Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Apr 22, 2008 11:15pm | #1

   Reversibility isn't going to be much of a help in your case, you would spend a lot of time trying to steam and soak something as large as a table top to soften the glue. Reversibility is useful in musical instruments, for doing repairs and modifications, but that's about the only place it really counts.

   For other repairs such as the joints of a chair the fact that you can apply new hide glue over old without perfectly cleaning out the inside of the mortises is an advantage, but that isn't the case with a table top, since you can replane the edges down to clean wood easily.

   For someone without experience, I would suggest that you use ordinary yellow carpenter's glue and just glue two boards together. After the boards have been clamped for an hour you can then add a third board, and after another hour you can add the fourth and so on.

   The most important thing is that the boards fit tightly together without any gaps and also so the two halves when joined are flat, so that there is no slight angle at the joint where they come together. You should be able to stand one board on edge on your bench top and then place the second board on top of the edge of the first and not see any light through the joint and, when you look from the end, the two together look like one board. If you can achieve that the gluing will go easily.

   Also use very little glue, a thin bead run down the middle of one board and spread out with your finger tip. When the boards are clamped together there should only be tiny drops squeezed out along the joint, if there is glue dripping you have used too much.

   If the glue up goes badly on your top, just saw it apart at the joints and start over.

   Hope this helps, John White