Best ways to remove glue from clamps

[Matthew Curtis]

What are your best ways to remove glue from clamps? Yes I know prevention is key. Maybe I will be better at that in the future.

[Bob Falk]

I usually scrap off the rails with a paint scraper....works without much effort.

[Jim Becker]

I scrape for the "big pieces" and use acetone to further clean the glue off. I've been trying harder to avoid getting it on there at this point because it really is a pain in the backside to remove it!

[Prashun Patel]

Strike the glue drips with a mallet. They will pop off

[Ron Citerone]

A little paste wax on areas of clamps that will likely get glue makes it come off easier.

[Edwin Santos]

If the glue is the threads of the clamp screw, take a wire brush to it.

[David Powell]

I've had some success using acetone. Now I use wax paper to cover the clamp area to keep glue off of the clamp.

[Martin Wasner]

Angle grinder with a wire wheel

[Yonak Hawkins]

This thread is worth a "sticky".

[Jim Colombo]

soak them in white vinegar

Jim

[Tim M Tuttle]

Soak some paper towels in vinegar and then wrap them around the clamps. Let them sit for about 15-20 minutes and the glue comes right off. After they are clean wax them up real good and you wont have to worry about it anymore.

[John Blazy]

C'mon!! disgustingly dirty clamps with every form of adhesive and overspray is war wounds!!! Of course, I agree that if it interferes with threads, get it off. I use a straight claw hammer on big epoxy drips, and if that don't come off, I use a MAPP gas torch. Its always handy, and softens anything within seconds, then wire brush. And don't flame me with "you'll ruin heat treated steel threads" because I don't heat that much. Worst is the serrations in besseys. They clog easy. Torch it. I bought my Besseys in the late eighties, and they likely still have residue from back then.

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[Mike Goetzke]

Looks like more trouble than it's worth but I have seen a product called Viking glue guard - look like plastic channels that go over the bar clamp.

Mike

[Jim Andrew]

Lately I have taken to keeping some short pieces of 1/4" thick stock laying on my assembly table, and laying them on each end of the panel so my clamp does not lay in the glue. This is just for the top side of the panel, but I use cauls so do not have clamps on the bottom side of the panel.

[Yonak Hawkins]

...I have seen a product called Viking glue guard - look like plastic channels that go over the bar clamp.

Mike

The problem with this sort of thing is the length between jaws is always variable .. so, either you have to have a number of them to piece on the bar, or have to cut one to length ahead of time.

..And then the problem with, say, waxed paper over the bars is it always seems to get included in the glued joint.

[Greg Parrish]

I sometimes used to put painters tape down on my Dubuque clamps and it helps but it’s a pain as you have to get the tape size pretty close. Once I started using less glue and a silicone roller though I don’t have as much trouble. I just scrape or peel the glue that causes issues usually.

[Jacob Reverb]

Strike the glue drips with a mallet. They will pop off

That's what I do, too. Back in the '70s when we used to use Elmer's Glue-All, pieces of the broken-off glue flew like bullets. Now with Titebond II, not so much...

[Carl Beckett]

Once I started using less glue and a silicone roller though I don’t have as much trouble.

Do you have a particular glue roller you recommend? I always wondered if they were worth the hassle (would certainly keep my finger cleaner...)

[Todd Bender]

Chain them to the back of the truck and drive down a few miles of gravel road. :)