Is it just with me or do you guys also 'find' glue on your projects while applying the finish. Every single time. I end up having to scrape areas and re-applying little areas. It doesn't effect the finish quality because I usually 0000 steel wool everything and apply several more coats, but man it's annoying. i know there is special UV active glue that you can use, but I haven't bothered to try it.
Can't be just me.?.
I know that it's kind of time-consuming, but there are a couple of techniques that help:
Pre-finishing the pieces helps a lot, even if it's not the full finish job. The time-consuming part here is keeping the finish off the areas that will get glued, and suggestion 2 helps there too. But just a thin coat or two on the show faces can help to keep the glue from penetrating.
Even better is careful masking around the joints. The time you spend doing this is well, well repaid by the ease of clean-up. Seems like a pain in the ass, and sounds kind of anal-retentive, but you'd be surprised at how well things come out if you do a careful job of it.
Tom
I usually prefinish and tape off ect., but in this case I couldn't.
Not just you, but I've gotten much better at avoiding it. I pay a lot of attention to my glue applying, and am constantly checking my hands to make sure I haven't got any on them, and if something drips I stop in my tracks and take care of it right that instant.
But when the inevitable happens, I wet sand the area right in the middle of applying the finish/stain. That way I don't miss it like I might if I were going back to fix it and then see it again in the middle of putting on the next coat. It's also easier to tell whether you've sanded it enough, as the spot just disappears when you've done enough. I don't know how scraping would go with it wet.
-Kevin
Titebond makes a glue with fluorescent coloring in it that shows vividly under a black light.
Can I go back to bed now? :-)
jc
Not just you! But as you gather more experience this becomes less of a problem. You learn to look for possible problems that can lead to this and you learn to take certain little precautions.
While it is better to apply too much glue than not enough for strength it creates more work while cleaning up squeeze out.
One little thing I have learned to do is not wear long sleeve shirts during glue up.....Often your sleeve can drag through wet glue and later smear across something else...
I try to evenly spread glue with an acid brush to lay out a smoother and more consistent layer of glue to minimize squeeze out which may get transferred to other areas. Remember if you coat the entire surface with a thin layer of glue you will not have glue starvation. Simply squirting out a bead and letting the union spread the glue in the joint will/can lead to squeeze out and glue starvation.
I try to always do a thorough sanding after glue up and keeping a close eye on the results of the sanding as I go will show spots that may have gotten glue one them unexpectedly.
Last, you can wipe the project down with mineral spirits which will evaporate relatively quickly and will typically reveal the stray glue spots they you see when finishing.
This is not exactly what you posted but seems worth mentioning here. In case anyone missed it, on a recent episode of "Ask This Old House" they showed a neat trick. They used a plastic soda straw to scoop up squeezed out glue from an inside right angle joint. After you pick up the unwanted glue you cut off the straw and you can use it again.
The trick wouldn't be needed if we were more careful in applying the glue in the firstplace.
Joe G
NE1 have any experience with this?
Just do a wipe down with mineral spirits and it will show dry spots where ever you have any glue. I do this as a matter of course when doing my final sanding on any fine piece.
Unlike "Nom" who puts brads > Is it just with me or do you guys also 'find' glue on your projects
project. It wouldn't allow it.
I do this also after final sanding.. I just put some on a paper towel and go.. It seems to clean the surface better than a tack cloth and will highlight any missed small dents/scratches/imperfections in the wood as well as glue stains..
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:52:57 -0800 (PST), the infamous GarageWoodworks scrawled the following:
Put a coat of finish on your project before you start processing it. Small scratches will sand out and the whole thing will shed glue like a champ, ya slob. ;)
-- We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same. -Carlos Castaneda, mystic and author (1925-1998) -------
On Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:27:46 -0600, the infamous "DanG" scrawled the following:
Shows you where you screwed the pooch AFTER IT'S TOO LATE.
-- We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same. -Carlos Castaneda, mystic and author (1925-1998) -------
And the answer to your problem is WAXALIT
Paste wax consistency - dries WHITE so you can see it. Apply with a que tip around joints and do your glue up. When the glue has dried - pop off the squeeze out - with your fingernail. Glue won't stick to this stuff. Then with another que tip and some alcohol, get rid of the WAXALIT.
Michael Fortune did a lot of spindle chairs and was spending more time removing squeezed out glue than making the chairs. Found WAXALIT and solved his squeeze out problem.
Availablt from Lee Valley. Small can goes a LONG ways.
OK - want to fill us in on why? I can't think of a wood gluing situation where one of these options can't be used. More info please.
Every woodworker goes thru this and there are numerous solutions. As my skill increased, I can now judge just how much glue to apply with very little squeeze-out. I see all these videos and shows with glue dripping all over the place during assembly and clamping, making a mess. Painters or masking tape to protect nearby area helps too.
On Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:45:29 -0800 (PST), the infamous "SonomaProducts.com" scrawled the following:
Nahm floods the shit ouf ot the glue, ending up with enough residue all over the wood to keep his polyurinestain and stains from sticking/soaking in. I never could figure that one out. They must build several units on the set and have someone experienced glue up the one they ruin with stains and such, huh? ;)
Ditto. And it's even easier after prefinishing.
The other trick is to just pay special attention when
-- We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same. -Carlos Castaneda, mystic and author (1925-1998) -------
I've tried "taping the joints" countless times and generally end up spending more time removing little blue bits of tape (now firmly glued to the project by the squeeze out) from nooks and crannies before finishing, then I did in building the project.
In short, I try to practice glue economy in the first place ... then ditto on letting it dry, or almost dry, and using a chisel to remove any squeeze out.
After all, the presence of squeeze out means you used too damn much glue ...
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.