Tabletop Glue-up/Finish

[Kieran Kammerer]

Using Titebond to glue-up a tabletop. How long do most of you let glue dry before working on the top? Overnight, full 24hrs?

Also plan to finish top with Maloof's three part finish. Do you think that this followed by several coats of wax willbe a durable finish for a kitchen table.

Thanks in advance for any advice, suggestions.

[Todd Burch]

Hi Kieran

How long I wait for Titebond depends on how big a hurry I am in. Overnight is best - as that amount of time allows a lot of the moisture that in in the glue - that the wood has absorbed - and thus swollen - to evaporate, and the wood to shrink back to equilibirum (or close enough).

The problem that you get into when sanding too soon, on panel glueups, is that of sanding the wood flush when it is swollen, and then when it dries out, it shrinks, leaving a depression along the glue joint.

For areas that are not seen, or are not critical, as soon as glue sets enough to be hold,(~20 minutes), I'm sanding (or routing, or whatever).

You'll be using your table for years. Ovenight curing will be fine!

As far as wax goes - never consider wax a durable finish. Yes, it might be slick enough to help you avoid a scratch, but it is not durable. I would suggest a good read for you - "Understanding Wood Finishing" by Bob Flexner.

Todd

[Kieran Kammerer]

Todd,

Thanks for the input. Hopefully I will get out of work early enough to finish the gule-up tonight and get to hand planing the top early tomorrow morning.

I will plan on checking out Bob Flexner's book. I have used several finishes in the past and have yet to find one that I am totally happy with.

I checked out your site and ejoyed viewing your work. Keep up the beautiful work.

Kieran

[Chris Padilla]

How many of you "daydream" at work about your projects at home? I find myself constantly either:

(1) Thinking about a problem I have and working through a solution or

(2) Having done (1), looking forward to leaving ASAP to try out the solution!!

:D

[Mike Scoggins]

How many of you "daydream" at work about your projects at home? I find myself constantly either:

(1) Thinking about a problem I have and working through a solution or

(2) Having done (1), looking forward to leaving ASAP to try out the solution!!

:D

Chris,

Boy, been there, done that and...What was I saying? Sorry, lost my train of thought there for a minute "daydreaming" about trying out that solution.

Oh well, makes you appreciate the shop time even more.

Mike

[Chris Oakley]

My question is how many of us are at work sneaking time to read this forum! Oh well, I'm the boss. I guess I'll have to have a chat with myself!

[Kent Cori]

Kieran,

I've used the Maloof formula on several pieces of furniture including an end table. I really like it but it takes a long time to cure after the second coat and is a little soft for a table top IMHO. My current approach is to use the Maloof magic elixer only for the first two coats (in case I miss a spot with the initial coat) and then switch to a thinned wipe-on poly mixture. This seems to cure faster overall and be a little harder since there is much less oil in the final coats.