocery store 'credit' cards for plain ol' edge joints, acid brushes for mortises [recently], and my finger. It's handy to keep a cup of water and some moist paper towels nearby to wipe off the credit card scraper & my finger. Running a metal scraper after the glue has setup certainly helps with cleanup later.

[Daniel Rode]

It really depends on what I'm gluing. Fingers work better than almost anything else on edges but I often use a little rubber ink roller. It keeps the mess off my fingers as well as splinters. I have a bunch of acid brushes and some cheap plastic paint brushes I rarely use either one. My favorite spreader is a scrap of thin wood. No stray bristles to worry about, they can be made to fit the work and they cost nothing. I keep a small pile of thin scraps near the workbench and use them for glue-ups and also for setting plane irons.

[Chris Griggs]

When I have to rip just a bit (1/16 to 1/8) off a board I save the thin strip. I just break pieces off those strip and use what is more or less a small piece of veneer as a spreader. That or my fingers.

[Lee Reep]

Pat,

Don't ruin those old jeans -- those are the best kind! I have an endless supply of rags in my shop -- they are all the mismatched socks from the dryer. If you are ever in the neighborhood, stop by and I'll give you some. Plenty to go around!

Now, concerning spreading glue:
For tiny little applications, the old finger works fine. For anything more involved, I use the silicone brushes found at Woodcraft and Rockler. I usually toss them in a cup of water at the utility sink and they rinse out in no time. But if the glue does cure, it pulls out pretty easily.

For larger panels, I bought a small silicone roller from Woodcraft. It has grooves, so it does spread the glue out quite well. It was not cheap (around $8 or $9), but has an aluminum handle, so it is stout, and you can leave it soaking overnight if needed.

[John Coloccia]

Something I picked up from a Benedetto video. Put a couple of pieces of masking tape on your bench. Wipe your pinky off on that. Keep it off your clothes :)

[Paul Saffold]

Toothpicks for tiny jobs. Sillycon (Rockler) spreader for most jobs. When laminating the top for my bench I used a 3" paint roller. I used to use acid brushes with the bristles shortened but like the silicon spreaders better.

[Jim Koepke]

I stopped using my finger because then the glue would get on my pants or shirts.

Used to save old business cards. Now American Express seems to be sending me a new glue spreader each month.

I also like chip brushes for spreading glue. I have a bunch of 1/2" for this. The borgs do not seem to carry them these days. Found them at Michael's Art Stores for a good price.

I have also used acid brushes. I push the bristles into the handle and then pinch it with pliers. This makes it easy to lengthen the bristles if you forget to clean them.

Light shavings are good for wiping up excess glue.

jtk

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

They don't last quite as long, but I have an old deck of playing cards for all the things I used to use fake credit cards for, since I don't get those in the mail so much anymore. The make nice shims sometimes, too.

When I'm using my finger, I often just wrap a bit of shop rag around it.

I find the trick to spreading glue is to not get too much on there in the first place. I'm - I'm still getting that part down.

[Randy Karst]

Most of the time, either fingers or Starbucks stir sticks.

[Derrell W Sloan]

At one time I used the cheap acid brushes from HF. I soon got tired of picking the bristles out of glue because they always seemed come out. I now have some of the silicone glue brushes from Rockler and I like them so much better than the acid brushes. Having said all that, it's hard to beat the good'ol glue spreader the Good Lord gave me, especially for small jobs.

[Jim Matthews]

Acid brush from Epstein.

Buy them by the 100 pack.
Use once, discard the sticky bits.

The handles make excellent shims, in a pinch.

[george wilson]

Acid brushes,arts and craft stores sucker sticks,arts and crafts tongue depressors. Sometimes fingers.

[Joe Tilson]

Acid brushes, silicone brushes, fingers, chisels(old), and sometimes just a piece of wood. In other words anything that works. You forgot all of the above.

[Prashun Patel]

I bought one of these from Rockler because I thought it'd be neat to be able to reuse it if the glue peels off easy.

