Squirmy Glueups

[Tom Bender]

Need tips to keep glueups from squirming during clamping

[Jim Riseborough]

Need tips to keep glueups from squirming during clamping

Some sort of mechanical connector inside the glue up, or some sort of clamping mechanism on the outside opposite to your glue line.

I have been using dowels lately. I bought the Jessem Dowel Jig, its pretty precise and holds the wood just fine. I sill use clamps on the outside.

slow down, and dont bite of more than you can do on your glue ups too.

[James Cheever]

Agree with Jim.

I use a few Domino's inside my panel glue ups.

Takes almost no additional time and makes alignment a snap.

[Jim Becker]

Even a single dowel can solve that issue as can a tiny headless nail between two pieces. That said, having all the clamps in place and very gradually adjusting each just a little in sequence can also help with keeping things from moving. No using "too much" glue also helps. It's a dance... ;)

[Rhys Hurcombe]

Not overdoing the amount of glue and use biscuits or dominos/similar. A good quality biscuit joiner is great for alignment purposes. A second hand Lamello will be a great addition and I use mine more than my domino.

[Dan Baginski]

I just glued up a tabletop yesterday and used dowels to keep it all aligned and square. I used a self centering dowel jig. Easy peezy.

[Van Huskey]

If you don't want to use a mechanical means to stop the squirm, fine sand, non-slip compounds (for adding to paint) or table salt do a good job and don't reduce the glue's strength below the strength of the wood.

[Martin Wasner]

If you don't want to use a mechanical means to stop the squirm, fine sand, non-slip compounds (for adding to paint) or table salt do a good job and don't reduce the glue's strength below the strength of the wood.

That's interesting

[Bruce Page]

I read in the tips thread recently that using a light sprinkle of fine sand will prevent the squirming.

[Dave Richards]

I've used salt to good effect.

[Tom Paulley]

Nick Ferry discussed some options in a March Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il5vFKGv3Uc&t=4s

[Martin Wasner]

I wouldn't use sand unless I wasn't planning on machining anything

[Patrick Walsh]

Never found it a issue. Just take your time and don’t panic that everything is gonna setup on you. Well unless it’s july 100% and your project is backing in sun shinning through the window.

Otherwise only laminate as many boards as you can at one time to not rush. Also if your stock is perfect before lamination I find it very easy to align piece to piece. Just do a test clamp up first. Start as one end working left to right or right to left. This is gonna show you any problem areas and exactly how to resolve them before any glue is involved. This way you don’t have to panic and figure out the solution on the fly.

I used to struggle with glue ups till I just slowed down and found a system. This system always includes a dry fit test run.

[Charles Lent]

I mostly use Titebond II glue. I keep a salt shaker in my shop for lunch use, but also to help take the squirm out of glue=ups. It doesn't take much, usually only one shake.

You will also discover when gluing large flat surfaces together, that there is a point when the majority of the excess glue has been squeezed out, that much of the squirm goes away and you can do a final positioning and then further tighten the clamps without the pieces going out of alignment.

Charley

[Randall J Cox]

I used to use tiny brads with heads nipped off after driving in, keeps boards from moving. Finally quit that years ago, now i just slide the two boards back and forth to ensure glue spread, get boards exactly where I want them, wait about 10 minutes (depending on wood type and temp) for tack to start, then carefully clamp them. Make sure your clamps pull together at 90 degrees and not at a slight angle (that will want to slide the boards). This has worked fine for me for many years. Randy

[Derek Arita]

Go very, very light, I'm talking count the grains of salt you use. I recently did a small panel glue up and used, what I thought was, a small amount of salt, cuz I really needed there to be no drift in the pieces being glued. As a result, of using the salt, I couldn't get the parts to clamp completely together. Fortunately, I was able to get the pieces apart, scrape off the salt and reclamp. I determined that just a few grains would have worked, rather than the tiny pinch I used.

[andy bessette]

Show us an example of your glue-ups. Virtually all my glue-ups have no fasteners.

https://i.postimg.cc/XvxnyyHf/surf-4.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/cCPxLyDP/surf-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Edwin Santos]

Go very, very light, I'm talking count the grains of salt you use. I recently did a small panel glue up and used, what I thought was, a small amount of salt, cuz I really needed there to be no drift in the pieces being glued. As a result, of using the salt, I couldn't get the parts to clamp completely together. Fortunately, I was able to get the pieces apart, scrape off the salt and reclamp. I determined that just a few grains would have worked, rather than the tiny pinch I used.

You're right. I took a class with a master woodworker once, and he told us to use 8-10 grains of salt, no more than that. The idea is that the salt will create some grit at first and then dissolve in the water content of the glue right about the time it tacks up and the sliding stops. If you use too much salt it won't dissolve and like you found, it will basically become a barrier to a tight joint.

[Ben Zara]

Is that a countertop?

[andy bessette]

Is that a countertop?

In case this was directed to my post, that is a table for a yacht.

https://i.postimg.cc/3NSVk2hy/surf-6.jpg (https://postimages.org/)