How does glue work?

[Ol' Texan]

I have a friend who has a picture frame shop. She fastens the wood frames together with a fast set, quick bond glue (it's white) Maxim 1/15, and then secures the frame in corner vises. These are vises that hold two sides together at a 90 degree joint. She lets the joint set, anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight. Then she takes the frame out of the vises and uses a manual v-nailer to gently insert v-nails. Other framers tell her she is doing it wrong. That driving the v-nail in will 'crack' the glue joint. That she should have a pneumatic v-nailer and v-nail immediately upon applying glue. She's scared of a pneumatic v-nailer because she saw one 'blow' up once and send parts flying all over. Also some tell her that she shouldn't use corner vises because the glue needs to 'draw' the two pieces together. I think her method is correct. If the sides are held together tightly in the vise, the glue will cure and hold them together and when she gently inserts the v-nails it will strengthen the joint. Perhaps if she used a pneumatic v-nailer, it might 'pop' the joint because they use a fairly high pressure and 'slam' the v-nail in pretty hard. What do you think?

[Leon]

SNIP

Does it really matter? Is she having to redo her work? If her methods work don't try to fix it. Personally I would opt for the pneumatic nailer.

[Tom]

She's fine. Tom Work at your leisure!

[Charlie Self]

Ol' Texan asks:

If it works, stay with it. Your friend has a couple of misconceptions, but so do the other framers. A good glue joint won't crack when a brand is driven into it. Pneumatic nailers don't 'blow up' on any regular basis. I've been using them for about 20 years, and this is the first I've even heard of one blowing up. A pneumatic nailer actually creates fewer problems with slamming work around--there is no bounce and second strike. The sliding hammer goes down, the nail or brad goes in. Pressure is confined the very small area of the sliding hammer, and its area of contact on the wood. It is even less likely to break the joint.

That said, I don't see any reason she should change as long as she's not having problems.

Charlie Self "It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office." H. L. Mencken

[Eric Johnson]

Frankly I doubt if the following nailing is necessary. The glue joint is stronger anyway. There is a point where clamping can be too tight and literally sqeeze the glue from the joint but it sounds as though your friend has not crossed that line. As said earlier. "If it's not broken don't fix it"

EJ

[Stephen M]

Don't bet on it. Picture frames are typically end-grain to end-grain. Wood glue does not perform well with end-grain, only edge/face grain applications.

If glue alone really worked, picture framers would have adoped that practice long ago.

-Steve

[J T]

Fri, Nov 12, 2004, 9:42am [e-mail] (Stephen=A0M) says: Don't bet on it. Picture frames are typically end-grain to end-grain. Wood glue does not perform well with end-grain, only edge/face grain applications. If glue alone really worked, picture framers would have adoped that practice long ago.

I think that once the end to end glue joint cured, I'd just glue a thin glue block on the back, and pass on nailing. Would take a bit longer, but I'm not in any rush.

JOAT Any plan is bad which is incapable of modification.

- Publilius Syrus

[Robert Galloway]

Many have said, "if she isn't having to redo her work, why fix the process". I can't improve on that. Pneumatic nailers don't blow up with enough frequency to worry about it. The advantage of a pneumatic nailer would be she would get her clamps back sooner. If she needs them back sooner, it would be something to consider. Otherwise... The idea that the glue will "draw the joint together" is a figment of someone's imagination, IMHO.

bob g.

Charlie Self wrote:

[Eli the Bearded]

Elijah

------ HTH, HAND

[Puckdropper]

GARYWC wrote in news:f5921e30-1876-456f-adb6- [e-mail]:

There's several kinds of glues of interest in the average woodworker's shop:

CA Glue, which is used to glue fingers together so you have to step away from your project for a bit. Allegedly, it can be used to glue wood but it never seems to make it on to the wood.

Wood Glue: A yellow colored glue used to dull sandpaper and create deep marks in the wood as you try to remove it with chisels. Best used by slopping it all over your project, as noted rec.woodworking member JazzWoman or maybe his buddy Noel says, "Wood glue should be a significant portion of your project costs."

Contact Cement: A smelly efficient glue used to permanently join two pieces at the wrong spot. After a few hours of breathing the vapors (who reads the warnings?) you won't care and will probably head in to the computer to post a message containing only a single letter.

Latex Paint: This doesn't look like a glue, but if you've ever tried opening windows that have been painted shut you know it really is!

As to how they work: reasonably well with a little care.

Puckdropper

[Colin Campbell]

I raise a foaming mug of Traditional Ale in salute, sir: your wisdom is considerable, indeed!

Colin

[sawdustmaker]

GARYWC wrote in news:f5921e30-1876-456f-adb6- [e-mail]:

Glue works like light bulbs only on physical objects. Instead of light bulbs sucking light from a room, glue sucks space out between objects and binds them tightly together. (sorry)