How to remove pre-applied oil from wood to get it to accept yellow glue

[Thomas F Walsh]

Hi,

I have two of these Ikea tops:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50106773/


I want to laminate them together to get one thicker top. They come pre-oiled.


What's the easiest way to prep these to be ready for glue? Is there a chemical that will remove the unknown oil (A guess is that it's BEHANDLA wood treatment oil which is recommended by Ikea for their wood tops)?


Thanks for the help

[Sam Murdoch]

Do you really need to glue them together? Just screw them from below? Don't really know the answer to your question otherwise except maybe to run them through the thickness planer or lots of sanding with some Abranet Mesh.

Curious to read other replies.

[Art Mann]

I once helped a guy turn a length of bowling lane into a bench top. We took it to a custom millwork shop and sanded it down on their giant wide belt sander. It took 3 or 4 trips through to remove all the old varnish and oil and make the top flat. As I recall, they didn't charge much. I think the ideal solution would be if you could find a place that will sand them for you.

[Thomas F Walsh]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm pretty sure the oil has penetrated significantly so sanding would have to be aggressive. I was hoping to avoid sanding for two reasons. 1. This is going to be a workbench top without an apron around the perimeter to keep it rigid. I wanted to hold onto as much mass a possible to minimize any sagging or warping, and also allow for hand planing in the future 2. I'm trying to build this as cheap as possible, while still ending up with a solid, sturdy and functional bench...so adding the cost of getting it sanded, however minimal, is a factor.

I want to glue them together because each panel is made up of short, staggered stave (not long pieces like in a traditional bench top), so I thought laminating them would be more structurally sound, as opposed to having two tops just screwed together and moving independent of each other each season.

Hope that make sense.

Short of being able to remove the oil finish, is there another glue I should be thinking about?

[Sam Murdoch]

Perhaps rout in some cleats or let in some dowels. These would be glued. I know you are only working with 1/2" panels but even a 1/4" of recess into each side and clamped tightly would provide great holding power - long grain to long grain.

Maybe slightly round over the edges of each panel and accept a "seam" between the two as a detail rather than striving for a perfect tight glue up. A little wood movement in this case would hardly be noticeable. OR - even allow the glued in piece to keep the panels apart slightly - 1/32" to 1/16" . Could make it more "interesting" :rolleyes:

[Art Mann]

The panels are 1.125 thick. The length is 61 and the width is 29.5.

[Sam Murdoch]

The panels are 1.125 thick. The length is 61 and the width is 29.5.

OH YEAH :o I read the 69" X 21 space 1/2" and didn't click on the read more to see the full dimensions listed . Saw the 1/2" and did not notice that there was no X between it and the 21". My mistake.

Never mind my idea for keeping the 2 panels slightly separated but I think my idea of routing in some glue bars is even more valid, i.e., if you really don't want to sand them or otherwise scratch the surface aggressively to create a tooth pattern for epoxy or similar.

[Thomas F Walsh]

Perhaps rout in some cleats...

I like this idea. Gets me around the oil coated exterior, and also gives more glue surface.

I think I'll also "scratch" the two surfaces by hand with 8o grit just enough to not lose any significant thickness, but create some tooth.

I had assumed I'd use yellow glue as I thought epoxy would be expensive...

[Prashun Patel]

I too am in the screw/cleat/dowels camp.

BUT, if you truly want to strip the oil and glue them, I find the most efficient tool is a cabinet scraper. It gets below the surface quite quickly, with no gumming of sandpaper or tearout of a hand plane. It also keeps the surface flatter than you can achieve with an aggressive sander.

You will be surprised how little finishes - even oil - penetrate the surface. With a sander, it's difficult to get evenly below the surface. With a cabinet scraper, it's quite quick.

I just stripped my coffee table (for the 2nd time) with a cabinet scraper and the Ethan Allen factory finish came off easily; albeit with some elbow grease.

[Bradley Gray]

Wipe a spot on the to-be-hidden side and put on a schmear of glue- one of the titebonds.

If the glue dries and sticks, glue the two together, aligning grain as much as possible.

Position stack on a flat surface. Clamp flat. Drive screws from the bottom side.

[Brian Tymchak]

Just thinking out loud here, I wonder if a construction adhesive (with screws) might the way to go. You wouldn't be able to get 100% coverage like you would with thinner PVA but as long as the edges come together that may not be a significant issue.