glue-up?

[Bill Gebhardt]

What’s the best way to glue up this box? Past experience has had the glue set before the clamps. I’m prepared to do one corner at a time, but hope there is an easier way. The two panels are ¼” hardboard. The finger joints and the poplar are 3/8”. The box: ~15" x 22".

427169

Bill

[bill epstein]

White carpenters should give you 15 minutes. A quarter hour is a long time.

Do you spread glue on all the joints then assemble? Try gluing and assembling the joints one at a time.

[Jamie Buxton]

The West Systems epoxy I use (105) can give you an hour working time if you pick the correct catalyst for your shop temperature.

[Tom Bender]

Glue 2 corners and fully assemble the box in the clamps. If you are gluing in the bottom, do that with the first glue up. Also you can probably use far less glue and not have the box fail. Just glue the top and bottom tails.

[Mark Daily]

White carpenters should give you 15 minutes. A quarter hour is a long time.

Do you spread glue on all the joints then assemble? Try gluing and assembling the joints one at a time.

+1 Titebond Extend is a good one.

[Andrew Seemann]

Franklin Liquid Hide glue works for this as well. It has a fairly long open time and seems to be more slippery than regular yellow glue, so it allows you to move the joints a little longer (note that this means things can keep shifting until you get everything clamped). The downside of it is that it is kind of messy and has no water resistance, if that is needed.

Be sure the glue is within date though, it can start to go bad after about a year from manufacture.

[mike stenson]

Open time and working time are different things. You do not have to spread glue on all four corners at once, spread a corner and assemble (no longer open). This should give you additional time to move the joint during the rest of the glue up. At least, this is generally my strategy.

[johnny means]

Dry fit the box together a few times for practice. You should be able to bang a dovetailed box together in a minute or two. I lay one tailboard on my bench apply glue to the mating surfaces, hammer in both pinboards, apply glue to the second tailboard, flip the sub assembly onto it, then hammer it home. Ditch the band clamp. Some proper clamps will make life easier.

[Lee Schierer]

For finger jointed boxes place two clamps on your work surface. Place one side lengthwise on those clamps. Adjust the clamps so they are close to where they will grip. Adjust two more clamps to the same length and set them to one side within easy reach. Apply glue to the fingers on one piece that will go into the piece on the clamps. Press it into place. Slide the box bottom into place. Put glue on a second piece and press it into place. Lightly tighten the clamps. Put glue on the fingers on both ends of the remaining piece. Press it into place and set the two previously prepared clamps on top and tighten all clamps to finished pressure. Now lay your glued and clamped assembly flat on your work surface and measure the diagonals use a clamp to shorten the long diagonal to make both diagonals the same length. Add additional clamps if you see any gaps in your finger joints to pull them tight. Recheck the diagonals. Clean up any glue drips and runs. Elapsed time about 10 minutes.

[Charles Lent]

I use Titebond Extend when I make boxes. I have never run out of time when gluing them up when I use this glue. It's difficult for me to get a box together using regular Titebond 1 or 2, but the Extend version lets me do it without working at a panic speed.

Charley