glue-up/lamination question

[Ned Bulken]

I have a question for those who do glue-ups for use on your spinny things;

First a little history: Yesterday I was futzing around in the shop, and wanted to make a bandsawn box, but didn't have any thick stock, so I took a nice piece of butternut I had on hand, which I'd jointed & planed to about 3/4, chopped it into about the length I wanted, then glued the pieces together in a stack.
Thank you for your patience...

When gluing up a thicker piece from thinner stock, I try and get a reasonable coat accross all of the face to be glued. If I miss a section but the rest of the face is well coated, will that matter ? I really need to get a new bottle of glue the tite-bond I have saw more than its fair share of freeze/thaw cycles before we moved into the new shop, and is somewhat... lumpy. Spreading that glue is something of a challenge, just wondered how that would affect the glued up block. Thanks gang!

[Todd Burch]

Ned, you want to be sure to get good glue everywhere across the piece that will remain as part of your bandsawn box. The last thing you want is to have it fall apart when you are cutting your last details. I do skip glue on parts that I know will be cut away, unless I need to keep that part together for whatever reason (like it is part of the jig or pattern, even though "outside" of my end result.) An example would be the first cutoff from a cabriole leg. You tape that back on to make subsequent cuts.

Glue is cheap.

Here is a quick (obsessive compulsive disorder - I'm sure) test I do with all my glue ups. When glueing two boards together edge to edge, I always make sure the stock is longer than I need. I glue the entire edge, clamp, let dry, sand, yada, yada. When I cut the assembly to length, I will throw the cutoff on the floor to see if and where it breaks. No breaks, good (which means I left no split-ends in the board, which will cause some failure or finishing grief down the road). If it does break, I listen for the sound and gauge whether or not it broke "easy" (like a split was already there) or if the force from the throw broke it. If it breaks on the glue line, I take mental note, and "let it go" if I am speeding the milling process too much before letting the glue cure.

Todd

[Brian Hale]

I believe i read somewhere that glue should not be allowed to freeze as it reduces it's strength. I could be wrong here.

I'll spread the glue one the mating boards and press them together. Then take them apart and rotate them 180 deg and clamp. Small areas that don't get glue shouldn't be much of a concern unless the uncoated area will be seen or has structural requirements. In the case of your box, you don't want a thin walled section that doesn't have glue as you might get some seperation as the wood expands/contracts.

Brian

[Ned Bulken]

That's just about what I thought too. I'll make a quick trip to ye olde hardware store for a new bottle. We didn't have much of a choice on the freeze/thaw cycle. The old shop was pretty darn rugged, unheated carriage house 'complete' with dirt floors etc...
One of my favorite features of the new shop is the forced air heater up in one corner, which is included in the lease. If only AC was also included... oh well, fans to the rescue.
I did try and get glue spread all the way across each board, there were small spaces which didn't get coverage, but nothing major. More of a 'I think I'm doing this right' question than anything. Thanks!

[Ned Bulken]

Well, today I cut up some of the laminations into bandsawn boxes. I'm happy to report that I must have done pretty well spreading the glue, as the butternut was nice and solid. I did pick up a nice new bottle of tite bond I along with a new dust mask. Both of which got a workout today.
I cut out two boxes out of buttenut, and then a third out of hemlock which I had glued up awhile back, but never cut out. I wound up making a three drawer box out of it, which I'm calling 'gone fishing'. I'll get pics of it once I have finished it up. I still have a lot of sanding and then finishing to do on it.

[Tyler Howell]

[QUOTE=Brian Hale]I believe i read somewhere that glue should not be allowed to freeze as it reduces it's strength. I could be wrong here.

I'll spread the glue one the mating boards and press them together. Then take them apart and rotate them 180 deg and clamp. Small areas that don't get glue shouldn't be much of a concern unless the uncoated area will be seen or has structural requirements. In the case of your box, you don't want a thin walled section that doesn't have glue as you might get some seperation as the wood expands/contracts.

Ned on Brian's theme, Our Sen Sae and WW spiritual leader NORM once showed squeezing mating pieces together, pulling them apart for a hot minute, then clamping them up. Been using it since I saw the trick and I've yet to have a failed glue joint.;)
Read somewhere to replenish your stock of glue annually. Check the lables for manuafacture dates, and only buy as much as you are going to use in that 1 years time.

[Mark Mazzo]

Ned,

I would not chance the frozen glue. Glue is cheap, the potential problems later are not worth the risk.

As far as spreading the glue, I always try to cover all areas of the stock with a thin coating. When I have large surfaces or long edge joints I use one of those cheap 2" foam rollers to spread the glue. It does a good job spreading the glue to a nice even coat. I just clean the roller when I'm done with warm water and a little soap. I can re-use the same roller for quite some time before it starts to break down.

--Mark

[Ned Bulken]

I picked up a nice new bottle of titebond yesterday. As for the frozen glue, It worked ok, if we wanted to deal with it being somewhat lumpy and with a bit quicker setup time. It held well, just annoying. My partner, John had purchased a gallon jug last year. It was just about time to replace that anyway. Add to that the fact that the nozzle on the bottle had seen better days, and it was a welcome change to have the new bottle in action.

[Chris Padilla]

We had a thread going about glue last week. I'm still wondering what is about glue that is supposed to expire after 1 or 2 years.

[Pat Salter]

We had a thread going about glue last week. I'm still wondering what is about glue that is supposed to expire after 1 or 2 years.


The warranty :D