How long do you wait till the glue is dry?

[Brian Hale]

OK, you've just glued up a panel with your favorite yellow glue. How long do you leave it in the clamps? How long till you start working it flat, square etc?

I'm always afraid i'll stress it too soon and weaken the joints. :confused:

Brian :)

[Lee DeRaud]

I wait until the big blobs of squeeze-out are hard enough to scrape without making a mess:
they take a lot longer to dry than the thin layer inside the joint.

[Jim Becker]

With PVA, you can usually un-clamp after a few hours, but the panel will need 24 hours to fully cure. Like Lee, I scrape the squeezings "sooner" rather than later to reduce the incidence of very hard glue on the surface of the workpiece...I do it even before un-clamping, usually about about the half-hour to 45 minute mark if I actually can remember to do so.

[Dennis Peacock]

4 hours. To test your glue? Do this:

Take a scrap piece of 3/4" hardwood plywood.
Take a scrap piece of 3/4" wide hardwood (strip of solid wood)
Spread some glue on "just the solid wood".
Apply said solid wood scrap to the edge of the plywood.
Clamp and allow to set for 20 minutes.
Remove said clamps.

If yours works like mine did? You'll have to CHISEL off the wood from the plywood.:eek: ;)

True story and I've got pics to prove it from a past post here on SMC.
I think the "under my breath" statement that night was: Wait 24 hours before stressing joint. Huuh-rumph!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

[Steve Clardy]

Depending on temputer.
I use titebond original.
If its 70 degrees, I pull the clamps in 15 minutes, scrap off excess, and run them through the planer.

[tod evans]

Depending on temputer.
I use titebond original.
If its 70 degrees, I pull the clamps in 15 minutes, scrap off excess, and run them through the planer.

same here...02 tod