It spreads wonderfully. However, the glue gets thick between the bristles. It does peel off, but only after it's completely dried, which can take a long time - days. Also, while the glue doesn't stick to the bristles, as a giant mass it creates enough friction such that I am SURE the bristles will start breaking in the future. If you need it sooner, it's just like washing out any other brush; so there goes the benefit over an acid brush.

I really love the Gluebot or the Babybot. They lay down a perfect bead, and work even on vertical surfaces. The only issue is having to refill the Baby.

Up until now I've used cheap putty knives from HD. On wide surfaces, I do like things that create ridges, though. I'm just prejudiced from the few tiling jobs I've done that it creates more even coverage on wide surfaces.

[Adam Cruea]

Finger for small jobs and an expired credit card with notches cut in it for larger glue-ups.

[Charles Wiggins]

got me wondering how many of you might be like me and just using the old index finger for glue spreading

I have acid brushes, which are fine for edge-joining, but when I really need to spread glue over a large area, like laminating, I like old plastic credit, debit, and membership cards. Plus the credit card companies send the offers with the fake cards in them. I keep all those and use them for all kinds of things. They're a favorite to use as a mini-hawk when I'm spackling. In a pinch they make good putty knives as well.

[John Coloccia]

For large areas, I usually reach into the scrap bin and pull out an appropriate piece. I usually have something about 1/16" thick. I break off what I need and toss it back in the bin when I'm done. If not, I have an old wooden ruler...remember the ones with the metal edges? If I want a thin layer, I use the metal edge. If I want a thicker layer, I use the curved wooden edge. You can cut them down to convenient sizes. I very rarely do large areas, though....just not my thing :)

[lowell holmes]

I take an acid brush and crush the end with a hammer and then chop the bristles to half length. This was shown on Fine Woodworking website.

I wash the brush and re-use it. It is stiffer than a full brush, but does a decent job of spreading the glue.

[John Coloccia]

I do that too to make a stiff flux cleaner for circuit boards. My biggest problem with acid brushes is the stupid bristles always fall out, right in the middle of my glue-up.

[Pat Barry]

My thoughts were focussed on the edge joint gluing I was doing and at the same time, thinking about the fancy silicone glue 'brushes' that Rockler was advertising so I neglected to account for wider situations. Thankfully many of you have mentioned some great ideas for these tasks. I am also seeing pro's and con's to the silicone tools and I am now tempted to at least try one out for my own. I imagine a quick cleaning with a paper towel to get the bulk of the material off and then peeling the residue once its dry.

[Michael Mahan]

if you want to keep acid brushes & any brushes for that matter from shedding hairs into your work , a few drops of super glue at the base locks then in .
it only takes a small amount of SG due to capillary action the extremely thin super glue will run thru all the bristles & hold them as one .
the non-gel type works best for this

[Jim Mackell]

Flux brush for joint work and plastic stock for larger surfaces. Old credit cards, motel room keys, etc. I always tell my friends, "When you stay at the no-tell motel, keep the room keys and give em to me!".

[Jeff Wittrock]

popsicle stick

[Andrew Bell]

For small bits I use small wedges of wood cut from scrap to spread and then can be thrown away - larger pieces I use a brush

[Curt Harms]

I do that too to make a stiff flux cleaner for circuit boards. My biggest problem with acid brushes is the stupid bristles always fall out, right in the middle of my glue-up.

Maybe try wrapping the bristles where they're pinched into the metal with tape. I do that then cut about half the bristles off and put it in a cat food can with some water in it. When the brush starts sheddding bristles then it's time for retirement.

[John P Lewis]

I use my pinky finger with Titebond. For hide glue I heat the working surfaces, squirt the glue, rub the pieces together and clamp. No spreading of the hide glue needed. I work with instruments so you might need to size the gluing surfaces for larger pieces for furniture.

[Steven Lee, NC]

index finger to whole hand depending on what the glue is being spread on. I almost always put on a nitrile glove before spreading and have a pile of freshones nearby that way I can remove the glove quickly and have a clean hand to work with or throw on another glove to spread more glue

[Bill Houghton]

One of those fake credit cards that come in the junk mail. For some reason, Xfinity and some other company whose name escapes me both think that if they send me a mailing with one of those cards in it every week, I'll eventually sign up just to stop them coming.