Dark Glue

[James Tibbetts]

Hope all are safe in our crazy crazy world!!
I have a project coming up with white oak stained dark brown. Has anyone tried using Transtint dies to darken regular Titebond?
The amount I'm gonna need makes it hard to justify buying and paying freight for their product.
Thanks!!

Jim

[glenn bradley]

Still safe so far. I'm not clear on who's product you are talking about; Transtint's or Titebond's? As to tinting the glue, I would just test it. The challenge may be in emulsifying the tint and glue thoroughly in any volume. Another question might be, why is the glue going to show? Are you trying to hide squeeze out or gaps? I'm just trying to get my head around how to help and the coffee hasn't kicked in yet ;-)

Sorry . . . sorry . . . The coffee kicked in -- I looked up the TB dark glue. $10 for half a pint with free shipping from Amazon doesn't seem too out of line depending on whether you would use it all on this project or not. Dyes will react with the color of the item to which they are applied or mixed. For example, Transtint Mission Brown looked nice and green on some yellow ash. TB-II's yellowish cast will influence your dye so I guess if you have the right colors to blend you may end up where you want.

My point being that buying the dark glue may be cheaper and easier than color matching unless you have a wide range of dyes in stock. I keep a bottle of black, blue, red and yellow on hand to influence coloration of commercial products. If you do the same I would bet you could adjust your way to what you want. Now that I am awake and intrigued, please tell us how you fare ;-)

[russell lusthaus]

I use shoe shine leather dye with great results - although I mainly use the marine core black.

[Andrew Seemann]

The main problem is that regular Titebond 1,2, & 3 tends to be shiny under the dark stain, since it won't absorb either water or oil base, and you can't get it out of the pores once it gets in there. Tinting it might fix the color issue, but probably not the shine issue.

When I am doing oak mission type furniture, I usually use TB Liquid Hide Glue, because it is easier to scrape off than regular Titebond, and it isn't as hydro- and oil-phobic. It still shows, just not as bad. Also when I am doing mission stuff, it tends to have lots of M&Ts and other things that benefit from a longer open time and "slicker" glue like Liquid Hide Glue.

[Cary Falk]

I tint TB1 and TBII all the time. I use Transfast dye power and mix it with water first. If you can mix the dye in water you should be ok. I make things that are really black or really dark expresso. I dye the wood first and then apply a stain. I don't want to see any glue lines. You can see any issue where wood filler was used. I have no issues hiding glue joints or nail holes for that matter.

[Richard Coers]

I don't get it. You see glue after you are done with the work? You're doing something wrong if that's true.

[Jim Becker]

TB-III is darker in color, but it has it's benefits and detriments compared to the other formulas. I agree with the comment(s) above that ideally, no glue should even be visible if joinery is tight and you never want it on a surface you're going to finish. Even without stain/dye, it will become visible once clear coats go on.

[Andrew Seemann]

I don't get it. You see glue after you are done with the work? You're doing something wrong if that's true.

I find it is difficult not to get a little squeeze out on mortice and tenon joints that have an inside corner, like on an apron to table leg joint. Most other joints glue gets sanded/planed/scraped off pretty easy, but the inside corners can be a bit of a bugger. Every once in a while it seems like you get a little that didn't come off, and you don't see it until the light hits it just right, like the coffee table I am looking at right now:)

[Doug Dawson]

You could just wait a few years and let the glue darken by itself.

jk

I like hide glue.

Some people tape the most visible surfaces to prevent glue intrusion. Frog tape (beloved by painters for its resistance to this) might be especially useful here.

[Richard Coers]

I find it is difficult not to get a little squeeze out on mortice and tenon joints that have an inside corner, like on an apron to table leg joint. Most other joints glue gets sanded/planed/scraped off pretty easy, but the inside corners can be a bit of a bugger. Every once in a while it seems like you get a little that didn't come off, and you don't see it until the light hits it just right, like the coffee table I am looking at right now:)
All it takes is a small scraper to take the glue off, no matter when you find it. Even if you see it when you put on the stain. Scrape it off, touch with some 220 grit, then touch up the stain. I've made furniture for 45 years, never sent any out of the shop with some squeeze out. Must be either my personality, or what my industrial arts teacher taught me, or both.

[Andrew Seemann]

All it takes is a small scraper to take the glue off, no matter when you find it. Even if you see it when you put on the stain. Scrape it off, touch with some 220 grit, then touch up the stain. I've made furniture for 45 years, never sent any out of the shop with some squeeze out. Must be either my personality, or what my industrial arts teacher taught me, or both.

That is basically what I do. I have a particular scraper specially ground to get into inside corners. I prefer the hide glue for those joints since it scrapes easier. The table in question is maple with a satin poly finish and I didn't see the faint glue residue when I put on the finish. I used Titebond 1 on it, not sure why now that I think of it:) Actually I only noticed it recently, so it isn't very prominent, probably a refraction thing when the light is at a certain angle.

[Bill McNiel]

James,
I pretty much agree with Mr Coers. You may want to take a look at how much and where you are applying the glue and think about masking the areas immediately adjacent to the glue area as well.

[Dan Lambert]

Unless it's something that is going to be exposed to the elements, I'd go with the TB Hide Glue, as mentioned earlier. I use other TB products regularly when building wooden machinery, benches and other items where fine finish isn't needed, or where the item will be exposed to moisture, etc.

When working on furniture and other finer items, I really prefer to use the Liquid Hide Glue. It does have limitations, but it also has huge benefits, too. It's very easy to clean up, and should you ever need to disassemble for repair, etc., it's easy to do with hide glue. Not so much with other TB glues, or the polyurethane glues.

[Doug Dawson]

All it takes is a small scraper to take the glue off, no matter when you find it. Even if you see it when you put on the stain. Scrape it off, touch with some 220 grit, then touch up the stain. I've made furniture for 45 years, never sent any out of the shop with some squeeze out. Must be either my personality, or what my industrial arts teacher taught me, or both.

Yes. That can be a wonderful ballet to watch, when it involves a large piece comprising expensive and carefully matched and machined pieces of wood (ergo there is so much at stake) and there is a _time_range_ within which to do this or that, on top of access issues which add to the appearance of graceful athleticism. Put all your bets on red, seven come eleven. Can they pull it off? It’s like watching the Olympics.

Or will it degenerate into a cage match? No, it’s all so simple. :^)

I’ll stick with my stinking hide glue.