Most Sandable Wood Glue?

[Marc Jeske]

I use Titebond 2 and try to catch all squeeze out, but occasionally miss some.

So, then I need to sand it down.

It just seems the Titebond 2 is kinda flexible and rubbery.. NOT super hard and crisp to sand.

Same bottle to bottle, different stores, so different batches I assume.


Years ago, I used "Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue", and I remember it was way less rubbery, sanded better.

Like cleaning dry squeeze out on an edge glued panel.. W the Elmer's I used a paint scraper and the little balls popped right off.

Again, w the Titebond 2, not the same..just plain more rubbery is best I can explain it.

Obviously Titebond 2 is very popular, no one else has this problem ?


Nothing I do needs the glue to be particularly water resistant... Should I try another product?

Thoughts ? Comments ? Marc

[Andrew Joiner]

I was told by a Titebond rep that Titebond Extend is the most "sandable". It's what I use mostly because it can be used down to 40 degrees fahrenheit.

[Roger Marty]

I use Titebond 2 and try to catch all squeeze out, but occasionally miss some.

So, then I need to sand it down.

It just seems the Titebond 2 is kinda flexible and rubbery.. NOT super hard and crisp to sand.

Same bottle to bottle, different stores, so different batches I assume.


Years ago, I used "Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue", and I remember it was way less rubbery, sanded better.

Like cleaning dry squeeze out on an edge glued panel.. W the Elmer's I used a paint scraper and the little balls popped right off.

Again, w the Titebond 2, not the same..just plain more rubbery is best I can explain it.

Obviously Titebond 2 is very popular, no one else has this problem ?


Nothing I do needs the glue to be particularly water resistant... Should I try another product?

Thoughts ? Comments ? Marc

This is one reason why I like to use Titebond Liquid Hide Glue for a lot of applications. It sands great. For filling holes, I just mix up some saw dust or shavings with some Liquid Hide Glue and it works great. Longer open time. Fills sloppy joints better, and isn't as sensitive to perfect clamping pressure. The bond strength is 3591 psi which is almost as strong as Titebond 2 (3750 psi) or Titebond 3 (4000 psi)

[John TenEyck]

How long are you letting it dry before sanding? After 24 hours it's as hard as a rock, at least up North here where the humidity is likely lower than where you are. I often let the squeeze out just harden in the little beads that form along the joints. After an hour or so they are rubbery and you can scrap them off with a putty knife. If I forget, they just crack off with a scraper after 24 hours. What's left sands w/o a problem for me.

But if you want a harder glue, hide glue as mentioned or plastic resin glue both would fill the bill.

John

[Chris Fournier]

Your question is a bit off. But in my opinion the most sandable glue is plastic resin glue. Will you go to the trouble to use it? Likely not. PVA has never been a problem in my shop. I scrape it, then I sand it. Leave gobs on and then sand? Your paper will die a quick death.

[Jim Becker]

Be sure you're scraping excess of while it's still pliable and that will mostly eliminate any heavy sanding. In some cases, it's also best to use painter's tape to protect areas that are subject to squeeze-out and hard to deal with after the fact. These are things that are good to do, no matter what glue you are using. Others have already answered your specific question with their recommendations and I don't think I can contribute much with that as I only use Titebond III.

[Peter Christensen]

If you don't need the water resistance then why not go back to the white glue?

[Bob Vaughan]

Your question is a bit off. But in my opinion the most sandable glue is plastic resin glue. Will you go to the trouble to use it? Likely not. PVA has never been a problem in my shop. I scrape it, then I sand it. Leave gobs on and then sand? Your paper will die a quick death.

My experience agrees that plastic resin glue being the more easily sanded than any of the PVA types.

[roger wiegand]

Hot hide glue once it has fully set and dried out. Sands perfectly and takes every finish I've ever used.

[Curt Harms]

Jim's suggestion about taping joints before gluing - or finishing first - is a good one. PVAs I wait 'til it's rubbery then use a fairly sharp Harbor Freight chisel to scrape it off. Liquid hide glue is probably better but my understanding is that it's fairly life limited. I've used 3 year old PVA without problems, I doubt liquid hide glue would be usable that long.

