I remember when I first started wwing I couldn’t finish a 16 oz. bottle of glue before it went bad. Then I started a collection of glues, long working time, dark coloured, poly, Tite Bond I and II. I also started going through bottles faster, sometimes two bottles on one project. Then one day I did it…….. I bought a gallon of glue. It felt great to walk up to the counter and ask for a gallon of Tite bond II. Of course the order puller didn’t seem to care. Regaurdless of the clerks indeference I knew that things were changing, I was moving into the next tier of wwing. Since then I guess I am now consuming about two gallons of glue a month. Which is cool, but………. I’ve seen those FIVE GALLON buckets of glue. Imagine, a FIVE GALLON BUCKET of glue sitting in the corner of your shop. That would be impressive. Perhaps then I will have arived. Although they also sell 55 gallon drums! Hmmm.
Also I once had a collection of glue spreaders, rollers, appliers, injecters, etc… Now I use a GlueBot refillable glue bottle from FastCap and my fingers. I’ve seen that most newer wwers tend to have all these glue gimicks while the seasoned wwers use an old bottle, their finger and occasionally an old paint brush.
And so it strikes me that a very simple way to define us as woodworkers is to compaire glue consumption and use. I know that some of you spill more in a week than I use in a month. Of course glue consumption dosen’t indicate our skill, a master craftsman might use two bottles of glue over a month to build a federal desk, and a typical new construction cabinet shop probably buys glue by the 5 gallon bucket and produces work that would never be considered high end.
So, I ask yall….. How do you use glue. This isn’t about poly versus yellow glue, or TiteBond II versus III. This is about the conection between how we use glue and our wood working soul.
How do you glue that woodoo that you do?
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don’t have. You won’t regret it.
Replies
Hello Mike,
""Woodoo""????????????????????
Here in the islands we spell it with a V
here comes three 0 my man!
How long does wood glue keep?
I don't know if you are joking, but most bottles have an expiration date on them. I know that after a summer in a hot Texas garage the glue seems to seperate, could have been caused by the cold I don't really remember. After that I am afraid to take the chance.
BTW How do you buy your glue?
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Edited 7/3/2006 11:12 am ET by mudman
So far I just pick up small bottles at the hardware store but I don't go through them very fast. I haven't done many woodworking projects yet, but would like to set up a shop in the basement when our house is done.
Right now I'm in the process of building my house - definitely a project that meets the standards of your sig - and even though there have been tough times & late nights, I'm learning tons. I should have all the rough framing done in the next couple weeks.
We're living on-site in a trailer & building very slowly.
It does have an expiration date as stated and the mixture will separate as water and malt in beer does. You will risk a high failure rate down the road if it is too old.
Purchase more than you need, but not too much is my approach...
Have a good day...
SARGE..g47
I use about 5 different glues depending upon requirements, namely gap filling, open and closed time, accessiblility and chemistry. Most of them I refresh with new before they are empty. I became convinced after reading Titebond's web site with glue specifications, there is less than 10% difference in strength between all the glues they offer, so good preparation and application is more important than, "which glue is strongest."
Nor do I subscribe to the philosophy there is one glue best for everything.
I can't imagine using a whole bottle on a single project. I think the largest project I ever did was 35 floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Between edge banding all the shelves and face frames with joints, I don't think I used much of the second quart. I use the engineering approach of "as much as necessary and as little as possible", or in other words, "as much as needed, but no more." I do not want rivulets of glue running over the top of my work.
That's my opinion, anyway.
Mudman, after having had many glue failures due to storing the Titebond II in my truck over the winter months, I came to the conclusion that the thawing and freezing ruins the #$%$^& glue.
What to do? what to do? I started to carry the one pint bottles in my overcoat inside pockets No more failures since.. I take it your moniker...'Mudman', refers to your being a taper..?
Joint compound or Spackle is also ruined (Ruint?)from too cold temperature Steinmetz.
Edited 7/3/2006 4:17 pm ET by Steinmetz
Actually I am an avid mountian biker, check my profile.
Although I admit to having spent way too much time on the wrong side of a taping knife.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Glue use doesn't necessarily mean much. There are some guys that spill a quart for every drop they get in the joint. The best joinery stays together without glue, nails or screws. I think glue should be fresh, even though many have long shelf lives. I wouldn't want more than a couple months on hand.
Glue application should receive the same attention to detail that you give every other aspect of a project. This is especially true with joinery that relies on glue for it's strength. If you are using much glue, spreading it with your finger will get very painful. Of all the contraptions and gizmos I've used, I like the standard tip that comes on a 16 oz bottle of Titebond. You can control the amount being applied both by turning the tip and varying the angle it rides on.
After applying the glue, you need to spread it uniformly. If you just do this haphazardly and let the clamps spread by pressure, several things can happen. Generally you make a mess, dripping all over the clamps, tables, floors, work, you, etc.. Clean up is now a job of it's own. Hydraulic action can cause things to slip around, making alignment more difficult and some areas can get starved or fail to make good contact. I like those wood handled natural bristle paint brushes in 1/2" for most work. Cut the bristles about 3/4" long with scissors. They will have just the right stiffness for moving the glue. It can pick up excess or lay down a little more. On small work, it's handy to have a jar of glue you can dip the brush in.
Sometimes the cost of things like glue slip under our radar. I didn't think about it until your post but I have over 25 different types of glues and adhesives in the shop. It would be a large expense and time consuming to have to replace all of them. Some of the epoxies must be worth at least $1.00 per squirt.
Congratulations on buying your first gallon, hope you use many more. When you order the 55 gal. drum, make sure you get a cradle and a good spigot. Of course this will mean you have to have more clamps, more room to stack things up, might as well get a dedicated edge bander, a pneumatic clamp table would be nice with RF curing, how about a dowel injector or a UV vacuum system, you'll need a loading dock, yeah! and a fork lift, why not a railroad landing, imagine the volume discount on a tanker! There's a tool I don't have and is beyond my skill.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I love all the glue tech talk, but I really want to hear about the smell of a new bottle of glue, or running out of glue during the crucial glue up. How about an imposible tip clog ruining the glue up of a table leg assembly. How about glueing your butt to the stool (I've glued my but to the car seat after hours of wiping my fingers on my pants then hopping in the car to get lunch). And few of yall have mentioned how you buy glue.
From many of your posts it sounds like I am pretty messy. I wipe a lot on my clothes and under the bench. If the squeze out is not going to be visible I don't really care. If it is stain grade and does matter I modify my joinery to help. For example I might use Dado and Rabbit joinery and only glue the inside faces so none comes out, or chamfering the mortice, or adding a dado near the edge of a moulding so glue wont show through.Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
GLUEBUTT DOT COM I Love it! Great vanity licence plate number.
Be carefull Mud man, that's how MOST of us got our nicknames. HA HA (Snort!) Stein.
Edited 7/4/2006 12:27 pm ET by Steinmetz
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