Tenon Glue-up Question

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I'm working on a Live Oak and PurpleHeart Segmented Box. The main part of the box is Live Oak and the blank was short so I had to do a glue-on for the tenon. I turned the bottom of the box smooth and sanded to the 200 range and did the same with the tenon piece along with giving it a slight concave taper on the flat. I used Gorilla glue thinking it would be the best and dampened both surfaces prior to joining. They were clamped solid for over 24 hrs. I have done this on three tenons and all have broken off at the glue joint while trying to hollow the box ( I told you this live oak was hard and it is not dry) All I can figure is that Gorilla is not all it is cranked up to be, or my surfaces are too smooth. Any help would be appreciated.:(

[Gordon Seto]

Christopher,

What grain direction was your glue block? It is difficult to get a good glue joint with end grain to end grain. Gorilla glue foams when applied, but actually it is not a strong gap filling glue.

Gordon

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Christopher,

What grain direction was your glue block? It is difficult to get a good glue joint with end grain to end grain. Gorilla glue foams when applied, but actually it is not a strong gap filling glue.

Gordon This was cross grain not end grain.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Chris, I've used thick CA glue for this. Haven't had any problems yet.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Chris, I've used thick CA glue for this. Haven't had any problems yet. Thanks Ernie that is my next attempt.:)

[Bill Boehme]

I would aim for true flat surfaces rather than slightly concave. Also, the strongest glue joint would come from using epoxy especially if the surfaces are not perfectly flat. Boxes should only be turned from completely dry wood. If, however, yoou decide to use wet wood anyway, CA sticks better than other glues, but it is not very strong at all in gap filling. I suppose you know that wet wood warps and the lid of the box will either stick or be too loose as the wood dries not to mention that the lid will not sit right after the wood dries.

Bill

[Gary DeWitt]

I second Ernie with CA glue, near flat surfaces, clamp with tailstock for a few minutes.

[John Hart]

I use epoxy. Haven't tried CA. Gorilla has been less than satisfactory for me as well. But maybe I'm doing it wrong.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Thanks guys:)

[Dick Strauss]

Chris,
As the bowl loses moisture and shrinks, it changes shape. This change in shape is enough to crack even CA glue on a tight joint. If the joint doesn't crack, something else probably will.

I had this same problem from a dry (12% moisture) redheart bowl blank mounted to a waste block tenon. Thankfully I had the bowl completely turned except for the bottom and was ready to part off the waste bglock by the time it cracked.

Dick