[scott vroom]

Years ago, I used "Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue", and I remember it was way less rubbery, sanded better.

Marc

Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue is readily available.

[Al Launier]

As noted above by Jim, whenever practical I like to tape off joints to prevent squeeze-out from affecting follow-on staining. I used to wipe off the excess with a damp clothe immediately after glue-up, but found that doing so only allowed the diluted glue to sink into the wood, cure & that affected the stain wich was very noticeable. For those areas that don't lend itself to tightly taping around the joints, I found it better to wait an hour or so & then scrape off the squeeze-out with a chisel, then stain.

[Chris Fournier]

Different strokes for different folks but I've found taping to be a PITA and not necessary if: you use an nylon bristled artist brush to carefully apply glue to joints. With a fine brush you can carefully apply glue to all surfaces and have a minimum if any squeeze out once you get a feel for how much glue is needed. Match the brush size to the joinery size and clean with warm water and soap, I've got brushes that are well over 10 years old. I pour my PVA into yogurt containers, the single serving size and wet the brush out of these.

[Jim Becker]

Chris, I don't use the tape very much...only when it's something like an inside corner that would be difficult to deal with any inadvertent squeeze-out..."stuff happens".

[Marc Jeske]

I'll get some Elmer's again and see if it in fact sands better.

Thanks to all, Marc

[Chris Fournier]

Makes sense Jim. I've just found that the tape creates as much trouble as it is supposed to solve. Nailing the glue application sorts the problem at it's source. I certainly don't get it right every time! In tricky situations I'll dry assemble the joint and wax around the squeeze out zones. This works very well. Naptha to remove the wax and away I go.

[Bradley Gray]

+1 on careful application of glue. I use a brush or a roller/ dispenser for small work and a 4" ink brayer for large. With practice you can dial in the amount of glue and have little or no squeeze out.

[Marc Jeske]

Chris or others - Talk to me more about the wax idea.

I will be using solvent base stain and top coat, so I can use like Butcher's or Johnson's paste ?

Wipe down the area well w a few sides of rag w Naptha, let dry out, before applying stain and I'll be OK ?

Lacquer thinner that I have handy should remove wax like Naptha ?

And it will be OK when I wipe down stain and not cause any problem w like a Nitro Laquer ?

No fisheye or other type surprises ?

I'm liking this idea for certain cases.. How well does the glue pop or peel off?

Gonna go out now and try a test.

Marc

[Randy Heinemann]

Titebond Extend II or even III isn't really hard to sand. However, it does wick its way into wood pores when wet and while drying. Because of this it is possible that, when sanding, you haven't gotten down to the level to which it soaked into the wood.

Taping inside corners and finishing first are good ways to prevent glue discoloration problems, especially when staining the wood. However, I have also used a product that was suggested by Michael Fortune called Waxilit. Wiping a good coat of Waxilit on the wood where the wood meets at the joint with a paper towel or cloth does help prevent glue from being wicked into the pores. The nice thing about Waxilit is that it doesn't seem to affect how the wood soaks up stain or finish, although I do try to get all of it off before staining. The reference was in a Fine Woodworking article about glue squeeze out. Waxilit is a little hard to find these days, but a search on the internet should locate who is selling it these days.

Finally, I included the 2 links below (which I hope you can open - may require an online FWW membership):

Strategies for Squeeze-out (http://www.finewoodworking.com/2016/09/29/strategies-for-squeeze-out)

Never Struggle with Squeeze-Out Again (http://www.finewoodworking.com/2013/02/07/never-struggle-with-squeeze-out-again)

There are other FWW articles about glue squeeze-out, but the most useful thing I learned from them was to use glue a little more sparingly and pay attention to which surfaces you coat with glue. Also, wiping some of the squeezed out glue off with a brush after bringing the joint partially together can eliminate a lot of the squeeze out. No way to avoid it completely though.