I wanted to write up a quick post on something that nearly ruined a leg assembly I was working on!
As some of you may be aware, I'm building a small Sloyd style bench. For the leg assembly, I'm using through mortise and tenons at the top and bottom of each pair of legs.
The tenons fit snugly in place -- not so tightly that they require heavy pounding to remove, but not so loosely that you can just pull it apart with little effort. This is about the fit that I usually aim for.
However, once I went to glue and assemble them, the joints became impossibly tight fitting. I do not know if the glue thinned out and began to dry very quickly (it seems that white wood glue can do this, drying very quickly when thinned down) or if it just wet and swelled the wood, but my tenons became impossibly stuck about 3/4 of the way seated, with a large gap. I could not pound or press them in, nor could I pull or pound them apart. Totally stuck.
Fortunately, I am a 10 minute walk from the nearest home center, where I bought some very long and sturdy F clamps. I put a bunch of those on and tightened them down -- at first, and for a while, the joint still did not move, but after about 15 minutes, just as I was rushing to the internet for advise on how to disassemble a glued mortise and tenon, I noticed that they had slid down into place.
The remaining mortise and tenons I've glued with some slow drying Titebond hide glue, and have had no problem. It seems that the hide glue does not increase friction or swell the wood or "freeze up" the joint like white wood glue can do, plus it gives me extra time to work and can be more easily unglued if necessary.
Is this something that any of you have had to deal with? Are my observations consistent with your own?