Removing glue squeeze out from under clamps and cauls?

[Dennis McCullen]

I want to glue up some 3/4" alder to make wider boards. I've read about removing excess glue (squeeze) once it has become rubbery by scraping it off. But with a bar clamp every 10-12" how do you do this? Is it best to remove the bar clamps one at a time to scrape and wipe with a wet cloth, then replace the bar clamp and move to the next one? I see the advantage of removing the glue before it dries, for sure, but all this jostling of the workpiece must have an effect after carefully aligning pieces and even clamping gluing cauls to keep the piece nice and flat. My imagination is lacking on how to accomplish the goal. What is recommended? Thanks, in advance for any tips.

[Prashun Patel]

I elevate the bars off the piece - especially if using pipe clamps. This give you enough clearance to push a putty knife under. Don’t aim for complete removal, just enough so your subsequent planing or sanding is easy once dry.

Elevating is advised also because pipes can stain the wood, and glue on cabinet clamps will over time impede the slide.

[Dennis McCullen]

Thanks for this idea. I already had some stands made for the clamps so, after reading this, I made a few plywood bars 3/4" x 1-3/4" and 28" long that sit in slots in the stands. I'll put packaging tape on these bars and let the project rest on them while the clamps will be almost 1/2" lower. This creates the clearance you mention for the putty knife.

[Bill Carey]

I remove what glue I can, but I don't remove the clamps or cauls. After the clamps are removed, I use a Stanley 85 scraper to get the big chunks off, and then a card scraper over all the joints, and a #4 plane if needs be. Make sure you put packing tape on the cauls or you'll wind up with some weird ornamental thing when the cauls are glued to the boards. I'm speaking from experience here - it was not pretty.

[Bradley Gray]

Be careful applying glue. Use a brush or even better a roller. With practice you will be able to apply the right amount so you just get a few little beads of glue that will scrape off easily even when hard.

[Lee Schierer]

With regard to applying glue, it is pretty easy to tell when you used too much and not enough. The proper amount of glue should result is squeeze out looking like a bunch of evenly spaced 1/16 to 1/8" in diameter beads on both sides of the joint. Too little glue will show no, or almost no, glue squeeze out. If you have amounts of glue in continuous lines, along the joint line you are using too much glue. When joining 3/4" boards in an edge joint, I run a bead of glue along the full length and then use an old tooth brush perpendicular to the length of the board and tilted about 45 degrees with the bristles away from the direction of movement, I spread the glue across the edge of the board making sure all of the surface is evenly coated. I've been doing this for 50 years and have never had a joint failure.

[Prashun Patel]

Cool tip about the toothbrush. Thanks, Lee... I use acid brushes - great for mortises because they swish, but not quite firm enough for long panel edges. They shed too. Excuse to change my toothbrush.

[Bill Carey]

Started using this about a year ago - works great.

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[michael dilday]

I always put a piece of masking tape on any clamp I am using right where the joints are. I don't stick it so it's hard to get off just enough to catch the glue. I do this with bar clamps, pipe clamps and parallel clamps.

[Lee Schierer]

Cool tip about the toothbrush. Thanks, Lee... I use acid brushes - great for mortises because they swish, but not quite firm enough for long panel edges. They shed too. Excuse to change my toothbrush.

The other nice thing about tooth brushes is that you can put them in a jar with water and they self clean and are ready for the next time, just shake out the water.

[Dennis McCullen]

Thanks to all for the thoughts and ideas. I created a little clearance under the sash clamps using plywood strips and I'll certainly be rounding up a couple toothbrushes to help me with glue distribution!

[Robert Engel]

I either remove or slightly raise the clamp to give enough clearance underneath.

Doing this one clamp at a time is not going affect anything.