Gluing up dovetails?

[Jason Scott]

Hey all,

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how much glue do you use when gluing dovetail joints? I am nervous about it squirting out everywhere and not being able to sand it out of cracks and such and being seen when finished, any help on how much/technique is much appreciated!

jason

[Bryan Berguson]

Jason,

I may learn something different here myself but I'll tell you what my experience has been so far.

If you have good fitting dt's, put enough glue on to coat the mating surfaces without it dripping off. As you put the dt's together, the glue is being pushed to the outside and I've seen very little ever get squeezed out to the inside of the joint. I tried using tape but that was more trouble to remove than the glue that might happen to squeeze out. I don't use tape anymore.

Try some practice joints too, that will tell you for sure.

Bryan

[Scott Rollins]

I saw a tip online that now I use. I insert the pins halfway and then apply glue. I do not apply it any where that it can get onto the endgrain. It is very difficult to remove from the endgrain as it soaks in so quickly. The alternative is to leave 1/16 or so of the endgrain to remove later with scraping or sanding. This technique requires tight fitting joints as the pins don't swell as much to fill the joint. The drawers I have done this way are about 12 mo old and are still good after daily use so I expect it will hold up.

[John Hain]

I use tape on the insides. Makes everything nice and neat.

I tend to put the joint together just enough to hold it upright and then put glue onto the surfaces. I nearly always use Plastic Resin (Urac 185) for glue on bigger DT glueups as I HATE hurrying the process. I think it has some gap filling ability that can hide some smaller chip out errors as well -- at least in my experience.

I make the dovetail oversized about 1/16" long so when gluing up, I never really have to worry about cleaning glue off. Whatever ends up there will soon be gone when taking a plane, scraper, or ROS to the endgrain in order to level it.

[josh bjork]

A urac fan, wow. Then there were two.

[Rick Thom]

You might try a needle-type applicator to put the glue precisely were you want it. http://www.leevalley.com:80/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=20004&cat=1,110,42967&ap=1

[Alan Turner]

My preference is to glue up dovetails with traditional, hot hide glue. I use it only on the flat grain surfaces, and a bit sparingly. You will need to work quickly. The glue does not stain the wood, and removal with a damp rag works well before it dries. Afterwards, a chisel will chip it off cleanly.

[Mark Singer]

Because the joint has great mechanical properties , less glue is required. There is a lot of surface are. A thin coat on all the surfaces is fine. Wipe the inside of the joint and outside. When you plane off the pins, you will remove the excess,

[Jason Scott]

Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it goes...Honestly though, I swear these joints fir so tight that I think I wouldn't even have to use any...

[Joe Chritz]

Recently I have been using more 1/2 blind joints but the theory would be the same. I usually just run a little down the sides of the pockets and stick them together. A combo of a tight joint that takes a swat with the palm to close and a fuzz overhang makes for easy clean up.

Best would probably be using a small brush and brushing all the surfaces but when putting together 50 joints on kitchen drawers I found it faster to hit the joints with a ROS after.

I keep thinking about doing a dado/staple joint for the back but a dovetail jig is so fast I do 1/2 blind on all.

Joe

[Bill White]

Recently I have been using more 1/2 blind joints but the theory would be the same. I usually just run a little down the sides of the pockets and stick them together. A combo of a tight joint that takes a swat with the palm to close and a fuzz overhang makes for easy clean up.

Best would probably be using a small brush and brushing all the surfaces but when putting together 50 joints on kitchen drawers I found it faster to hit the joints with a ROS after.

I keep thinking about doing a dado/staple joint for the back but a dovetail jig is so fast I do 1/2 blind on all.

Joe

"Swat tight" and "fuzz overhang"????
Is there a new Lee Valley tool that I have missed?
That's my SA question for the day. Sorry! Couldn't help it.
Bill

[Joe Chritz]

It is similar to a rubber mallet but nearly impossible to hit something to hard. For $29.95 I will send you details instructions on how to make one and have it available all the time. It stores easy too.

A "fuzz" is a new measurement. It is a combo between metric and english and is usually measurable with stuff in your pocket. For $39.95 I can send you lots of fuzz measuring devices, shipping included.

Joe