I do a lot of edge glueing of cherry, walnut, pine, the whole nine yards.
My question concerns the length of time to leave the boards clamped. I have limited space so the time is important.
After clamping I normally leave them alone for about 12 hours or overnight.
From your experience what is the minimum time I can leave them clamped?
Many thanks
al
Clamping time depends on the type of glue used. The best answer would be obtained by reading the instructions on the bottle of glue.
-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)
Whatever the directions state. My bottle of yellow carpenters glue says clamp for 30 minutes, full-strength for workability takes overnight.
Elmers yellow - 20 minutes if fitup was all I hoped for - unclamp and move on to the next glueup. That's just to unclamp mind you, not ready for next operation.
Read the instructions. It's a surprisingly small time that they have to be clamped (An hour is usually plenty with yellow glues). Usually you won't want to stress the joint until it has set overnight.
Fran k
Use an Aliphatic Resin glue, such as Titebond or yellow Weldbond. These only require 30 minutes clamping time (at reasonable temperatures). They also stick very tightly.
It really depends on what you are going to do next. If the pieces can be set aside until later then you only need to leave them clamped until the glue has the minimum set time, which is usually indicated on the label. If you intend to use them right away then it could be trouble. I have a space problem as well and sometimes the shop is tied up spacewise. The thing to do here is to glue the pieces and get the clamps off them as soon as feasible and move the pieces out of the way as much as possible. This also frees up the clamps to move on to the next part of the project. In my case some extra clamps would be nice as well and eventually that will happen.` Ken
An hour works for me for clamp time. two before doing light work with the piece, at least overnight before sanding and heavy manipulation.
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